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  • Spring blossoms, biscuits, and Blue Ridge views in Charlottesville, Va. | Field Trip

    Spring blossoms, biscuits, and Blue Ridge views in Charlottesville, Va. | Field Trip

    Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlottesville is ready for spring. The season there comes a little earlier than ours — cherry blossoms popping, birds trilling — so those planning a March getaway should consider the Virginian city, where the weather is often mild enough to spend serious time outside. Rails and walking paths wind like shoelaces through downtown and into the surrounding countryside. As a university town, C’ville is also packed with arts, music, shopping and dining, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate sits just on the outskirts of town, high on a hill.

    Get your history, get your biscuits. Start the car.

    Fuel: Ace Biscuit & BBQ

    The first stop in town, Ace Biscuit BBQ, announces you’ve arrived in the South. The redbrick building, on the literal other side of the tracks from downtown, opens at 7 a.m. with hot, fresh, crumbly biscuits. Get with butter and jam, sausage gravy, or as bookends to a serious breakfast sandwich with smoked brisket, an over-easy egg, caramelized onions, and cheddar.

    📍 600 Concord Ave., Charlottesville, Va. 22903

    Stay: Graduate Charlottesville

    Charlottesville is a college town, with the University of Virginia’s idyllic and historic campus right downtown. Lean into it and stay at the Graduate, a newer property from the collegiate-themed brand under the Hilton umbrella. Opened in 2015, the hotel is still super fresh, with a game room, scenic rooftop, and rooms dressed in soothing blue walls, Cavalier-print curtains, and bolster pillows embroidered with “Wah-hoo-wa,” the university’s sports cheer.

    📍 1309 W. Main St., Charlottesville, Va. 22903

    Stroll: Downtown Mall

    A short walk from the Graduate, Charlottesville’s pedestrian Downtown Mall offers a solid orientation to the city’s commercial core. Visit shops like C’Ville Arts, a co-op gallery representing over 50 Virginia artists, or catch a show at the historic Paramount Theater, which opened in 1931, closed in 1974, and reopened after a $17-million restoration in 2004. When the biscuit craving returns, hit Miller’s Downtown for lunch. It’s famous for the Charlottesville Nasty chicken biscuit, but the pimento-cheese BLT is the actual move.

    📍 E. Main St., between Second Street NW and Ninth Street NE, Charlottesville, Va.

    Visit: Monticello

    Whether you think history is a snooze or can quote Hamilton from memory — “Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!”— Monticello is must-visit. Set on 2,500 bucolic acres, the estate features multiple exhibits inside, outside, and even beneath the mansion, with thoughtful attention paid to the enslaved people who worked Jefferson’s plantation, including Sally Hemings, with whom he fathered six children.

    📍 1050 Monticello Loop, Charlottesville, Va. 22902

    Walk: Saunders-Monticello Trail

    Beyond the landscaped gardens of Monticello proper, the fairytale woods and meadows of the estate beg for exploring. The Saunders-Monticello Trail is an easy lift for all activity levels, with a maximum five-percent incline and two miles of wheelchair-accessible paved paths and boardwalks winding through forest and over ravines. Stop at Carter Overlook for panoramic views of Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

    📍 Parking: 503 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy., Charlottesville, Va. 22902

    Drink: Blenheim Vineyards

    Dave Matthews Band got its start in Charlottesville, gigging at Miller’s on the mall and other stages around town. Though the singer now lives in Seattle, he maintains a strong connection to Virginia. One touchpoint is his winery, Blenheim Vineyards, situated on 32 acres of rolling chartreuse hills stitched with sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and albarino vines. Giant windows in the wood-clad A-frame frame the landscape during guided tastings of five wines (just $25). Consider this your pre-dinner drinks.

    📍 31 Blenheim Farm, Charlottesville, Va. 22902

    Dine: Smyrna

    Back downtown, Smyrna’s oysters with ramp mignonette, hamachi crudo with anise-compressed melon, and manti dumplings dabbed with garlic yogurt earned chef Tarik Sengul a semifinalist nod from the James Beard Foundation this year. You’ll have to wait till April to find out if he advances to the finalist round of the awards — making right now an ideal time to check this sharp Aegean restaurant out for yourself.

    📍 707 W. Main St., Charlottesville, Va. 22903

  • A snowy New England escape in Manchester, Vt. | Field Trip

    A snowy New England escape in Manchester, Vt. | Field Trip

    A tiny state, more than a third of which represents conserved land, Vermont has done things its own way since the colonial era. Its Green Mountain Boys militia once fended off land claims from New York and New Hampshire, and for a brief moment, Vermont even functioned as its own republic. That don’t-tread-on-me energy still lingers today, blended with a deep respect for the arts, outdoors, history, and small business. In southern Vermont, less than five hours from Philly, the village of Manchester is a microcosm of that personality. Slung between the Green Mountains, the glowing town looks like something straight out of a Hallmark movie — especially in winter, when snow this time of year is nearly guaranteed.

    Start the car.

    Stay: Kimpton Taconic

    Stone fireplaces, leather chairs, plaid wallpaper, draft-blocking drapes, a grand front porch … Kimpton Taconic hits the winter-in-New-England vibes hard. The 86-room boutique hotel sits right on Main Street, close to everything in town, and has a solid on-site tavern, the Copper Grouse (think cider-brined chicken and maple crème brulée). The hotel also offers seamless equipment rentals through a Ski Butlers partnership. Bookings also include two free adult tickets to Hildene.

