Killington Snapshots

The lack of vacation days in the US means we've become experts at maximizing every second of time off we have. Driving 6 hours through a snowstorm for 3 days of skiing is now a semi-normal thing to do. Is it worth it? Yes.

Three full days of amazing skiing, a trip to our favorite Vermont pizza restaurant, evenings napping in front of the fire, many hot chocolates heaped with marshmallows, lots of moguls, early mornings on the slopes, exhausted legs, and deep sleep. I couldn't have been happier.

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A Day at Hunter Mountain

Living in New York isn't easy, but there are many benefits. One of them (for us ski-lovers): being able to escape for a day in the mountains. Last year, we didn't perfect the ski day trip, but this year, we think we've got it right.

Our tips:

1. Don't take the ski bus. It's a super early start and then you take a stupid route through Manhattan so it takes forever. By the time you get there the queues are terrible and you won't be skiing until late morning (last year we weren't skiing until after 11am having caught the bus at 6am). It will also take a painful amount of time to take home (over 4 hours, with a journey that went through Times Square). Instead, rent a car, or better yet, borrow a friend's (thanks G!).

2. Get up early. Yes, our Saturday morning alarm went at 5:15. But we made it from Brooklyn over the George Washington Bridge in 25 minutes. And we were on the slopes by 9am.

3. Bring your own lunch. Hunter Mountain isn't a culinary hotspot. And it isn't super cheap either.

4. Ski early to early. It only gets busier as the day goes on, and the snow gets worse too. Plus, after the 5am alarm, you'll be exhausted by 3pm.

5. Stop at Phoenicia Diner on your way home. It's 10 minutes out of your way and those pancakes are worth driving far more than 10 minutes for.

6. Order the pancakes at Phoenicia Diner. Plus whatever else you fancy. But don't forget the pancakes.

7. Get a good playlist ready for the drive home. It won't be as smooth as your journey out.

One more close-up of those pancakes. Just because.

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Snapshots from Home

In mid-July we took a week off work and flew back home. Days were filled with long walks (and runs), beautiful food, amazing wine, and so much love, laughter, hugs, and smiles. Being back at home and in our old London stomping grounds fills my heart with so much joy, and inevitably makes me question why we ever moved away. But really I know why, and there's so many opportunities, discoveries, and adventures to be had over in this crazy country too. That doesn't make leaving any easier, that doesn't mean that I miss home any less than I did in our first day in this busy, hectic city, and that doesn't mean that I don't dream of returning one day (not quite) soon (enough). 

But for now, we are where we are. We live in the present and make vague future plans, not clinging to them, allowing them to change, and flowing through the weeks that come and go in the blink of an eye. 

These are just a few snapshots from some of our most adored UK spaces: home (my home), maman's veggie patch, Broadway Market, Regent's Canal (and the Towpath Café), Pavilion Café, Bar Termini (a new discovery for us), and, of course the space and countryside that shone beautifully on a perfect British summer's day.

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Spruceton Inn

When you reach six months of living in New York, the importance of escaping this city suddenly becomes clear. While many people have family or friends in the Hamptons, a house out in the countryside, or some connection to a nearby state, we really don't. We knew nobody in the city when we moved here, so befriending people who don't live just next door has not been a high priority. However, running away from the Big Apple on a regular basis has become a necessity.

So, with no ties to anywhere besides our Boerum Hill home, we're free to explore wherever we like, as long as it can be done in a weekend (time is not on our side). Last summer we headed out to Mattituck, during our first winter we spent a cold weekend in Hudson, every June we go for a run round Shelter Island, we skied and ate waffles in Vermont, and a couple of weeks ago, we retreated to the phone signal-free Catskills.

If you're in need of a NYC detox, aren't scared to temporarily lose connection with the outside world, and love sitting round a campfire, you need to book a trip to Spruceton Inn. Set five miles down a seven mile dead-end road, this ten-room 'motel' is simple, grounding, and, well, perfect. On a wet spring weekend, leafy green trees line the road, the lights glowing in the bar welcome you in after the three hour drive up from the city, and lying in bed listening to the rain sputter on the roof, the stream flow outside, and literally nothing else, is like walking into the biggest, warmest hug.

