Showing posts with label new england. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new england. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Five Things You MUST Do This Fall Around Boston




You are wasting your life. You know at some point you are going to die. It gets closer every single day yet what are you doing? WASTING your time! You think these measly little 24 hour increments we get will last forever? Well they won't. One of my friends was killed when a tractor ran him over. I know what you're thinking. Tractors are slow right? Why didn't he just get out of the way? There is a good answer to that. He was DYING from Cancer and had NO legs! Another guy was attacked by a pit-bull in his own yard. One minute he was watering the daisies, the next thing he was food for a canine who was probably trained by Michael Vick! Those may or may not be true stories but..



You see why we really can't afford to waste one single minute. Our time could be next week or it could be tomorrow. Besides, the Fall or Autumn, (as some annoying people say), is the best season all year.

 Sure, you can't wear that thong to the beach any more and the Speedo has been put away until that Caribbean vacation you've been planning for ten years comes around this winter (yeah right), but that's ok. 

It's cool out but not cold. It's comfortable. We are back in jeans and a light jacket. We look better that way anyway. Personally I always feel a little silly in shorts. I like jeans. When I'm hot though I don't give a crap what I look like. I'll wear Jorts and a halter top if it will make me less hot. Man, I hate the heat. But forget about it. It's the FALL now so let's go:

New England in the Fall is the best place to be. We have the mountains to the north, the Berkshires to the west, the ocean to the east and alcohol ....right here near by. It's football season and bar crawl season. It's comfort food season when you can start making chili and eating things like Shepard's pie and crock pot beef stew again. All that summer weight loss looked good on you but now we need to bulk up. Winter is coming. So let's eat!



(right click on links and open in new window)

 1. Mid Week Call in Sick Food Truck Fun Run

Here is what you do. Do this during the week when the myriad of food trucks are out throughout Boston. They congregate in Dewey Square by South Station among other places. So call in sick or take a day off. You deserve it.

Then plan your route. If you go to Dewey Square Tuesday or Thursday then you get the added plus of the Farmers Market too from May through November. Use this site to plan your Food Truck Route:


Now the next step is the mode of transportation. You could always take the MBTA but that's for wimps. Driving is just crazy talk so go find a Hubway bike. Biking it is the best way to get around Boston and you can burn off some calories as you sample from an array of food trucks selling all kinds of things like fish tacos, falafel, Banh Mi, barbecue, seafood, ice cream sandwiches and so much more. It is an eating odyssey! 

Here is where the Hubway Bikes are located. It is inexpensive and convenient:


With the bikes you can start at Dewey then hit the rest of the Greenway then Gov. Center, financial district, Copley, Huntington, Kendall...... It's all just a ride away.  




2. Boston Harbor Islands

The tourists are gone now and we can have all the areas back that are usually full of them. The Harbor Islands are a hidden treasure that an entire blog could cover but  the bottom line is that you have to go. It is a very inexpensive ferry ride over and then there are free water taxis to all the other islands. Here are Ranger recs of just a few things you can do there taken from their site:

Ranger Recommendations


One of the best things ever would be to camp out over night before it gets too cold. You can have a bonfire and feel like you are a million miles from home. You can also just spend the day exploring, having a picnic, taking boat rides, hiking or just finding a nice quiet spot to read. Here is a link with more info:






3. Go to a  New England Patriots Game

Going to a fall Pats game is a rite of passage if you live here and it is a great time! Getting tickets are easy on the Pats web site but Craigslist always has face value tix from people who bought them and then realize they can't go.

You can handle this a few different ways. 

a. Take the train. There is traffic on Route One. No. not traffic. TRAFFIC. So if you don't want to sit in it take the train. It is very easy, cheap, convenient and you won't have to pay hugely expensive parking fees. Also Patriot Place which is attached to the stadium has more than enough bars and restaurants to pre-game at.   Click here for more info;



b. If you are like me and the tailgating is a huge part of the experience then you have to leave early. It will be an all day affair but that's the way you like it. Bring a gang. Drive down together. You will need a good grill and some pre-made food. I like to marinate steaks for a few days, make some honey hot wings and have a few good salads like chicken or coleslaw. Bring lots of chips and of course a good craft beer like Trillium or Clown Shoes.

