Tag: Fall Foliage Travel

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Stuck in the City? Five Urban Parks That Offer Vivid Fall Foliage

October 6, 2010 at 9:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

Rustic, out-of-the-way little towns don't have a monopoly on beautiful fall foliage. Sure, places like Stowe, Vermont, and the Catskills in Upstate New York teem with amazing color leaves, but you don't have to trek into the country to get a dose of autumn. We're gonna go all Leslie Knope and tell you about the great parks in urban areas where you can get an eyeful of fall foliage.

After the jump, see our top five city parks for leaf-peeping.

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At Smugglers' Notch, Vermont's Greatest Fall Foliage Secret

October 5, 2010 at 4:42 PM | by | Comments (0)

In just less than two weeks, the stunning fall foliage you see above will be gone and the road on which we drove just yesterday will be closed off for the winter, in anticipation of heavy snows. This is the Vermont State Park area called "Smugglers' Notch," a thin pass between two mountains near the ski resort of Stowe and it boasts some of the best views and most pleasurable road tripping in all of the Northeast.

To reach it, you've either got to drive or be one of the crazy cyclists who pedal up here as part of their training and conditioning. The elevation is 2,170' and your reward for making to this place, a mountain haven between Burlington and Montpelier, is a little wonderland of small mountain streams and waterfalls, natural large boulders upon which free climbers practice, and a manmade stone staircase so that almost everyone that drives through can get out of the car, have a stretch, and walk up to capture the perfect photograph.

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Would You Buy a Travel Notebook Made of Cow Poo?

October 4, 2010 at 4:56 PM | by | Comments (2)

You know you're in Vermont when...souvenir shops include journals made of cow poo on shelves next to bottles of pure maple syrup and fridges full of Cabot cheese. We happened upon this crazy stuff yesterday at Morse Farm while taking a road trip through Montpelier, VT to observe some fall foliage at its peak.

Although seriously tempted to buy the $6 scratchpad made of cow poo, we wouldn't have wanted it for ourselves, but to use as a gift for a friend. Then remembering that none of our friends would want cow poo when they could have maple candies, we slowly backed away from the display. But that doesn't mean that it won't appeal to those travelers who revel in farm tourism, or even green travel. It totally belongs on our next list of Top 5 Travel Notebooks.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: Maple Seltzer in Vermont

October 1, 2010 at 3:10 PM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

What comes to mind when you think Vermont? Lots of pretty trees in the fall and skiing at the rural resorts in the winter, sure, but what aboult foodie culture? We're talking about the land of maple syrup and chocolate and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, so Vermont often surprises with what can be found on supermarket shelves. One such item is Maple Seltzer by Vermont Sweetwater. You'll find seltzers in almost any flavor and maple goodies in almost any form, so why not combine the two? They did.

The Taste:
Looking at the bottle, you'll notice that it's got the typical liquid consistency of regular seltzer, so no drinking viscous maple syrup here. Turn it over and you'll see the plain ingredients of "100% pure filtered and carbonated Maple Sap...no water added." Sip it and you'll find that it tastes like plain seltzer at first, all bubbles and fizz until a slight maple hint hits your tongue as the bubble settle. It's sweet in only a very small way, and it's actually refreshing enough to enjoy on a regular basis, should you be lucky enough to live in Vermont. Plus, it's only got 52 calories for one whole bottle. We'd like to see Coca Cola try that.

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Wish You Were Here: Burlington, Vermont

October 1, 2010 at 12:34 PM | by | Comment (1)

This is downtown Burlington, Vermont, as seen yesterday from the roof of a public parking structure in the Church Street Marketplace area. As you can see, the fall foliage is absolutely out there already, and pretty soon, those green trees leftover will turn fiery shades as well. It's just the beginning of the fun, as the real swathes of color should happen in about one week. Currently, the weather is rain, rain, mist, rain and more mist, with a few minutes of damp calm to capture images like this.

Still, we wish you were here. It feels like everyone else is, as tour buses chock full of Europeans roll past, keeping up with strict leaf-peeping itineraries. Listening to NPR last night, there was an hour discussion on exactly what turns leaves different colors, followed by something like two hours of locals calling in to confirm whether or not the leaves on their streets had begun the fall transformation. It was riveting in the way that only lifelong Vermonters find interesting. However, it did make us crave a warm breakfast of fresh waffles drenched in real maple syrup and a cup of steaming hot apple cider, so that's our weekend goal.

Going leaf-peeping as well this weekend? What does fall make you crave?

[Photo: Jaunted]

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The Leaves are Already Turning for Autumn in the Catskills

September 16, 2010 at 2:04 PM | by | Comment (1)

There are two major reasons we love fall: It's time for pumpkin foods and fall foliage. Luckily, yummy pumpkin goodies can be found everywhere, but beautiful fall foliage is harder to come by. However, you can find some great leaf-peeping in Upstate New York's tree-filled Catskills region.

