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Designer of New York’s High Line Hired to Create Miami’s Underline

Last week it was announced that James Corner Field Operations, the firm known for designing the popular High Line linear park in Manhattan, as the master planner for Miami’s proposed Underline. The Underline would be a 10-mile corridor underneath the Metrorail from the Miami River to Dadeland South. It would have space for pedestrians and bike riders. It’s a wonderful concept. Many of these elevated railways and roadways severed communities and split up cities. Instead of paying for a decade-long billion-dollar project like the Big Dig here in Boston to convert the roadway underground, simply make the space underneath usable. If successful, be on the lookout for more Underlines in the future. 

 

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Top 5 Travels of 2010, Biking to Giverny, France

I can think of no better way to start 2011 than to look back at my year of travels in 2010 and see which experiences surpassed all expectations. Last July, I took the family to Paris. We climbed up the Eiffel Tower, viewed the monumental works of art at the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and Pompidou museums, shopped in the Marais, celebrated my brother’s birthday with a lavish spread at a friend’s home in the 16th arrondissement, and toured an overlooked museum devoted to French innovation, Musee des Arts et Metiers. The highlight for me, however, was our one day away from Paris on a bike tour to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet. Run by Fat Tire Bike Tours, we took a short train ride to the village of Vernon. As soon as we arrived, we were handed our bikes and visited an outdoor market to stock up on creamy Reblochon cheese, tasty Rosette de Lyon sausage, and hot-out-of-the-oven baguettes from the nearby boulangerie. We had our picnic lunch in a park overlooking swans swimming in the Seine, and then headed out on a bike trail that connects Vernon with Giverny. We entered the picturesque hamlet and were soon walking over that Japanese bridge seen in many of Monet’s works. The whole trip took about 8 hours and cost 65 Euros per biker, a perfect day trip for our family of four.
 

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Idaho’s First Whitewater Park Opens This Month

For those of you headed to Idaho this summer to brave the rip-roaring rapids of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River or Hell’s Canyon on Snake River, you might want to get a little warm-up at the new Kelly’s Whitewater Park. Located an hour and half drive north of Boise on State Highway 55, the park is open to all kayakers, canoeists, rafters, and tubers, regardless of experience. Beginner and advanced areas of the park are divided by a man-made island, so simply choose your level of wave action and go play. The park is open to the public for free and a kayak school will help novices master the tough rapids to get them over to the expert section. The park is located in Cascade on the North Fork of the Payette River. 
 

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Acadia National Park Week: Sailing Out of Northeast Harbor

If you truly want to feel like a local on Mount Desert Island, take a day sail on a Friendship Sloop from Northeast or Southwest Harbor. Sail Acadia offers the opportunity to take a 3-hour guided sail on three Friendship Sloops, vessels that were used during the late 1800s to fish for lobsters along the Frenchman Bay shoreline. We sailed on the Helen Brooks, a replica designed with sailing in mind. Under the skilled guidance of Ryan at the wheel and his sidekick Savannah, we motored past the estates lining the Northeast Harbor shores and a seal that popped his head out of the water. Near the lighthouse perched atop Bear Island, Jeff and I helped hoist the sails. Winds were strong. In fact, there was a small craft advisory in effect, so Ryan had already reefed the mainsail and we chose to use only the staysail instead of the stronger jib. Soon we were gliding at a good 5-knot clip past Great Cranberry Island and the many lobstermen picking up their traps. 

With a 6-foot keel, these sailboats can weather the strong gusts and fog often found along the Maine coast. Edged with spruce wood, the Helen Brooks is also a stylish ride. Near the beach at Manset, we spotted two porpoises gracefully arching their backs in and out of the choppy water. Then we sailed past Southwest Harbor into Somes Sound, Acadia Mountain to the left and Norumbega Mountain to the right, standing tall as gatekeepers to this long inlet. The mix of mountains, offshore islands, and granite-lined shoreline could easily entice the most jaded sailor to buy his own sloop and sail these legendary cruising grounds on a daily basis. Far too quickly, we were back on the docks of Northeast Harbor. Cost of the sail is $75 per person or you can rent the entire vessel for $375. 
 
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Top 5 Dream Days of 2018, Biking Italy’s Adriatic Coast with DuVine Cycling

All it takes is one ride along the Adriatic Sea to appreciate the splendor of Puglia, the region of southern Italy close to the heel of the boot. We biked up and down sweeping hills with the blue expanse of water always by our side. The sweet smell of honeysuckle the best form of aromatherapy as we cruised past seaside villages, old stone walls, peering down in awe at the greenish/blue waters hundreds of feet below. We stopped in Santa Maria di Leuca to gaze at the lighthouse, church, and large plaza before making our way back to the port of Tricase where a fresh seafood feast was waiting for us. According to my trusty Strava app, we had biked 43 miles with an elevation gain of over 3,000 feet, so I was definitely ready for a break and the chance to dig into fresh calamari, mussels, grilled aubergines, tomatoes, and the creamy burrata cheese the region is known for. 
We were on Day Two of a 6-day bike ride through Puglia with DuVine Cycling. The trip would continue northeast to the town of Locorotondo, where we would begin blissful days of riding through the heart of the countryside. I savored the riding here, rolling hillsides dotted with centuries-old gnarly olive trees, vineyards, and the distinctive mushroom-shaped houses called trullis. All on country roads with little or no traffic. But if I had to choose one dream day on that memorable trip with good friends in October, I would choose the first day’s ride along the Adriatic. 
 
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Top 5 Travel Experiences of 2012, Biking to the Missions, San Antonio

One day in late April, I awoke early in San Antonio and biked to the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center. Next to this huge former warehouse, now housing art galleries, is an entrance to the spanking new Mission Reach bike trail, a 10.2-mile beauty strip south of the city. It was a gorgeous morning as I peered at the numerous green herons, egrets, and families of ducks. When it warmed up, the turtles arrived to sunbathe on upturned logs on the river. Workers were busy restoring some of the 400 acres of river and six pedestrian bridges that will be added when the Mission Reach is finished this year. This being spring, sunflowers and purple wildflowers were in bloom. 

 
At Mission Road, I turned right and visited the first of two Spanish colonial missions, Concepción, built in 1731. I continued on Mission Road another 3 miles to reach the largest mission, San José, known for its popular Mariachi Mass each Sunday. Inside the stone walls, overlooking the green and the church, the setting is serene. When I had my fill, I simply retraced my steps back to the Mission Reach and headed downtown. 
 
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Top 5 Beaches in New England to Be Active: Mountain Bike Bluff Point Beach, Connecticut

Feel like mountain biking to the beach? At the 778-acre Bluff Point State Park in Groton, a dirt road lines Poquonock River as you head straight to Bluff Point Beach. If you want to ride by your lonesome, numerous singletracks spread out in every direction from the main trail like spokes on a wheel. Choose one and ramble along the shores or inland to the John Winthrop house, dating from the early 1700s. Take a breather on the rocky bluffs where you can see directly across the Long Island Sound to New York’s Fishers Island and left to Rhode Island’s Watch Hill.
 

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