According to the calendar, today is the final day of winter. According to the thermometer? It’s almost Memorial Day. If this early onset summer business we’re basking in right now has you jumping the gun and ready to bail on the city, you’re not alone. No need to go off half-cocked, however; we’ve got a whole bunch of standout spring mini-breaks lined up to keep you busy all the way until the calendar says summer. By which time the leaves will probably be turning, if trends continue. Happy Spring, people!
#1 Get high Fresh air, beautiful views and as spring sets in, acres of deep blue trillium and plenty more wildflowers are on the menu for those who hit the 105-mile Skyline Drive in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park before the summer crowds show up. The drive’s northern terminus, in the town of Front Royal, is barely five hours from Manhattan, making this an easier weekend jaunt than many people realize (nps.gov/shen).
#2 Do north Steve Martin once called it “New York without all the stuff,” and while that was a fine example of a really funny joke, it’s not entirely fair to Toronto, Canada’s version of the Big Apple, which really does have tons to recommend it — it’s just that Toronto is really awful at figuring out what New Yorkers want. Not to speak for everyone else, but here are a couple of things that are really turning us on right now: Palatial, hardcore dim sum joints out in super-ugly suburbs like Richmond Hill — Yang’s Fine Chinese Cuisine and Dragon Boat Fusion Cuisine, for example. The coffee culture, showcased in serious roaster/café settings like Te Aro, in funky Leslieville. Exciting little restaurants like Grand Electric, a Mexican gastropub type deal in ever-cooler Parkdale. Check into the city’s newest little non-corporate hipster hotel, the 12-room Hotel Ocho, in colorful Chinatown (seetorontonow.com).
#3 Early bird As large as it looms, for every New Yorker that wouldn’t be anywhere but The Hamptons on a summer weekend, there are dozens — more, maybe? — who’ve never been or don’t care. That’s really unfortunate, because The Hamptons are kind of perfect — far more so without everyone else clogging up the works. For a perfect midweek spring sneak-off, it’s hard to top postcard-perfect East Hampton. Check into The Mill House Inn, which has rooms from $225 right now, plus a Sunday-Thursday special through Apr. 12 for 10 percent off a two-night stay (millhouseinn.com).
#4 New angle An evening swim in an infinity pool at a sleek new Four Seasons hotel, high above the Inner Harbor. A sophisticated dinner celebrating Maryland’s impressive bounty at the Woodberry Kitchen, housed in a converted mill tucked away in the post-industrial Jones Falls Valley. Sparkling new waterfront developments, hipster coffee bars, interesting shopping. What is happening to dear old Baltimore? It’s getting kind of fabulous, is what’s happening, complementing all those pre-existing reasons – such as the art scene, the classic market halls, the super-friendly people – to love one of the East’s most unusual cities (baltimore.org).
#5 Sweet! In olden times, before we had summer in March, for example, the thing that came between winter and spring was known as sugaring season, when producers across the Northeast would tap their maples, extract the sap and boil up some of the world’s best maple syrup. You may be running around in shorts this week, but why not do it upstate, where this Sunday marks the end of the annual do that is New York’s Maple Weekend, featuring free pancake breakfasts, tastings, demos and you name it at some of the more than 500 producers in the Empire State (mapleweekend.com).
#6 Flower power Outdoor gardens. Indoor gardens. More than 10,000 types of plants and trees, spread out across 1,000 acres. If you can’t find it somewhere at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania’s charming (where it hasn’t been strip-malled to death, anyway) Brandywine Valley, there’s a chance it may not exist in nature. If you’re an orchid person, hightail it down this weekend – Sunday marks the end of the annual Orchid Extravaganza, held inside the four-acre glass Conservatory, considered one of the world’s most excellent of its kind (longwoodgardens.org).
#7 Small town The handsome old Hudson Valley town of Saugerties, NY is famous for – well, it is mostly famous for having produced Jimmy Fallon. That and being close to places you’ve heard of, like Woodstock, just 10 minutes to the west. But if the town has its way, Saugerties will eventually become one of your favorite weekend spots. The downtown’s increasingly appealing (eat at Miss Lucy’s Kitchen, shop at Rock Star Rodeo, drink at the Dutch Ale House), the May-September Horse Shows In The Sun are turning into kind of a big deal. Now there’s somewhere proper for visitors to stay: The snazzy new Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern. It’s too early to tell how essential an address it’s going to be, but there’s plenty of promise – private balconies overlooking the thundering Esopus Creek, an ambitious menu and an outdoor patio with firepits at the onsite restaurant (diamondmillshotel.com).
#8 See the other side When did Washington, DC decide to up and basically reinvent the entire city? Doesn’t matter, really; all you need to know is that it’s happening, and kind of fast. All kinds of neighborhoods that you’ve probably never heard of are the new hot thing — like Bloomingdale, with its collection of brightly colored row houses along tree-lined blocks just off busy North Capitol Street. The unofficial community center is the are-we-in-Brooklyn Big Bear Café, a coffee / breakfast joint in the mornings and a cocktail / dinner spot by evening. On May 13, the Bloomingdale Farmers Market – the
nabe’s other major social magnet comes back for the season; stay the night at the Bloomingdale Inn up the street, a B&B as chill as the ‘hood itself (bloomingdaleinn.com).
#9 Boardwalk times With gaming now legal just about everywhere you look, Atlantic City’s going to have to seriously step up its game to get you in the door. The Borgata and a bunch of new bells and whistles on those Boardwalk-facing white elephants may have helped, but there needs to be more, and more there will be beginning April 2, when AC waves hello to Revel, an Arquitectonica-designed resort that promises an even-more-than-Borgata, honest-to-goodness, 100 percent Vegas-style experience to the East Coast. On paper, it all looks super promising: Serious chefs like Michel Richard and Marc Forgione attached to the restaurants, nightlife by LA’s Ivan Kane and an oceanfront pool club by the guys behind Wet Republic in Vegas, plus tons more bells and whistles. Only one way to see how it all plays out, though –— go ahead and check in (revelresorts.com).
#10 Take the waters Where did President James Buchanan receive the first transatlantic cable, dispatched by Queen Victoria? Where presidents and other boldfacers of the day summered back in the 1850s, of course: The mountain town of Bedford, Pennsylvania. Popularized by the mineral waters that have been burbling out of its hot springs and attracting those in need of a bit of relaxation since the pre-colonial era, for more than 200 years, the address to know was the Omni Bedford Springs Resort, which welcomed all manner of famous types during its first 200 years. After an extended hiatus and a $150 million renovation, it is back and ready for another close-up. (omnihotels.com).