tommy wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2024 9:47 am Vermont is a beer nerd’s paradise. I don’t think my reco will be all that useful for Dave N, but JFV you should 100% hit Hill Farmstead. Maybe the best brewery in the US. Especially if you have any inclination whatsoever to farmhouse ales. (Their IPAs and stouts/porters are also world class too). Nice little estate too. Alchemist is great, but ultimately it is just about their beer, as the brewery experience itself is pretty modern and small.

Noted, thanks! I'll have to make sure I'm not driving!!

One other thing is that Alchemist and Ben and Jerry's is kind of a deceptively long drive from southern VT, but if you can get up to Stowe and Burlington and Lake Champlain, that whole area rules, highty recommended

Thanks for the Vermont advice! I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop in Montpelier. What a lovely town. Heading down to Brattleboro this afternoon.

Wallace Stegner once called Vermont the most Western of the Eastern states, or something to that effect. I totally get where he was coming from. I often feel like I’m in some of the higher elevations of the Southwest, although it’s certainly more lush in Vermont. On my first night here, I drove down a National Forest road outside of Bennington and made camp just before sunset. Not a soul around. I miss being able to camp where I please on public land. I drove upstate and stayed at an inn in Montpelier. During the drive up, I had to stop to let a black bear cross the road.

Not sure how I’d fare in the winter, but I love it up here in the Summer. Planning to do some fly fishing in a couple of days. I don’t know how I can weather another summer in Austin without wanting to be here.

Going to DC for a few days soon. Besides the museums, memorials and mall i don't have much idea what i'm doing. Looking for recommendations for bookstores, bars, venues, restaurants, movie theaters, comix shops, record stores, neighborhoods, parks, weird shit... whatever anyone's got. Much obliged

Puerto Rico for 8 days in early September. Mostly will be hangin out on the beach (west side), but any suggestions for touristy stuff from you east coasters? I've never been. Old San Juan has been recommended. Any restaurants we should be checking out?

goatbreather wrote: Going to DC for a few days soon. Besides the museums, memorials and mall i don't have much idea what i'm doing. Looking for recommendations for bookstores, bars, venues, restaurants, movie theaters, comix shops, record stores, neighborhoods, parks, weird shit... whatever anyone's got. Much obliged

Been a while, but Elfegne for Ethiopian food. (I've only been to its previous incarnation as Zenebech, but I can't imagine it having fallen off.) DC has a robust Ethiopian community, and so it's something of a specialty cuisine in town.

Haven't rocked it in almost a decade, but Daikaya was good for Sapporo-style ramen downstairs and izakaya-style food and bar action upstairs.

If you feel like battling traffic or taking the metro for 40 minutes, I can also vouch for some regional Chinese places in the Maryland suburbs, but something tells me Rockville wouldn't otherwise be a compelling enough destination for you.

My wife and I will be on vacation in London in few weeks (staying in Leicester Square). Might anyone have any favorite vegetarian-friendly restaurants in the area? (Or city-wide, someplace that would offer an archetypical “cozy English pub” experience with good vegetarian options?)

Many thanks for any suggestions you might have!

The Yeoman Ghost wrote: Fri Aug 23, 2024 6:37 pm My wife and I will be on vacation in London in few weeks (staying in Leicester Square). Might anyone have any favorite vegetarian-friendly restaurants in the area? (Or city-wide, someplace that would offer an archetypical “cozy English pub” experience with good vegetarian options?)

Many thanks for any suggestions you might have!

Nopi, an Ottolenghi restaurant, is really great. Lots of vegetarian options. Dishoom is awesome Indian, again, lots of veggie dishes. Most pubs we went to (we we just there) had veggie curries and often veg burger options. Should be pretty easy to go meatless over there, and that applies to other places we went outside of London as well.

In Boston (actually Waltham) visiting a friend over the weekend. I like how drivers here seem to know how to move their asses.

enframed wrote: Fri Aug 23, 2024 8:57 am Puerto Rico for 8 days in early September. Mostly will be hangin out on the beach (west side), but any suggestions for touristy stuff from you east coasters? I've never been. Old San Juan has been recommended. Any restaurants we should be checking out?

We're doing the same in January. Hopefully someone else chimes in before, but would be interested to hear about your experience after.