    📍 3835 Main St., Manchester, Vt. 05254

    Visit: Hildene

    Just south of town, surrounded by woods and snow, Hildene was built at the turn of the 20th century by Mary and Robert Lincoln, the only son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Run as a museum nonprofit since 1978, the Georgian Revival estate, gardens, and 12 miles of trails are open to visitors, making it a must-stop whether you’re into history, architecture, design, or horticulture. Train buffs will love Sunbeam, the restored Pullman carriage from Robert Lincoln’s tenure as president of the Pullman Co. from 1897 to 1911.

    📍 1005 Hildene Rd., Manchester, Vt. 05254

    View: Southern Vermont Arts Center

    Take a short detour off Main Street into the forest and you’ll find Southern Vermont Arts Center. This estate includes classrooms, museum galleries, performance space, a yoga studio, and a café. Originally built in 1917 as a summer estate for an Ohio socialite and philanthropist, the property was acquired by the arts center in 1950. Grab a coffee at the café and walk — or snowshoe, or cross-country ski — through their epic sculpture park.

    📍 860 Southern Vermont Arts Center Dr., Manchester, Vt. 05254

    Shop: Northshire Bookstore

    Northshire Bookstore is almost a caricature of Vermont: a rambling country house riddled with cozy alcoves. Opened in 1976 and now run by three sisters who grew up shopping there, the store leans hard into its indie roots — staff bios list genre specialties and years of service. They’ve got the bestsellers, sure, but it’s their rare-books collection that’s really special. A signed Jimmy Carter autobiography, for example, or an alternatively illustrated British edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

    📍 4869 Main St., Manchester Center, Vt. 05255

    Ski: Bromley Mountain

    Located only 10 minutes from town, Bromley Mountain’s 47 trails represent a solid mix of expertise levels. If you’re skiing experience begins and ends with the Poconos, maybe start with a few runs on the family-friendly Chase-It trail before leveling up to the Lord’s Prayer, the Plunge, and Havoc.

    📍 124 Bromley Lodge Rd., Peru, Vt. 05152

    Relax: Spa at the Equinox

    After a day on the slopes, soothe those boot-bound feet and sore hammies at the Spa at the Equinox. Deep-tissue massage, Ayurveda treatments, cupping therapy, maple sugar scrubs — get one, get them all. You won’t want to leave the spa. It’s got cozy relaxation lounges, a huge indoor pool stretching out beneath an open-beam ceiling, and an outdoor hot tub perpetually cloaked in steam.

    📍 3567 Main St., Manchester, Vt. 05254

    Dine: The Reluctant Panther

    Points for the name alone. The Reluctant Panther, whose moniker nods to Vermont’s resistance to outside rule in the late 1700s, has been operating as a bed-and-breakfast since the 1960s — but its restaurant is open to the public. The food is exactly what you want to eat in the winter here: a Vermont cheese board, thick pork chops with German potato salad and smoked maple gastrique, venison osso buco, all served in a fireplace-warmed dining room. The wine list has earned Wine Spectator recognition four years straight. Meow.

    📍 39 West Rd., Manchester, Vt. 05254

  • Offseason eats, arcades, and live music in Asbury Park | Field Trip

    Offseason eats, arcades, and live music in Asbury Park | Field Trip

    Would you believe it if we told you Asbury Park is the same distance from Philly as Sea Isle? For many Philadelphians, the north end of the Shore might as well exist on another planet. Fortunately, the offseason is the perfect time to broaden one’s horizons — so that come summer, you might break out of the tribal nature that governs which sands you plant your umbrella in.

    As one of the larger towns on the coast, with a healthy year-round population, Asbury Park makes an ideal entrée. Things are open in the winter.

    Not everything — but enough to keep you busy for a weekend of city-level food, idiosyncratic shopping, and live music. Start the car.

    Fuel: Hey Peach

    Make your first stop just to the south of Asbury, at Hey Peach in Bradley Beach. This inviting granny-core café-bakery from Erin “Peach” Kilker lines its wooden sideboard and pastry case with holey olive fougasses, crackling croissants, Scottish shortbread, fat cream puffs, and more. If the weather cooperates, grab one of the bistro tables out front and enjoy your pastry (or three) with a Counter Culture coffee.

    📍 126 Main St., Bradley Beach, N.J. 07720

    Stay: Asbury Ocean Club

    It might not be beach weather, but the glittering sea views from the 11-foot windows at Asbury Ocean Club are just as dramatic in winter. The soothing dune-and-khaki suites in this luxurious 54-room high-rise — which opened in 2019 — feel especially indulgent in the offseason. Winter rates hover in the mid-$300s; that same room can top $1,000 on a summer weekend.

    📍 1101 Ocean Ave. N., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

    Play: Silverball Retro Arcade

    Cosplay your favorite Stranger Things kid (minus the Vecna creepy-crawlies) at Silverball Retro Arcade. Gamer or not, it’s impossible not to light up like the 1992 Addams Family pinball machine when you step inside this clanging, jangling boardwalk fixture. And because it’s not summer, the chances are good you’ll have no trouble finding an empty Skee-Ball lane. (Fun fact: Skee-Ball was invented in Vineland in 1907, with early alleys manufactured in Philly.)

    📍 1000 Ocean Ave. N., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

    Shop: Asbury Park Bazaar

    Right in the middle of the boardwalk, where you can shop for travel-inspired hoodies at Promised Land Apparel and thrifted art supplies at Asbury Park Art Club, Asbury Park Bazaar pops up through the year inside the Grand Arcade at Convention Hall. More than 50 vendors will fill the space on Valentine’s Day weekend, selling everything from patch-customized beanies and travel-inspired hoodies to candles that melt into massage oil.