We spent our evenings cooking simple suppers on the stove in our kitchenette (sadly it was too wet to grill), hiding from the rain, celebrating with Champagne, reading, and wrapping up to head to the campfire to make s'mores. Because you can't spend a weekend in the American countryside and not make s'mores.

Mornings began slowly. Café Grumpy coffee and sprinkle-topped pop tarts can be found in Room One (the bar/reception/breakfast room/shop/chill out zone, where you'll find yourself spending a lot of time). Extra coffee should be taken back to your room to accompany your second breakfast of fresh eggs from the nearby farm and whatever else you bought with you (we recommend a Bien Cuit loaf). And then it's time to get outside.

Both Casey and Stephen, the owners of the inn (and the people whose lives I'd like to steal) will provide you with all the hiking tips, local information, and old Spruceton stories. By the time you've hiked up to the fire tower, you've probably already planned your future Catskills life. And you'll be ready to celebrate these plans with a glass of local cider and some freshly popped corn when you get back down.

Saying goodbye to Spruceton is hard. Despite the rain, the cold, and the lack of grilling, a weekend in this Catskills is peaceful, refreshing, and impossible not to love. If we return in the summer for more grilling and campfire time, I'm pretty sure I'll never leave.

Spruceton Inn, 2080 Spruceton Rd, West Kill, NY 12492.

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North Fork Roasting Co, Long Island

North Fork is essentially a group of Brooklyn-ites, who drove out of the city, and sprawled themselves along one long road, weaving off on to side streets, and carried on living just as they did when they called Red Hook home. If you were to be taken, blindfolded, to North Fork Roasting Co in Southold, you would probably guess you were in south Brooklyn, and not by the ocean on Long Island. 

If you drink coffee, even only rarely, North Fork Roasting Co is a key pit-stop on your Long Island trip. This café disguises itself as a house sitting on the side of the main road running through Southold, with an eclectic collection of vintage furniture sprawled on the lawn, a sixties student-style coffee room inside, and an old-school coffee roasting machine in the back. There's no doubting how recently roasted the beans were for the cup of coffee you're about to enjoy: When the staff here aren't making your coffee or baking your muffins, they're taking care of transforming these coffee beans into something you really, really want to drink.

Go in the summer, make sure you opt-in to coffee ice cubes (why would you ever turn down coffee ice cubes), devour a cinnamon roll and a blueberry muffin, and stay awhile, perhaps with another coffee in hand, on the rickety furniture, in the eccentric garden by the road.

North Fork Roasting Co, 55795 Main Road, Southold, NY 11971

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Vine Street Café Food Truck, Shelter Island

A day trip to Shelter Island is an essential part of every Long Island holiday, whether you're staying in the North or South Fork. Hop on the ferry for the beautiful, and incredibly short ride over from Greenport to the Shelter Island Heights, and be prepared to be faced by the most stunning, doll-house dreamy, wood-clad, porch-fronted, white-shuttered houses. After showing maman and papa round the fairytale land that is Champagne row, otherwise known as Dering Harbor, and a stroll round the peaceful, verdant Mashomack Preserve, we retraced our steps to reach Vine Street Café's Food Truck.

Vine Street Café is a fancy seafood restaurant, which last year opened Shelter Island's first food truck. It sits in the lot outside the restaurant, with plenty of seats available round the back, serving up kimchi burgers, crispy clam rolls, shrimp guac dogs, avocado-filled California burgers, and barbecue pork rolls. Maman sillily selected a salad, and we recommend you don't copy her mistake. 

The bread the burgers and dogs is served in is made on site every day, and the results are heavenly. Light, fluffy, slightly sweet, shining buns and rolls, stuffed full of local seafood, meat, and fresh, crunchy, zingy vegetables. Between us we devoured a California burger, a shrimp guac dog, and a pulled pork roll, with a salty side off french fries with garlicky aioli. The perfect lunchtime pit stop on a blue skied, sunny day. Add it to your Long Island bucket list.

Vine Street Café Food Truck, 41 S Ferry Road, Shelter Island, NY 11964

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