Woodstock, Vermont

October 23, 2014 by Deonne Swanson

We have travelled to Woodstock many times with and without kids. We first fell in love with the town as newly transplanted Brooklynites and made the trip up every Columbus Day weekend to see the beauty of the changing leaves. We have visited in every season but this year we decided to go up Memorial Day weekend as a chance to get away without having to deal with all the beach bound traffic.

On the way up we stopped for a quick hike in Manchester on the Ice Beds Trail. This is a 1.5-mile round trip that offers a great chance for everyone to stretch their legs and enjoy a little nature. There are some beautiful overlooks but the best part of the hike comes at the turnaround point. The ice beds referred to in the trail's name are buried under the rocks here. During the winter ice forms in the rocks and slowly melts during the summer and as you approach the temperature drops quickly and you soon feel like you are standing in a freezer. We had never experienced anything like it and the kids were amazed.

After our brief detour, we headed on to Woodstock and our hotel. We chose to stay at the Shire Riverview. This is a very nice family-run place which is in a great location to explore the town by foot. It is located on the Ottauquechee River and our room had access to a balcony where we had lunch and enjoyed the view while the kids were sleeping at night. A small grocery store is right across the street making it easy to grab snacks and drinks.

The hotel provided a list of recommended places to eat and we decided to try Melaza Bistro, a tapas style restaurant, that was fantastic. The menu is great for families as while there is a kids menu, the kids can choose to order off the small plate menu as well. That is what our kids did and they enjoyed empanadas, rice and beans and sweet plantains. We loved everything we ordered and the waitstaff couldn't have been nicer.

Our favorite meal of the trip was breakfast at Mon Vert Cafe. They have one of those menus where you spend minutes deciding what to order and immediately begin thinking about what you will order tomorrow morning.

The 2-egg frittata sandwich is cooked to order and so good. Most of the ingredients are locally sourced and organic including the coffee. There is a wide selection of pastries and Ava had a fruit bowl that was overflowing with fresh berries. We ate here for breakfast both days but unfortunately didn't get a chance to try the lunch menu.

Well fortified form our breakfast at Mon Vert, we headed over to King Arthur Flour's headquarters in nearby Norwich. They had greatly expanded since the last time we visited, with a new kitchen and cafe. This is a great place to stock up on all of King Arthur's products, sample some baked goods, and take a class if you have time. The classes tend to fill up well in advance so if that is something you want to do be sure to plan ahead.

And of course get the obligatory king and queen shot...

King Arthur is located in a bucolic setting with picnic tables for the adults to relax on and plenty of space for the kids to run around and burn off that sugar high from sampling all of the delicious baked goods in the cafe. The cafe serves breakfast and lunch every day, hearth-baked pizza on Fridays from 4-6, and the menu is updated seasonally.

From Norwich, it is a short drive over to Hanover, NH, home to Dartmouth College. Hanover is a great college town with a lively downtown filled with a mix of chain shops, specialty stores and great restaurants.

We always stop in and check out the Dartmouth Bookstore. Although it is run by Barnes and Noble it has a huge and very diverse selection of kids books carrying many titles that I usually have seen only in independent bookstores.

The campus is traditionally beautiful in the way all New England campuses are: lots of brick, Greek columns, classic architecture.

We wanted to have lunch at the Woodstock Farmer's Market, a great local market with a fantastic selection of cheeses, specialty grocery items and prepared foods. Their sandwiches are delicious and a great option for a picnic on the green (or lunch on the balcony at your hotel).

After lunch we decided to go for a walk and check out some of the shops. If you're not familiar with Woodstock, it is consistently voted one of the best small towns in America. The town had the good fortune of having one of the Rockefellers marry into a local family and he became so enamored with the town that he donated money to preserve it's 19th-century architecture and rural feel.

Gillingham's General Store is one of our favorite stops whenever we are in the area. Coincidentally my husband is distantly related to the owners. This store has a little bit of everything from specialty beers and wines to maple syrup to a great selection of kids toys. If you are looking for a gift for someone, you should definitely be able to find something here.

There is also a great bookstore, the Yankee Bookshop, which is Vermont's oldest independent bookstore, and once you step inside you realize why. They have a fantastic kids section and also seemed to have every book (new and old) that I have been meaning to read. Red Wagon Toy Company has beautiful baby and young kids clothing as well as plenty of toys to keep everyone occupied while you shop!

