Sponsored by New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau

There’s a moment at the start of every vacation when you truly arrive. Maybe it’s when you catch your first shimmering glimpse of the ocean, or cross the bridge that connects you to an island paradise. Or maybe it’s sipping a tropical cocktail as you watch the sunset from a treetop restaurant.

In New Smyrna Beach, on Florida’s east coast, you feel a similar thrill every time you clink a glass or pick up a fork. The area beckons visitors with 17 miles of pristine beaches, bustling village-like hubs, and a vibrant arts scene of galleries, performances, and festivals. It’s all so accessible now that Avelo and Breeze Airways fly low-cost direct routes into visitor-friendly Daytona Beach International Airport from Hartford, New Haven, Providence, and White Plains.

Here’s the delicious surprise: New Smyrna Beach’s treasure trove of eateries rivals that of many larger destinations. There is more culinary variety, sophistication, and innovation than you’d ever expect from a nostalgic beach town.

Consider Norwood’s Restaurant & Treehouse Bar, an area landmark since 1946, famous for its succulent seafood, house-aged steaks, and leafy deck perched high in an oak tree overlooking the intracoastal waterway. Meet friends here at sunset for live music, bacon-wrapped scallops, and a cocktail crafted with house-made syrups and freshly pressed juices. Or if you’re in a wine mood, discover a new favorite among their impressive collection of very affordably priced bottles gathered from around the world.

Just blocks from the beach, Third Wave Café occupies a Craftsman-style cottage, operating as a laid-back bistro during the day and an elegant dinner spot at night, complete with a lush garden in back. Not only are the daily seafood selections enticing, but they’re also environmentally friendly thanks to Chef David Moscoso’s dedication to cooking with local and sustainable ingredients, a commitment recognized by the prestigious James Beard Foundation. You can also feel good about the wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas, Wagyu short ribs, and candied salmon—all must-tries.

In this city teeming with natural beauty, a picnic by the ocean indulges all of your senses at once. To get started, head to Paco Submarine, which redefines sandwich-making as a serious craft. Everything here is made from scratch: that includes smoking bacon for the BLT and curing pastrami for The Clayton, a layering of meat, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and creamy mustard on rye. Each sandwich gets its own style of bread, which is also homemade. If you can’t wait to spread out your blanket, order some fries to eat on your trek over the causeway. They’re as good as you’ll find anywhere, Belgium included. 

If you’re craving a cup of coffee with a side of Bohemian charm, visit Luma, an open-air café with hanging chairs and shady porticos. Revel in the chill atmosphere or grab something to go and warm your toes in the sand while watching surfers ride the waves.

Tiki culture is alive and well at Avanu on Flagler, where gastropub classics are accented with Asian and Polynesian flavors. Check out the rooftop to bask in ocean breezes and behold incredible views of the palmy surroundings. The crispy Korean fried chicken, lemongrass seafood noodles, and playful bar menu are irresistibly inviting after a sunbaked day on the shore.

At Café Verde, it’s immediately clear you’re about to eat well on vacation. Their menu features plenty of vegetarian and gluten-free options. This bright, airy space is the perfect spot for imaginative salads, grain bowls, globally flavored entrées, and craft cocktails. Their BLT scallop tacos topped with house-made salsas are an edible getaway all on their own.

Across the Indian River from the beach, Spanish River Grill brings an authentic taste of Spain to Florida. The whipped feta, garlicky mushrooms with house-made bread, and crispy chicken a la plancha pair perfectly with a glass of sangria or Spanish wines from a well-curated list. For dessert, the Basque cheesecake is a light, fluffy, caramelized wonder. Just heavenly.

Speaking of otherworldly baked goods, the Dutch Oven Bread Co. opens soon on Canal Street in the midst of shops and galleries (there’s a sister bakery a short drive away in Edgewater). Pick up a crusty, chewy baguette, and recharge with a mouthwatering fruit danish or an enormous cinnamon roll. Just down the street, there’s Shebeen, where you can indulge in treats like truffles with a matcha latte or a fruit-topped waffle with an icy-cold chai. Their inventive ice creams include “booze-jee” flavors for adults only.

In a town replete with bright colors, warm hospitality, and Old Florida charm, New Smyrna Beach’s restaurants stir richness into the mix, creating a destination where every meal is a reminder to embrace the good life and “Relax Already.”

Start planning a delectable escape at visitnsbfl.com.

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Sponsored by Visit Central Florida

There’s your luggage, already on the carousel. There’s your rental car, right outside the door. Lakeland Linder International has just two gates, so when you land at Central Florida’s airport—a competitively priced direct flight of about three hours from New Haven or Manchester-Boston thanks to new Avelo routes—you won’t waste precious vacation time getting on your way.

On your way to Tampa or Orlando, perhaps. Both are about an hour’s drive. But that would be soooo predictable. And you and your beloveds deserve a trip that’s uniquely unforgettable and as easy-breezy as jetting to this land of citrus and sunshine and Old Florida allure. Which of these worlds will you explore together on your first visit … and on your next?

A Garden of Musical Enchantment

By March, it’s full-on springtime at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, as thousands of azaleas and camellias erupt in magenta-and-white bloom blasts. On this perpetually colorful hilltop, wildscapes converge with cultivated landscapes in what is considered one of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.’s supreme achievements. Kids have their own garden, Hammock Hollow, for digging and climbing and learning through play.

Longtime Ladies’ Home Journal editor and world-peace advocate Edward Bok (an interesting guy; you’ll want to read his autobiography) left us this soul-soothing sanctuary, but that’s not all. Built of pink marble and the seashell rock coquina, and ornately embellished by some of the best artisans alive in 1929, the Singing Tower soars 205 feet above it all. It looks like a castle, but it’s actually an instrument: one of the most impressive carillons in the world. The reverberation of 62 tons of five-octave bells will stop you in your tracks, then pull you toward the tower’s reflecting pool for the listen of your life.

An Architectural Wonderland

A walking tour of Florida Southern College in Lakeland isn’t just for prospective students. The campus is home to the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright–designed buildings in the world. Usonian House, designed in 1939 but built in 2013, is a model of the famed architect’s vision for minimalist living. A dozen other midcentury buildings, which still appear futuristic, are very much in use. You’ll be shaded by Wright’s mile-plus-long Esplanade as you hear about his organic inspiration and the unique construction methods he employed. Danforth Chapel, with its Wright-designed stained glass, is a photogenic highlight. You might be accompanied on your walk by one of 36 campus cats, although only two, Dexter and Gilbert, are super friendly.

A Genuine Dude Ranch

They’re not herding cats at Westgate River Ranch, an authentic, Western-themed resort that’s the largest of its kind east of the Mississippi. So pack your faded jeans and cowboy boots (you can buy a wide-brimmed hat at the general store), and fill your days with horseback and mechanical-bull rides, archery, fishing, hearty meals, and a few thrills you won’t find in Montana like loud-and-fast and totally exhilarating airboat tours. Gator sightings are routine. You don’t have to stay or “glamp” here to attend Saturday-night rodeos with their intoxicating blend of wild action and Americana pageantry you can only experience when bull riders and barrel racers give it their all.

A LEGO Lover’s Dream (with a Dash of Peppa)

Discover several worlds wrapped up in one at LEGOLAND Florida Resort in Winter Haven. Leave it to LEGO to engineer an attraction that’s sized just right and keeps everyone—little kids to grandfolks—smiling. For wee ones, the world’s first Peppa Pig Theme Park is the perfect introduction to amusement rides, shows, character photo ops, and simple pleasures like tricycling around a track. LEGOLAND offers 50 more rides and experiences like MINILAND USA with its detailed cityscapes, plus a water park for warm days. You’ll marvel at life-size (and larger!) creations. Sit behind the wheel of a red-brick LEGO Ferrari, then build and test your own race car. 

Save time for a nostalgic stroll through the botanical wonders of Cypress Gardens, Florida’s original tourist attraction, or see them from the water with local guide Rue Denton’s The Living Water Boat Cruises. Two hotels with LEGO activities galore, including in-room treasure hunts and exclusive workshops, are a few blocks from all the fun.

Swan City

Don’t overlook downtown Lakeland when you crave an elevated escape. The largest city in a county that’s a bit bigger than Rhode Island is nicknamed for its myriad swans, all descended from a mated pair gifted by Queen Elizabeth II. The century-old Terrace Hotel is the grande dame here, and it’s steps from shopping, events in Munn Park, Revival’s sophisticated cocktails, and a superb brunch at Nineteen61 (the pastelitos will spoil you for any other guava pastries). The stress-free airport’s less than 20 minutes away, so linger and squeeze every drop of juice out of your time away.

Begin planning your Central Florida vacation at visitcentralflorida.com.

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Atlantic Canada stirs the appetite with its exhilarating sights and imaginative culinary scene. In these four provinces—New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island—seafood is abundant, farms are plentiful, and wineries, cideries, distilleries, and breweries season the landscapes. You will be hungry, too, after paddling beautiful coastlines, hiking seaside cliffs and forested peaks, or strolling endless beaches keeping watch for whales, seabirds, and the occasional iceberg.

From New England, this culturally rich region is easily accessible via plane, car, or high-speed ferry. To tantalize you, we’ll take you on a whirlwind tour of memorable culinary adventures. Consider this a mere sprinkling of the ways an Atlantic Canada vacation will fill your plate.

Taste the Tides: Fine dining on the ocean floor in Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick

Attached to Maine and easily accessible with 17 U.S. border crossings, New Brunswick is known for its 60 coastal and inland lighthouses, the warmest saltwater beaches north of Virginia, and outdoor adventures in vast, untouched wilderness. You may be familiar with the Flowerpots: towering rock formations eroded by the world’s highest tides in the Bay of Fundy. Now imagine dining in their midst, on the ocean floor, just six hours before 45 feet of water rushes in.

“We showcase southeastern New Brunswick’s local products, including wines,” Chef Anthony Seamone says. The Taste the Tides culinary team forages for fiddleheads, dandelions, garlic scapes, and samphire greens. The salt comes from the waters around Cape Enrage.

It’s an intimate experience, limited to 24 guests at a time, who begin to bond on a guided, interpretive walk before descending to their Castle Cove dining expanse. A glass bowl displaying natural finds awaits on each table, and at the meal’s end, the chef thanks each guest with a surprise message in a bottle.