    📍 1300 Ocean Ave. N., Unit C-4, Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

    Read: Paranormal Books & Curiosities

    Ghost ships, Victorian murders, haunted houses — in Asbury Park, spooky season never really ends. Paranormal Books & Curiosities anchors the city’s supernatural streak, selling horror novels, spellbooks, and oddities, while also running ghost tours and curating a small paranormal museum. Whether you’re looking for Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, or something to summon the corners, you’ll find it here.

    📍 621 Cookman Ave., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

    Dine: Judy & Harry’s

    Named for owner Neilly Robinson’s parents, Judy & Harry’s in the St. Laurent Hotel is a two-in-one restaurant and cocktail bar with butterscotch leather barstools, frosted globe lights, and framed family photos. The menu, by Robinson’s partner and James Beard semifinalist David Viana, blends her Italian and Jewish heritage with dishes like limoncello-splashed hamachi crudo, ricotta-matzo ball soup, schmaltzy potatoes, and chicken and eggplant parm. If you’re visiting Asbury on a Sunday, swing in for their $38 Sunday Sauce prix fixe supper.

    📍 408 Seventh Ave., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

    Jam: The Stone Pony

    What’s the opposite of a sleeper pick? First opened in 1974, Stone Pony is so deeply and inextricably tethered to Asbury Park. Everyone knows it. The bar and venue runs shows every weekend through the offseason, and the variety is pretty astounding: a Dave Matthews tribute band, country singer Hunter Hayes, a student showcase from Red Bank’s School of Rock, bassist and Phish cofounder Mike Gordon. Tourists go. Summer people go. Locals go. You should go.

    📍 913 Ocean Ave. N., Asbury Park, N.J. 07712

  • Pizza, museums, and waterfront walks in New Haven | Field Trip

    Pizza, museums, and waterfront walks in New Haven | Field Trip

    With a population of just over 140,000, New Haven still manages to be tiny Connecticut’s third-largest city — and one that punches well above its weight as a weekend getaway.

    It’s a university town, a harbor town, and a New England town, all folded into one. The result is a destination with world-class cultural institutions, excellent food — the pizza is as outrageous as you’ve heard — and easy access to the outdoors, from the river-fed coast of Long Island Sound to one of the largest urban parks in the region. From Philly, it’s about three hours and change up I-95, depending on traffic around New York. Start the car.

    Stay: Hotel Marcel

    Originally the HQ of the tire-producing Armstrong Rubber Co., the Wharf District Hotel Marcel inhabits an architecturally significant, brutalist concrete building honeycombed with windows and retrofitted to run entirely on renewable energy. The inside is just as interesting: terrazzo staircases with mahogany rails, Connecticut-made walnut beds, and a circular bar pouring spirulina margaritas and nonalcoholic spiced cranberry cider.

    📍 500 Sargent Dr., New Haven, Conn. 06511

    Hike: East Rock Park

    New Haven’s central green space, East Rock Park, spans 427 acres and rises 350 feet above the city, rewarding visitors with sweeping views of downtown and Long Island Sound. Not feeling a winter hike? You can drive to the summit instead. Traveling with kids? Stop by the Trowbridge Environmental Center on the park’s west side for hands-on exhibits about the local ecology.

    📍 41 Cold Spring St., New Haven, Conn. 06511

    Lunch: Frank Pepe and Sally’s Apizza

    If there’s only one thing you know about New Haven, it’s probably the pizza. Or as they call it here, apizza (“a-beetz”), derived from the southern Italian immigrants that opened the first shops in the early 1900s.

    For lunch, stage a mini pie crawl along Wooster Street and compare two legends located a block apart. At Frank Pepe (est. 1925), the tomato pie and oregano-dusted white clam pie are classics for a reason. At Sally’s Apizza (1938), whose recent expansion hasn’t dimmed the original’s quality, the blistered tomato pie with mozzarella is the move.

    📍 Frank Pepe: 157 Wooster St., New Haven, Conn. 06511

    📍 Sally’s Apizza: 237 Wooster St., New Haven, Conn. 06511

    Visit: Yale Peabody Museum

    If there are only two things you know about New Haven, they’re probably the pizza and Yale. The Ivy’s lovely, leafy campus dominates the center of town. (It’s no Penn, but…) The impressive collection at the Yale Peabody Museum, which is free to visit and requires no advance ticketing, includes a towering brontosaurus skeleton, a 300-pound Brazilian tourmaline cluster, and 4000-year-old Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets.

    📍 170 Whitney Ave., New Haven, Conn. 06511

    Read: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

    Decried as an incongruous eyesore when the Gordon Bunshaft-designed Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library opened in 1963, the modernist building has become an architectural icon on campus. Translucent marble cladding gives the interior a cozy glow while protecting the literary treasures, which are arranged in a stunning five-story cubic column, from sun damage. Even if you’re not a rare-books obsessive, it’s worth visiting for the space alone. Current exhibits include a 15th-century Gutenberg Bible and illustrated Japanese crepe-paper books.

    📍 121 Wall St., New Haven, Conn. 06511

    Dine: Fair Haven Oyster Co.

    It’ll likely be a bit too chilly to sit out on the pretty deck over the Quinnipiac River, but the warm woodwork and porthole windows get the seafood-tavern vibe across well at Fair Haven Oyster Co. Start with four different types of New England oysters, then progress to tots topped with American sturgeon caviar, oil-poached tuna toast, and bone-in skate wing in Meyer lemon brown butter. Skip dessert.

    📍 307 Front St., New Haven, Conn. 06513

    Scoop: Arethusa Farm Dairy

    Based in Litchfield County, Arethusa Farm Dairy produces some of the richest ice cream around, using 16%-butterfat milk from its own cows. Lucky for New Haven visitors, there’s an outpost at the Yale Shops. Breathe in the smell of freshly pressed waffle cones while choosing from classic flavors like coconut-coconut chunk, strawberry that actually tastes like strawberries, and an excellent coffee ice cream. One scoop is never enough.