Remember the music!  A Jambox or a portable speaker system so you can get your groove on or rock out. Definitely do not forget some comfortable chairs and BOOM! Ya got a party. Bring extras to share and make friends. Don't forget to cover yourself in Pats gear and after the game THEN go check out Patriots Place and wait for the traffic to subside.







4. Fall Foliage


I see your eyes opening wide in disbelief. "Cappy! You're not a leaf peeper are you?" 

Foliage and Fogeys may sound alike but trust me leaf peeping isn't just for old farts on tour buses coming in to have the cheapest vacation imaginable. 

City living makes it easy to forget how awesome it is to get away sometimes. This is the best time of year to do it too. I'll give you three quick reasons why. Native Sweet Corn, Maple Syrup on Pancakes and Cider Donuts!

Not to mention that if you can time it right and go during peak colors, it is like visiting Oz. We are so fortunate to have New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and the Berkshires so close by. I will give you a couple of my favorite places to go for fall foliage or just fall stuffing of the face:





Do you like live music, barbecue, hot apple cobbler, corn on the cobb, chicken pot pies, cider donuts, hay rides, apple picking, pumpkins and PIE?

No? You must be crazy.  But if you do. This is the place to go.

Closer by we have 


All the things above minus music but add in fishing, hiking, all kinds of fruit to pick and a petting zoo. Hey they have a Llama.    There are also AWESOME cider donuts too. It is  just minutes up route one from Boston.

Ever hear of a sugar shack?  It's where maple syrup is made. They make the syrup right there then they feed it to you on pancakes. Yup it's worth driving for. Here is a pretty good Chowhound thread giving you some great places to go:


But the best thing to do is to go near one of those sugar shacks like maybe in Franconia Notch and go on a serious hike up into the mountains to see some real color. Bring your camera and research the hikes because some are easy and some like the one I did a while back are hard. (crawled back to my car in the dark after hiking a long, amazing loop up into the mtns.)  3 hour drive north on route 93. Hike within your limits and have fun and don't forget that native sweet corn sold at every farm stand you will pass on the way.


But if hiking isn't your thing then you can go to the Berkshires and drive to the top of Mt. Greylock too. It's absolutely gorgeous.





5. Visit the Wineries and Breweries all over New England


A word about Octoberfests

I love a party as much as the next guy. Octoberfests and there are plenty around here are full of amatuers who want to see how much beer they can imbibe before acting stupid. It is also a great way to spend the day standing in line, overpaying for food and being around college kids. Not MY scene but if it's yours and you must go,  here are the best:





 Boston Magazine  recently did an excellent feature on breweries you have to visit this summer and I concur. There is no reason at all why this can't be the breweries you have to visit this fall article too. So check it out:


That's the better way to try some of our amazing micro brews around Boston. No lines and it will make for a really great leisurely fall excursion.
OR if WINE is more your thing we also have something called the Coastal Wine Trail that sounds like fun.

Or there's this:  New England Brewery Tours


BONUS

I know I said five but as an added bonus for no extra charge I'm giving you a mini list before I go away until next time. Here are some things that are very touristy but I love to do and I would be remiss in my duties as your half sane New England fall tour guide if I didn't mention these:

Topsfield Fair. October 3 - 13,  2014 -  Don't listen to naysayers just go. I will give you my list of tips and tricks just before it's here so keep checking back.

Salem.  The entire month of October is Salem month. They have lots of cheesy Halloweeny stuff to do but they also have some great restaurants, a great waterfront and great history (obviously)

Six Flags.  You've never been to Six Flags? It's better than Disney. Tons of amazing roller coasters, concerts, special nights (like Halloween fright fest) and more. Worth the money but discounts are everywhere.

Corn Maze.  Find one. Do one. That is all.

and a few more that you will have to Google to find where they are -  zip-lining, white water rafting, canoeing, sea kayaking, bi-plane rides, whale watching and more. Check Living Social and Groupon for deals.

