Destination: Vermont Garlic Festival

Best of Show: Tasting 19 kinds of garlic and 21 varieties of heirloom tomatoes!

The journey was memorable, too - we also enjoyed local Mocha Joe's coffee, grass-fed beef and local veggies at the Chelsea Royal Diner in West Brattleboro before we ever got to the Garlic Fest.

After we left the Garlic Fest, it was too early to head home, so wecrossed Vermont on country  roads en route to ... dinner and Benton Lane pinot noir at Giuseppe's in Meredith, NH (well, it's sort of on our way...)

Destination: The Caledonia County Fair, Lyndonville VT

Best of Show: Fresh cheese curds from the cheese-maker truck

The Caledonia County Fair in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom is a good old-fashioned county fair with all the required accoutrements: cows and goats, the draft horse pull, corn-dogs and maple cotton candy - they do it right.

You might think that your source for the classic corn dog might not be fertile fields for foodie fun, but you just have to look around and maybe you'll get lucky.

We did. Way up in the back, beyond the center ring with the fairway and the draft horse competition, just to the left of the cattle barns, we found the Dairy on the Moove, a cheesemaker on wheels with an educational program and samples of tasty fresh cheese curds! 

 The lady with the white Bengal tigers was pretty cool, too!

Destination: Richard Thompson live at Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH

Best of Show: Shared Reggiano Parmigiana and fresh peaches in the park

Honorable Mention goes to Colby's for an excellent late lunch 

Destination: The Union Fair, Union, ME

Best of Show: Steamers at The Boathouse on the harbor

The best steamers we'd ever had, served with draft Allagash White Ale - heavenly!

Destination: Provincetown

Best of Show: The Beehive Tavern

Any summer sunday expedition to Cape Cod must take into account that you won't be getting off-Cape before the traffic subsides, you may as well plan to dine well and slowly.

The Bee-Hive is a homey, comfortable place with local Cape Cod Beer (a vacation in every pint!) and Cape Cod comfort food.

See also the very excellent Dunbar Tea Room.

Destination: Bennington VT and Hoosick Falls, NY

Best of Show: Peppermills, Bennington

Destination: Boothbay Harbor, ME

Best of Show: Cafe Mirabelle, Portsmouth, NH

Another honorable mention to Becky's Diner (nothin' finer!) 

Destination: Woburn, MA

Best of Show: A Sazerac at the Sichuan Garden bar

We went to Woburn for dinner this Friday after dropping Melissa off at Logan Airport.

I had wanted to come here for the highly-regarded authentic fare ever since visitng the Yin-Yu-Tang House at excellent Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, and listening to a series of lectures on 5000 years of Chinese history. The classic cocktails were a very pleasant surprise.

Destination: Bar Harbor, ME

Best of Show: McKay's Public House, Bar Harbor

In a departure from our usual routine, we actually spent the night on the road. well, not on the road exactly, but at the Anchorage Inn in Bar Harbor.

We had breakfast in the morning at the Cafe this Way, another charming place.

Destination: Martha's Vineyard, MA

Best of Show: oysters and stout over politics with the locals at Offshore Brewing Company

Destination: The July Brimfield Antiques Fair

Best of Show: memories of 25-cent cider donuts

With hospitality and authentic Greek New England pizza from Costa at the Brimfield House of Pizza.

Destination: Boothbay Harbor, but weather aborted that mission so we went inland

Best of Show: A Sazerac and creative cuisine at the Pepperland Cafe in South Berwick, ME, across from Sarah Orne Jewett's house.

With honorable mention to Becky's Diner (nothin' finer!) in Portland

Destination: Provincetown, MA

Best of Show: the mussels at Bubala's in P-Town

Study choreography here.

Billy and Sonya the bartenders know their stuff, too.

Destination: The Champlain Valley

Best of Show: Dinner at the Black Sheep Bistro, Vergennes, VT

Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth

Destination: Farmington, Ct

Best of Show: Hard Cider at a farmstand in Litchfield, a Greylock Martini at Sullivan Station in Lee, MA

We went to Hillstead House in Farmington, CT.

When you are planning a fancy dinner for friends or family, there's nothing like a visit to one of the many preserved mansions around New England to inspire you to reach for something special. I look at the grand dining room, the dishes, the kitchen, and I think "What could I do with this kitchen and a handful of servants? What would I set on that table?"

After leaving the house/museum, we headed west and made an adventure of it, including finding farm-fresh strawberries that ended up in a Frozen Strawberry Cream Torte for Richmond's birthday!