|

Memorable Spring Bike Rides, Manhattan

I can imagine what you’re thinking when I mention Manhattan as one of my favorite biking locales in America—suicidal bike messengers weaving in and out of the taxis and buses. But remember that Manhattan is an island ringed by rivers and an emerging bike trail that almost completely surrounds the city. This is especially true of the West Side where you can bike the entire length of the island on a trail along the Hudson River. Cruise under the vast span of the George Washington Bridge, past the USS Intrepid in Midtown, and then reach Battery Park City, where you can see the Statue Of Liberty. What an exhilarating feeling to see the skyscrapers and iconic sites of Manhattan on two wheels. This continues as you bike along the Lower East Side on the East River and pedal under the Brooklyn Bridge. Another fun ride is to simply bike the 6-mile loop around Central Park. There are numerous bike rental locales throughout the city, wherever you’re located.
 

Similar Posts

|

Maine Island Getaway

Impeccably restored in 2004, Chebeague Island Inn, perched above the shores of Casco Bay’s largest island, never seemed to catch on with mainlanders. That was until the summer of 2010 when Mainer Casey Prentice and his family purchased the circa-1920 estate and instilled the property with a much-needed dose of youthful enthusiasm. Word spread quickly about Chef Justin Rowe, who trained at the White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport, and knows how to create tasty dishes from local catch. Now Portlanders think nothing of taking the 15-minute water taxi or ferry to Chebeague for cocktails on the wraparound porch, dinner, even an overnight stay in one of the 21 rooms found in the three-story home. New this summer is s the Inn’s Farm-to-Table Package where guests can taste the island’s local agriculture. Foodies will also enjoy the Lobster Experience Package that allows guests to join a Maine lobsterman for a two-hour, educational excursion around Casco Bay. Afterwards, the inn will purchase the freshly caught crustaceans and prepare a classic lobster dinner with all the fixings. Rooms start at $180 a night.
 
|

Lake George Week, Adventures on Land

Most parents gauge the growth of their children by their height. I gauge the growth of my two kids by how far they can go on a treetop obstacle course called Adirondack Extreme. Located on the hillside outside of Bolton Landing, the course is set 10 to 50 feet off the grounds, amidst the tall pines and maples hidden in the forest. After a brief introductory talk on safety, you hook into harnesses and tackle five different courses, each a bit more challenging than the next. Along the way, you’ll climb rope ladders, walk across suspended bridges, and as a finale, zipline side-by-side. 
 
The waters of Lake George easily seduce, but there’s a slew of activity on the shores of the lake that are also worth checking out. You can climb Prospect, Buck, and Thomas Mountains, and be rewarded with exceptional vistas of the Adirondacks. Yesterday, I took a short hike around the forest and fields at Up Yonda Farm. I strolled past a sugarhouse and small butterfly garden before hiking uphill on a short climb through a mixed forest of birches, maples, and white pine. Eventually, I arrived at a clearing and another glorious view of Lake George.  
 
At night, everyone heads to Lake George Village, packed with T-shirt and fudge shops, video arcades, haunted houses, a requisite water park, and my personal favorite, Goony Golf, a miniature golf course crowded with huge fairy tale characters. My summer is not complete if I don’t get to play one round of Goony Golf. 
 
|

Best Summer Drives in New England

One doesn’t drive in New England simply to get from Point A to Point B. No, we like to linger, savor the beauty, cherish the history. We’re fortunate to be blessed with a diverse landscape full of majestic sights like the jagged shoreline of Maine, the granite notches of New Hampshire, the verdant farmland of Vermont, and the long stretch of white beach found in Rhode Island. We stop not only to post photos to our Instagram and Facebook accounts, but to dine on lobster rolls and fried clams at renowned seafood shacks, hike on the same shoreline and forest paths that inspired Winslow Homer and Robert Frost, and stop to stay at legendary inns or a new cabin built into the vast Maine wilderness. To read my story for Yankee Magazine on 8 Great Summer Drives, including maps, please click here. 

 
|

Fifth Annual Hotel Week in Manhattan January 3-15, 2016

If you want to visit New York at a discount, then head to the city during their Fifth Annual Hotel Week in early January. Both Gansevoort properties, the Refinery Hotel, Library Hotel and many other top-tier lodgings cut their rates considerably during this time. For example, the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tribeca will only be $100 a night, more than 50% off their usual rate. Hotel Week NYC™ was created by PR maven Nancy J. Friedman in 2010 to address the occupancy dip most hotels experience after the holiday season. It’s a perfect time to visit Manhattan without the crowds. 

 
|

My Favorite Fall Foliage Travels—Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire, Michigan

Head to the Grand Traverse Bay area, a four-hour drive northwest of Detroit, in the autumn months for a weekend, and you’ll be treated to far more than a fun frolic on a Great Lake. Slow down and explore the region at a slow pace on bike or on two feet and you’ll find diverse terrain, from the shaded wetlands of the Grass River Natural Area to the rolling countryside of the Leelanau Peninsula to the steep dunes of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the largest sand dunes west of the Sahara Desert. The towering slopes of sand, some as high as 440 feet, slide steeply to the shores of Lake Michigan. Stroll on the 1.5-mile Cottonwood Trail and the dunes look like bowls of sand that only a giant could drink from. No wonder Good Morning America just named Sleeping Dunes the most beautiful locale in America.
 

|

Dining at the Source: New Culinary Experiences to Discover on PEI This Summer

One of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had as a travel writer was at the Inn at Bay Fortune on Prince Edward Island’s western shores. I arrived via kayak, courtesy of a four-day inn-to-inn sea kayaking jaunt; paddled onto the grassy shores and walked across the sloping manicured lawn. After washing the salt and rust colored sand from my body, I arrived for dinner expecting the usual PEI meal of lobster and mussels. Little did I realize that I was in for a culinary epiphany. The first course was pan roasted oysters in a soothing soup, creamy but not overwhelmingly rich like chowder. Then came a splendid salad of mixed greens where the waiter announced matter-of-factly that "everything is grown on the property, including the edible daisy." A seared rainbow trout topped with tomato risotto and black olives was followed by the meat course, a roasted leg of lamb, butchered by the farmer down the road. Dessert was a peach, strawberry, and mint compote, made on premises, of course. 

Before calling for a wheelbarrow to be escorted out of the restaurant (after all, I spent the day paddling 8 miles along the island’s fabled red clay cliffs and the night feasting), I had to first meet the talented chef who shrewdly took advantage of all his homegrown goodies. Standing tall in the kitchen was Michael Smith, who at that time was a recent transplant from Manhattan, once sous chef at Bouley and awarded four stars (extraordinary) by the New York Times.  Of course, he would soon move on to his successful television show "The Inn Chef," and release his best-selling cookbook, "Open Kitchen-A Chef’s Day at the The Inn at Bay Fortune." 
 
PEI is still home to a bounty of chefs, farmers, and fishermen who make the destination a foodie paradise. This summer, Experience PEI and Culinary Adventure Co. have teamed up to create an Island-focused collection of four culinary adventures. The Bar Clamming Adventure lets guests slip into a wetsuit and snorkeling gear, and wade into the water in search of bar clams, the biggest clams on Prince Edward Island. The Floating Lobster Boil features a sunset cruise around the Charlottetown Harbour, freshly cooked lobster, and stories from a third-generation lobster fisherman.  
 

Leave a Reply