SO get your butts out there and enjoy the greatest season of all!

 See you on the streets!



Love,
Cappy







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Monday, March 17, 2014

The Ultimate Guide to the Largest Seafood Expo in North America!


Yes Please!

Some of my earliest memories are of my dad bringing home lobsters to eat and letting my brother and I play with them on the kitchen floor before putting them in the pot. We would name them and be very sad when dad took them away to cook. Of course my dad was a born and bred Bostonian which meant that he knew how to cook a lobster and how to make a kick ass lobster roll ,so the mourning period for our friends the lobsters would last right up until the first bite.


When you live in New England you really can't help but have an affinity for the ocean and everything edible that comes out of it. I am no different and with me it is even more so than most. I have been around the ocean in some way or another my whole life. I dive, so being underwater with the denizens of the deep is a special thing to me. Seeing these creatures in their natural habitat is something I think everyone should experience whether snorkeling or even just by spending a day at the Aquarium. 




The Seafood Expo North America comes to Boston once a year and is literally the largest trade event on the continent! Nearly 20,000 businesses in the seafood industry are all under one giant roof and the opportunities are endless to not only learn a little bit about where all the seafood comes from that we love to eat but also 
to EAT it. 

The fact is that 99% of the time when I sit down for dollar oysters at some local raw bar or I decide to shoot a dozen  Cherry Stones over at Row 34, I'm not thinking about where they came from. I'm a business man. I work for a living. I'm not a "Foodie" or a "Chowhound" (whatever that is) 



But what I have learned at this amazing event is that if our fish and shellfish are not sustainable then we can and will run out. The fish stocks have to be maintained throughout the world. Luckily this industry is doing a great deal to make sure we never run out. 

From Nat Geo:

Sustainable fishing guarantees there will be populations of ocean and freshwater wildlife for the future. Aquatic environments are home to countless species of fish and invertebrates, most of which are consumed as food. (Others are harvested for economic reasons, such as oysters that produce pearls used in jewelry.) Seafood is respected all over the world, in many diverse cultures, as an important source of protein and healthy fats. For thousands of years, people have fished to feed families and local communities. 

But the fact is that if you want to learn about things like sustainability, protecting our oceans and fisheries, seeing where the seafood comes from (all over the world) and see how it is brought out of the oceans to our plates then you HAVE to get yourself here next year. Me? I'm just a novice. I am a scuba diving, boat riding, swimming, water gun toting regular type guy and walking around aisle after aisle eating smoked salmon, crab cakes, shrimp, oysters, all manner of sushi and more is  why I come to the Seafood Expo.                                                                            
                                            

My own experience is somewhat unique at the Seafood Expo. I always go with a plan. You should be aware that people from all over the world are coming here to conduct business. Many people are restaurant and store owners looking to buy machinery and seafood for their businesses. However, many are also here to eat, sample and learn about the industry. I am here primarily to eat. (surprise!) I come to go to the food show next door for business.  With the price of a ticket you gain entry to the Seafood show as well which is awesome for me.



POINT - It is crowded. Give yourself time. There are all types of cultures here and all types of people are all there to sample the delicious seafood. There will be lines. There will be people who think they don't need to wait on lines. Be patient. There is enough for everyone. 
Giant Clams


 Here are 10 Tips on how to do
 the Seafood Expo North America:


1. Start all the way on the left side. Many people are going to the New England Food Show first then heading in to the Seafood Expo. Big mistake. Do you want to fill up on bread? You will be full way before you eat your first oyster.  But if you get there early and start as far away from the food show side as possible you will have a lot of food all to yourself. No lines.



2. Know what you like. I love sushi. I love Oysters. I love it all really but I know that if someone offers me a huge cup of faux crab salad I am not eating that. Your stomach has a finite amount of room in it. You will get full if you eat everything. There is simply too much to sample everything and it is definitely not all good stuff. 

TUNA!

