Dining in DC

If you just saw Shaun White nail his signature Double McTwist to snag gold once again at the Winter X Games and want to see the Flying Tomato do it live, head to Vermont for the 27th U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships. Held March 7-13, the competition takes place at Stratton Mountain Resort, the spot that put snowboarding on the map. This is where Jake Burton first tried the sport and where a young Lindsey Jacobellis took up boarding after her family’s vacation house caught fire, burning all of the ski equipment. Cheer them on, but don’t just be a spectator. There’s a reason why Ski Magazine has voted Stratton the best terrain parks in the east for the past decade. Little rippers can test their freestyle skills on Burton’s Parkway, a kid-friendly area built with the novice in mind. One step larger than Parkway is Tyrolienne, featuring neophyte table-tops to catch air, and wider, lower rails to start grinding. Once you’ve mastered Tyrolienne, it’s on to Old Smoothie for challenging table tops and rails, much higher off the ground. Check out the jumps first or you’ll be doing some serious face plants.
Guest Post by Amy Perry Basseches
A good botanical garden has often been a highlight of my travels, from the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Capetown to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. So I was excited to walk through the Kingsbrae Gardens in St. Andrews this past July, especially after being cooped up in Down East Maine dealing with three solid days of rain. Due to inclement weather, I had to cancel a cruise to see puffins at Machias Seal Island, a sea kayaking jaunt on Cobscook Bay, and an oceanfront hike at Culter Coast Public Lands. So when the sun finally came out on the ferry ride over from Eastport to New Brunswick, I could breathe again. Those breaths of fresh air soon became flower scented as I made my way through the wave of colors from flowers in bloom at Kingsbrae. Just across the Maine border, the quiet seaside town of St. Andrews is an undiscovered gem with Kingsbrae Gardens leading the way. Hummingbirds flew under the tall chestnut trees, water lilies dotted the fountains, and everywhere you looked, there was some whimsical sculpture nestled within the 27-acre grounds. I bent down and inhaled from the sweet-smelling rugosas and for a moment, everything was bliss.
Tennis players and mountain bikers of the male persuasion, take note. The Topnotch Resort is now offering a guy’s getaway that includes a two-night stay at the upscale property with breakfast daily, a local Vermont brew and pretzel amenity delivered to the room after check-in, a burger and beer dinner at The Roost, and a $100 resort credit per room to be used towards tennis, spa treatments or food/beverage. Consistently listed among the top 10 tennis resorts in America, Topnotch offers daily tennis instruction by seasoned pros at the property’s six outdoor courts and four indoor courts. Surrounding the property is also a good 50 miles of stellar mountain biking trails like the technical singletrack, Kimmer’s Trail. Afterwards, you’ve earned your 80-minute deep tissue sports massage at the spa. You can also play a round of golf at the highly touted Country Club of Vermont. Rates start at $279, per person for two nights, double occupancy.
I won’t soon forget dining on halibut so tender and sweet at Alma’s Parkland Village Inn that, of course, it was just caught that day by the father of the girl working the front desk. It was remarkable to look out over the Bay of Fundy at low tide and see that the entirety of the water from our 2-hour paddle that afternoon was gone, replaced by the ocean floor that reached over a kilometer long. New Brunswick is blessed with some of the finest restaurants in the country thanks to the bevy of seafood caught nearby. St. Andrews Rossmount Inn was once again at the top of its game, serving oysters on the half shell, poached lobster, and halibut ceviche, all more sublime than the last. We ended the trip at another one of my favorite restaurant in the Maritimes, East Coast Bistro in Saint John. Chef Kim was hosting one of her signature cocktail and themed dinners, this time focused on the cuisine of Japan. I was the lucky recipient of just-caught yellowfin tuna, encrusted with black sesame seeds on a bed of soba noodles, and paired with tender asparagus and snap peas. It could easily rival any dish in my hometown of Boston. Other highlights included the wonderful smoked salmon jerky at Oven Head Salmon Smokers and the fish and chips nearby at Ossie’s Lunch in Bethel, the mussels at Saint John Ale House, the Rye IPA on tap and pickled eggs (apparently good for hangovers) at Holy Whale Brewery in Alma, and the tasty strawberry rhubarb cobbler at Calactus in Moncton. It’s the adventure that keeps me coming back to New Brunswick, but once here, it’s hard not to rave about the freshly caught seafood and the talented chefs creating memorable meals.
Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches