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Boston Pizza Festival Headed to City Hall Plaza July 8th and 9th

If you’re headed to Boston for the 4th of July to see the fireworks and listen to Hamilton alum Leslie Odom sing with the Boston Pops, you might want to stick around town. On July 8th and 9th from noon to 10 pm, the inaugural Boston Pizza Festival will be held at City Hall Plaza. 30 handcrafted pizza ovens will spread across the Plaza as Boston’s best pizza makers, including Regina, Antico Forno, Mast, and Oath, will give you a taste of their wares. Also expect live music, beer, wine, and pizza demos. The Mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, will be here along with Boston’s Mayor Marty Walsh to kick off the festivities. Tickets are priced at $15 and kids under 5 are free. Limited-availability VIP tickets ($50) include 1-hour early admission (11am), access to the VIP lounge with private bar, free sample for the first hour, and a VIP gift bag. Tickets can be purchased here. 

 
In order to dine on as much pizza as I’d like, I’m going to keep active next week biking, hiking, and sea kayaking along the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick. Please follow along! 

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Camping Area Conserved on Cape Cod

One of the last items the late Senator Kennedy worked on was protection of the North of Highland Camping Area. Located in Truro, this is an area of Cape Cod that still retains the charm of yesteryear, with its wild dunes, stretch of sublime coastline, and patches of forest. Unlike much of the Cape these days, Truro has resisted overbuilding. In 2005, North of Highland’s owner expressed interested in retiring and selling the 57-acre property, which the family had owned for over 50 years. The Trust for Public Land stepped in to prevent its sale for residential development and just announced they secured a conservation easement that will be managed by the National Park service. This makes perfect sense since the property lies inside the Cape Cod National Seashore, a half-mile walk from Head of the Meadow Beach.
 

 

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Astrotourism, Anyone?

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches

Shortly before I left for Newfoundland in October, my 90-year old mother, an avidly curious New York Times reader, mailed me a clipping (as she has been doing for decades). She noted, "This is a trip I could take!" Given that she doesn’t travel that much anymore, I was intrigued. What the heck is astrotourism? I learned that the term astrotourism has evolved to describe intentional travel to places with dark skies and more visible stars. Sounds great! 
 
ActiveTravels sends many members each year to Hawaii, Mexico, and Grand Cayman; nicely, these locations have developed avenues for visitors to explore the night sky. The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa has three high-powered telescopes on its roof capable of spotting 80 constellations, and there’s also an observatory atop Mauna Kea (a dormant volcano on the Big Island), 13,796 feet above sea level. In Mexico, the Four Seasons Punta Mita has begun offering guided stargazing on its driving range and beach. At the Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort, oceanfront beach cabanas with private fire pits, dinners, and s’more fixings, come with telescopes and night sky maps.
 
Back to my mother. The closest "Dark Sky" site to where she lives in New York would be on Long Island, in Southold at the Custer Institute. Open to the public every Saturday evening from dusk until midnight, volunteers assist with the powerful telescopes. For more information on sites around the country, please visit the International Dark Sky Association website.
 
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A Perfect Night in Portland, Maine in the Heart of Winter

To celebrate my wife’s birthday, we just spent a blissful night at Portland, Maine’s Pomegranate Inn and a sublime dinner at Fore Street. While the weather outside was frightful, we were cozy inside the Pomegranate Inn, warm near the fireplace. Few innkeepers can juggle modern art with 200-year-old antiques as skillfully as the Pomegranate Inn’s original owner, Isabel Smiles. Her eclectic tastes runs the gamut from faux marble columns and colorful mosaics in the living room to brightly painted walls created by local artists in the bedrooms. In fact, works of art cover the entire staircase and walls of the house, and remarkably, they all seem to fit together. It was hard to leave our room and face the blustery cold, but we didn’t want to miss Fore Street, the James Beard-award winning restaurant housed in a former wartime storage area. In the open-air kitchen, chefs busily sauté dishes on three long tables. Wood grilling local meats and seafood is Fore Street’s forte. We start with roasted Blue Hill bay mussels with chunks of pistachios. For our entrées, we shared Maine scallops, just off the boat, and tender arctic char. Happy birthday, Lis! 

 
 
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Rafting the Classic North American Rivers—Alaska’s Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers

Two arms of the same river, the headwaters of the Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers are in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. They converge shortly before entering Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park. Both are stunningly beautiful runs through a United Nations World Heritage Site. The highest coastal mountains in the world and towering glaciers slide down to the river’s edge. The Alsek and its Class IV and V waters are for adrenalin junkies, while the Tat is a wee bit mellower ride. Consider the Tat to be North America’s version of the Zambezi, where hippos and crocs are replaced by grizzlies, moose, and bald eagles flying overhead. If I only had time for one of these classic whitewater runs I’ve discussed this week, I’d choose the Tat. 
 
I’m off to Nantucket to do a biking story for The Boston Globe. I’ll be back again on Wednesday. Have a great weekend and keep active!
 
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Back at the Track

It was great to spend the weekend with my high school buddies in Saratoga. One of them has a summer home on the shores of Saratoga Lake, less than a 10-minute drive to town and the legendary Saratoga Race Track. There’s no better place to watch horse racing in America. Buy a copy of the Schenectady Gazette and a tip sheet or two on the way in, grab a seat, and start placing your bets. You’ll no doubt be standing with the rest of the crowd, cheering on your horse to cross the finish line first. Afterwards, many people head to Siro’s and Horseshoe to listen to live music. On Saturday night, we checked out the downtown Saratoga bar scene, which on a weekend in August feels like the French Quarter in New Orleans. All five floors, including the roof was packed at Saratoga City Tavern on popular Caroline Street. Druthers on Broadway Street also has live music and a good crowd on their outdoor patio. The next morning, work off your hangover with blueberry or lemon ricotta pancakes at Sweet Mimi’s, served with real maple syrup. It’s been voted the best breakfast joint in town the past 2 years, since it opened. It’s also owned by the wife of another high school buddy so I have to give it a plug.  

 
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New Brunswick Week—Driving the Acadian Coast

Stretching 110 miles from Shediac to Caraquet, the northeastern coast of New Brunswick boasts the warmest waters north of Virginia, the sand dunes of Kouchibouguac National Park, lonely lighthouses on Miscou Island, and the largest lobster processing facility on the continent. Yet, the real reason folks go out of their way to venture to the Acadian Coast is to experience the French Canadian culture. Stop at any of the small towns and you’ll notice a distinctive joie de vivre, with foot-stomping fiddle music, down-home French cooking accentuating the local seafood catch, and festivals that celebrate the Acadians’ 400-year-old history in the Atlantic Maritimes. One step inside the local boulangerie or patisserie and you’ll realize that this part of New Brunswick is just as French as Quebec, the reason why New Brunswick is the only province in Canada that is officially bilingual. This week, I’ll be driving the Acadian Coast, on assignment for The Boston Globe. I plan to go lobstering, biking, sea kayaking, and more. I’ll fill you in on all the details, so you’ll know exactly what to do on your next trip to the Atlantic Maritimes! 
 

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