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Great Late Summer Day Hikes: Climbing Monadnock

Climbing the broad-shouldered peak Henry David Thoreau called a “sublime mass,” Mt. Monadnock, is a rite of passage for many New England children. Just over the border of Massachusetts in southern New Hampshire, Monadnock is less than a two-hour drive from Boston. Its accessibility and locale, smack dab in the center of New England, has made it one of the two most popular mountain ascents in the world going toe-to-toe with Japan’s Mount Fuji. 

 
Early September, when the black flies are long gone and the first hints of fall color can be seen, is the ideal time to bag this 3,165-foot peak. Head up the White Dot trail, one of the steepest ascents, but also one that rewards with you with incredible vistas in a very short time. Above treeline, the forest recedes to form open ledges covered with low-lying shrubs like mountain cranberry bushes. This gives you ample opportunity to rest and peer down at the soft blanket of treetops, small towns with their requisite white steeples, a smattering of lakes and ponds, and farms that fan out to anonymous ridges. Soon you’ll reach the summit, where Thoreau watched in dismay as his fellow mid-19th century trampers inscribed their names in rock. You can still spot names like “T.S. Spaulding, 1853” clearly etched in the stone. 
 

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Active New Zealand

For thirty years, Active New Zealand has offered their signature Rimu trip. They’ve obviously doing something right because National Geographic Adventure called it one of the top 10 trips in the world. The location certainly doesn’t hurt. The two-week jaunt goes around the South Island of New Zealand. Start with a snorkel with the local seal colony at the seaside town of Kaikoura, then choose between three multi-day offerings: backpacking in Nelson Lakes National Park, sea kayaking in the Marlborough Sounds, or a mountain biking journey on the Queen Charlotte Track. The group reunites for a stroll in the Punakaiki Rainforest, before hiking at Franz Josef Glacier, and sea kayaking amidst the fjords of Milford Sound. I’ve been to the last three sites and even though it was close to 20 years ago, I still remember it vividly as some of the most stunning scenery I’ve seen on my travels. There are three upcoming trips in April, early fall in the Southern Hemisphere, so it’s a great time of year to go. Cost is $3399 US per person including guides, all lodging, and food.
 

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Play Outdoors with the AMC This Winter

It might be getting a bit nippy this time of year in Maine, but that shouldn’t stop you from being immersed in the spectacular mountain beauty of the 100-Mile Wilderness Trail. The Appalachian Mountain Club is fortunate to house three of their backcountry lodges in this section of the state, all classic sporting camps that have been revamped and are rearing up for a busy winter season of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Choose to do a self-guided ski trip between the lodges or sign up for one of their guided excursions, like the lodge-to-lodge cross-country ski jaunt from Little Lyford to Gorman Chairback the weekend of January 22-24. There’s also a guided snowshoe lodge-to-lodge the following weekend and a winter sampler over MLK Weekend. 
 
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The Debut of the Fenway Park Suite at Boston’s Hotel Commonwealth

As part of Hotel Commonwealth’s $50 million expansion to double its size, they included another one of their signature theme rooms, one that’s destined to be adored by Red Sox Nation. The new Fenway Park Suite overlooks the iconic park and features original ballpark seats on its spacious terrace along with a mitt where you can catch one of Big Papi’s last home runs. Fenway Faithful will also relish all the memorabilia indoors, including the #6 from The Green Monster scoreboard, originally given to Johnny Pesky when his number was retired in 2008; signed baseball and vintage baseball cards from Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky; actual tickets from 1946, 1967 and 1975 World Series games; a coffee table signed by numerous Red Sox legends; and mixed-media artwork of Carlton Fisk created by Massachusetts artist Stephen Sheffield to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park. And forget that mint on the pillow. Guests staying in the Fenway Park Suite receive a bag of Fenway dirt as a special turndown amenity.  

 
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Get into the Holiday Spirit at Newport

Just returned from a rejuvenating 24 hours in Newport, one of my favorite stopovers in New England any time of year. Starting today, the historic seaport gets into the Holiday spirit with a month-long citywide celebration simply called Christmas in Newport. The long list of activities includes live music at The Breakers estate and lantern walks over the twisting cobblestone streets. Newport is also home to a slew of intriguing boutique shops, ideal for Holiday shopping. Not far from the mansions on Bellevue Avenue is the Alloy Gallery, owned by a Rhode Island School of Design-trained jewelry artist who displays contemporary wares created by her and her colleagues. Women’s blouses, dresses, and jackets can be found at Tyler Boe, at Bannister’s Wharf. Kids will like the quirky games, clothing, books, and other odd miscellaneous knickknacks found at Pleasant Surprise on Thames Street. Close by is the Newport Historical Society Gift Shop, selling sea soap, shells, gardening and history books on New England. 

 
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Bike Boston

Last summer, Boston followed in the footsteps of Montreal and Denver and initiated a bike-sharing program. The Hubway features 600 bikes in 61 stations throughout the city. You pay a yearly or daily membership fee and the cost of rental for the ride (trips shorter than 30 minutes are free) and bike from one station to any of the other stations. Alta Bicycle Share, the company that designed the bike-sharing program in Washington, DC, and Melbourne, Australia, was hired to oversee the Boston network. It was such a huge hit last summer that the Hubway reopened last week with plans to expand to neighboring Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. Sure, there were naysayers at first who said Boston drivers wouldn’t share the roads with bikers. But that’s an absurd excuse, because now they’ll just have to get use to us two-wheelers! 
 
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The Ludlow Hotel to Open on the Lower East Side in June

After feasting on my favorite pastrami and rye in Manhattan, at Katz’s Deli, or downing the herring and lox at the century-old Russ and Daughters, I’m happy to know that I now have a place to nap nearby at The Ludlow Hotel. The location couldn’t be better for checking out downtown. A stone’s throw from Houston Street and an easy walk to the East Village, Little Italy, and Chinatown, the lodging will open in June and features 184 and 20 suites. Sean MacPherson, Ira Drukier, and Richard Born are the powerhouse trifecta behind the new property. Drukier and Born are responsible for NYC’s successful Pod Hotels, The Greenwich Hotel, and the Mercer Hotel, among many others. MacPherson is co-owner of The Marlton, The Bowery Hotel, The Jane Hotel, and The Maritime Hotel. Don’t miss the chance to stroll though the Lower East Side, where my grandfather, Sam Rieger, worked during the Depression selling shoes on Delancey Street. Take one of the tours at the Tenement Museum, grab a sour dill from the Pickle Guy at the corner of Essex and Grant, and then check out my favorite candy store in the world, Economy Candy (108 Rivington Street). An incredible variety of candy, including favorites from my childhood, like Mike and Ike’s. 
 

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