Feed your New Brunswick travel dreams at tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Roots, Rants, and Roars: Eat, drink, and make merry in Elliston, Newfoundland

Fly or road trip to Newfoundland, where friendly locals “screech in” newcomers with cod kissing and rum. The third weekend in September is a foodie’s delight. Roots, Rants, and Roars brings acclaimed North American chefs to Elliston, the “Root Cellar Capital of the World.” Chef Nick van Mele of the Grounds Café at Murray’s, a former Cod Wars winner, calls the food festival “a beautiful experience for chefs who care about highlighting local ingredients” and for those who attend.

Judging the Cod Wars is a tasty task for festivalgoers, with six chefs’ cod dishes vying for supremacy. “Cod is Newfoundland’s backbone,” van Mele says of the fish’s place in local history, culture, and lore.

He loves The Hike, which features tasting stations, local libations, traditional music, and art installations along a coastal route. The festival wraps with a family-style feast featuring seven courses by seven chefs. “It’s held by the beach and feels off the grid; you live in the moment with others who love the rugged environment and Newfoundland ingredients.”

Plan an indulgent Newfoundland & Labrador trip at newfoundlandlabrador.com.

Vintage Vino Tours: Sip in style at Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley wineries

Nova Scotia, easily reachable via The CAT ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine, conjures images of the Cape Breton Highlands, South Shore beaches, Halifax’s maritime-history sites, and Annapolis Valley vineyards. On his private Vintage Vino Tours, Brennan Fitzgerald chauffeurs guests from vineyard to vineyard in vintage automobiles, weaving in stories about Canada’s Original Wine Region. “It’s the birthplace of North America,” he says. “We have been cultivating grapes here for over 400 years, but only in the last few decades have our wineries garnered international recognition for the quality of their wines. We make fantastic white and award-winning sparkling wines.”

Whether motoring in a 1947 Ford Super Deluxe or a 1952 Pontiac Chieftain, dining among the vines is always an option. “The slower pace of traveling in a vintage car adds to the experience,” Fitzgerald notes.

Each season has its pluses. “Spring is stunning; it’s quiet and relaxed, and the flowers are gorgeous,” Fitzgerald says. Summer is vibrant, and in the fall, he recommends adding farms, orchards, and markets brimming with produce to your custom-tailored tour. “The grapes are ready, the wineries are alive with activities, workers are harvesting, and grapes are changing color”—that’s bliss.

Explore Nova Scotia’s flavorful nuances at novascotia.com.

The Table Culinary Studio: Heavenly, hyperlocal fare in rural New London, Prince Edward Island

On Canada’s Food Island—the land of Green Gables, famed oysters and mussels, red sands and soil, and rare moving dunes—Chef-Owner Derrick Hoare and Executive Chef Hunter Guindon create a divine, seven-course tasting menu at The Table Culinary Studio. Remarkably, no dish served inside this handsomely restored church is repeated during the mid-May through late September season.

“We create the menu backwards,” Hoare says. He and Guindon scour the island, visiting farms, wharves, and foragers to find the best products. “Then we write our menu to feature the freshest foods available,” he says. For ingredients that can’t be sourced on the island, Guindon creates substitutes such as rhubarb for lemon, the little barbs on alder trees for black pepper, or daylily buds for capers.

In the dining space, which seats 27, Guindon appears periodically to explain the whats, whys, and hows of eating sustainably. “The pleasure for us is sharing a little bit of PEI through food, the island vibe, and the atmosphere in the church with guests from around the world.”

Cook up an escape to Prince Edward Island at tourismpei.com.

The post Feast on Atlantic Canada’s Culinary Experiences appeared first on New England.

Sponsored by The Island Hopper

When Yankee‘s travel editor, Kim Knox Beckius, caught up with Tricia Heaton and her daughter, Courteney, they were on the other side of the world, “in a darling hotel in Amsterdam, along one of the canals.” They were adjusting to the time change and scouting the city before continuing on to Italy to greet their next group of “Hoppers.”

In just three years, the retired special education teacher and recent college grad have grown their Vermont-based tour company, The Island Hopper, by… leaps! Their 2024 excursions, as close to home as Vermont’s country roads and as far away as the plains of Kenya, sold out instantly. The Island Hopper (yes, we’ll find out what’s behind that curious name) promises something extraordinary for travelers, predominantly women. These trips are about experiencing places in community with others and sparking creativity that enhances joy and a sense of wellbeing. These are restorative retreats, not exhausting tours, led by women who understand travel’s power to nourish the soul.

Of course, Kim wanted to know how Tricia and Courteney started the business, as well as what the future holds. “Listen in” on their conversation.

Kim: What made you decide to launch a travel company?

Tricia: In 2022, I was staying at a villa I had visited before in Lucca, and I just blurted out: “I have to bring women back here.” I have Italian friends who have a hospitality business, and I asked them, “Will you help me?” They immediately jumped in and were very enthusiastic and found a villa for us. Then, I asked Courteney if she would help me. Courtney has traveled a great deal in her life, and she jumped at the opportunity.

Kim: How did you market the trip?

Tricia: I’m a needlepointer, and I posted on my Instagram account: “If I ran a trip to a villa in Italy, would anyone want to come and needlepoint with me?” And 300 women said yes.

So I went ahead and rented the villa. We took 60 women to Tuscany our first year, 20 at a time, and it was fantastic. We created a whole business about international adventures where women joyfully gather and create art and community.

Kim: You’re offering trips in New England now, too, right?

Tricia: Yes, some of our travelers said, “You write about Vermont all the time. Can we come to Vermont? So we partnered with the Barrows House in Dorset, and we had about 20 women participate in our first Creative Summer Camp for Women, and another 27 this year. We’ll offer the program for the third time in 2025.

Kim: Tell me about your upcoming fall 2024 trip to Kenya.

Tricia: We have partnered with the Kenya Drylands Education Fund, a U.S. nonprofit and a Kenya NGO. It was founded by Sarah Hadden and Ahmed “Kura” Omar. I have traveled to Kenya with them before. They started very small, collecting pencils, and now they build schools. They’ve built a library and a sports center. They have done tremendous work getting water into the drought-stricken drylands. 

When we started this business, I asked Sarah and Kura if they would welcome our Island Hoppers. They gratefully said yes, so we are going in October… 21 of us. The majority of the people traveling with us went to Italy with us last year. A few of them are bringing husbands, so this will be our first co-ed trip. The first of many, we hope.

Kim: Oh, so are you moving away from women-only tours?

Tricia: No, we are not going to give up those all-women trips because we find there are so many women who want to travel but don’t have anyone to travel with. Most of our clients are active women between the ages of 48 and 80. We have widows; we have women who have never married. We have women who are divorced. We have women whose husbands won’t travel.

About 50% of them come solo. Some have said, “I didn’t tell anyone I knew because I didn’t want them to come with me.” And what happens is when you remove women from their communities and people they know, they can speak really freely. They’re able to connect with other women, really tell their story, and be their genuine selves. 

Courteney and I sit at the end of the dinner table, and we watch what happens over the week. The first night, they’re kind of quiet. Next night it gets a little bit more lively. The third night, it’s loud, and the fourth night they’re screaming from one end of the table to the next. There’s just a magic we know how to create.

I did not anticipate what was going to happen with these friendships among our Island Hoppers. One woman sent me a note and said, you introduced me to my best friends. Some of these groups are so tight they are having their own reunions. Our Kenya trip will have women who were on all of our different Italy trips who don’t know each other yet. So our community is mixing now, which is really fabulous.

Kim: What are some of the special touches you bring to your tours?

Tricia: We have little journals for our Hoppers. We always have little projects, special gifts. We do a book club on every trip, so everybody gets a book in the mail before the trip. We work with Northshire Bookstore here in Vermont.

Kim: Tell me about the origins of your business name, The Island Hopper.

Tricia: Courteney has an autoimmune disease we had never heard of before, and she was in college in Colorado while going through the process of being diagnosed. I had a small needlepoint mail order business at the time. I just decided I couldn’t worry about shipping needlepoint anymore. I needed the freedom to go to appointments with her when needed. So I lived between Vermont and one island after another island in Florida, and I started a travel blog called The Island Hopper.

I thought our first Italy trip was going to be a one and done kind of thing. But after we sold three trips to Italy in eight hours, I knew we had to do more. We have a wonderful following of people who want to travel with us. I have had two branding people suggest we change the name. And so we went to our clients and said, “We’re thinking of changing our name. Maybe The Island Hopper doesn’t work.” And all of them said, “No, no, no, we love it. We love being Island Hoppers. We hop continents, and we love the vibe of it.” So we listened to our people.

Kim: It’s such a fun name. You’ve made me want to be a Hopper. What are your plans for growing the business moving into 2025?

Tricia: We’re taking two women with us to Italy who we are going to train to run trips for us. The more trips we run the better. We are also increasing our trips to Vermont. In addition to our summer retreat, we’re adding a fall trip in 2025. What’s better than fall in Vermont? We’re also looking to expand to other countries. Courteney is also going to work on launching some trips for younger people.

Courteney: My mom constantly reminds me to dream bigger. The dreams we started with are not the dreams we have now, and we’ve done things we never thought we would do.

Tricia: Our clients don’t just want to travel. These women want to get out and adventure and see the world, and we love them. We’ll take them anywhere, as many times as they want to go.

Kim: What’s the best way to find out about trips before they sell out?

Tricia: Our email list subscribers find out about new trips first. You can also follow us on Instagram @theislandhoppertrips.

The post Want to See Vermont? Or the World? Jump at the Chance to Travel with The Island Hopper appeared first on New England.

Sponsored by Visit New Bern

At its core is a picture-perfect riverfront laced with wide, inviting sidewalks. Walking them feels easy and familiar, yet thrilling. Whether you’re heading out on the water, following a trail of architectural wonders, or diving into the lively arts and culinary scenes, the current of this city sweeps you off your feet fast.

If it all sounds like something out of a storybook, well, North Carolina’s second-oldest city is the setting for four novels by New Bern’s own Nicholas Sparks. You may know him as the acclaimed author of The Notebook, which inspired a romantic Ryan Gosling flick and a new Broadway musical.

New Bern’s getting its own star turn thanks to the launch of new direct flights. Only fools wouldn’t rush in now that Breeze Airways offers non-stop, low-cost runs from Hartford’s Bradley International Airport. One-way fares for as little as $50 have you touching down merely 90 minutes after taking off. Even better: Coastal Carolina Regional Airport is as easy an airport to navigate as you’re going to experience. You’re in, you’re out, and then it’s a mere 10-minute ride to downtown.

