On Our Radar: Stowe Mountain Lodge

Typically hitting the lounges on South Beach’s Ocean Drive or fending off a would-be suitor's advances at Pure in Vegas is more our speed for our girlfriend getaways, but every once in a while, we like to get out there and see the scenery. That’s exactly what we’ll be doing next weekend when we head up to the Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont.

The 139-room resort opened last summer after a decade in the making. With oversized windows in every room; we’ll hardly have to leave our room to see those maple leaves turning that gorgeous crimson and with a bathroom the size of our bedroom at home (below), why would we even want to? We’ll feel like we’re in nature, too, with all the eco-friendly steps the hotel has taken, like using salvaged trees to build tables for the restaurant or lamps designed by Simon Pearce who uses energy from waterfalls to power his glass blowing furnace and potter’s wheel. In addition the Solstice restaurant prides itself on a “farm to table” philosophy and uses local fruits, veggies and, our favorite, cheese as much as possible.



We do plan on leaving the hotel at least once. We’ll be taking part in the River and Spirits tour. This is a canoe ride down the Lamoille River to the Boyden Farm and Winery for wine tasting. That’s our kind of workout!

Our trip also gives us the chance to fly Jet Blue out of JFK and visit the much ballyhooed new Terminal 5 that previewed this week. As our flight leaves at 9 am on Sunday, we won't have time to sip a glass of wine at Piquillo or sample the sushi at Deep Blue (below), but we hope to try it out on our return. Oh, one other thing: our Jet Blue flight to Burlington is an unheard of $150 round trip! When was the last time you flew anywhere roundtrip for under $200? It may cost us more to get to the airport!

UPDATE: Turns out we won't be getting to see the new Terminal 5, after all. The opening has been pushed back to October 22.