    📍 1020 Chapel St., New Haven, Conn. 06510

  • Waterfalls, cabins, art, and eats in Milford, Pa. | Field Trip

    Waterfalls, cabins, art, and eats in Milford, Pa. | Field Trip

    Milford is an outdoorsy town — and then some.

    It sits along the scenic banks of the Upper Delaware River in Pike County, surrounded by mountains, with access to major trails, canoeing, kayaking, and biking, and the tallest waterfall in Pennsylvania. It’s an adventure hub among the best in the tristate region.

    But Milford isn’t just for people in hiking boots. It’s also an artsy town, with galleries, a theater, and dedicated film, music, and writers’ festivals. It’s a shopping destination too, with a slew of antique and gift shops, and a healthy-living store that rivals anything in Philadelphia or New York.

    “Geographically, I believe Milford has the edge over most small towns around,” said local entrepreneur Bill Rosado, who owns some popular businesses in town. “It is centered so well. Just looking at the town is a treat to me.”

    There’s plenty of history in Milford, too, which calls itself the “birthplace of the conservation movement” as it was home to Gifford Pinchot, founder and first chief of the U.S. Forest Service. It also has a historical museum that’s home to a unique and morbid artifact from the Civil War era.

    And, finally, you have to eat. Milford is home to fine dining at historic hotels, both fancy and cozy bars, along with breweries, classic diners, organic coffee, and, thanks to Rosado, authentic food from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. (He was born there.)

    Milford’s about 75 miles northwest of Manhattan and just across the river from North Jersey, so yes, you’ll see Yankees and Giants gear, but it’s just 135 miles from Philly, so get up there.

    One of the cabins available for rent at Sean Strub’s Dwarfskill Preserve in Milford, Pa.

    Stay: Dwarfskill Preserve

    There are plenty of hotels in downtown Milford that are in the midst of everything the town has to offer, including the historic and ornate Hotel Fauchère and the Tom Quick Inn, which would be at home in Cape May. Rosado owns both of them.

    I’ve been eyeing up the tiny cabin at the 575-acre Dwarfskill Preserve, up in the hills above town, for years now, as a former colleague had spent extended time there over the years and shared lovely pictures. It’s owned by former Milford mayor Sean Strub and consists of three separate properties: the one-room cabin I rented for a few nights with my girlfriend, Jen, and my dog, Wanda, and two larger cabins that can fit more people.

    We stayed there over the New Year’s holiday, cooking brisket in the microwave and making coffee on the hot plate. While Milford and the Dwarfskill are undoubtedly at their best in the summer and fall, when you can take full advantage of the outdoor opportunities, including the swimming hole at the cabin, we watched both the wood fireplace and the ample snowfall outside for hours. It was hard to leave, a full hygge experience, in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

    📍 Dwarfskill Falls Lane, Milford, Pa. 18337

    Grey Towers, the Pinchot family residence, outside Milford, and the family’s haven from 1886 to 1963. The family made its fortune in lumber.

    Explore: Grey Towers National Historic Site

    If you drive around Pennsylvania as much as I do, you’ll see the name Gifford Pinchot quite a bit. Pinchot was a two-term governor of the Commonwealth and has a 54,000-acre state forest named after him.

    He went on to found and run the U.S. Forest Service and is generally considered a pioneer in the U.S. conservation movement. Pinchot was born in Milford and his home, Grey Towers, is a national historic landmark run by the U.S. Forest Service. Its curated gardens, French chateau-style stone architecture, and expansive library can all be seen on tours, both in-person during spring, summer, and fall, and online all year round.

    At 150-feet tall, Raymondskill Falls is the tallest waterfall in Pennsylvania.

    If you’re interested in something a little more outdoorsy, visit Raymondskill Falls, which, at 150 feet, is the tallest in Pennsylvania. You can, technically, visit in winter, but the ice and snow could be treacherous. In summer, you might have to brave some crowds and jammed parking lots, but the views are worth it.

    📍 Grey Towers: 122 Old Owego Turnpike, Milford, Pa. 18337

    📍 Raymondskill Falls: Raymondskill Road, Milford, Pa. 18337

    Learn: The Pike County Historical Society at the Columns

    It’s not every day that a county historical society can really wow you with an artifact, but Pike County punches up with a Civil War relic you won’t find anywhere else in the world: the bloody U.S. flag used to cradle Abraham Lincoln’s head after he was shot at Ford’s Theatre in 1865.

    The flag and other exhibits are housed in “the Columns,” a 1904 neoclassical-style mansion. Want to learn how they obtained the flag? Visit on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

    📍 608 Broad St., Milford, Pa. 18337

    Shop: Better World Store and Cafe

    It’s hard to pin down Better World Store and Cafe in one category.

    It’s a place to get coffee or tea and healthy pastries. It’s a community hub, where people gather to meet or work remotely.

    It’s also a place to look good, with woolens and other “natural” clothes, and smell good, or simply be good, with homesteading supplies and books.

    📍 Broad Street, Milford, Pa. 18337

    Eat: Felix’s Cantina at La Posada

    Jen spends weeks in the Yucatan every winter, so she was surprised to see a restaurant in Northeastern Pennsylvania promising a “taste of the Yucatan Peninsula and other regional dishes from southern Mexico.”

    Rosado, who also owns a historic theater in town, owns the Cantina at La Posada, yet another one of his hotels. He was born in Merida, the capital of Yucatan.

    He knows the dishes well, and she approved, describing our pork and birria tacos as “fattening and delicious.”

