Thinking about a Ski/Snowboard Getaway?

If you are thinking about taking a day out of the city to hit the slopes the Frugal Traveler may have the answers you are looking for.

In 2009 The New York Times published an article on its Frugal Traveler Blog about day trips to Vermont ski areas from the New York City metro area. Now Vermont seems like a long trip, but the Frugal Travel makes it doable and affordable (two pluses in my book). Check out his post here.

More recently, the Frugal Traveler provided us with an even more doable option for skiing in the metro area, Rail to the Trails. How much easier could skiing in the Tri-State Area be when you can just hop on a train straight to Thunder Ridge?

Over all, I usually recommend keeping an eye on the The Frugal Traveler. While he discusses world-wide travel ideas, he also often discusses things to do locally, as well as day or weekend getaways.

So what do you think, are day trips to Vermont worth the effort and expense? Would you do a Metro North Railroad ski trip? Have you gone on either of these trips or similar ones? Got any reviews to share?

Freshies in Central Park

Right now Central Park, and for that matter all the other incredible parks in New York, are blanketed in all of this fabulous white stuff… SNOW! 

There are so many ways to enjoy the parks during the winter. The first one happens to require no other equipment then your own two feet and uses one of New York’s best and most well known resources, Central Park. And at 834 acres, there is plenty of Park to explore, in fact if you decided to walk all the paths in Central Park you will have walked approximately 58 miles!

Right now Central Park happens to be blanketed in 7 inches of blissfully white snow. Just walking in the park at this time of year is idyllic enough. The sun glistens as it reflects off of the snow, bridges (there are 36 bridges and arches in Central Park), buildings and lampposts.  There are also many statues in Central Park, Wikipedia lists 29, though they don’t mention my favorite one. If you are interested in seeing some of the more popular statues try a self guided walking tour. There are several free options. The central park conservatory offers 10 different walking tours year round. If a group tour isn't your bag, try the download-able walking tours from CentralPark.com. 

There are some notable hills for sledding in the park. There is a rather tame hill by the Met at 84th Street, and another tame one as you enter the park at 81st Street on the West side. This particular picture was taken on a very short hill on the back side of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some of the bigger hills are Cedar Hill and Dog Hill both on the east side at 79th and 72nd Streets respectfully. Snow ball fights often break out on the Great Lawn and fields and there are always impressive snow men to be seen. What are your favorite places to go sledding in the City?

The Bridle Path is also great for those of you who love to cross country ski or snow shoe! They don’t salt or plow it. So you don’t have to be out there on the day of the snow storm in order to get in your fix. The Bridle Path is over 4 miles long (the Reservoir Loop is 1.65 miles, the North Meadow Loop is 1.1 miles and the Southern Spur is 1.5 miles) and it has plenty of rolling hills, so it a great place for a good workout.

Picture courtesy of The New York Times

So for now: get out there and enjoy all that gorgeous white stuff!