THE INSIDER
TRAVEL BLOG
Thursday,
May 25, 2006
TODAY IN
CENTRAL PARK
It's
a beautiful day in New York City so, not
surprisingly, Central Park was full of people
enjoying the summery weather. We
spotted a group of guys doing
calesthentics in what looked like
military-issue garb -- perhaps
they were here as part of Fleet Week -- as well as the
usual assortment of gym classes
from nearby schools, groups of
stroller-pushing new moms getting
back into shape, and plenty of
runners, cyclists, and
rollerbladers. What we didn't
expect was a sereis of remarkably
low and impressive flyovers by a
group of five planes in
formation. It turns out that this
was the U.S. Navy Blue
Angels practicing for a
Memorial Day Airshow at Jones Beach.
Wednesday,
May 24, 2006
SPRING
& SUMMER HAWAII SALE
United Airlines has
CHEAP Spring & Summer fares
to Hawaii. Although these tickets
(from CheapTickets.com)
have some
restrictions, the low prices --
at a time when most airfare is
rising -- make them worthwhile.
- Tickets for
these fares must be
purchased no later than
11:59 p.m. CT on May 31st
- 7-day
advance purchase required
- Stay at
least 3 nights
- Travel valid
through August 1, 2006
- Travel
Tuesday through Thursday
for lowest fares
Monday, May
22, 2006
FLEET WEEK
NEW YORK CITY 2006
Fleet Week,
which runs from May 24 to May 31
this year, provides New Yorkers
with a chance to meet thousands
of servicemen and women from the
U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and
international navy ships. This
weeklong event includes dozens of
military demonstrations and
displays, plus the chance to tour
ships on active duty. Check out
the official FAQs before you head out
the door.
Saturday,
May 20, 2006
BIKING DOWN
THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST
We've never done a
multi-day ride before, but if we
didn't have to show up at the
office every day, we'd be tempted
to try the 210-mile NY to Maryland ride listed on the Bike Month NYC calendar for May
24th. You start in NYC and ride down to
Baltimore at a leisurely pace of
30-40 miles per day. Of course at
this rate the trip to Philadelphia will take 3 days,
plus it will take another 3 days
to reach Baltimore. The return
trip is by bus. Email NYCbikerider2006@yahoo.com to sign up.
Friday, May
19, 2006
RIDING DOWN
FROM HALEAKALA'S SUMMIT
Haleakala (literally
"House of the Sun") is
a 10,023 foot high mountain
formed by a volcano on the island
of Maui in Hawaii. In addition to the
great mountaintop views of the
island, Haleakala offers a
spectacular, dramatic sunrise
that you will not soon forget:
one moment you are stumbling
around in the dark, and the next
moment the sun emerges over one
of the crater walls and blasts
you with intense sunlight. The
experience truly is reminiscent
of film footage taken of the
sunrise on the moon. You will
have to get up very early to
witness the Haleakala sunrise,
but we highly recommend it. To
make your experience complete,
consider riding down the mountain
on bicycle, rented from one of
the many companies that provides
this service.
Thursday,
May 18, 2006
BIKING BY
THE CITY BY THE BAY
Marin County, just
over the bridge from San Francisco, provides some of
the best biking options we have
encountered. From quiet rides
through quaint seaside villages
to serious mountain bike
adventures, biking in Marin
offers something for just about
everyone. We've written about five of our favorite
biking trails and we invite you to
take a look.
Wednesday,
May 17, 2006
THE BUSINESS
OF BEING GREEN, OR, IT FEELS GOOD
TO BE RIGHT
Years ago, in
business school, a marketing
professor of ours disagreed with
the idea that businesses would
increasingly pursue a
"green" strategy. We
had been looking around how
consumers were willing to pay
more for products that are
environmentally friendly and we
knew that the trend would only
grow as time passed and the need
for a sustainable way of life
increased. Well, apparently many
organizations, including the New York Times, are siding with
us. Today, the Times published a special section devoted to
companies whose kindness to
nature also appears to be kind to
their bottom line. Visitors have
flocked to Chicago in recent years as
its mayor has turned his vision
of Chicago as the "greenest
city in American" into
reality. Likewise, the
"greenness" of
tourist-friendly Battery Park City has been enhanced
with the addition of an environmentally-responsible
apartment building. And travel
services for those concerned
about sustainability abound: the Green Hotels
Association offers tips for
making all your travels as green
as they can be; Earth Routes recommends trips
that support conservation
efforts; and Green Travel Market bills itself as the
"virtual marketing service
for sustainable tourism."
