Castle Island (South Boston, MA)

It seems that every Fall I find myself looking for a new diversion to end the cycling season. Last year, I thought I discovered running, but only discovered how little my healthcare providers can do for a self-inflicted athletic injury. Needless to say, after 6 months of painful recovery, I wasn't going back to pavement-pounding any time soon. So this year I turned to one of my trusty middle school companions: rollerblades. I know what you're thinking, didn't those get phased out in the 90's? Well yes, but if you skate (with a walkman) it's almost hard to tell you're in 2012.

Anyway, today I ventured up to Castle Island (Fort Independence) to test my decade old skating skills on the paths around the fort and adjoining Pleasure Bay. I should've known that on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend it would be mobbed with every type of tourist, family, athlete, fisherman, picnic, dog walker. So while I got a chance to practice my braking technique I snapped a few photos.

Of course Castle Island is a beautiful place to do anything but bike, however, it was further down the street along Dorchester's recently developed Harborwalk that I was most impressed and most at ease on the skates. The recently constructed path offers incredibly rich unobstructed vistas of Boston's skyline and meanders along an uncrowded coastline. If you are on a bike, you can even take the path to UMass Boston and perhaps down to Savin Hill. From the link, it seems that there are plans to develop the entirety of the coastline into a multi-use path. Overall, great experience and certainly a great place to skate, bike, walk, or run.