3. Don't just run through stuffing your face. This is a huge opportunity to not only learn about where the fish come from but also to meet local purveyors. Sure there are people from Morocco and Korea mixed in with Chinese and Mexican fisheries and people from everywhere there is fish  but I find that the local guys have some great stories. They have some seriously fresh oysters, salmon and more. They are here in town or near by and can tell you where to eat their products locally.

Will show muscles for mussels.
4. I said don't run through stuffing your FACE! Did you see that ugly monster-like monkfish? Taste it! You never had eel before? It is so good! Try it! Things like wolf fish, whelks and seaweed salad aren't on every corner. Broaden your horizons! Try new things.


Wolf Fish
Do not fear the Monkfish!

5. There are also a lot of fried foods. There is fried calamari and I even had fried gator once here but go easy on the fried stuff. It will fill you up really fast and usually you won't really get to taste the fish. IMHO. 

6. Oysters. There are a lot of oysters here. They are all different. Taste them all. Duxbury and Wellfleet are different from PEI. Learn about them.  They all taste differently. They are good for you. If you are not from Boston, please take a moment and discover the cherry stone. (It's a clam)


Sammy the Salmon

7. Salmon. Big business is that fish. There are Chinook, Sockeye, Coho and more. There are farm raised and wild. They can be smoked a million different ways. I had a smoked maple candied salmon that was out of this world.  They are cooked a million different ways. You can learn recipes. You can learn why salmon should be on your menu at home and when you go out. Eat a lot of salmon here. Trust me.

8. Sushi and Sashimi. There are many Asian companies here at the Expo. Get in there and eat! They are not all created equal. Smell first. Watch out for things that are still frozen. I almost lost a tooth on a frozen shrimp. You can have a sushi extravaganza here at the Expo. Go for it! 

9. There are classes. The Master class series had Chef's teaching how to cook lobster dishes. Chef Dan Enos from Oceanaire did a class on salmon. Go hear a session. Watch the shucking competition. I actually had a brief lesson on shucking so I can do my own oysters.

Shell -less Lobster!

10. Spread the word. Do you know people in this industry? They should be here every year. Take pictures. Blog about it. Facebook the heck out of it. This Expo is a gem and sharing it with others is just as important as all the rest. Also it is three days so come at least twice. It is hard to do in all one day. Your stomach can only fit so much.I speak from experience. Oh and one more thing. The exhibitors are people too. Be gracious! They are feeding you after all. Please and thank you's go a long way and if something tastes great then let them know Compliments can lead to even more delicious seafood! 






Boston is one of the greatest cities in the world and luckily for you if you are going to the Expo at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center then you are centrally located to everything. You can walk, take a cab or the silver line to anywhere in Boston Proper. Right near by is Fort Point or as some call it, the Innovation District. This area is in mid-gentrification mode lucky for you. Here's a brief list of some of my favorites. It is where you can walk to if you are staying here for the Expo. 

Row 34 - They call themselves a workingman's oyster bar. Go for the seafood. Raw bar is outstanding. Beer menu is top notch and it is a short walk from the Convention Center.


Tavern Road -  I love this place. The DiBiccari brothers run this great place. Unique Inventive food menu AND bar menu. The bar actually rocks. Mixologists live here so drink. The food is also outstanding.


Trillium Brewery - Yes it is a brewery right near by but the beer is so good you have to go. You go into the small space and go left to the bar where they will let you sample whatever is currently being offered and they have a lot of different brews. I love the Pot and Kettle personally. It's a dark porter and it is really a craft beer. They sell by the bottle, 32 oz and gigantic Growler. You buy and leave to drink it elsewhere like your hotel room or home.   So good!


Going the other direction North towards the waterfront there is also a myriad of dining options. Here are a few I like.

Temezcal - Upscale Mexican

Jery Remy's - sports bar

Legal Seafoods and Legal Test Kitchen - seafood!

the No Name - on the fish pier - Old School seafood



Not a free sample!

There's actually about 20 more places within a few minutes walk of there but you can't go wrong with those and by all means Yelp the heck out of the area. Boston is FULL of great places to eat. A little research goes a long way.







Most Importantly:

Enjoy Boston, Have fun. Tell your friends and associates. See you next year!

Leave comments below.





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