    For breakfast, the Waterwheel Café Bakery Bar, an old grist mill along Sawkill Creek, serves up a killer thick-cut challah French toast. We basically licked the plate clean.

    The Waterwheel Café Bakery Bar

    📍 Felix’s: 210 Second St., Milford, Pa. 18337

    📍 Waterwheel: 150 Water St., Milford, Pa. 18337

  • Antiques, river hikes, and cozy inns in Lambertville and Stockton | Field Trip

    Antiques, river hikes, and cozy inns in Lambertville and Stockton | Field Trip

    Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross — these are the massive engineering marvels that come to mind when most Philadelphians think of the bridges between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. But less than an hour north of the city, the Delaware narrows enough to let charming, Norman Rockwell-type trusses span the forested riverbanks.

    Everyone knows New Hope. But on the opposite side of the river, Lambertville and neighboring Stockton make a compelling case for a Jersey-side getaway, thanks to stylish revived historic inns, a vibrant arts scene, and some excellent shopping. Start the car.

    Hunt: Golden Nugget Antique Flea Market

    Coming off I-95 and up River Road, you’ll hit Golden Nugget Antique Flea Market, just outside Lambertville. Over five decades, this sprawling indoor-outdoor operation has grown into one of the largest antique markets in the region. Treasure hunt for Tiffany-glass lamps, rare baseball cards, glittering geodes, and more. Don’t miss Art & Restoration gallery on the first floor, where the chatty owner is happy to talk through the process of paper deacidification and the highlights of his ever-changing collection (which recently included a Picasso).

    📍 1850 River Rd., Lambertville, N.J. 08530

    Hike: Goat Hill Overlook

    River towns offer plenty of scenic walks along the water, but a little elevation makes all the difference. Goat Hill Overlook, halfway between the Golden Nugget and downtown Lambertville, is a low-effort, high-reward climb: a gently uphill, paved path that clocks just under a mile from the trailhead parking lot. At the summit, the blue, bridge-laced Delaware slides toward the horizon before dissolving into the woods.

    📍 Coon Path, Lambertville, N.J. 08530

    Shop: Downtown Lambertville

    Indie boutiques, antique dealers, and cafés line the streets of downtown Lambertville, which stretches along Bridge Street (at the foot of the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge) and spiders out in a series of charming alleys and lanes. Wander into Zinc for home and garden inspo, Lambert + Hope for Flamingo Estate candles and Laguiole knives, and Panoply for special-edition books and vintage vinyl.

    📍 Bridge Street, Lambertville, N.J. 08530

    Snack: RSC Atelier

    Perhaps the only gourmet grocery you’ll find attached to a gas station, RSC Atelier in Stockton grew out of the old Rosemont Supper Club nearby. Build a picnic basket with Iberico ham, upscale tinned fish, and farmstead cheese sourced by sister business Immortal Milk Cheese Co.

    📍 10 Risler St., Stockton, N.J. 08559

    Stay: The Stockton Inn

    A crossroads for travelers since 1710, the nine-key Stockton Inn reopened in 2024 after a seven-year renovation that modernized the staying experience while still preserving the building’s historic bones. Earthy colors and natural fabrics give the rooms and suites a tranquil, contemporary vibe that feels both at home in the country but also more stylish than the typical area B&Bs.

    📍 1 S. Main St., Stockton, N.J. 08559

    See: Music Mountain Theatre

    New Hope’s Bucks County Playhouse gets most of the attention, but just a mile from Lambertville’s downtown, Music Mountain Theatre is quietly expanding the arts scene on the Jersey side of the river. Founded in 2017, the company stages polished productions year-round for families and adults alike. This winter’s lineup includes Grease (through Feb. 1), followed by Dangerous Liaisons and Shrek the Musical.

    📍 1483 N.J.-179, Lambertville, N.J. 08530

    Dine: Sergeantsville Inn

    True to headline, nearly everywhere in this guide has a Lambertville or Stockton address. Dinner is the only exception. For that, head three and a half miles inland to the Sergeantsville Inn. Chef Sean Gray, formerly of New York’s Momofuku Ko, runs the tavern and restaurant housed in a building that dates to 1734. Stone walls, wood beams, and Shaker-style chairs set the stage for a candlelit meal of radicchio salad with cheddar and pears, beer-battered onion rings with horseradish aioli, or a whole roasted duck. Look alive — the Revolution is here.

    📍 601 Rosemont Ringoes Rd., Sergeantsville, N.J. 08557

  • Charm City eats, museums, and waterfront stays in Baltimore | Field Trip

    Charm City eats, museums, and waterfront stays in Baltimore | Field Trip

    Sometimes you take a road trip to experience something totally different from the world you inhabit — the absolute silence of a state forest, the carnivalesque majesty of the shore in full swing. A weekend in Baltimore is not that kind of trip.

    Charm City is the most Philly of the cities on the Acela corridor: smaller in size, but equally quirky, proud, and shaped by blue-collar roots. (Our accents are even passably close.) It’s also stacked with restaurants, museums, and cultural institutions that compete on a national level, all with a distinctly Baltimorean flavor, less than two hours away.

    Here’s how to spend a long weekend in Charm City.

    Snack: Café Los Sueños

    Once arriving in Baltimore proper, take I-83 up to the Remington neighborhood on the north side of the city, where Café Los Sueños roasts and brews its own beans in a peaceful, light-washed space a couple blocks off the highway exit. (The name translates to “Café of Dreams,” fitting for owner Carlos Payes, who came to the U.S. from the coffee plantations of El Salvador.) A horchata latte and croissant make for a perfectly calming start to the trip.

