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.
One doesn’t drive in New England simply to get from Point A to Point B at the fastest possible time. 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, 
Parents of teenagers know it’s never an easy feat to wake them up before 8 am while on vacation. Now imagine getting them to board the Kamloops to Lake Louise portion of the Rocky Mountaineer trip at 6:30. Of course they complain, but once you’re sitting in the Glacier Dome seats of the train, staring up at the mountain vistas through the glass ceiling, my kids seem content. Even more so when a hot breakfast arrives and the train is quickly socked into a mesmerizing valley of towering peaks. 
Soft and cushiony, with a shade of pink to enhance the dramatic effect, the sand on the beaches of Bermuda is better than advertised. Hemmed in by jagged rock formations and backed by cliffs, the finest beaches are a mix of horseshoe-shaped coves filled with tanning bodies and small jewel-like pockets of sand with just enough space to contain a couple or two. This sublime stretch of coastline serves as the ideal welcome mat for the weary waves that have rolled some 600 miles from the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the closest landmass to the west. May and early June are the ideal months to visit this 23-mile speck of land in the Atlantic. The surge of travelers, many venturing here aboard cruises in the height of summer, have yet to arrive, so you can see the island in its natural relaxed state. Stay at the newly revamped rooms and suites at the 
Exhausted from far too many 5 am wake-up calls, 90-minute drives in and out of Quito to the airport, and long longboat rides in the Amazon, my family was in poor spirits when we arrived in the Galapagos Islands for the last segment of our summer trip to Ecuador. But it’s amazing how a motorboat cruise on the ocean and all that water can wash away the toxins of travel. Listening to our iPods and watching the dolphins and orcas swim beside us, we were relaxed by the time we reached the sea lions lounging on the docks of Floreana. A driver brought us to our lodging for the next two nights,