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Showing posts from 2014

Weir River Farm and Turkey Hill- Hingham, MA

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Weir River Farm and Turkey Hill in Hingham, MA was the perfect way to spend our Saturday afternoon. The farm extends over a 75-acre reservation, with the much expected rolling pastures and green fields.  Yet the area is also surrounded by woodlands.  Although the barnyard and animals are only available seasonally, the farm trails are open year-round from sunrise to sunset. There is a 1.5 mile loop trail of easy hiking along dirt paths.  Turkey Hill is adjacent to Whitney and Thayer Woods which is also connected to the Wompatuck State Park .  The reservation offers tons of beautiful sites.  At the top of Turkey Hill you can see views of the Boston skyline.  We especially love the wooded areas of the trail.  Along with walking, there are many paths for bike riders as well.  Once the warmer seasons turn the corner, there is no doubt we will be back again to visit the animals. Travel the East  © Kristy Albano & Matt Pickering               

Holiday Bucket List- Outdoor Ice Skating

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The Boston Common Frog Pond- Boston, MA Although Christmas is around the corner, the holiday season doesn't officially end until the first day of our New Years Resolutions.  So there's still time to check off number four on the  Holiday Bucket List - Outdoor Ice Skating! December is the best time of year to dust off the skates that have been sitting in the back of your closet and get outside on the ice. We typically skate outdoors on frozen ponds, but it's a bit early in the year for the ponds to freeze up near the Boston area.  Luckily, there are plenty of outdoor rinks scattered around the Northeast and beyond.  Many of which are decorated with colorful lights making this a perfect evening activity for your holiday season. We love the iconic Frog Pond in the heart of the Boston Commons. The rink is surrounded by trees streamed in lights, with music playing in the background as you skate.  It is a perfect setting for a fun night with family, friends, or

BU Today- Discovering the Great Outdoors

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We had the awesome opportunity of partnering up with Boston University in our recent interview appearing on BU Today - Discovering The Great Outdoors ! As a student in the Graduate School of Management's Professional Evening MBA program, I couldn't be more honored for the feature and continued support from an amazing community of leaders, innovators and all-in-all great people! Thanks BU, I'm proud to be a Terrier! Click here to check out our article on BU Today! Travel the East  © Kristy Albano & Matt Pickering                                                         Traveltheeast@gmail.com  |  www.traveltheeast.com  |  @TraveltheEast   Like us on Facebook

Wompatuck State Park- Hingham, MA

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We love uncovering new parks and trails!  Especially ones right outside of Boston, making it easy for those of you living your busy city lives to find time to escape and enjoy some fresh air and the outdoors. This past weekend we explored Wompatuck Park which is primarily located in Hingham, MA but crosses over into Cohasset, Norwell and Scituate. As you can imagine, this park is huge with 3,500 acres of recreational area. Wompatuck is a popular spot for campers with over 260 wooded campsites  (including half with electricity). There are also certain areas that are accessible for hunting, but definitely check out the park  regulations beforehand. Aside from that, there are around 12 miles of biking trails , extensive paths for trail hiking and cross country skiing, and the Aaron Reservoir which is perfect for fishing and kayaking.  Only non-motorized boats are permitted in the Reservoir but it's an easy put-in from the boat launch area of the park.  During our

Holiday Bucket List- Winter Trail Hike

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World's End State Park in Hingham, MA December is probably not the best month to hike a mountain.  However there are still plenty of other options to get outdoors, which brings us to number two on our Holiday Bucket List - enjoy a winter trail hike this holiday season!  All you really need to do is bundle up, get on some weather proof boots and find a park near you. We recently visited World's End State Park in Hingham, whose name may seem a bit daunting yet is far from the contrary.  World's End is a beautiful park with a mix of different landscapes from rocky coastlines to pockets of woodlands and tree-lined paths.  Keep in mind, there is a $6 admission fee for nonmembers.  But if you find yourself making frequent visits to parks throughout Massachusetts, you may want to consider becoming a Trustees Member . With  251 acres of land, this park has a ton of ground to cover.  We recommend allowing 1.5 to 2 hours at a minimum for your visit.  The trails are mode

Holiday Bucket List- Cut Down Your Own Christmas Tree

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The Christmas Tree Farm in Pembroke, MA With the holiday season upon us, we wanted to share some fun ideas to add to your Holiday Bucket Lists this year.  And what better way to kick-off this festive edition than getting a Christmas Tree!  The Christmas Tree Farm in Pembroke, MA There are a ton of unique and fun traditions out there when it comes to getting a Christmas Tree. With this being our first Christmas in our new home, we wanted to start a tradition together as well. For us, cutting down our own tree seemed to be the obvious choice.  So the weekend following Thanksgiving, we did just that. First we did the prep work- Pick out and measure the area for the Christmas tree to determine how big (or small) of a tree to get.  For our space, we decided a 6 ft. tree would be perfect. Purchase a Christmas tree stand and bow saw . There are plenty of affordable options available at Lowes.  Also, most farms will offer to cut down the tree for you, if prefer that option in