Now, it’s not that New Bern is playing hard to get, but you may not be able to see all of its alluring features in a long weekend or even a week. Still, it sure is fun to try, and as the city is nestled into the confluence of the Trent and Neuse rivers, the water is the place to start. New Bern is a playground for boaters, anglers, and paddleboarders. Start your day with an early dawn stroll along the mile-plus Riverwalk; finish with a two-hour sunset cruise.

Here in the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola, you’ll be enticed by an effervescent restaurant-and-bar scene. There’s traditional pub fare at local favorite Morgan’s Tavern & Grill, upscale seafood at Persimmons, and fresh sushi at Kuma. At the recently opened Baxter’s 1892 you’ll find classic cocktails and Jazz Age ambiance. In the 1912 building first occupied by Pepsi’s concoctor Caleb Bradham, restaurateur Ron McHugh is bringing his Boston ties to the menu at The Chelsea. “I’m going to teach people how to pronounce the word ‘quahog,’” he says.

Everyone has a past. For New Bern, that means there’s amazing history around every corner. Grand gardens and even grander architecture await at Tryon Palace, a faithful recreation of North Carolina’s original state capitol. Just a few blocks away, enjoy a Pepsi at the same counter where Bradham formulated the original cola recipe. And on a 90-minute trolley tour, you can swoon over a bevy of architectural styles embellishing this captivating city, including a white-steepled 1880 church you’ll swear was lifted straight from a classic New England green.

Intrigued? It’s time to fall in love at first sight at visitnewbern.com/ct.

The post Meet Your New Crush: It’s a Place, Not a Person appeared first on New England.

Sponsored by Currituck Outer Banks

Sometimes a family just needs a beach. A place where parents chill in the sun with their toes in the sand, while cousins chase waves, and grandparents and grandchildren collect seashells and memories.

The Corolla Outer Banks offers all this, and more: herds of wild horses, a towering lighthouse, and four-wheel beach driving on miles of undeveloped shoreline.

Located about halfway between Maine and Florida at the northeast corner of North Carolina, this barrier island destination is an easy meeting point. It’s a detour off Interstate 95 or just 90 minutes from Norfolk, Virginia’s international airfield. Raleigh-Durham’s busier airport is about three hours away.

However you get there, you’ll remember the moment you reach the three-mile-long Wright Memorial Bridge. Across Currituck Sound lies a slice of paradise, where salt-tinged breezes sweep away daily life’s busyness and cares. In this laid-back coastal setting, cellphones are cast aside, and the focus becomes real people. Real life. Right now.

There are a handful of inns and hotels, but most vacationers opt for rentals. These range from modest cottages to mansions tucked into the dunes, with space for a dozen loved ones or more. Some families return to the same place year after year, but newcomers are always welcome. The time to book for summer is about six months ahead. In other words: now.

Once you arrive, life settles into an easy routine. Days start with steamy coffee or a brisk walk as the sun peeks up over Atlantic breakers. No need for detailed plans. One day might center on a guided tour to see the Corolla wild horses roaming Currituck’s four- wheel-drive beaches. These majestic descendants of Spanish mustangs have thrived here for more than 400 years. They’re federally protected, so photograph and admire them from at least 50 feet away.

Perhaps you’ll pedal miles of protected path on the Wright Brothers Bikeway. Or enjoy a splashy afternoon of watersports, from surfing to paddleboarding to kayaking on the calm waters of the Sound. Consider climbing the 1875 lighthouse. Or touring the Art Nouveau–style museum called Whalehead, a lavish hunting lodge built by a Northern industrialist and his wife. Of course, a powdery beach always awaits.

Some nights, you’ll want to grill dinner. Other evenings, try the local seafood catch. Independent restaurants offer fresh oysters on the half shell and boiled North Carolina shrimp and crab, served with crunchy hush puppies, corn, and coleslaw. There’s usually Atlantic yellowfin tuna and snapper on the menu, too.

Be sure to gather everyone for the fiery sunset show over Currituck Sound. Although it marks the end of a perfect beach day, tomorrow promises another.

Begin planning your getaway at visitcurrituck.com.

The post This Could Be Your Family Beach appeared first on New England.

Sponsored by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Planning a trip to the Bradenton area is one of the best ways to support 2024 hurricane season recovery efforts in the Bradenton Gulf Islands, where work is rapidly being completed to restore places travelers love.

If you’re one of those ritualists who packs away shorts and sandals the moment mornings turn chilly and there’s a hint of auburn to the leaves, make this the year you toss summerwear into a carry-on bag instead. It’s never been easier to hop a direct, low-priced getaway flight to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport: gateway to islands where pastel beach cottages, coastal-chic shops, and on-the-water seafood restaurants make a fall stay feel like an epilogue to summer in New England. October days are beach days in the Bradenton Gulf Islands; farmers’ markets are just getting underway in November; and a moonlit paddle in December feels like an act of defiance for anyone who’s accustomed to the shifting seasons up north.

The sun still cranks out daytime temperatures in the 80s through much of the fall on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key, narrow barrier beaches in the Gulf of Mexico connected to the mainland and each other by bridges. You’ll love how it warms your shoulders, yet not the pearly quartz sand that remains cool as it cushions sunset walks. Mornings are the best time to spy dolphins and manatees feeding in the turquoise-to-cobalt ombré waters that whoosh gently toward shore, leaving swirly lace patterns and seashells at your feet. 

Remarkably, the travel time here from Northeast airports like Westchester, Tweed, Bradley, T.F. Green, and Logan—about three hours in the air and less than 30 minutes’ drive or ride to the beach—is less than it would take to get yourself from Boston to Acadia National Park, from Greenwich to Lake Champlain. And, a recent proliferation of inexpensive, flexible flights (such as Breeze Airways’s introductory $39 one-ways and $0 change/cancellation fees) has placed the Bradenton Area within many more travelers’ reach.

This is vintage Florida, with the Caribbean’s carefree spirit and “Floribbean” cuisine, heavy on the local harvest of oysters, grouper, and conch. A place where you can hop on the free Anna Maria Island Trolley from 6 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. and explore this 7-mile, three-tiny-city isle end-to-end, beach-to-beach. It’ll take you to Publix for groceries. To Ginny’s and Jane E’s for a mango-pineapple smoothie and enormous cinnamon roll. To Shiny Fish Emporium to paint a sand dollar. To Anna Maria City Pier for fishing, heron and pelican watching, and glorious views across Tampa Bay from the end of the planked walk.

Partying means raising a beer with other refugees from the North at a tiki bar, while a guitarist strums a forgotten ’90s tune. Or sharing a bottle of wine on your vacation home’s lanai. Most visitors choose rentals, although inns and resorts, most with pools, welcome many guests, too.

Before your reprieve from the march of the seasons comes to an end, indulge in the ideal farewell tour: A seafood-loaded omelet or Coconut-battered French toast at the Rod and Reel Pier; a stroll through a tunnel of tropical vegetation and across soft sand dunes to secluded Bean Point Beach at Anna Maria Island’s northern tip; and a stop at Star Fish Co. in Cortez on the way to the airport. Celebrating a century in business, it’s your dockside destination to try luscious stone crab while this delicacy is in season. Served cold with mustard sauce or warm with butter for dunking, it is, dare we say, sweeter than lobster.

Begin planning your Gulf Islands getaway at bradentongulfislands.com.

SEE MORE:
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The post Your Summer Doesn’t Have to End appeared first on New England.

Sponsored by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Planning a trip to the Bradenton area is one of the best ways to support 2024 hurricane season recovery efforts in the Bradenton Gulf Islands, where work is rapidly being completed to restore places travelers love.

We were working off intel that the historic fishing village of Cortez was the best place for lobster lovers like us to find stone crab: the signature crustacean of the Bradenton Gulf Islands region. We didn’t have a specific restaurant name. No GPS coordinates. But years of lucking out by following winding roads down jagged Maine peninsulas served me well. I turned our rental car south right after we crossed the bridge that connects Anna Maria Island—a beach lover’s dream destination—with Cortez. Bingo!

In minutes, my daughter, Lara, and I were standing in a seriously long line at Star Fish Company. It’s a line that feels like a party, especially when the mid-October through early May stone crab season is just revving up. The sun was warm on our shoulders. Swooping pelicans entertained us. And we overheard a “regular” assuring a “newbie” from up north that she’d done her homework well and found the best spot for stone crabs. We were thrilled our instincts had led us to this century-old seafood outpost overlooking the working waterfront.

I was smitten from the first taste of luscious stone crab claw dunked in butter, but I only fell deeply in love when I later learned just how sustainable this fishery is. Only the meaty claws of stone crabs are harvested. Then, the crabs are returned to their seawater home to go about the business of regenerating claws, just as lobsters can.

For seafood lovers who care about sustainability—and who know that hyperlocal, fresh-caught fin fish and shellfish taste outrageously delish—the Bradenton Gulf Islands area offers incredible variety, harvested from local waters. When lobster shacks along the New England coast go into hibernation mode, the seafood scene in this region of tropical foliage, quartz-sand beaches, and frothy turquoise waters heats up. You can fly nonstop from Providence, Hartford, or New Haven to Bradenton in about three hours. Fares from airlines like Avelo and Breeze Airways often cost less than a couple of lobster rolls in Boston. That makes it easy and affordable to venture south, not only for seafood but for a taste of the quaintness of this coastal destination.

Our four-day seafood odyssey took us to places like Anna Maria Island’s Bridge Street, just steps from Bradenton Beach. This energetic shopping, dining, and live music district pre-dates the barrier island’s tourism boom. At Anna Maria Oyster Bar, we savored our first Gulf oysters. They’re much larger than northern oysters: practically the size of a fist.

The warm waters of the Gulf are loaded with nutrients, I learned from chatting with Florida’s state chef Justin Timineri. “It gives our seafood unique flavor,” says the well-traveled Florida native, whose creds include winning the Food Network Challenge Great American Seafood Cook-off in 2006.

That includes fin fish. “If you’re a haddock or cod lover, the Florida grouper or snapper are certainly going to translate,” Timineri says. These Gulf-harvested species may be a bit less flaky, but they have “beautiful, sweet, light meat that is very desirable for Americans,” he says. We saw grouper on every menu… and tried it blackened at Pier 22 in Bradenton, while watching boats come and go from the marina; in tacos at The Waterfront Restaurant & Craft Bar, after browsing the local farmers’ market; and both sandwiched as a Reuben and swimming in garlic out on Anna Maria Island’s Rod and Reel Pier, where wondrous bird life turns a meal into a wildlife show.

