Top Romantic Destinations in the Northeast USARomantic picnic along Ocean Drive in Newport, Rhode Island. Watch The Medallion Streaming here. The Getaway Mavens have been hard at work, collecting and organizing the best two and three day escapes in the Northeast USA (Virginia to Maine).

• · True Mountain Log Home Getaway, Hot Tub, Wildlife, Just Minutes to Town, Views. Just a few minutes from town and ski slopes, yet immersed in nature. Moose.
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• Guide to getaway travel destinations in the state of California.

L.A. Times entertainment news from Hollywood including event coverage, celebrity gossip and deals. View photo galleries, read TV and movie reviews and more. The best deals to be found on the web, all in one place for your convenience! Ohio's #1 romantic getaway, HideAway Country Inn is perfect for romantic getaways, spa days, weddings, business retreats, celebrations, or fine dining.

The following surprisingly romantic destinations within a quick drive are perfect: to pop the question, for a nearby honeymoon, to celebrate a special life event, or just determine if you and “the one” are actually compatible. Choose one (or all) and snuggle up: CONNECTICUTGREENWICH CT: This swanky Connecticut town is so much more than just the center of the Preppy Handbook universe. Known for its hedge fund billionaires, Captains of Industry and Hollywood types, Greenwich does not broadcast its considerable tourist assets, many of which, ironically, are inexpensive or free.

Why is it on this “Romantic Spots” list? Because of J- House, a high- tech, artsy, green former Howard Johnson’s that has just unveiled the brand new J- Spa encompassing one former guest room gutted and now dedicated to Couples Spa Treatments. J- House is  the only boutique hotel in town and such a Maven Favorite, it’s earned its own review HERE. OLD LYME, CT: Morning fog in Old Lyme CT transforms the landscape into the hazy tableau of an impressionist painting in the very place considered the Birthplace of American Impressionism.

In the late 1. 89. Florence Griswold opened her home to American artists fresh from studying in France, forming the country’s first European- style Art Colony – an “American Giverny”.  Witness dreamy sunrises, wander through art galleries, and dine on outstanding cuisine surrounded by art at the Bee and Thistle Inn on this Fine- Arts Getaway. OLD SAYBROOK, CT: Situated at the mouth of the Connecticut River where it meets Long Island Sound, Old Saybrook CT has drawn vacationers and celebrities for 1. Wavy- voiced actress, Katharine Hepburn lived in the Fenwick neighborhood until her death in 2. Out on “the point,” The Saybrook Point Inn and Spa just opened Three Stories– its new “Boutique Inn” –  in addition to the hotel’s already luxurious accommodations. Learn about Saybrook Point’s earlier incarnation as Terra Mar, frequented by Hollywood luminaries and gangsters, and some cherished African American history on this surprisingly down- to- earth but high- class Connecticut coastal Getaway. CLINTON/MADISON, CT: no fudge shops or glitz and glamour here – just serpentine rivers, a quaint harbor, an anachronistic winery, a rustic flower and animal farm, one of the most highly regarded indie bookstores in the country, Connecticut’s only beachfront lodgingt, The Madison Beach Resort, and the best lobster roll on the East Coast.

CHESTER/HADDAM, CT ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER: Performing, fine and culinary artists, as well as clothing and building designers have been drawn to this mesmerizing ribbon of water, the Connecticut River, for centuries and after indulging in this Getaway you’ll see why. Some of the best artists and chefs in the region create in local kitchens and studios and since it reopened in 1. Victorian confection that is the Goodspeed Opera House has sent 1. Broadway. See a musical, shop in one- of- a- kind (inexpensive) designer boutiques and end the day with an exquisite meal.

WETHERSFIELD CT: If you and your honey love to curl up with the latest Revolutionary War history book, get all gooey eyed over George Washington’s sleeping quarters, or even fantasize about growing Heirloom vegetables from seeds,  you’ll love meandering around this very Historic District, just a few miles from Hartford, which offers two charming B& B’s, great restaurants, authentically restored pre- and- post Colonial homes, and two of the oldest packaged seed companies in the USA still in operation. CONNECTICUT’S NORTHWEST BORDER:  There’s a reason some of our favorite celebs have homes up here. Far from the maddening Hampton’s Season, the pace in this farmland and lakes section of Connecticut is slow and quiet.

Quiet, that is, except for Lime Rock Racetrack (preferred by Paul Newman until he couldn’t race anymore in his early 8. You and your lover will love Falls Village Inn, with rooms done by NY City Interior Designer, Bunny Williams. HIDDEN VALLEY B& B, WASHINGTON DEPOT CT: This is one of the most romantically situated B& B’s in the world – perched over the Litchfield Hills. Every room in this Dutch Colonial house on the hill is a delight for the eyes.