We planned ahead and made reservations at Simon Pearce in nearby Quechee for dinner. Simon Pearce produces beautiful handblown glass pieces and the restaurant is in the same building as the glass blowing studio and a gorgeous shop. We arrived a little early so we would have time to look around as the shop sells glass, pottery, and some woven goods. If you get there during the day, you can watch the glassblowers at work downstairs. The restaurant space is lovely and if you're lucky and get a seat by the window the kids can enjoy the view of the waterfall.

They have a kids menu for lunch and dinner and while it has the usual standbys such as buttered noodles and macaroni and cheese to please the pickier eaters (Ava), there is enough of a selection that a more adventurous eater (Jack) will not be disappointed. Meanwhile, the food for the adults is fantastic. As with a lot of the restaurants in the area, there is a commitment to serving sustainable and local food whenever possible and it definitely comes through.

The highlight of our meal though was looking out the window and seeing this come floating down the river...

The kids were sure they were going over the falls but they took off just before!

We ended the weekend by driving the long way home through the Berkshires and stopping for lunch in Lenox at Haven Cafe and Bakery. We arrived after the lunch crowd had departed and had the place almost to ourselves (which is very unusual). The food here is consistently delicious and there is something on the menu for all tastes. I had an arugula and farro salad with marinated tomatoes that I am still trying to recreate at home.

I wanted to stop at Baldwin's Extracts in West Stockbridge but unfortunately they were closed so I guess that just gives us an excuse to go back!

Wanderlust Friday

October 18, 2014 by Deonne Swanson

Afternoon in Havana

Portland Without Kids

October 14, 2014 by Deonne Swanson

We were invited to a wedding in Portland and so found ourselves off for a three day weekend without the kids for the first time in 3 years. At the top of my list was having dinner at Fore Street Restaurant. Since I waited until the last minute to make a reservation (they were completely booked), we had to wing it and hope for a table. The restaurant reserves 1/3 of its' tables for walk-ins but when we arrived at 6 there was a 3 hour wait, so the hostess recommended we eat at the bar. We still had to wait an hour but we were able to sit in the lounge and enjoy a drink (or two). The restaurant specializes in local and sustainable foods, with an emphasis on wood grilled and roasted meats and fish. Selections change daily but a select group of favorites can always be found on the menu.

Since we knew we wouldn't be spending much time in our hotel room and we wanted walking access to downtown, we opted for the Marriott Courtyard Old Port. We were pleasantly surprised as It has the feel of a more upscale boutique hotel: huge walk-in showers, a bar in the lobby serving craft beers and wine, and a modern decor.

Our first stop the next morning was the Holy Donut. We had first gone last summer and knew we had to return. All of the doughnuts are made with potato flakes from Maine potatoes. The flakes add a moistness and cakeyness that result in a delicious doughnut. They use only natural fruit or vegetable dyes for their glazes, pure cane sugar, and all doughnuts are cooked in 100% canola oil. There are always a few gluten free and vegan selections every morning. Our recommended favorites are the dark chocolate sea salt and apple flavors.

We did a little shopping and stopped in Portland Dry Goods, just a few blocks down from our hotel. The shop has a very nicely curated selection of clothing, shoes and accessories for men and women. I coveted the Swans Island throws (I love the idea of using a throw as a wrap) and Cat Bates jewelry.

We headed to Central Provisions for brunch on Sunday morning. It was recently voted by Bon Appetit as one of the best new restaurants of 2014. All food is served small plate style and meant to be shared. We again sat at the bar and really enjoyed watching as the chefs prepared the dishes. This was our favorite meal of the weekend and we wished we hadn't eaten at Holy Donut earlier in the day as we would have liked to try more of the menu. One thing we will definitely sample next time is the cinnamon roll which the chef would coat individually with warmed icing each time one was ordered.

Finally, we hit up Standard Baking Company to grab a treat for the ride home. This bakery is owned by the same people behind Fore Street and is located in the back of the building that houses the restaurant. We had always been somewhat underwhelmed by the selection during prior visits, but I think the problem was we always arrived too late in the afternoon and all the good stuff was already gone. This time we chose a homemade granola bar and a roasted apple hand pie and we were not disappointed!