We walked out to the end of Anna Maria City Pier, too, and found crunchy fried clams that tasted a bit more like home. As vacationers of all ages cast lines into the water, we realized the ultimate seafood experience here might be catching your own fish to cook. With an abundance of kitchen-equipped vacation rentals available, this island destination certainly makes that incredible level of freshness possible year-round.

Begin planning your seafood-filled vacation at bradentongulfislands.com.

SEE MORE:
A Mother-Daughter Getaway That Will Renew Your Sense of Awe

The post A Destination for Seafood Lovers appeared first on New England.

Sponsored by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Planning a trip to the Bradenton area is one of the best ways to support 2024 hurricane season recovery efforts in the Bradenton Gulf Islands, where work is rapidly being completed to restore places travelers love.

“Looks like you’re on a middle school field trip,” my friend, Chris, texted in response to my latest barrage of photos, sent “homeward” to chilly New England from Florida’s perpetually warm Bradenton Gulf Islands. He wasn’t wrong. From the moment my daughter and I landed at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport until Breeze Airways whisked us back to Hartford—in less time than it takes me to drive from Connecticut to Portland, Maine—our days were curiosity-driven and carefree. This was day three of four, and we’d already racked up the kind of adventures that make a mother-daughter beach getaway a memory-book-worthy vacation.

“What’s next?” Lara asked, after we’d finished handpainting sand dollars at Shiny Fish Emporium. Mine was a primitive attempt at a beach scene, with blue-green hues inspired by the pristine waters all around us and a heart outlined in the glittered sand. Hers: a turquoise and royal-blue flower in a sea of pink and black sprinkles. She’s 20 now: more independent every minute, cute as ever wearing an oversized plaid shirt as a painting smock.

We’d already spent time on the mainland, exploring the colorful cottages in the Village of the Arts, where artists live, work, and sell their creations. We’d explored the mile-and-a-half-long Bradenton Riverwalk, grateful to feel the sun on our legs, knowing it was jeans weather back home. Most memorable of all, we’d observed two recently rescued manatees adapting to their new 60,000-gallon home: the Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat at Bradenton’s Bishop Museum of Science and Nature. Safe now after suffering boat collisions, they munched entire heads of lettuce in a matter of moments.

Allowing our sense of wonder to “drive the bus” had served us well since we drove across the bridge to Anna Maria Island, too. We’d stumbled upon a farmer’s market on our way to lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant, found my daughter a music festival outfit at the Pineapple Marketplace, and learned a bit about Old Florida on a spin through the Anna Maria Historical Society Museum. Walking the length of Anna Maria City Pier was our introduction to this seven-mile barrier island’s fish-filled waters and incredible bird life. We even spied a real mermaid while lazing on the soft, cool sands of Cortez Beach. The blond woman in a monofin embodied Anna Maria Island’s playful spirit.

And then, there was nightlife… the kind of safe, laidback fun you’d associate with an island resort. We snapped sunset selfies on Bradenton Beach before feasting on enormous Gulf oysters at Anna Maria Oyster Bar. Then strolled along Bridge Street, enjoying the sounds of live music. Investing in fudge.

Still, I had an answer to my daughter’s question: Our most extraordinary adventure was up next. With our sand dollars carefully wrapped in tissue paper, we hopped back on the free Island Trolley, which dropped us just steps from our room at Pelican Post. There, our rental car had remained idle, but we needed it now for the short drive to Longboat Key, a similarly storied isle south of Anna Maria Island.

We met our Fun Florida Tours guide, Evan, at Ken Thompson Park just as a ribbon of peachy-pink sky emerged on the horizon. He was setting up our small group’s clear tandem kayaks and switching on the powerful LED bars that would illuminate the murky waters beneath us as we paddled into the darkening night. We saw schools of mullet on the run and spiky sheepshead hanging out beneath a dock. The littlest boy in our group netted spider crabs and an urchin. My daughter brought up a large shell that was still inhabited. As we paddled through a tunnel of red, black, and white mangroves, Evan said: “I don’t know who named them because they all look the same; they’re all brown and green.” For the first time, we realized just how big pelicans are, as they crash-landed into the branches above our heads to roost for the night.

Back in open waters, something large splashed and spooked us, and my daughter swiveled around, wide-eyed. Was it a snook? They can grow up to four feet long and nearly 40 pounds here. Maybe even a manatee? Or a mermaid? We still wonder. And isn’t that the best reason for a mother-daughter trip? To pause time and keep the awe and fascination of her childhood years alive.

Begin planning your mother-daughter getaway at bradentongulfislands.com.

The post A Mother-Daughter Getaway that Will Renew Your Sense of Awe appeared first on New England.

Story and photos by Renaud Philippe

*This story has been translated into English from the author’s native French.

At 6 a.m. on this February day, the city still sleeps as the icebreaker is about to leave the dock to cross the St. Lawrence River. The ferry needs only a few minutes to reach Québec City from neighboring Lévis, a journey I have made for 20 years while observing through the lens of my camera. It’s always the same sense of wonder I feel when I hear the echo of cracking ice get lost in the infinity of the river, my eyes riveted on the towering Château Frontenac, one of the world’s most-photographed hotels. This morning, winter envelops the city, and once again time freezes. In just a few hours, about a foot of snow has fallen on the stones and bricks of Québec City, nicknamed “the Old Capital.” Coat, boots, gloves, toque—it’s time for a walk inside the city’s historic ramparts. At this time of day, only tourists can be seen wandering through the maze of narrow streets, as city residents armed with shovels are busy freeing their cars from huge mounds of snow. 

All is white. All is quiet. Only the sound of one’s own footsteps in the snow disturbs this silence, but it also adds to the magic of the moment. On narrow rue Couillard, the door of the café Chez Temporel opens, releasing a warm aroma of coffee and croissants. I enter. It’s a place full of history, where the old stone walls have witnessed the work of the great Québec writers who congregated here. Warmed up, I continue my stroll to the Dufferin Terrace, a long wooden belvedere at the foot of the Château Frontenac from which the view of the river and the Basse-Ville (Lower Town) district is unique.

Now, already noon. I hear shouts of joy from those who are sliding down the big toboggan chutes that have been one of the most popular attractions here for more than a century—1884, to be exact. From mid-December to mid-March, young and old enjoy this mammoth structure on the terrace, winter after winter, with the magnificent view of the river as the backdrop. And everywhere there is a thrill of discovery: climbing the city ramparts, walking around the almost mythical rue Saint-Louis and rue Saint-Jean, wandering from one store to another, strolling by a fire in the Place d’Youville, heading out to play at the Winter Carnival, one of the largest and oldest events of its kind, which now is in full swing. 

As the afternoon passes, snow begins to fall again. I make a last stop on the road at the Magasin Général, a legendary general store founded in 1866, before exploring the historic shopping district Petit-Champlain, in Old Québec’s Lower Town.

The Lower Town welcomes more and more tourists every year, especially in the vibrant Limoilou neighborhood. You have to check out Article 721, a little Ali Baba cave of treasures from local artisans. Around it you will find a restaurant, café, bar. The terrace of the bar Le Bal du Lézard is closed in this season, but this makes the interior all the more welcoming.

You still have to cross the river, this time via bridge to the island called Île d’Orléans. It is by stepping back that one can fully appreciate things: At the tip, in the quaint community of Sainte-Pétronille, you can venture out onto the ice-covered river and see Old Québec in the distance, as well as Montmorency Falls.

My Québec City is an experience. For a photographer, winter is a spectacle. There is a reason that the Hôtel de Glace (Ice Hotel) inspired the directors of the famous Disney movie Frozen. Just a 20-minute drive or public shuttle from the city center, it is a dreamlike place, a world of ice and snow. Built with more than 2,000 blocks of ice and tons of snow, it is the only ice hotel in North America, where every year engineers and artists reinvent its theme and spaces. 

In Wendake, the Huron-Wendat Nation reservation located 15 minutes from the city, visitors are greeted with open arms at the Huron-Wendat Museum and Huron Traditional Site. A stay in Québec City would be incomplete without a visit to this site of great richness, which allows us to understand the past, the history of the territory that welcomes us.  

EXPLORING QUÉBEC CITY

EAT & DRINK

Chez Temporel: Since 1974, locals and visitors have come in from the cold to warm up with coffee, croissants, and local specialties at this Haute-Ville (Upper Town) favorite, while watching the stream of passersby just beyond the picture windows. cheztemporel.com

Chez Rioux & Pettigrew: In the city’s atmospheric Old Port neighborhood, foodies come here for the chef’s secret four-course prix fixe menu, while music playing on a vintage record player amplifies a timeless sense of place. chezriouxetpettigrew.com

Le Don: Québec City’s only vegan restaurant is also one of its most popular. It’s not unusual to see the same travelers returning to eat here day after day. donresto.com

Tanière³: This high-end, special-occasion restaurant in a 17th-century underground vault offers one of the most unforgettable settings you could wish for. taniere3.com/en

Le Clan: Stéphane Modat, one of Québec’s most famous chefs, opened his new eatery on an Old Québec side street. Modat’s creations are partly inspired by his time with First Nations peoples. restaurantleclan.com

Paillard: This café and bakery opens every day at 7 a.m., and its tables fill early because of its excellent breakfast sandwiches and hot drinks. paillard.ca

Le Chic Shack: A comfort-food oasis in Old Québec’s Place d’Armes serving burgers, poutine, and shakes, nearly all created with local ingredients. lechicshack.ca/en

STAY

Fairmont Le Château Frontenac: At one of Québec City’s most famous landmarks, luxury comes with stunning views of the Dufferin Terrace and the St. Lawrence River. fairmont.com/frontenac-quebec

Auberge Saint-Antoine: Posh accommodations combine with city history, as artifacts from an on-site archaeological dig are displayed throughout the hotel. A two-minute walk brings you to the Museum of Civilization and popular boutiques in the Petit-Champlain district. saint-antoine.com

Hôtel Le Priori: Located on a pretty pedestrian street in a building that dates back to 1734, Le Priori is a cozy and plush boutique hotel, with an interior design featuring brick and stone walls, plus gourmet breakfast. hotellepriori.com/en

SHOP

Magasin Général: An old-fashioned country store that has long been a local landmark, it’s the kind of place you enter thinking you’ll stop for a few minutes—then you souvenir-hunt for an hour. Facebook  

Article 721: Artisanal gifts from some 60 Québec makers, along with vintage finds, fill this beguiling shop in the Limoilou neighborhood. article721.com

Benjo: Amid electric trains, stuffed animals, and a dozen special toy departments, winter visitors young and old will warm up quickly at this 25,000-square-foot destination toy store. benjo.ca/en

Rue du Petit-Champlain: One of the most inviting window-shopping streets anywhere, this cobblestoned walkway lined with boutiques is considered the oldest commercial street in North America. quebec-cite.com/en/old-quebec-city/petit-champlain

PLAY

Hôtel de Glace: You can spend a bundled-up overnight here, sleeping in a bed carved from ice, but simply touring this architectural wonder will give you chills of amazement. valcartier.com/en/accommodations/hotel-de-glace-ice-hotel

Wendake: A step back in time 15 minutes outside the city, where you immerse yourself in the First Nations culture and experience, complete with galleries and crafts that honor ancient traditions. tourismewendake.ca/en

Dufferin Terrace and Toboggan Run: Enjoy the thrill of strolling the famous promenade overlooking the river, then speeding down the slide. This signature Québec City winter experience ends with a warm-up snack at the kiosk next to the Château Frontenac. au1884.ca/en

The post Weekend Away in Québec City appeared first on New England.