And just wait till you see the expansive and breathtaking stone patio. Just a couple of hours from NYC, it’s worlds apart. DELAWAREINN AT MONTCHANIN VILLAGE, DE. Once housing the laborers who worked at the Hagley Powder Mills nearby, you can’t help but feel a sense of irony as you meander down “Privy Lane” – original latrines line the street where upscale guest cottages now stand. I’d wager the only upmarket lodging in America that features outhouses as a design element, The Inn at Montchanin Village maintains its historic value while providing you and your crush with the highest degree of service, amenities – and whimsy. REHOBOTH BEACH DE: Contemplate your relationship over soft custard ice- cream or great boardwalk fries on this Atlantic beach- getaway. A great LGBT- friendly town, incredibly good restaurants, sand and surf  –  it’s a summertime classic.

It’s a lower- key, Mid- Atlantic version of Provincetown MA. LEWES, DE: Do you like a riot or color? A renovated “fisherman’s motel” now a Dogfish Head outpost? Or do you and your honey love the classic inn or B& B?

You can have your pick in this eminently walkable, boutique- studded, fishing- charter, great restaurant town at the terminus of the Cape May (NJ) – Lewes Ferry. MILFORD/DOVER DE: Do you bond over history? Watch The Music Never Stopped Online Iflix. Big military planes? Cool crafts? Try this eclectic getaway, and stay in Asian- Antique grandeur in a turnaround town winning kudos for its exquisite riverfront walkway and award- winning Arts and Crafts Gallery. Dover’s got the Air Mobility Command Museum, a Historic Green and plenty more to keep a certain kind of adventurous couple busy for a few days.

MAINEINN BY THE SEA, CAPE ELIZABETH ME: I was told not to write about this luxurious big- dog friendly environmentally “green” inn by repeat visitors who’d like to keep it their secret (and not be blocked out of rooms). The best choice on the East Coast for dog- loving duos. LUBEC ME: This Getaway, to Lubec and Eastport ME, and FDR’s summer cottage on Campobello Island, brings you to the easternmost land in the United States, with a short foray into Canada. Yes, it’s all the way up here. Or Down Here – to coin a “Downeast” phrase: a good ten hours from New York City or 7 from Boston.

But so totally worth it. It’s beautiful and welcoming, especially to cute couples, but be sure to bring your Passport!

SCHOODIC PENINSULA ME: Are the two of you in sync about nature and hiking by hate crowds? Infinitely more more secluded, Schoodic encompasses 3,5. Acadia National Park, with ferry and bus access to the bulk of it on Mount Desert Island. The small towns of Winter Harbor, Birch Harbor and Prospect Harbor are all located on Schoodic, so on this Getaway, you’ll experience nature in its rustic glory, and if you’re game – a few “Pickled Wrinkles.”CASTINE AND BLUE HILL PENINSULA ME: And, here’s more for the crowd- averse couple. Far off the well- trod Route 1, visiting Castine ME and the Blue Hill Peninsula is another great escape from the hordes. Watch Andron Download Full here. Just an hour from booming Bar Harbor, time seems suspended here, especially around Castine’s Town Green– a whitewashed series of buildings that include the Unitarian Church, Town Hall, and Historical Society – and the waterfront, not much more than a couple of restaurants and docks. SEARSPORT AND ISLESBORO ME: Dine in intimate splendor and stay at a grand Sea Captain’s mansion, and then poke around a sleepy island just offshore on this unique lesser- known- Maine getaway.

How to create the perfect cup of coffee. Coffee is unique among artisanal beverages in that the brewer plays a significant role in its quality at the point of consumption. In contrast, drinkers buy draft beer and wine as finished products; their only consumer- controlled variable is the temperature at which you drink them. Why is it that coffee produced by a barista at a cafe always tastes different than the same beans brewed at home? Experts say that making the perfect cup of coffee at home is incredibly difficult - and warn you'll never quite be able to replicate your favourite cafe. THE PERFECT CUP The variables of temperature, water chemistry, particle size distribution, ratio of water to coffee, time and, perhaps most importantly, the quality of the green coffee all play crucial roles in producing a tasty cup. It’s how we control these variables that allows for that cup to be reproducible. It may be down to their years of training, but more likely it’s their ability to harness the principles of chemistry and physics. I am a materials chemist by day, and many of the physical considerations I apply to other solids apply here. The variables of temperature, water chemistry, particle size distribution, ratio of water to coffee, time and, perhaps most importantly, the quality of the green coffee all play crucial roles in producing a tasty cup. It’s how we control these variables that allows for that cup to be reproducible. Besides the psychological and environmental contributions to why a barista- prepared cup of coffee tastes so good in the cafe, we need to consider the brew method itself. We humans seem to like drinks that contain coffee constituents (organic acids, Maillard products, esters and heterocycles, to name a few) at 1. Concentrations outside of these ranges are challenging to execute. There are a limited number of technologies that achieve 8 to 1.

