Whenever we travel, we like to find out what kind of food our vacation-spot is famous for and make sure we sample the local favorites. Here is a quick list of some of the travel destinations The Insider Travel Guides cover, and some of the favorite foods from each:
Bermuda
Boston
- Baked beans
- Boston Chowder (just don't mix up New England "chowda" with that tomato-based Manhattan stuff)
- Boston Cream Pie. Said to have originated at the Parker House Hotel (now the Omni Parker House Hotel), it is not a pie at all but two layers of sponge cake filled with vanilla custard and covered in chocolate glaze. Incidentally, Boston Cream Pie is officially the Massachusetts State Dessert.
- Fried clams (especially from the Ipswich clam box place or Woodman's of Essex)
- NECCO Wafers (stands for New England Confectionery Company)
- Sam Adams beer
Hawaii
New York City
The Big Apple is full of world-class restaurants, and any visitor to the city should partake in these castles of cuisine to whatever extent their wallet allows. But make time in your schedule for classic NYC food like:
- NY pizza (let Ray's Original, Original Ray's, et al fight it out among themselves and head for Zesty Pizza on the Upper East Side instead)
- NY bagels
- Papaya King hot dogs and juice
Philadelphia
San Francisco
The classic dinner-and-a-show will always be a wonderful date idea, but don't stop there -- New York City offers so much more! Here are some thoughts to get you started:
- Now that the weather is warming up, try free kayaking lessons - see downtownboathouse.org or manhattankayak.com
- For wine-tasting classes with "no hype, no snobbery" sign up at vintagenewyork.com
- Explore a different side of NYC with a scavenger hunt: watsonadventures.com
- Paint-your-own-pottery isn't just for kids: littleshopny.com now offers adult nights
- Look for the starts with NYC movie tour; see sceneontv.com
- Or if books are more your thing, how about a NYC literary pub tour? (see bakerloo.org/pubcrawl)
- You can't go wrong date by taking your date to First Fridays at the Guggenheim (where, on the first Friday of each month, the museum is open until 1 am for cocktails, music, and of course, art)
- On a budget? Rent a rowboat in Central Park (April - Oct.) for a date that is fun and inexpensive.
- Or escape the city sidewalks altogether, and walk through 66 acres of beautiful parkland at Fort Tryon on the northern tip of Manhattan where you'll enjoy magnificent views of Hudson River.
