Where To Go Next?

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.

When it comes to Cape Cod destinations, Mashpee is often overlooked. It's not as large as some of the other Cape Cod towns, and only a fraction of the already limited waterfront is for public access. But I have a partiality for the place. After all, it is my adopted home town. While it may be smaller in scale, the amenities that lay within its borders alone can keep vacationers busy for several days of summer vacation. In this article, we talk about the outdoor activities that are available, as well as places to eat and drink, swim and catch some rays, and activities that will be fun for the entire family.

Traveling with the little ones? No problem. Boston has plenty to do for young families. Choose from this menu of options and you should have some happy kiddos and parents.

Explore two of Boston's finest neighborhoods - Beacon Hill and the Back Bay. Each has had a role in Boston's history, and both contribute to a great itinerary for the explorer that enjoys seeing the town the way it was meant to be seen - on foot.