Monday, May
15, 2006
NATIONAL
BIKE TO WORK DAY
May is Bike Month
(in case you're wondering why
you've seen so much on that topic
here this month), a designation
promoted by the League of American
Bicyclists. While communities
across the country will be
holding various events to honor
Bike Month, perhaps none will
attract more attention than Bike to Work Day on Friday, May
19th. Need some tips regarding
planning your biking commute?
Then click over to BiketoWork.com.
Tuesday, May
9, 2006
SAVE NOW ON
YOUR CARIBBEAN OR MEXICAN
VACATION!
Here at TheInsider.com,
we generally try to provide you
with information about what to do
when you get where you're going,
along with some basic tools for
getting there (including deals on
airfare, rental cars, and hotels). Every now and
then, though, we come across a
deal so great that we want to
share it with you. Now is such a
time:
CheapTickets has been
going through some changes lately
in order (as they say ) "to
bring our little site up to the
ranks of our competitors."
One new initiative is their first
big vacation package sale. We
think this is a great deal with $150 off a
5+ night trip
to Mexico or the
Caribbean. This sale
expires May 19, 2006, so book
your trip now!
Monday, May
8, 2006
A CAR-FREE
CENTRAL PARK
There is nothing we
would like better than to have
NYC's Central Park free of the
automobile traffic that sometimes
makes running or biking the loop
so hazardous. And it looks as
though we may actually get our
wish! Transportation
Alternatives has been working
toward legislation that would end
motor vehicle traffic in the Park
for the summer (as a trial toward
making the Park car-free on a
permanent basis). We supported
this initiative by signing
Transportation Alternative's petition and attending their rally this spring. We
loved their Op-Ed piece in The New York Times yesterday. And we
agree that while Mayor
Bloomberg's proposal is a step in the
right direction, it doesn't go
far enough. When we think of all
the things we love about Central
Park, including Shakespeare
performances, the Gates, the lawn by the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, and the Conservatory Garden, we notice that
none of them require cars taking
shortcuts through our beloved
oasis!
Sunday, May
7, 2006
WHAT DO
30,000 BICYCLISTS LOOK LIKE?
Like organized
chaos! All types of riders showed
up for the Five Boro Bike Tour in NYC today: the
young, the old, couples, singles,
and families (often literally
towing their kids!). We saw an
usually large number of tandem
bikes, as well as the expected
racing bikes and mountain bikes.
It was a sea of teal vests at the
starting line of America's
largest recreational cycling
event. The 42-mile route started
down by Battery Park, with riders
lining up on Church Street not
far from the World Trade
Center/Ground Zero. The tour
continued north on the west side
to Central Park, then over to a
miraculously car-free FDR to the
Queensboro Bridge (the 59th St.
Bridge immortalized by Simon
& Garfunkel). The sun was
high in the sky as many of us
reached Astoria Park, then headed
south past the Noguchi Museum and the Socrates
Sculpture Garden until we reached
the Brooklyn Queens Expressway
(again, car-free for the event
and a wonderful ride by the
water). We finished up by
crossing the Verrazano-Narrows
Bridge (hard to be up there
without thinking of the bridge
scene in "Saturday Night
Fever" but we enjoyed the
view never-the-less), pausing at
Fort Wadsworth (site of a U.S.
Military base) to celebrate a bit
before heading back to Manhattan
on the Staten Island Ferry. What a glorious
day!
Sound like fun? Then
here are some other NYC bike
rides for you to watch for:
Tour de Brooklyn
New York City Tour
de Cure
NYC Century Bike
Tour
New York City MS
Bike Tour
Tour de Bronx
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