    📍 2740 Huntingdon Ave., Unit B, Baltimore, Md. 21211

    Sniff: Rawlings Conservatory

    If it’s not too cold — and you’re up for a walk — Los Sueños sits near the eastern edge of Druid Hill Park, the third-oldest urban park in the country and, for millennials, the namesake of Dru Hill. Follow the path along Druid Lake toward the Rawlings Conservatory, a circa-1888 botanical garden with five greenhouses. Even when it’s frosty outside, the impressive Victorian conservatories filled with tropical orchids, ceiling-skimming palms, and citrus blossoms deliver full-on summer music-video energy.

    📍 3100 Swann Dr., Baltimore, Md. 21217

    Stay: The Pendry Baltimore

    Check into the Pendry Baltimore, a moody, stylish 127-room hotel housed in a grand 1914 building on the former Recreation Pier. The Fell’s Point location is both charming and convenient, putting you within walking distance of many of Baltimore’s marquee attractions. Many of the wood-and-leather-clad rooms overlook the waterfront. The huge pool, which seems to float in the Inner Harbor, will have you booking a return visit for summer.

    📍 1715 Thames St., Baltimore, Md. 21231

    Explore: National Aquarium

    No curveball here. The National Aquarium is Baltimore’s claim to fame, and if the last time you were here was on an eighth-grade field trip, you should come back as an adult, with or without your own kids. The sprawling complex houses 2.2 million gallons of water and residents ranging from reef sharks and puffins to otters and moray eels. Don’t miss the Harbor Wetland exhibit, which opened in 2024 along a series of floating docks in the Inner Harbor and be sure to book tickets in advance. Aim for off-hours to beat the crowds.

    📍 501 E. Pratt St., Baltimore, Md. 21202

    View: American Visionary Art Museum

    The title Cap Bathing Moligator With Angelic Visitation (Dickens 44) tells you just about everything you need to know about the boundary-pushing work housed at the American Visionary Art Museum. This brick-and-mirror-clad institution in Federal Hill celebrates outsider art in all its surreal glory from landscapes to cosmological oil paintings to sculptures of a mosaic-winged Icarus and Baltimore icon Divine. The collection embodies the city’s DIY spirit and unbreakable creative streak.

    📍 800 Key Hwy., Baltimore, Md. 21230

    Drink: Charleston

    With its deep pedigree and polished service, Charleston in Harbor East possesses a sense of occasion that few restaurants have anymore. Even if you’re just passing through for drinks in its swanky little lounge, where local power brokers and big-night-out suburbanites mingle with tourists, those drinks are crafted with gravitas and élan as much as sparkling wine, passionfruit and honey (the Ipanema Fizz), or blanco tequila, Strega, and ginger (the Arandas Monk). The wine list is famously deep, which helps explain why Charleston won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program.

    📍 1000 Lancaster St., Baltimore, Md. 21202

    Dine: The Wren

    From one medalist to another, the Wren, one of Bon Appetit’s best new restaurants of 2025, sits less than a 10-minute walk from Charleston in Fell’s Point. The location is an ideal spot for drink or dinner, with a much more casual silhouette with its wood paneling, pressed-tin ceilings, and no-reservations policy. It’s a pub essentially, and like the very best pubs in Ireland and the U.K. (partner Millie Powell hails from Dublin), the cooking comforts and satisfies on a cellular level. Think glazed ham, golden onion pie, sharp cheeses, honey-roasted apple cake, and the like. (Your Philly analog is Meetinghouse.) As expected, the bartenders pour a precise pint of Guinness, the perfect finale to a Baltimore weekend.

    📍 1712 Aliceanna St., Baltimore, Md. 21231

  • Traveling this holiday? Here’s the weather and travel forecast for the week.

    Traveling this holiday? Here’s the weather and travel forecast for the week.

    Philadelphia might have mild weather this holiday week, with light rain showers and likely no snow on Christmas. However, more people will be on the roads and in the sky, traveling to holiday destinations, than in recent years.

    Holiday weather should be much milder this week, despite earlier forecasts calling for snow Monday evening, said Ray Martin, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. Monday and Tuesday have a chance for light rain showers, and if temperatures drop, maybe snow, but there should be little to no snow accumulation.

    Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the Northeast will be warmer, drier days for travel, according to AccuWeather. Millions across the South and Midwest will experience the warmest holiday on record, though.

    Whether it’s the expected good weather or people getting their post-COVID travel confidence back, roads and airports are expected to be packed this week, according to data from Philadelphia International Airport and INRIX, a national travel analytics firm.

    Winter coats are out on a cold morning at a bus stop at 15th and Market Streets on Dec. 15.

    Holiday weather this week in Philadelphia

    While no snow will likely fall on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in the Philadelphia region, Tuesday and Friday have chances for precipitation that could bring rain and ice to Philadelphia, and possibly snow north of the city, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys.

    • Monday: The best weather this week. Warmer, drier, and less windy.
    • Tuesday: Rain showers in Philadelphia during the morning commute, but no snow. Possible rain, sleet, or snow in Montgomery and Bucks Counties. Lehigh Valley could receive an inch or more of snow.
    • Wednesday: No precipitation, but expect wind gusts up to 30 mph. The evening is expected to bring lots of cloud coverage. “Rudolph will definitely need his red nose out and about,” Roys said.
    • Thursday: Misty weather or light rain scattered across the region throughout the day.
    • Friday: Stormy weather with precipitation. Philadelphia has a chance for rain and possible ice, but Upper Bucks County and the Lehigh Valley could get snow.
    • The weekend: On Saturday and Sunday temperatures are forecast to range from the mid-30s to 50 degrees, with a slight wind. Rain is possible Sunday.
    The scene at the TSA checkpoint line in Terminal B at Philadelphia International Airport on Nov. 9.

