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Postcards From Vermont: A Weekend At The Equinox Resort
This past weekend MJD and I spent the most relaxing weekend in Vermont at The Equinox Resort and Spa. The Equinox is located in Manchester Village, Vermont and is about a 3 hour and a half hour drive away from Boston. The resort is beautiful and exudes a New England charm with its’ distinctive style of a white façade with columns and green shutters that have become an icon of the resort. MJD and I were both in real need of a relaxing weekend and while I love living in the city, sometimes it is really nice to take a break from things there. The Equinox provided the perfect escape- not too far for a weekend getaway, but different enough from our daily routine that it gave us an opportunity to decompress. If you’re looking for your next weekend retreat from Boston, keep The Equinox in mind and step away from your traditional to-do list and be sure to follow my Equinox”to-do” list instead.
A Weekend At The Equinox To-Do List
DO Eat dinner at The Chop House, the steakhouse located on premises at The Equinox. We had a delicious steak dinner there right by the homestead fireplace from 1832.
DO hike Mount Equinox. We hiked for a few hours by heading to Robin’s Lookout (you can see the view in the pics above) and made our way down via the Pond loop. While our hike was beautiful, we couldn’t resist imagine how awesome the views and landscape must be during peak foliage.
DO cozy up with a good book, your favorite guilty pleasure magazine or the weekend paper by one of the resort’s many fireplaces. Perhaps something from my fall reading list? I read After You during our weekend there.
DO sample the local cheeses by ordering a cheese board at The Chantecleer. Located a quick drive away from the hotel, we enjoyed a delicious dinner there that we started with a cheese board. My chicken entrée was also fabulous and MJD loved the venison and duck breast entrée. The décor was a little all over the place, but it’s a rustic old dairy barn with a local feel that we really liked.
DO treat yourself to a spa treatment- MJD and I both went for massages and we were very happy with them.
DO visit Northshire Bookstore in town. If you are a book geek like me or need something to read in front of the fireplace, take a trip to this shop.
Last, but not least… DO indulge in The Equinox’s apple cider doughnuts-so yum!
xoxo, Jenna
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Postcards From Portland: Eventide Oyster Co.
Having dinner at Eventide Oyster Co. was probably one of the most anticipated moments of our weekend in Maine for me. I’d read so many great things about Eventide, like being named to Bon Appetit Magazine’s Top 50 New Restaurants in 2013. Plus I’m an oyster and all around seafood lover, so knew it was bound to be an amazing meal.
Eventide is located in the Old Port on Middle Street, right next to sibling restaurant, Hugo’s. Eventide stands out with it’s blue paint color that is seen both outside and inside. When you first walk in to Eventide, the first thing your eye catches is the huge granite trough filled with oysters on the bar. When we visited Eventide, the bar area was busy with many people waiting to be seated, but there was still room to stand. Eventide does not take reservations, but we were seated within 20 minutes of arriving on a Saturday night at 8 PM (granted it was March). While Eventide does have standard tables, it also has counter-top seating and a longer, community table seating. MJD and I were seated at the communal table, but there was plenty of space between us and the other couple at the table. I was really happy about that as I’m not always the biggest fan of communal tables, just because I feel like it can be hard to talk.
We started the evening with a dozen oysters. Eventide groups their oysters as varieties from Maine or those “from away”- we did a selection of a half dozen from Maine and the other half “from away”. While they of course offer cocktail sauce, Eventide also offers some unique accouterments with their oysters, such as horseradish ice or tabasco ice. The horseradish ice was a really cool addition to the oysters.
MJD and I decided we wanted to get a good variety of the menu. We ordered the yellowfin tuna crudo, the lobster roll with brown butter vinaigrette, a scallop dish, the chickpea fries and the biscuits. My favorite by far was the yellowfin tuna crudo. I wish I had a better picture of this amazing dish, because the picture above does not do it justice. It was fantastic! The lobster roll was different than any we’d ever had before. It’s in a steamed bun, it’s warm and drizzled with brown butter vinaigrette. I’d definitely recommend any lobster roll lovers to try it out. I also loved the chickpea fries which were served with raisins and quinoa. I thought they were the perfect side.
We of course had to get dessert too- the trip was part of MJD’s birthday celebration after all! The peanut butter cup dessert was out of this world! Neither of us could get enough of it. In fact MJD couldn’t wait to dig in before me snapping the photo 🙂.
I had very high expectations of Eventide and our dinner there exceeded them. I would definitely recommend Eventide Oyster Co. to anyone visiting Portland as a “must-try”. I hope we’ll be able to go back to Portland in the nicer weather and enjoy patio season at Eventide too!
Have you ever been to Eventide Oyster Co? I’d love to hear what you thought!
xoxo, Jenna
PS- I loved this quote on the menu-it’s too good and true!
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Postcards from Portland
Exploring Old Port
MJD in Beer Heaven at Shipyard
Lunch at Duckfat- Still dreaming about the fries and truffle ketchup
Touring Rising Tide
One of many beer flights of the weekend…
How amazing is the Tiffany blue color of this boat?
The eclectic, but cozy atmosphere at Oxbow
Portland Head Light
Last weekend we drove two hours north for a weekend in Portland, Maine. I had planned the getaway as a belated celebration for MJD’s birthday. The entire weekend revolved around eating and drinking which is my idea of a perfect weekend! Portland is home to many breweries and tasting rooms for some of Maine’s best beers. We visited and tasted beers made by Shipyard, Seadog,Rising Tide, Sebago, and Oxbow. MJD has a couple of new favorite beers after the weekend and let’s just say our fridge is stocked right now with Maine beers! The atmosphere of each of the spots was completely different. While my favorite beer I tasted was Seadog’s Sunfish, my two favorites that we visited were Rising Tide and Oxbow. The staff at Rising Tide was super friendly and it had a very “locals” feel to it. I loved the atmosphere at Oxbow’s tasting room- it was eclectic, unique and the bar was lit up with a great driftwood light fixture that I want for my imaginary future beach house (a girl can dream right?).
Besides being home to so many great breweries, Portland was named one of “The Foodiest Small Towns in America” by Bon Appetit Magazine, so we were excited to check out the restaurant scene. We went to Duckfat for lunch and I had a lunch of french fries and a milk shake. Talk about a well balanced meal ;)! These weren’t any ordinary fries- they are cooked in duck fat, and the caramel used in my Salted Caramel Milkshake was also made using duck fat instead of butter. My favorite thing though may have been the condiments. I just about cried over the truffle ketchup- so good! I’ll be doing a separate post on our dinner at Eventide Oyster Co. which I can’t wait to share!
We stayed in the Old Port section of town which was quaint and cute with it’s brick buildings and cobblestone streets. Portland is super easy to walk around and we were able to get by all the places we visited by foot. On our way back, we made a pit stop in Cape Elizabeth to see the Portland Head Light. It was absolutely gorgeous and despite the cold weather, the rocky Maine coast was as beautiful as ever! I’d definitely recommend Portland as a weekend getaway for all the beer lovers and foodies out there! I hope we can go back soon in warmer weather!
Have you ever been to Portland? What was your favorite place to eat or drink there?
xoxo, Jenna
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Hi, I’m Jenna!
Thanks for joining the party at Boston Chic Party! I’m a baker with a serious sweet tooth, a wannabe chef, a Boston lover, occasional DIY-er and a compulsive online shopper. Let’s get this party started!
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