Wanderlust Friday

October 10, 2014 by Deonne Swanson

Autumn in Kyoto

Santa Fe, Part V

October 09, 2014 by Deonne Swanson

Eating a bad meal in Santa Fe is incredibly hard. We ate out 2-3 times a day and had only a couple of duds. Breakfast was usually eaten at the casita (another benefit over a hotel) but lunch and dinner were always out. We ate a lot of Tex Mex but also found delicious pizza, salads, and one of the best burgers I've ever tasted.

Tex-Mex:

Since we landed in Albuquerque around lunchtime, my husband had already scouted out a place to stop for lunch: Duran Central Pharmacy Restaurant. It is only about a 10 minute drive from the airport and as the name states, it is a restaurant inside a local drugstore. But don't let that scare you off as it still has loads of character.

When we arrived for a late lunch, the place was populated with locals lingering over their meals. The food was probably the best (Tex Mex) we ate and the waitress was really helpful in tailoring menu items for the kids.

We discovered the Pantry, a delicious family-run restaurant, by accident. It was down the street from our first choice and when that turned out to be not what we had hoped, we decided to give The Pantry a try and I'm so glad we did. The chips and salsa was first rate as was everything else that followed. We obviously weren't the only ones who thought highly of this place - it advanced to the semi-finals in the Burrito Bracket, a contest to identify the best burrito in the U.S. (Duran Central Pharmacy was also in this bracket but finished a distant second.)

*Photo courtesy of the Pantry Restaurant*

Many people (and guidebooks) recommended The Shed, but after looking at the menu it seemed like a better place for two adults enjoying a long meal and not a family of four looking for a quick bite to eat. Luckily, the Shed has a sister restaurant, La Choza, that fit the bill perfectly. One tip: get here early or make a reservation. We arrived about 30 minutes after they opened and still had to wait 45 minutes for a table. It was well worth the wait as evidenced by the fact that we were so busy eating that I didn't even manage to take any pictures!

I had read rave reviews about Cafe Pasqual's and we decided to check it out for breakfast one morning. Pasqual's is located in downtown Santa Fe and was filled with a nice mix of locals and tourists enjoying a quiet breakfast. The dining room is funky and the kids enjoyed looking around while we waited for our food to arrive. This guy watched over us as we ate:

We had a fantastic lunch from a taco cart on the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. Roque's Carnitas, is owned by a very sweet man, Roque Garcia, who makes each carnita as it is ordered. The beef is thinly sliced, cooked on the griddle with onions and peppers, and topped with homemade salsa. It is then piled into a tortilla and wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, perfect for eating as you walk or sitting at one of the picnic tables scattered around the Plaza. Ava had the chicken (without the peppers and onions), which was also delicious, while the non-meateater among us enjoyed the green chile cheese tamales. Be sure and wash it down with the homemade lemonade and watermelon juice.

Non Tex-Mex:

Do you ever eat somewhere on vacation and think why can't I have a restaurant like this in my town? Vinaigrette was one of those places for us. We loved it so much we ate there twice, which is unusual for us when we are on vacation. The menu offers 15+ different salads and many of the ingredients are grown on the owner's farm in Nambe, 20 minutes north of Santa Fe. While there is not a kids menu, there is mac and cheese (which is served with sliced veggies and apples) and at least two soups which change daily. I still dream about the Nutty Pear-fessor...

One night we were tired of Tex-Mex so we opted for pizza at Il Vicino. The pizzas are the perfect size for 2 people to split with a salad on the side or a hearty meal for one. There is indoor and outdoor seating and we took advantage of the beautiful weather to eat outside in the courtyard. Even though it was a weeknight, the restaurant filled up quickly so I would advise getting here early.

We ended our time in Santa Fe not with a taco or burrito but with a burger. We had tried to go the Shake Foundation at least twice prior to this but finally had success on our last day. It is very similar in feel to the Shake Shack as they serve only burgers, fries and shakes and while I can't speak to the shakes the burgers are every bit as good (maybe even better) than those at the Shake Shack. It is made from a mixture of sirloin and brisket and served on a buttered bun. They also offer turkey burgers, portobello burgers and a fried oyster sandwich which was perfect for our crew as two of us are not big fans of the traditional hamburger!