THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608160061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Travel Wise
SOURCE: Stephen Harriman
LENGTH: 70 lines
THIS IS your first alert for fall foliage tour planning. There's still plenty of time to finalize your route if you're thinking of a road trip in Virginia or the Mid-Atlantic region.
Peak time for color in the Virginia mountains is - please write this down and stick it on your fridge - Oct. 10-25, a little later in the Piedmont and still later closer to the coast.
But if you're considering a cruise tour, now is the time to make your reservations. These cruises are becoming increasingly popular.
This fall, 10 cruise lines will offer nearly 30 foliage-viewing cruises along colorful ocean, bay and river coastlines. Ships range in size from yacht-like to megaliners, and cruise lengths vary from five to 17 days from late August through mid-October.
It's a departure from the ordinary (and often the bumper-to-bumper traffic). You drift past leaves, rather than the leaves drifting past you.
Many ply traditional paths in search of color on Canada/New England routes. Here are two that come our way (contact a local travel agent for more variety, details and reservations):
For sheer elegance, it's hard to top Silversea's 10-day Colonial America cruise on the sleek, new 296-passenger six-star Silver Cloud, Oct. 29-Nov. 9. It departs New York and stops in Philadelphia, Yorktown, Alexandria, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville and Nassau, Bahamas. All-inclusive pricing includes a one-night precruise deluxe-hotel stay, all shipboard gratuities, all wine, spirits and outside-suite accommodations aboard ship, economy airfare, port charges, transfers, porterage and a shoreside event. Fares begin at $4,545 per person, double occupancy.
It's been said that the atmosphere on Clipper Cruise Line's informal 100-passenger Nantucket Clipper is like that of a small country inn. The ship has a pair of 11-day sailings, starting Sept. 25 and Oct. 12. The first departs Washington/Alexandria, and cruises the Chesapeake with stops in Norfolk, St. Michaels and Annapolis before heading up the Hudson River to Kingston and West Point and docking in New York. The itinerary is the reverse for the October sailing. The Nantucket Clipper also makes a 12-day Colonial Heritage cruise on the Intracoastal Waterway, beginning Oct. 22, from Washington to Jacksonville with stops in Alexandria; Norfolk; Beaufort, N.C.; Wilmington; Charleston; Savannah and St. Simons Island. Fares start at $2,550 per person, double occupancy.
The heartland of America doesn't stint on autumn colors either. Beginning Sept. 22, Delta Queen Steamboat Co.'s fleet of three paddle wheelers offers down-home cruising on upriver routes along the Mississippi, Cumberland, Ohio and Arkansas rivers. Three- to 10-day autumn cruises stop in such places as Hannibal, Mo.; Dubuque, Iowa; Paducah, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn. Fares start at $490.
Cinematic sailings
The African Queen - the 1912 riverboat that starred with Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in the 1951 movie of the same name - is cruising the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Conn., this summer, carrying passengers who pay $15 for the chance to spend a half hour or so in nostalgic bliss. The trips operate between 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, departing from the River Landing Marina. Info: (800) 639-0444.
If you're up that way, HMS Bounty, the full-rigged replica of the ship that Lt. William Bligh sailed from England to Tahiti in the 1780s and which was built for the 1962 movie ``Mutiny on the Bounty,'' spends its summers in Fall River, Mass., makes special sailings and is open for tours. Info: (508) 675-6591. MEMO: Travel-wise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases,
trade journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the
writer's mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The
Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449; phone (757) 446-2904. by CNB