1. Visit a Surfeit of Sugarhouses

I was sure we’d had our fill of maple. Then again, maybe not.

It was late morning on a Saturday in mid-March, and we were two-wheeling it up River Street, a winding dirt lane that dead-ends atop a hill in Poultney, Vermont, at a little sugar farm called Marshall Maples. It was Maple Open House Weekend, an annual event during which sugarhouses throughout the state are open to the public and small towns show off their maple bona fides. In Poultney, early risers had gathered at a church-hosted pancake breakfast, Governor Phil Scott had overseen a tree-tapping contest, and the town’s Maple Prince and Maple Princess had been crowned. The day would also include horse-drawn wagon rides, a sap bucket art exhibit, and a craft fair at the high school.

Only a few miles from downtown, a dozen of us were pedaling along both paved and dirt roads on a bike tour of local sugar shacks. “The goal is to get people on bikes but also integrate them with the outdoors and the local community,” explained the event’s 24-year-old organizer, Ryan Carr.

Although Carr is an intense cyclist—he doesn’t own a car, instead making his daily 20-mile commute year-round by bike—what he’d assembled today was a decidedly casual affair. Participants’ ages and bikes spanned the decades; newer mountain bikes rode alongside old cruisers, which coasted beside makeshift hybrids. At the front of the pack, bike shop owners James Johnson and Candice Passehl (whose Analog Cycles is actually housed in a converted sugarhouse) powered forward on a yellow tandem.

The plan was simple: Bike, sample maple, and bike again. But this being early spring, and this being New England, the terrain didn’t always cooperate. On River Street, six inches of fresh snow from the night before had converged with thawing mud to create a heck of a slog. A quarter of the way up, a few riders hopped off their bikes to hoof it. My 8-year-old son, Calvin, followed. Then it was my turn.

“We ate too much maple!” Calvin reasoned, recalling the samples we’d scarfed at our previous stop. Rookie mistake.

But once inside the next sugarhouse, we again willingly held out our hands—this time for fried dough topped with cream—all the while admiring the big evaporator at work. Were there more hot goodies to try?

Of course, there are easier ways to tour a region’s sugar­houses. But being on a bike, even with layers of warm clothes on, felt like a rebuke to whatever remained of winter. Around us was an awakening landscape, as pastures and orchards reemerged. Back on River Street, we easily pedaled through the soup we’d recently struggled with, and at the bottom of the hill we looked as though we’d been in a mud fight. Yet I don’t think I’ve had a better two minutes on a bike in my life.

We were still looking mud-caked when we landed across town at Green’s Sugar House, where owner Richard Green greeted us at the door. “You guys biked all the way here?” asked Green, whose family has farmed in the area since 1774. “That’s impressive.”

Inside the sugarhouse and tasting room, maple mania was working up a full head of steam. A group from New York City took no notice of our muddy clothes as we gathered around the maple cotton candy or went for another try of the maple vinaigrette. After Calvin and I finished a wad of spun maple, I looked at him. “I think I’m done,” I said.

We still had a few miles left to ride back to our car, and there were no more sugarhouses left to visit. I really meant it this time. —Ian Aldrich

This year’s Poultney Maplefest Bike Tour will be held March 21. For more information, go to slatevalleytrails.org.

Maple’s March Madness | Guide to New England Maple Celebrations

New England maple celebrations abound in March, concentrated around statewide open houses. Check websites for participating shacks near you.

• Connecticut (3/21–3/22): Get a taste of the Nutmeg State’s small but scrappy maple industry at its first-ever open house weekend. ctmaple.org
• Maine (3/22): New England’s oldest statewide maple party showcases 80-plus locations. mainemapleproducers.com
• Massachusetts (3/21–3/22): Visit the website to find out which sugar­house is hosting this year’s kickoff, where state officials will tap a ceremonial first tree. massmaple.org
• New Hampshire (3/21–3/22): More than 100 Granite State sugarhouses open their doors; the Canterbury Maple Festival and the Kearsage Maple Festival are also on tap this weekend. nhmapleproducers.com
• Vermont (3/21–3/22): The top maple-producing state welcomes some 40,000 visitors to 130-plus sugarhouses. vermontmaple.org

2. Get to Know a Local Maple Producer

April Lemay never set out to be a sugar maker. In fact, less than a decade ago the Vermont native was working in Boston as a partner at an international accounting firm. But then 813 acres of family land in Lemay’s hometown of Canaan went up for sale, including a large sugarbush; Lemay, who’d been looking for an investment opportunity, bought it. She erected a sugarhouse, set out 9,000 taps, began coming home on the weekends to help her parents boil sap—and April’s Maple was born. In 2014, Lemay returned full-time to the Northeast Kingdom to run her business, which had grown to include a café serving breakfast and lunch. “People kept saying it was such a brave move, but it never felt that way to me,” she says. “It just felt like the next opportunity.” We recently caught up with the 45-year-old Lemay during a morning shift in the café kitchen. —Ian Aldrich

“My grandfather owned the land I have now, and he had carefully logged it to preserve the sugarbush. He had a small sugarhouse, and we’d head up there on Easter. He’d hang a ham over the evaporator. The steam would cook the ham, and the drippings would keep a check on the foam from the boiling sap. [Laughs.] Everybody got something out of it. There was ham and maple syrup, and we got to eat both!”

—

“For me, it was easy to come home. Many of the families I knew as a kid were still here. I didn’t have a problem reintegrating into the community. The things I miss are easy things, like a good Indian restaurant or good Thai food. But these are trivial things—they’re not essential to life.”

—

“I see my family all the time. I work with my husband. Both my parents still work for me, my Aunt Bonnie cooks in the kitchen, my Aunt Fran has her art on the walls, and my Aunt Hylie makes the bread I sell. There is no struggle to find a work-life balance like I had in the corporate world. It’s ingrained in everyday living.”

—

“I’m not afraid to answer my phone anymore. I don’t feel like I have to take a phone call in the middle of dinner. I’m not a doctor, I’m not saving lives up here. If your problem can’t wait until after dinner, I’ve done something wrong.”

—

“I love it when I know I’m going to work outside and spend a day in the sugarbush. The smells, what I’m seeing, working the land—it’s hard not to appreciate what I’m doing.”

—

“There’s this thing that maple represents to people. We’re working the land. That’s part of it, and it’s an easy thing to romanticize. But as sugarers, we’re also dealing with a product Mother Nature has basically already made. All we do is collect sap and remove the water to turn it into something that makes people feel good. I think people find that kind of thing magical.”

—

“I know I’m not what people expect. For starters, I’m a female and younger than what most people imagine a sugarer being like. … People sometimes come in here and see my parents and just think they own the place. No, there’s actually an April at April’s Maple. But the sugaring community is incredibly welcoming. If you’re new to the business they’ll talk to you about what they do. They probably won’t share their family secrets, but it’s not a community that shuts the door on other sugar makers.”

—

“I’m so lucky to be in such a happy business. People who come in here generally have a smile on their face. They’re not looking to fight about anything. … It’s a great place to be. As we say, have a sweet day. And we really do.”

6507 Route 114, Canaan, VT. 802-266-9624; aprilsmaple.com

Sticky Business | Year-Round New England Sugarhouses

• Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks: You might be lucky enough to bump into seventh-generation maple sugar farmers Burr Morse on the job, but if not, look for his folksy memoirs in the gift shop. Do not leave without trying a maple creemee. Montpelier, VT. moresefarm.com
• Ben’s Sugar Shack: Just a bucket’s toss from Yankee’s offices (about a dozen miles) is this classic country shack founded by maple prodigy Ben Fisk, who was winning awards for his syrup when he eas a teenager. Temple, NH. benssugarshack.com
• North Hadley Sugar Shack: Launched in 1996 by Joe and Shelly Boisvert on family land, this sweet outpost now includes a farm stand, deli, and bakery. Look for its “sugarin’ breakfasts” during the holidays and in maple season. Hadley, MA. northhadleysugarshack.com
• Lamothe’s Sugar House: From just seven taps in the 1970s, the Lamothe family has built the state’s largest maple syrup producer. Yet theirs is still the kind of place where you can see three generations bustling to a fro, learn a little syrup-making lore, and meet a friendly golden retriever or two. Burlington, CT. lamothesugarhouse.com

3. Grab a Blue-Ribbon Bottle

While about 40 gallons of sap are needed to make a gallon of maple syrup, it takes a little something extra to make an award winner. Exactly what that something is, who can say—but try a maple syrup that’s brought home the gold, and you’ll get it.

Over the past decade, Vermont’s Runamok Maple has raked in the accolades for its elevated organic syrups, including a 2018 SOFI Award (aka “the Oscars of specialty foods”) for its ginger root–infused maple syrup, which bested more than 2,650 product entries in its category. Here at Yankee, it was Runamok’s cardamom-infused syrup that won over our taste buds and earned a 2018 Editors’ Choice Food Award. (Oh, and Oprah loves them, too.) Cambridge, VT. runamokmaple.com

Here are some other New England champs to look for:

• Fadden’s Sugar House: The seventh generation of Faddens claimed the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association’s trophy for the best maple syrup in the state last year—an award the family has already won seven times. North Woodstock, NH. nhmaplesyrup.com
• Girard’s Sugarhouse: The golden syrup crafted by Mike Girard, whose ancestors once sugared in Quebec, beat out an international field for a blue ribbon at the 2019 North American Maple Syrup Council competition. Heath, MA. Facebook
• Bragg Farm: This aptly named eighth-generation producer took 2019 Best in Show honors with its golden syrup at that venerable sugaring showdown in St. Albans, the Vermont Maple Festival. East Montpelier, VT. braggfarm.com
• Spring Break: Still a relative newcomer, Spring Break marked its 20th anniversary with three first-place syrup wins and a Best in Show at the 2018 Maple Mania contest—then notched two more blue ribbons the following year. Smyrna, ME. mainemapleandhoney.com

4. Pour it on at a Real-Deal Pancake House

Parker’s Maple Barn in Mason, New Hampshire, isn’t the kind of place you stumble across. One back road leads to another, then another, before this country campus of restaurant, store, and sugarhouse emerges from the woods just north of the Massachusetts border. You have to make it your destination.