    Holiday travel in the Philadelphia region

    Expect longer travel times this year as more people hit the road and sky to get to their holiday destinations.

    Airports and flying

    Philadelphia International Airport will see a 5% increase in the number of travelers this week compared to the same period last year, with more than 1 million people expected to come through the airport from Wednesday to Sunday, Jan. 4.

    PHL’s heaviest traveling days:

    1. Friday, Dec. 26: 94,028 expected passengers
    2. Monday, Dec. 29: 93,096 expected passengers
    3. Saturday, Dec. 27: 92,954 expected passengers

    Travelers should arrive two hours before their flight to ensure they get to their gate on time, said Heather Redfern, an airport spokesperson. PHL also has an online travel tips guide for more guidance on easier travel.

    The Inquirer operates a year-end PHL tracker for up-to-date information on airport delays and airline performance.

    Traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway on Oct. 26.

    Driving and peak travel times

    A large portion of the holiday travel already occurred this past weekend, but the increased holiday traffic continues.

    Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve historically see lower vehicle traffic as people have reached their holiday destinations, according to INRIX. However, Friday is expected to be busy as travelers make their post-Christmas Day moves. “But, remember, crashes or severe weather could create unexpected delays,“ their year-end report warns.

    Best travel times for driving in Philadelphia

    Most of the traffic congestion this week will come after Christmas Day, with Friday being the busiest, INRIX reports.

    To avoid peak traffic, drivers should steer clear of the roads on Monday and Tuesday, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. The best time to travel on those days is before 10 a.m.

    Wednesday, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day will have minimal traffic impact, according to INRIX.

    The following days will have some of the busiest roads all year: From Friday to Sunday, the worst travel times will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. To avoid congestion, drivers should leave for their destinations before 11 a.m.

  • Cozy inns, vintage finds, and wintery walks in the Western Catskills | Field Trip

    Cozy inns, vintage finds, and wintery walks in the Western Catskills | Field Trip

    Follow the Delaware River north, past the Jersey border, past the Poconos and the Water Gap, and in about three hours, you’ll arrive in Callicoon, at the foot of New York’s Catskill Mountains.

    The region has been an iconic American resort destination since the late 19th century, most famously during its Borscht Belt heyday, when Jewish families filled sprawling summer resorts to play tennis, lounge by the pool, and stir up trouble with dirty dancers. Riding the popularity of the neighboring Hudson Valley, the Catskills’ recent revival offers easy access to nature without requiring you to rough it. Think vintage shopping, natural wine, and cedar saunas between snowy walks through the woods.

    The Catskills are huge (about 6,000 square miles), so for the purposes of this getaway, you’ll focus on the Western Catskills, which rise from the Delaware River and are less rugged than their eastern counterparts. Nothing on this itinerary is more than 30 minutes apart. Start the car.

    Stay: Kenoza Hall

    There are more than a dozen cool places to stay in the Western Catskills, four of which come from locals Kirsten Harlow Foster and Sims Foster of Foster Supply Hospitality. Their properties blend the idiosyncratic architecture and fine craftsmanship of historical buildings with the luxury finishes and playful amenities you want on a weekend escape.

    At Kenoza Hall, perched above the lake of the same name, rooms are split between the Victorian inn and a cluster of cottages with front porches, gas stoves, and arched armoires. Inside, there are plenty of cozy corners for reading or cocktails as snow falls outside. Don’t miss the spa, with its pebble-floored relaxation room and cedar barrel sauna.

    📍 5762 Route 52, Kenoza Lake, N.Y. 12750

    Shop: Downtown Callicoon

    Hugging the New York side of the Delaware River, the riverside village of Callicoon has evolved from its past lives (hunting grounds, timber town) into an artsy retail refuge for Catskills visitors. Browse groovy lamps at Callicoon Vintage, elevated tableware at Spruce Home Goods, hand-dyed yarn at Wool Worth, and more at the new and old boutiques along Lower Main Street. Tucked behind Callicoon Caffé, at the Shell gas station of all places, is an excellent photo op: the Callicoon Bridge spanning the Delaware.

    📍 Lower Main Street, Callicoon, N.Y. 12723

    Eat: Annie’s Ruff Cut

    Rightly famous for its roast beef, Annie’s Ruff Cut in nearby Cochecton might consider a name change to Annie’s Exquisitely Cut. The beef is sliced paper-thin, piled high in cold sandwiches or served open-faced and drenched in warm gravy. The vibe is classic country tavern: old wood, beer swag, and locals mildly surprised you found the place.

    📍 90 Forman Rd., Cochecton, N.Y. 12726

    Snack: North Branch Cider Mill

    Warm apple cider, cinnamony cider doughnuts, and the smell of a smoldering wood stove pull you into North Branch Cider Mill, a rust-red outpost along the North Branch Callicoon Creek. This historic operation has been around since 1942 (and under new ownership since 2022) and while they’re not pressing their own apples yet, it makes an atmospheric stop for a snack and shop along the old-timey general store-style shelves: New York maple syrup, sweet dill pickles, candles, ceramics, and more.

    📍 38 N. Branch Callicoon Center Rd., North Branch, N.Y. 12766

    Watch: Callicoon Theater

    A block off Callicoon’s main commercial drag, the Callicoon Theater hides a 35-seat, barrel-ceilinged auditorium behind its art deco façade. Catching a first-run movie here is worth it for the architecture alone. Dating to 1948, it’s the oldest movie theater in Sullivan County.