There are many ways, though, to achieve a drink containing 1. A pour- over, Turkish, Arabic, Aeropress, French press, siphon or batch brew (that is, regular drip) apparatus – each produces coffee that tastes good around these concentrations. People prefer drinks that contain coffee constituents (organic acids, Maillard products, esters and heterocycles, to name a few) at 1. These brew methods also boast an advantage over their espresso counterpart: They are cheap. An espresso machine can produce a beverage of this concentration: the Americano, which is just an espresso shot diluted with water to the concentration of filter coffee. All of these methods result in roughly the same amount of coffee in the cup. So why can they taste so different? There are two families of brewing device within the low- concentration methods – those that fully immerse the coffee in the brew water and those that flow the water through the coffee bed. From a physical perspective, the major difference is that the temperature of the coffee particulates is higher in the full immersion system. The slowest part of coffee extraction is not the rate at which compounds dissolve from the particulate surface. Rather, it’s the speed at which coffee flavor moves through the solid particle to the water- coffee interface, and this speed is increased with temperature. A higher particulate temperature means that more of the tasty compounds trapped within the coffee particulates will be extracted. The Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel provides a way to name various tastes within the coffee.

But higher temperature also lets more of the unwanted compounds dissolve in the water, too. The Specialty Coffee Association presents a flavor wheel to help us talk about these flavors – from green/vegetative or papery/musty through to brown sugar or dried fruit. Pour- overs and other flow- through systems are more complex. Unlike full immersion methods where time is controlled, flow- through brew times depend on the grind size since the grounds control the flow rate. The water- to- coffee ratio matters, too, in the brew time. Simply grinding more fine to increase extraction invariably changes the brew time, as the water seeps more slowly through finer grounds. One can increase the water- to- coffee ratio by using less coffee, but as the mass of coffee is reduced, the brew time also decreases. Even if you can optimize your brew method and apparatus to precisely mimic your favorite barista, there is still a near- certain chance that your home brew will taste different from the cafe’s.

Optimization of filter coffee brewing is hence multidimensional and more tricky than full immersion methods. Even if you can optimize your brew method and apparatus to precisely mimic your favorite barista, there is still a near- certain chance that your home brew will taste different from the cafe’s. There are three subtleties that have tremendous impact on the coffee quality: water chemistry, particle size distribution produced by the grinder and coffee freshness. WHY YOUR WATER MATTERS Given coffee is an acidic beverage, the acidity of your brew water can have a big effect. Brew water containing low levels of both calcium ions and bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) – that is, soft water – will result in a highly acidic cup, sometimes described as sour. Brew water containing high levels of HCO₃⁻ – typically, hard water – will produce a chalky cup, as the bicarbonate has neutralized most of the flavorsome acids in the coffee. Ideally we want to brew coffee with water containing chemistry somewhere in the middle. But there’s a good chance you don’t know the bicarbonate concentration in your own tap water, and a small change makes a big difference. To taste the impact, try brewing coffee with Evian – one of the highest bicarbonate concentration bottled waters, at 3. L. The particle size distribution your grinder produces is critical, too. Every coffee enthusiast will rightly tell you that blade grinders are disfavored because they produce a seemingly random particle size distribution; there can be both powder and essentially whole coffee beans coexisting. The alternative, a burr grinder, features two pieces of metal with teeth that cut the coffee into progressively smaller pieces. They allow ground particulates through an aperture only once they are small enough. There is contention over how to optimize grind settings when using a burr grinder, though. One school of thought supports grinding the coffee as fine as possible to maximize the surface area, which lets you extract the most delicious flavors in higher concentrations. Every coffee enthusiast will rightly tell you that blade grinders are disfavored because they produce a seemingly random particle size distribution; there can be both powder and essentially whole coffee beans coexisting.

The rival school advocates grinding as coarse as possible to minimize the production of fine particles that impart negative flavors. Perhaps the most useful advice here is to determine what you like best based on your taste preference. Finally, the freshness of the coffee itself is crucial. Roasted coffee contains a significant amount of CO₂ and other volatiles trapped within the solid coffee matrix: Over time these gaseous organic molecules will escape the bean. Fewer volatiles means a less flavorful cup of coffee. Most cafes will not serve coffee more than four weeks out from the roast date, emphasizing the importance of using freshly roasted beans.

One can mitigate the rate of staling by cooling the coffee (as described by the Arrhenius equation). While you shouldn’t chill your coffee in an open vessel (unless you want fish finger brews), storing coffee in an airtight container in the freezer will significantly prolong freshness.