Where To Go Next?

Tampa is steeped in pirate lore. Some of it is fact and much is the stuff of legend. It’s true that Florida was home to many pirates that continually menaced merchant vessels and sacked small villages in the Caribbean islands. One of the area’s most famous Buccaneers was José Gaspar, who terrorized the gulf coast around the turn of the 19th century and whose mythology lives on today in the form of pirate-themed sports teams, retail stores, and of course, the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium began as an idea in 1972 to establish a marine research facility in the Tampa Bay area. Several years later, in 1978, the city of Clearwater donated a decommissioned wastewater treatment plant to the newly established Clearwater Marine Science Center to make their idea a reality. The building had large water holding pools that were modified to house marine life and the facility opened its doors to the public in 1981 with a modest one room exhibit. The small facility continued to grow and as public involvement and visits increased, changed its name to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Just over the Sagamore Bridge on Cape Cod lies the town of Sandwich, known for its beaches along the shore of Cape Cod Bay, quaint town center that features a historic grist mill, and lazy drives along route 6A. Sandwich has always been one of my favorite Cape towns, with a great mix of raw, natural beauty alongside some great man-made luxuries. Whether you are embarking on a day-trip from the metro Boston area, or planning a week long vacation on Cape Cod, Sandwich may be just the town you are seeking.

With outdoor recreation opportunities aplenty and easy access from Interstate 89, Vermont’s capital city is a great choice for a weekend away. Montpelier is the country’s smallest capital – and the only one without a McDonald’s – but it has big character. I’ve been using this central Vermont locale for my adventure jumping-off point for 11 years, and think this city has everything to offer the outdoor adventurer. Spend a few days and see for yourself!

North Conway, New Hampshire, is a favorite destination of New Englanders that want to escape city life for a few days and unwind. Its popularity is not unwarranted. I have been coming to North Conway since my teenage years. First as a skier, then a rock climber, hiker, and later on in life a father just trying to get away with my family on a few short outings. This has always been the place that I could count on to cleanse my harried soul and it never disappoints.

I love planning a route. Whether it’s backpacking 250 miles through California’s High Sierra or finding the perfect after-work gravel ride, route planning is at least half the fun for me. Getting to the trailhead, calculating mileage and elevation, and picking out campsites and resupply stops; I love it all. My newest adventure discovery, bikepacking, allows me to combine my love for long-distance route planning through remote terrain with my other love, two wheels.

It’s arguable, but Acadia is the jewel of the East Coast’s National Parks. It is one of the 61 National Parks Proper - large tracts of wilderness that include unique features and landscapes worth traveling an entire day or longer to see. Acadia certainly has several jaw-dropping features that are hard to find anywhere else. Some, like the network of Carriage Roads, were built by man. Other features such as Thunder Hole and Sand Beach were put there by God alone.

Boston is a city of firsts. Boston Common was America’s first public park, opened in 1634. The Boston News-Letter, first published in 1704, was its first newspaper. Boston was also home to America’s first public library, first marathon, and its first subway transportation system. Today, the subway is officially known as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, and colloquially known as “the T,” and even the most casual of Boston visitors will know of it’s existence and ride the underground, even if only for the novelty.

Cuban sandwiches are of course a regional favorite in Tampa. It is the cheesesteak to Philly or the lobster roll to Boston. But where is the best Cubano to be found? I've found that the finest sandwiches are greater than the sum of their ingredients.

Boston might be known as the “walking city,” but sometimes there’a just too much ground to cover in a day. That doesn’t mean that you have to go underground on the subway, affectionately known here as the “T.” In recent years, Boston has re-engineered many of the roads in town to include bike lanes and even bike paths that are separated from traffic altogether. This has made traveling on two wheels much safer and considerably less nerve-wracking.