There are easier-to-find places to get a flapjacks fix, but at Parker’s and other old-school pancake houses—including Polly’s in Sugar Hill and Intervale Farm in Henniker, both in New Hampshire—the allure isn’t just the meal. It’s immersing yourself in the sweetest kind of nostalgia.

Amid all this Instagrammable quaintness is the restaurant itself, where big beams and a pair of stoves keep the old building feeling cozy. The decor runs to handmade tables and farm antiques; the food, meanwhile, borders on the overwhelming. You can indulge in sugary pastries both baked and deep-fried (doughnut holes, cinnamon buns) and choose dishes and sides that celebrate the season (maple ribs, maple baked beans). Naturally, there are all kinds of pancakes and waffles for sopping up the house-made syrup. And did we mention the justifiable-at-any-hour maple frappe?

Despite its tucked-away location, Parker’s is no local secret—and on weekends in March, when maple season is at its peak, more than a thousand eager customers stream into the restaurant. Time your visit wrong, and the wait for a table could be a good two hours. But ask the regulars, and they’ll tell you: It’s worth it. —Ian Aldrich

1316 Brookline Road, Mason, NH. 603-878-2308; parkersmaplebarn.com

5. Ski Through the Sugarbush

John Ripley wants to show us how maple trees heal. We are bounding along on cross-country skis at Maple Corner Farm in Granville, Massachusetts, touring a sugarbush of hundreds of acres of mature maple trees. John, whose family has been farming these woods and fields since 1812, moves as if he had been born on skis, and no wonder: The farm opened a skiing center 36 years ago, when he was just a boy, to diversify its operations in winter.

To ski through the Ripleys’ sugarbush is to follow the path of the sweet stuff, to race the sap to the bottom of the hill. Aptly named trails like Old Sugar House and Bucket Path traverse a forest of maple trees of every age, from spindly teenagers reaching for the sun to wide-bottomed elders, some 200 years old, that anchor whole slopes. Brookside Trail meanders alongside a burbling stream, and we come upon a beech tree with an apron of fresh woodchips around its base, a woodpecker’s morning shift. John shows us an offshoot trail that leads to a sparkling half-frozen waterfall, fed by the nearby Cobble Mountain Reservoir.

Sap pipeline and some 4,500 taps connect the trees, just as relics stitch together the Ripley family history. We come upon a foundation wall where John’s great-great-grandfather sugared using an iron kettle and a flat pan, which visitors can see and touch for themselves in one corner of the sugar barn. There’s also a photo of John’s dad, Leon, as a little boy in 1956, helping boil the sap with his father.

The Ripleys curate their past and at the same time are bent on the future. Parents Leon and Joyce run the farm while all three grown sons and their families help out, including operating a sugarhouse built in 2018 and outfitted with gleaming high-tech equipment and touchscreen controls. When the sap is flowing, they can collect up to 5,000 gallons a day, 70,000 gallons in a season. From grandparents to grandkids, all hands are on deck to process that into maple candies, creams, and sugars; to rent skis and snowshoes; and, on weekends during sugaring season, to make and serve a sweet breakfast for hungry skiers and nonskiers alike. —Carole Connare

794 Beech Hill Road, Granville, MA. 413-357-8829; maplecornerfarm.com

6. Drink In All That Mapley Goodness

I appreciate a good grade A amber as much as the next guy, but in truth, I rarely partake. Born without a morning sweet tooth, I tend to evaluate a brunch menu mostly by counting the number of not-pancakes. I’m not saying the 12.7-ouncer of organic maple syrup in my fridge door doesn’t have a figgy nose and a gentle, buoyant viscosity that belies the butterscotch intensity of its finish. I’m just saying it might be a lifetime supply.

Leave it to savvy marketers to find ways to coax French-toast agnostics like me into the liquid-gold fold. Emboldened by a rising interest in naturally sweetened beverages, the maple syrup industry is giving coconut water a run for its money, developing tree-tapped variants to wet the whistles of the discerning watering-hole crowd. To separate the sippable sap from the worthless, well, stuff, I gathered a sampling of New England libations to see what they were made of. —Jolyon Helterman

1. Tree Tapper Maple Cider (4 stars) Citizen Cider, Burlington, VT

Do you taste it? I taste it! I mean, I think I taste something vaguely mapley, when I press my tongue into the roof of my mouth, exhale through my nose, and stand in the parking lot of a busy pancake house. Jokes aside, Citizen makes an impressive line of hard ciders, and this variant sweetened with syrup from Runamok Maple is no exception—though you may be hard-pressed to guess its tree-tapped provenance from taste alone. citizencider.com  

2. Maple Whiskey (2 stars) Cabin Fever, Chester, NH

Aged for three years in a non-charred barrel, then infused with grade B Vermont dark maple syrup, this flavored Canadian whiskey probably has too much burnt sugar, vanilla, and butterscotch on the nose and the finish for serious whiskey fans. But it’s probably just what the doctor ordered for a hot toddy or high-octane eggnog. cabinfeverspirits.com 

3. Vermont Ice Maple Créme (4 stars) Boyden Valley Winery & Spirits, Cambridge, VT

This balanced mix of French oak–aged apple ice cider, apple brandy, fresh cream, and organic maple syrup made on-premises is a cut above other cream liqueurs I’ve tried, with enough layers of complexity to serve neat or chilled. Or poured over vanilla ice cream. Or coffee ice cream. Or, like, a banana split–style sundae with both flavors, and … and, anyway. You get the gist. boydenvalley.com 

4. Maple Cream Liqueur (3 stars) Boston Harbor Distillery, Boston, MA

Rum cream, the Caribbean answer to Baileys, typically gets its sugary richness from sweetened condensed milk. This New England spin instead leaves the dessert-ing to Vermont syrup, blending it with rum-spiked Wisconsin cream at just the right strength to transform a hot mug of coffee into an après-ski (or après-breakfast) pick-me-up. For a straight-up sipper, though, the flavor profile is a tad too two-dimensional. bostonharbordistillery.com 

5. Maple Soda (2.5 stars) Sap!, Middlebury, VT

Cream soda isn’t for everyone, and your opinion of the genre is probably an accurate predictor of how much you’ll like this maple-flavored soft drink. For fans—or for parents of fans—this naturally sweetened beverage (80 calories per can) forges a path of moderation between full-sugar A&W (170 calories) and the aspartame-bolstered scaries of the “diet” stuff. sapvt.com 

6. Switchel (4.5 stars) Vermont Switchel Co., Cabot, VT

The original switchel—diluted apple cider vinegar sweetened with maple syrup—was the energy drink of choice for discerning 19th-century New England hay farmers, and this mostly organic rendition has such a lively mix of acid, sweet-tart fruit and tongue-wicking astringency that it drinks like a wine. Specifically, a wine that drinks like a mulled Arnold Palmer finished with figgy lemon prune juice, melted apple Jolly Ranchers, and that “Russian tea” thing people used to make in the ’70s with Lipton, cloves, and powdered Tang. Refreshing stuff. vtswitchel.com

7. Forest Gold Maple Wine (5 stars) Aaronap Cellars, Westford, MA

Imagine a cartoon chase sequence involving, I dunno, Bugs Bunny frantically feeding pineapple upside-down cakes into the hopper end of a lurching contraption that, for whatever reason, distills all that butter-caramel-edged, dry-heat-burnished tropical-fruit intensity and juiciness into something way more delicate: perchance, a bead of clove-kissed nectar daubed from a honeysuckle’s swollen stigma (but you know, enough for a 375 mL bottle). Wine maker Noel Powell coaxes as much nuance from Berkshire maples as some zillion-dollar French dessert wines get from pedigreed late-harvest grapes, and the result is especially good with aged cheddar. aaronapcellars.com

8. Maple Water (1 star) Drink Simple, St. Alban’s, VT

Maple water reputedly has more manganese per serving than a cup of kale, and after trying the stuff, I can’t think of a single reason to doubt it. Barely sweetened, it has about half the sugar of coconut water—in theory a perk, but in practice this robs maple water of the silky mouthfeel that makes its archrival so hangover-morning-gentle. It’s the oaky chardonnay of bottled water, so if that sounds like your jam, give it a whirl. drinksimple.com 

See More: Our Favorite Maple Products (That Aren’t Syrup)

7. Step Back in Time

At Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, spring is ushered in not only by the first tree buds and bird songs but also by the enticing smell of woodsmoke. That’s because March brings the return of Maple Days, when this living history museum adds a maple sugar camp to its hamlet of 40-plus antique structures that conjure up New England in the 1830s.

At Maple Days, reenactors demonstrate a slightly more evolved process that was practiced at early American sugar camps: Drill holes into the trees at a slight downward angle, insert wooden taps, collect the sap in a hollowed-out log or wooden bucket, and boil it down. 

It’s a fascinating process for visitors to watch, but not a speedy one. The first boil happens on-site at the sugar camp, where it takes more than 24 hours of boiling to reduce 20 gallons of sap to roughly two gallons. This is then toted indoors for “sugaring off,” a closely watched final cook that can yield either maple syrup (sap reduced to about 1/35th of its original volume) or maple sugar (all liquid has evaporated).

Historic note: Although cane sugar was the dominant sweetener by the 1830s, many advocated for a return to maple as an alternative to this slave-produced import. —Joe Bills

History on Tap

• Old Sturbridge Village: From tapping trees to “sugaring off,” Maple Days shows how maple syrup was made in rural 19th-century America at New England’s largest living history museum. Weekends in March. Sturbridge, MA. osv.org
• Institute for American Indian Studies: Discover how Native Americans processed sap with stone and wooden tools, learn maple syrup’s role in their culture, and sit down to a pancake breakfast with fellow history buffs. 3/14. Washington, CT. iaismuseum.org
• Remick Country Doctor Farm & Museum: The demonstrations at this rural farmstead span the centuries, from Abenaki sap boiling techniques to a modern evaporator. 3/21–3/22 (outdoor demos Saturday only). Tamworth, NH. remickmuseum.org

8. Make a Sweet Excursion to Quebec

In early April in the more northerly latitudes, you have to look up to find spring. Start at three feet, the recommended height for a maple tree tap. The sap has been flowing for a few weeks now, mostly into vacuum tubing—but buckets still dot the trees here and there, and these markers are among the happiest harbingers of spring. Now look up, way up, and notice how the sun lingers above the horizon well into the dinner hour and makes all good things feel possible one again. 