Upstate might seem like a heck of a trek, but the Catskills' Sullivan County is only two hours away from New York City. And according to the county's fall foliage report, the leaves are just beginning to turn there.

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Our Top Three 'Picks' for Apple Festivals This Fall

September 15, 2010 at 9:34 AM | by | Comments (0)

The mornings are getting a little cooler in our neck of the woods, so our thoughts are naturally turning away from the last hurrahs of summer and onto the events of the autumn. In our minds there’s no better way to celebrate fall than with apples, so here’s our “picks” for three festivals dedicated to one of the country’s favorite fruits:

· The National Apple Harvest Festival:
Right in the heart of Pennsylvania apple country sits Arendtsville, and the town welcomes all apple lovers during the first two weekends of October. There are arts and crafts, antique autos, and plenty of live music. Around 25,000 people hit the festival each day in search of apple jellies, apple pancakes, as well as a shot at glory in the pie eating and apple bobbing contests. Admission is $9 for the big kids, and the real kids are free.

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Spend Fall in Paris with a $660 Air France Flight Deal

Where: Paris, France
September 14, 2010 at 2:14 PM | by | Comments (0)

Everyone may sing about Paris in springtime, but what they probably don't know is how stunning it is during the fall. The leaves turn brilliant shades of yellow and orange, the air is crisp and even better, the summertime hordes of tourists have left. And hello, it's Paris.

Travelzoo has a special running that will send you to the City of Light for as low as $332 each way on Air France. It is about a $300 savings on the going rate right now.

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This Is What A Fall Festival Looks (And Sounds) Like

October 12, 2009 at 2:08 PM | by | Comments (0)

Can't make it out of the city this autumn to experience one of our Top Three Town Festivals For Fall Foodies? Don't worry, we went to one for you this weekend, after trekking from our usual roost in New York City to Northwest Ohio for the Grand Rapids Apple Butter Fest.

The freshly-churned apple butter, piping hot apple dumplings, bean soup and buffalo burgers aside, fall festivals such as this are truly the epicenters of the culture surrounding autumn. We can go crunch the leaves in Central Park whenever, but being surrounded by crafters who do wrought-iron cornstalks and stalls selling candles scented like pumpkin vanilla is a concentrated fall experience. But it's not too late to head to one of these festivals on your own!

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The Top Three Town Festivals For Fall Foodies

October 1, 2009 at 1:03 PM | by | Comment (1)

Sure, you can go to Starbucks and buy a grande caramel apple cider and an apple fritter donut and pretend that you are surrounded by the colors of fall foliage and that the apples in those items are farm-fresh. In actuality however, nothing beats stepping into nature and heading to a real bastion of autumn for the freshest fall treats available: an apple orchard farmstand. As admitted devotees of this season, we love us some fresh apple cider, apple dumplings, apple pie...apple everything. But let's not forget about pecan pie and the nummyness of squash.

Whether you're road-tripping to see fall foliage or just craving a proper fall snack that's not retrieved from a coffeehouse baked goods case, we've got the best spots for you. Behold as we reveal The Top Three Town Festivals For Fall Foodies.

Hot apple cider, after the jump. >>

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Rare Fall Foliage Alert: Southern California Sees Some Color In Julian

September 25, 2009 at 8:40 AM | by | Comments (0)


See? Fall colors do exist in SoCal.

You'd be hard-pressed to find golds and reds in the palm trees during the fall in Southern California, but head one hour northeast of San Diego and you'll see plenty of leaves turning in Julian, a small old mining town.

Julian sits among the Laguna Mountains—at an elevation of 4,200 feet—making it a picturesque place to check out the foliage. It's among the few places in San Diego County that has a winter, spring, summer and fall. But Southern Californians are starved to see something other than greenery and to get some cool air, so they tend to pack the town this time of the year, which can make it seem less rustic and more touristy. You'll avoid crowds if you go during the week.

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Fall Foliage Travel: 4x4 Through A Lithuanian Forest

September 23, 2009 at 4:33 PM | by | Comment (1)

Typically when you think of quaint villages and local charm surrounded by autumn colors, your mind fixates on the East Coast. But banish the thought, since Lithuania totally kicks butt in all of those departments.

The capital Vilnius has an old town city centre that is also a UNESCO heritage site, and from here you can grab excursions to the south of the country and its forests full of fresh air, like Dzukija National park or Grutas Park, the latter of which is peppered with statues of Soviet political figures—bring your fancy camera for these. But our highest recommendation goes to 4x4 off-roading through the forests.

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