20 Turkey Trots in MA on Thanksgiving 2014!

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There's still time to join the thousands of runners that will start their Thanksgiving Festivities with a healthy serving of fitness and exercise!  We put together a list of 20 Turkeys Trots in Massachusetts that are still accepting registrations and/or allowing race-day sign-up's on Thanksgiving morning.  So, before you eat the meal you've been waiting 364 days for --> #GetYourRunOn!  Click on the cities below for race info and more details on how to register.   Acton Andover Attleboro Brighton   Chatham Concord Dedham Dorchester Franklin Great Barrington Hingham   Holden Lowell Newburyport North Easton Plymouth Salem Wakefield Watertown Weymouth Travel the East  © Kristy Albano & Matt Pickering                                                         Traveltheeast@gmail.com  |  http://traveltheeast.blogspot.com  |  @TraveltheEast   Like us on Facebook

Burlington, Vermont

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There are many cool places to explore in the Northeast, especially if you enjoy the outdoors.  And the convenience of their proximity to one another within the New England region, makes exploring these cities even better.  On our trip back from Montreal  a few months back, we made a detour to Burlington, Vermont before  heading back home to Boston. Burlington is great town with so much to do and see.  The city itself is on the shore of Lake Champlain with beautiful overlook views by the water.  Although we only spent the day there, we would definitely consider returning back again for a weekend trip. When we first arrived we grabbed lunch at The Farmhouse Tap & Grill . We highly recommend this place!  The food is sourced from Vermont farmers and the freshness and taste of the menu items speaks for itself.  They also have a wide selection of craft brews on tap.  Although they are always updating their menu, if you are a burger-lover then you should definitely go with one f

Guest Blogger- Creator of @ig.boston on Instagram

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If you use Instagram enough, I am sure you are familiar with the Instagram accounts for cities featuring some of the best photos for that specific location to thousands of viewers. Living in Boston and loving photography, it was inevitable that we started following  @ig.boston  and begin tagging our photos (#ig_boston) for a chance to be featured as the "IG of the Day" for our city.   Yet we were always curious to learn more about who was behind it all and how did they become involved.   And so we met Marianne Strong, creator of @ig.boston!  We loved her story & hope you do as well! Be sure to check out her awesome gallery on instagram as well ->  @ig.boston ! I grew up in my family’s own version of The Brady Bunch meets Where the Wild Things Are!!   I am the fourth of six kids, three boys and three girls.  We were a loud and lively bunch!  My parents loved to travel and my father had a real passion for photography.  Some of my favorite childhood

Mount Cardigan- Orange, NH

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It's hard to judge the weather patterns once Autumn turns the corner.  So when we see a good weather in the forecast we throw on hiking gear and take full advantage of the day!  Two weeks ago we did just that, using a vacation day to get in one of our last mountain hikes of the season. Bright and early Thursday morning, we drove up to Mount Cardigan in Orange, New Hampshire. Overall the hike took around 4 hours from start to finish.  We started our ascend up the West Ridge Trail.  The trail has many tree roots and bigger rocks on the path making it a bit challenging to move too quickly without paying attention to your footing.  Alongside the trail is a babbling brook and other small streams.  During the first half of our hike it began to drizzle, making the trail muddy and a bit slippery on the more rockier areas, but fortunately the canopy of the trees shaded us from most of the rain until it died down. Important to note, the West Ridge trail is c

Lake Ronkonkoma, NY

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My parent's house is located a few minutes away from Long Island's largest body of fresh water, Lake Ronkonkoma . Growing up nearby, I never took full advantage of the area. Yet while exploring on a more recent visit to Long Island, I was actually quite stunned how peaceful and beautiful the lake was. The perimeter of the lake is around 2 miles long with several shoreline trails.  Occasionally there will be people fishing or kayaking in the water.  Years ago the lake was a vacation spot for city dwellers, however now is lesser known and not visited as frequently.  This of course has its upside with it never being too crowded. Peaceful enough for Yoga! Lake Ronkonkoma is also known for its myths and legends.  The most famous being the Lady of the Lake.  There are multiple variations but a popular interpretation of this myth is about a Native American girl who fell in love with a European settler.  Since this love was forbidden she was forced into an arranged marri

Guest Blogger- Mount Washington- Huntington Ravine Trail, NH

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We are very excited to have crossed paths with Patrick Gensel who shares our same thirst for adventure and exploring the east coast as we do!  Pat is an active lifestyle photographer from Northeast Pennsylvania. His wanderlust has taken him throughout North America, Iceland and Norway. When he isn’t hiking, climbing, or taking photos, he can be found tinkering with technology. We are very happy to have him share his hiking adventure at Mount Washington.  Be sure to check out more of his photos and stories on  Adventure Travel Buzz ! If you spend a lot of time in the west, you may not make much time for adventure in the Northeast, but despite the fact that the mountains are smaller, there is still plenty of adventure to be had. One of my favorite New England hikes is New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, via the Huntington Ravine Trail. Be forewarned, this trail is not for the faint of heart, and should only be attempted by experienced hikers when the conditions are dry sinc