This is the golden light I’m soaking up as I make my way through the still-snowy forests of Rigaud, Quebec, a hilly semirural district near the Ontario border. I’ve driven nearly six hours from Boston, lured by a knowledge that both delights and confounds: For all our pride in New England’s maple culture, with its maple candy, sugarhouse tours, and pancake breakfasts, Quebec has an exponentially more vibrant one. Not only does our northern neighbor produce more syrup (72 percent of the world’s supply), it has a true maple scene, one centered on sugar shacks called cabanes a sucre, where people gather for elaborate meals that typically feature live music, generous pours of wine, and equal parts merriment and relief at having survived another winter. 

Cabanes a sucre range from tiny family-run shacks, places with just a door separating the dining room from the evaporator, and upscale destinations such as Montreal celebrity chef Martin Picard’s twin eateries in St-Benoît-de-Mirabel (plan early, as reservations open December 1 and sell out in a few days). Everywhere, though, the aesthetic is reliably cabin-chic, rooted in Quebecois vernacular. People eat at large communal tables, ceilings are beamed, stone fireplaces roar, fiddles loop and twang. 

At Sucrerie de la Montagne, a woodland complex of traditional Quebecois log cabins about 50 minutes west of Montreal, the vibe is part country food hall, part living history museum, with a central wood-fired bakery, sugarhouse, general store, and log cabins for overnight stays. Owner Pierre Faucher and his son, Stefan, are warm and jovial ambassadors of traditional French-Canadian culture. With his white beard and stout middle, Pierre could find side work as a department store Santa, but there’s no need: The sucrerie hosts a steady stream of tourists, young Montrealers, school groups, and families all year round. “I do this to keep the tradition alive,” he says. “The industrial way of producing syrup is drowning our traditions. This is springtime as my people used to do.”

Here, a horse-drawn sleigh takes you and your fellow visitors from the parking lot to a central green, where you linger around a roaring outdoor fire before heading into one of several food halls. The menu here, as in all cabanes, relies on the staple foods of late winter: pork, beans, flour, and lots and lots of syrup. It’s the kind of fare that farmers would serve their workers during sugar season, and while offerings vary slightly from place to place, the meal always begins with smoky pea soup and bread, assorted pickles, pork rinds, and a rustic pork pâté called cretons. There’s a baked omelet, as well as maple baked beans and mashed potatoes. Then there are the meats: ham, sausage, bacon, and the French-Canadian pork pie called a tourtière. You can pour maple syrup over anything and everything except the clove-scented meatballs, which come with their own gravy. If you are still sentient, finish with some combination of maple sugar pie, pancakes, maple dumplings, pouding chômeurs (a maple upside-down cake), and sugar-on-snow, a maple taffy that’s made and served outside.

Then go back to your little cabin and stoke the fire, which is the only source of heat but well able to ward off the chill. In the morning, you’ll wake to the smell of woodsmoke and bacon cooking, and know that something wonderful is waiting for you just around the corner. —Amy Traverso 

Cabane Fever

• Sucrerie de la Montagne: Part sugar shack, part living history museum (think Old Sturbridge Village with tourtière and pancakes), this is the immersive cabane a sucre experience. sucreriedelamontagne.com
• Cabane du Pic Bois: Run by the Cardin-Pollender family for four generations, this little shack has a more intimate feel. Be sure to pick up a bottle of their signature maple vinegar. cabanedupicbois.com/en
• Érablière Hilltop: A midsize operation just 15 minutes from the Vermont border, this shack offers sweeping views and terrific maple dumplings. erablierehilltop.com

The post 8 Ways to Make the Most of Maple Season appeared first on New England.

We admit it. There are winters, like, say the one we went through last year that can get to even the hardiest of New Englanders. A warm weather escape is needed. But in leaving New England you may not want to completely leave the region behind—which is why we’ve put together this list of winter getaways with local ties. Some, like Asheville, North Carolina, where the youngest Vanderbilt brother escaped family in Newport to build his own mansion, are rooted in history. Others, like Fort Myers, Florida, spring home to the Red Sox, share a more current connection. Whatever your interest, we’ve put together a lineup that we hope will inspire you to “keep it local.”

Did we miss a favorite of yours? Let us know: Plus@Yankeepub.com.

Asheville, North Carolina

It certainly was a privilege to be born a Vanderbilt in the latter part of the 19th century. While Cornelius Vanderbilt II erected his mega-mansion, the Italian-style villa The Breakers, in Newport, brother William and his wife Alva were designing the nearby Marble House. Tour Marble House today and stroll the sprawling lawn to the ocean’s edge and you can still find a red and gold lacquered pagoda, their version of a Chinese-style teahouse. When Alva Vanderbilt realized she couldn’t actually boil tea inside the pagoda, she ordered a small railroad built from the main house so her servants could quickly transport the tea before it cooled.

Then there was the youngest of Cornelius’s siblings, George Washington Vanderbilt II, who decided to shun the Atlantic coast and build his estate in the therapeutic mountain air of North Carolina. Built in the French chateau style by renowned Manhattan architect, Robert Morris Hunt, the Biltmore House in Asheville is still one of the largest private homes in America, close to 180,000 square feet. Each spring (mid-March), Biltmore celebrates the legacy of American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the mastermind behind Biltmore gardens. The property is open to the public and Olmsted’s influence is obvious throughout the year, but especially in March, April, and May when a progression of blooms spreads like a flowery blanket across the estate. From early to late spring, the gardens come to life with the tulip bloom followed by multi-colored azaleas, rhododendrons, and roses in the resplendent rose garden.

Another joy in the spring is the 80-mile stretch of roadway between Asheville and Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are numerous opportunities to stretch your legs and stroll to lonely mountain streams and waterfalls. Back in town, check out the Asheville Art Museum and visit one of the many galleries, like Woolworth Walk, a gallery in an old Woolworth’s department store.

Asheville is gaining a reputation as a foodie destination. The tapas at Curate, especially the squid ink paella, are worth the wait. Luella’s Bar-B-Que (just north of downtown) serves ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken wings, even barbecued tempeh. White Duck Taco in the River Arts District is known for their innovative tacos featuring jerk chicken and banh mi fillings. End with an artisanal hot chocolate at French Broad Chocolate or one of the Flemish beers at Thirsty Monk.

Destin, Florida

The Florida Panhandle is a coveted beachfront locale that Southerners would rather keep to themselves. With a 100-mile stretch of sugary sand that fronts the Gulf of Mexico and its fair share of golf and tennis, who can blame them? In Destin, the heart of the Panhandle, you wake up early in the morning, take a stroll with the pelicans and sandpipers on the beach and see the fishing boats head out to sea. Feel free to join in—drop your own line to catch snapper and grouper.

It was fish, in fact, that lured Captain Leonard Destin to these parts in the mid-19th century. The salty dog waved goodbye to New London, Connecticut, and anchored off Moreno Point, where he would build his colonial-style home. Seduced by the warm weather, bounty of sea life, and relative solitude, his descendants would gradually build the town and name it after their beloved Captain.

Even if you don’t plan to fish in the town dubbed “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village,” be sure to taste the fresh catch at one of Destin’s dockside cafés. Plump, tender oysters are the stars of the show, usually paired with fried green tomatoes. Afterwards, stroll along the harbor on the Destin boardwalk. Nick’s in nearby Freeport is one of the best places to sample oysters as well as shrimp, blue crab claws, and gumbo.

Stay at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort for its wealth of activity, including four golf courses, 15 tennis courts, numerous pools, and more than seven miles of beachfront to lounge, sea kayak, and, you guessed it, fish.  A more intimate retreat is the romantic Henderson Park Inn. The oceanfront B&B overlooks a mile of undeveloped white sand beach. The nightly rate includes a gourmet breakfast, picnic boxed lunch, sunset cocktails at the “Tiki Hut,” complimentary wine, beach chairs and umbrellas, and bicycles.

Fort Myers, Florida

Red Sox Nation knows that Fort Myers is home to the team’s spring training facility. The Red Sox debuted their new spring training stadium in March 2012. The stadium has its own version of the Green Monster and can hold up to 11,000 fans. Spring training is the time of year when possibility rules the mood and so it’s the ideal time to see your favorite players at their pre-season best. You can watch players like David Ortiz take morning batting practice, or newly signed stud David Price warm up his arm in settings so intimate it feels as if they could just as easily be at your neighborhood ball field.

Fort Myers was also the winter home to two of America’s most famous inventers, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, who had neighboring estates. Tour the sprawling grounds and then venture inside to see Edison’s laboratory, which has changed little since his death in 1931.

To find that glorious stretch of white sand, take the bridge over to Sanibel Island. Considered one of the best shelling beaches in the world, Sanibel contains some 400 species of seashells on its 20 miles of shoreline. Visit any of the beaches at low tide, especially during the months of February, March, and April, and you might return back to your hotel room with sand dollars, whelks, even a conch shell (note: taking live shells is strictly prohibited).

Located on the outskirts of Fort Myers, just off the last exit before the causeway to Sanibel Island, the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa attracts both baseball and beach lovers. Kayak or sail on the waters of San Carlos Bay, lounge at the large pool, or grab the free shuttle over to the beaches of Sanibel Island. Sample fresh seafood in Fort Myers at the casual Shrimp Shack. Order your shrimp fried, blackened or grilled, or try the fresh grouper sandwich. To top it off, grab a slice of their signature key lime pie.

Winter Park, Florida

Long before there was a Disney World or Universal Studios, New Englanders were flocking to central Florida to escape the chilly winters. They would arrive after a long train ride and settle in Winter Park, a small town 15 minutes outside of Orlando. Attracted by the freshwater lakes, the wealthy patrons would soon create art museums, theaters, and the oldest college in Florida. Founded in 1885 by New England Congregationalists, Rollins College is now one of the foremost liberal arts colleges in the state.

Take the one-hour Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour and you can still find many impressive century-old homes on the shores of Lake Osceola. Two museums in town, the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art and the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, are renowned for their collections. The Hosmer features the works of acclaimed glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, including the chapel Tiffany created for the 1893 Chicago Expo. Found on the grounds of Rollins College, the Cornell displays works by Chagall, Degas, Picasso, Cézanne, and other well-known names from Art History 101.