    📍 30 Upper Main St., Callicoon, N.Y. 12723

    View: Catskills Art Space

    Though the Catskills cachet is a relatively recent phenomenon, its status as an arts haven goes back decades, with the founding of Catskills Art Space in 1971. Housed in a converted theater in the cute downtown of Livingston Manor, half an hour northeast of Callicoon, since 2007, the dynamic gallery features a mix of up-and-comers and heavy hitters — Sol LeWitt and James Turrell both have site-specific exhibits here through 2027.

    📍 48 Main St., Livingston Manor, N.Y. 12758

    Dine: The DeBruce

    Another stylish Foster Supply property, the DeBruce sits in the scenic Willowemoc Valley, about 10 minutes east of downtown Livingston Manor. You could stay here — original wood doors and claw-foot tubs make a compelling case — but the award-winning tasting menu is the real draw. In the tranquil, forest-view dining room, bergamot scents a matsutake raviolo, and coal-baked pears meet scallops and parsnips. Cross the storybook bridge over the Willowemoc River to arrive, and if you have time, explore the five miles of trails that wind through the woods behind the property before dinner.

    📍 982 DeBruce Rd., Livingston Manor, N.Y. 12758

  • A winter getaway with chocolate, caverns, and holiday lights in Hershey, Pa. | Field Trip

    A winter getaway with chocolate, caverns, and holiday lights in Hershey, Pa. | Field Trip

    Hershey is not just chocolate. OK, it’s a lot of chocolate. But beyond its famous namesake and the company Milton Hershey founded in 1894, this sweet little town has all the ingredients for an easygoing, with-or-without-kids winter weekend getaway — and it’s less than two hours from Philly.

    There are an iconic hotel, interesting breweries, year-round geological wonders, and a full holiday glow-up courtesy of Big Cocoa. The Hallmark movie basically writes itself.

    Fuel: Rising Sun Bar & Kitchen

    If you have taken the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Exit 266, just before you hit Hershey, you’ll pass through Palmyra, home to Rising Sun since 2018. Part of the family-owned Funck Restaurant Group (you can’t spell Funck without fun), this historic-inn-turned-holiday-hangout shines at breakfast, when locals and Hersheypark-bound tourists pile in for sourdough French toast, carne asada omelets, and biscuits smothered in sausage gravy.

    📍 2850 Horseshoe Pike, Palmyra, Pa. 17078

    Stay: The Hotel Hershey

    The grand dame of the city is Hotel Hershey, a Spanish-style confection of apricot brick-and-green terra-cotta dating to 1933 — and really, there was never any question where you were staying. Sure, cheaper chains cluster nearby, but nowhere else gives the sense of history, scale, and capital-P Place than Milton Hershey’s clubhouse, which he commissioned as an employment engine during the Great Depression. (Listen to the Business Movers podcast’s season 30 on the Hershey company for excellent context.) The spa is fantastic (sometimes cocoa-enhanced), and families will love the newer villas with fireplaces, rain showers, and access to a concierge lounge with nightly firepit s’mores.

    📍 100 Hotel Rd., Hershey, Pa. 17033

    Explore: Indian Echo Caverns

    It might be winter, but the temperature remains a steady 52 degrees inside Indian Echo Caverns in nearby Hummelstown. Opened to the public in 1929 — though used for centuries prior by the Susquehannock and other Native Americans — these caves are an all-season attraction. A guided tour takes you 71 steps below the surface to explore ancient stalactites, fantastical drip formations, and impossibly blue underground pools, while learning why preserving this ecosystem matters.

    📍 368 Middletown Rd., Hummelstown, Pa. 17036

    Shop: Black Swan Antiques

    Another Palmyra gem, Black Swan Antiques houses 60 independent dealers across 20,000 square feet. It’s a treasure hunt in the best way: Amish woodwork, collectible comics, fine oil paintings, dainty cocktail glasses — and almost certainly something you never knew you were looking for.

    📍 61 W. Front St. (rear entrance), Palmyra, Pa. 17078

    Visit: Hersheypark Christmas Candylane + Hershey Sweet Lights

    Central Pennsylvania’s biggest winter attraction, Hersheypark’s Christmas Candylane, turns the theme park into a veritable North Pole of twinkling lights and merriment. Santa. Reindeer. Music (including a new show at the park’s theater). You know the drill. Come earlier in the evening if you have the kids, later if you’re without. The park stays open till 8 or 9 most nights. Up the road, Hershey Sweet Lights offers a two-mile, drive-through light show arranged through wooded trails. It’s available as an add-on ticket and is worth it.

    📍 100 Hersheypark Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033

    Dine: Tröegs Independent Brewing

    Tired: Elf on the Shelf. Wired: Mad Elf for yourself. Clocking 11% ABV, this spiced cherry ale is of the most notorious rascals in the Tröegs portfolio, and it can be hard to find in Philly. Going straight to the source guarantees a taste of the yuletide nectar — and maybe a stash for home. The casual, industrial brewpub serves seasonal plates like butternut hummus and pork belly with cheddar-jalapeño grits, and you can splurge on Grand Cru versions of Mad Elf (including bourbon barrel-aged). Pair your meal with a brewery tour ($15), which has been voted best in the country four years running. Booking in advance is recommended.

    📍 200 Hersheypark Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033

    Indulge: Desserts Etc.

    Proof that not everything sweet in Hershey comes in a wrapper: Desserts Etc. has been the town’s go-to bakery since 2012. After dinner, stop in for a holiday cookie flight paired with miniature lattes and hot chocolates in flavors like gingerbread and white chocolate-cranberry. Keep in mind, the shop close at 9. Don’t let the Mad Elf derail you.

    📍 840 E. Chocolate Ave., Hershey, Pa. 17033