Art lovers will also enjoy the nearby Alfond Inn, a 112-room boutique hotel that opened in 2013, thanks to a $12.5 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation. Profits from the inn will go directly to Winter Park’s Rollins College for a scholarship fund. Harold Alfond founded the Dexter Shoe Company in Dexter, Maine, and his son Ted and wife Barbara are both Rollins alumni. Barbara serves on the board of trustees at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the couple is recognized by ArtNews as two of the 200 most important art collectors in America. With the assistance of independent Boston-based curator Abigail Ross Goodman (who once ran the Judi Rotenberg Gallery in Boston), the couple amassed a 100-piece contemporary art collection solely for The Alfond Inn.

The Alfond Inn houses a rooftop pool and a great Southern restaurant, Hamilton’s Kitchen, where you can dine al fresco on chicken and grits. If you prefer Florida barrelfish, St. Augustine shrimp, and roasted oysters, head on over to Cask & Larder, owned by James Beard-nominated chefs Julie and James Petrakis. Top it all off with a tasty Waffle Cone, a homemade almond waffle cone filled with bourbon malted milk and spiced caramel corn.

Palm Beach, Florida

JFK’s “Winter White House,” the two-story oceanfront abode where the world watched the young Kennedy family toss around the football on the sprawling grass, is still in private hands. In fact, it just sold again this past June for a whopping $31 million. Yet, one can still get a glimpse of JFK’s time on this 16-mile long sun-drenched island by popping into his house of worship, St. Edward’s Church, or even his favorite burger joint in town, Green Pharmacy.

Despite its swanky reputation, one doesn’t need to play polo to visit Palm Beach. The estate of oil tycoon Henry Flagler, the man who almost singlehandedly transformed Florida into a tourist destination, is a good place to start your visit. The Flagler Museum houses his personal rail car, an impressive antique collection, and memorabilia from his career at Standard Oil. The Flagler is part of downtown West Palm Beach’s Arts & Entertainment District, which also includes the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, the home and art studio of the accomplished sculptor, and the Norton Museum of Art. The Norton houses one of the finest art collections in the South, with works by Monet, Gauguin, Matisse, Miro, and many other luminaries on display.

Once you’ve had your fill of culture, ride along Palm Beach’s 10-mile bike trail, paddleboard around Singer Island, kayak through the mangroves of Loxahatchee Nature Preserve, golf at far too many courses to mention, and yes, hobnob with high-society at the International Polo Club. The place to spend the night is that paean to the Gilded Age, the elegant seaside resort opened by Flagler, The Breakers. The upscale property refuses to rest on its laurels, keeping contemporary by unveiling such amenities as the spanking new indoor and outdoor Ocean Fitness club, which features the latest exercise equipment and more than 65 classes per week. Needless to say, they’ll get you ready for that polo match.

Bermuda

Less than a two-hour flight from Boston, Bermuda, due east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is easy to reach. Unless, of course, you decide to sail from Newport, Rhode Island, which can extend your travels from 3 to 6 days. Every other summer for the past 50 years, some 150 sailboats have made the 635-mile crossing in the Newport Bermuda Race. Home to the infamous Bermuda Triangle, where treacherous shoals have wreaked havoc on ships for centuries, sailors have their hands full. Not only do they have to deal with inclement weather, but the strong currents of the Gulf Stream. The Newport Bermuda Race is a nice warm-up to the foremost sailing race in the world, the America’s Cup, founded in Newport and heading to Bermuda in 2017.

Once you do reach the shores of Bermuda, you immediately understand the allure. Plant your feet into the soft pink sand on one of the renowned South Shore beaches like Horseshoe Bay and you can feel your body de-stress with every footprint. The coastline is exquisite. Beaches are buttressed by jagged cliffs that form sandy coves ideally suited for a couple or two. In the early morning, before the beaches start to crowd with sun-drenched bodies, you can horseback ride on the trails of South Shore Park. Spicelands Equestrian Centre takes riders on an hour-long jaunt to the forest and grounds of this park that sits on a bluff just above the South Shore beaches.

No one hassles you on the beach to braid your hair or sell you cigarettes and beer. The purveyors here are found in the stores of Hamilton and St. George selling high-end handbags, perfumes, Gosling’s rum (necessary for that signature Bermuda cocktail, the Dark n’ Stormy), and those cute little Bermuda shorts most businessmen wear in town with a sports jacket, tie, and knee-high socks. Bermuda’s signature dish is fish chowder, a plentiful seafood stew spiced with sherry pepper sauce and topped off with a splash of Gosling’s Black Seal Rum. Try it alongside businessmen on the outdoor patio of the Lobster Pot in Hamilton.

Known primarily as a summer destination, average highs last February reached the low 70s Fahrenheit. Bermuda’s Pink Sale is also in full swing from February through April, when many of the hotels on island offer a 50% discount on room rates. Bermuda’s largest resort, Fairmont Southampton has a lot to offer families, from the daily kids’ program that leads younger ones on seashell scavenger hunts to an 18-hole golf course to one of the finest spas on the island. Yet, most families are content to while away the hours on this South Shore stretch of sand.

Harbour Island, Bahamas

One of Bahama’s best-kept secrets is Harbour Island, a three-mile-long, half-mile-wide speck off the coast of North Eleuthera. At first glance, the place feels like it’s straight out of a time warp, with 18th-century clapboard houses edged with picket fences. Cars are all forbidden, replaced by golf carts. Yet, you’re never more than a short stroll from the beach. The island’s tourism board has dubbed the architecture “New England style.” All it takes is one walk into town to realize this tiny island looks as if someone shrank Nantucket and plopped it down in the tropics, adding a three-mile ribbon of pink sand. Aptly named Pink Sands, this magnificent beach is a perfect blush of pink that would look swell on the back of any flamingo.

Pink Sands is also the name of an intimate resort of handsome cottages spread out over 16 acres and 800 feet of beachfront. These spacious one- and two-bedroom suites are adorned with hand-carved Floridian furniture, African prints, and Italian tiles. Baths are spacious and mini-bars are well-stocked (with rum, of course). Also on the beach is Runaway Hill Inn, a stylish pink stucco guesthouse where most rooms face the sea to catch the cool breeze. The owners are so hospitable that as soon as you enter the screen door, a Goombay Smash (twenty ounces of a little of everything, sweetened beyond recognition) is thrust into your hand.

When you tire of the sun, head to Dunmore Town. The island’s one hamlet is a cluster of narrow, twisting streets lined with small cottages, many built by British loyalists who fled to the island after the Revolutionary War. For lunch, get a plate of conch fritters and fries at Angela’s Starfish Restaurant. By far, the best shop on the island is Miss Mae’s, where you can find island-made linens, shell-laden artwork, antiques, and a gourmet deli.

At night, snag a table overlooking the water at the Rock House Restaurant and dine on local fare such as pan seared grouper, crawfish roasted with basil, and stone crab spring rolls, all washed down with a pomegranate martini—the only way to wash away the winter blues.

Mendocino, California

A mere two-hour drive north of San Francisco, you reach Mendocino County and its riveting 80-mile stretch of California coast, groves of redwoods, and 85-plus wineries. Transplanted New Englanders were just as mesmerized with the scenery back in the mid-19th century when they decided to create the seaside Mendocino village, now a town of 900 residents. If you look beyond the Victorian homes and peer out at the jagged coast and soaring cliffs of Mendocino Headlands State Park, you could swear you were in some fishing village on the Maine coast. At least that’s what the producers of the hit television series, “Murder, She Wrote” thought, when Mendocino village doubled as Cabot Cove, Maine.

One look at a massive redwood tree, however, and you quickly realize you’re not in New England. Half of Mendocino County is national forest, perfect for hikers who want to ramble amongst the big boys. Start at Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve and its five virgin redwood groves. At Fort Bragg’s Glass Beach, those taillights and apothecary bottles of yesteryear have been naturally sanded and reinvented as sea glass gleaming in the sunlight. Sea kayakers can choose from a bevy of estuaries that lead to sheltered Pacific Ocean bays. There’s also wine tasting in Redwood Valley and the chance to ride on an old logging train, the Skunk, through the redwoods.

After a day of adventure, wind down in style at Trillium, housed in one of those historic Mendocino Victorians. The menu features the bounty of the county, including roasted baby beet salad, local wild king salmon, and Covelo Ranch filet mignon. Try to save room for one of their sublime desserts like the blackberry and apple crisp, best paired with a local port from the Meyer Family. Another excellent place to both dine and spend the night is the circa-1882 MacCallum House, featuring rooms, suites, cottages, spa, and requisite wraparound porch.

Honolulu, Hawaii

On March 30, 1820, the first Christian missionaries arrived on the shores of Hawaii aboard the ship Thaddeus. Hired by the New England-based American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and led by Vermont’s Reverend Hiram Bingham, their staunch Protestant values had a swift impact on the indigenous culture of Hawaii. By 1836, not only had King Kamehameha III converted to Christianity, but he was praying at the new Kawaiaha’o Church in Honolulu, regarded today as Hawaii’s version of Westminster Abbey.

A National Historic Landmark, Kawaiaha’o Church still uses the Hawaiian language in their Sunday mass. Glance inside and then stroll over to the Iolani Palace, the only royal palace on American soil. The palace was home to the last of the Hawaiian monarchy, Queen Liliuokalani, before she was overthrown and imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom in the 1890s. Head downstairs to view the crown jewels and then tour the bedrooms, where New England manufacturers like Boston-based A. H. Davenport created much of the original furniture, which was later sold off. The museum is still trying to reclaim those original pieces.

Of course, Oahu is also home to The Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Missouri, the World War II battleship. Another favorite stopover is Hanauma Bay, where you can gently wade into the water and snorkel with hundreds of neon-colored fish. Diamond Head is a wonderful hike that rewards you with exquisite views of the coastline around Waikiki Beach for very little effort. After making the climb, you’ve earned your Mai Tai and ahi pokes at Duke’s Waikiki, a beloved restaurant located on Waikiki Beach.

Within easy walking distance to the beach is The Modern Honolulu, a relatively new establishment known for its sunsets by the pool and rooms that offer both ocean and city views. One night here and you might want to surf away the entire winter.

Author of more than 1500 travel articles and 9 books, Steve Jermanok is a regular contributor to Yankee Magazine. He co-owns a boutique travel agency in Newton, Massachusetts, called ActiveTravels.com.

The post 9 New England Inspired Warm Weather Getaways appeared first on New England.