👋 Welcome to the September 10th issue of The Jaunt—the newsletter that strives to give you curated content and our personal insight about the people and places shaping local travel in America.
✅ This week we travel back to New England for the best cider donuts, visit a proposed neon museum, journey to the best hot springs in the American west, take a sip at a legendary Stanford watering hole, and learn about the newest way to travel America: Overlanding.
💡And, speaking of New England, we heard from regular reader and Bostonian, Wes C. who offered an addition to the best breweries there—Tree House. Located in Charlton, MA, the brewery features an enormous and beautiful space with indoor and outdoor seating and some of the most highly-ranked brews in the Northeast.
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The Best Cider Donuts in New England | Via: Boston.com
Alex Schwartz, who grew up in Connecticut and has lived in the Boston area for the past two decades, told Boston.com he developed an affinity for cider doughnuts as a child, when he first tried one fresh off the fryer at a county fair. But his passion for the popular baked good really took off last fall.
“COVID hit, and trying to figure out safe adventures to go on during the pandemic was a tough thing,” he said. “I was thinking, Oh, I’d love to get a cider doughnut, but who knows if they’re open or if these places are closed during the pandemic. But it turned out [farm stores] are a perfect place to go because you can go to an outdoor orchard and get a doughnut and have a great time.”
Schwartz started cataloguing his cider doughnut excursions on Instagram, writing reviews under the account @ciderdonuteur. He created a map of cider doughnut destinations throughout New England. Last year, the map listed roughly 100 spots. This year, it has over 190, and he continues to update it as more recommendations from the public come in through Instagram and Reddit.
💡Tip: In his travels, Schwartz has come across a few he classifies as the standouts including Bolton Orchards, where he tried the soft-serve accompanied by a hot cider doughnut. At Smolak Farms in North Andover — “the doughnuts are fantastic.” But at the top of his list is Russell Orchards in Ipswich, which he crowned his 2020 winner.
A Legendary Locals Burger & Beer Spot Survives Pandemic | Via: Sfgate
Greg Stern took over Dutch Goose in 2005.
Which, if you know Stern, was a big deal for the 46-year-old.
He’s been coming to this mainstay along Alameda de las Pulgas for tee-ball post games since he was 4 years old (he says he never carved his name into anything, though this is incredibly challenging to actually confirm). And, as if that wasn’t enough, Stern’s dad was also classmates growing up with — who else? — Eccles, the Goose’s original owner.
Stern took a roundabout path to the Dutch Goose. He did some barbecuing (both for huge crowds at Stanford football tailgates and for an actual local barbecue company), went to business school at the University of Southern California, then dabbled in the stock market and commercial real estate before finding his way back to the Goose — after one little stop along the way.
For almost a decade, Stern lived his 20-something dream, running one of the Bay Area’s cornerstone burgers and beers institutions whose history dated all the way back to the 1960s, when Stanford banned bars within a 3-mile radius of the university. The Dutch Goose was just outside of the radius and became a beloved Stanford hang as a result.
Top Natural Hot Springs in the American West | Via: Filson Journal
Conundrum Hot Springs knows no equal. Perched at 11,200 feet, deep inside the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area between the mountain towns of Aspen and Crested Butte, it reigns as North America’s highest elevation hot springs. And arguably it’s most scenic. While soaking in one of Conundrum’s 100-degree natural pools, you look straight down the valley into an endless array of alpine peaks set against a Colorado-blue sky. The springs themselves vary in size (the largest is about 3-feet deep) and are tucked into a wildflower meadow surrounded by snow patches, small stands of pine and fir trees, and occasional glimpses of waterfalls trickling down the nearby mountainside. If you go: Be sure to check regulations and reservations, which are required via a permit system.
Proposed Outdoor Museum to Honor Legacy of Neon | Via: Route 66 News
The Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission, led by state tourism chief and Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, is considering building a Route 66 neon park at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City.
Those details emerged in a Facebook post by the Oklahoma-based Billboard Museum, which hopes to eventually build its own facility in the OKC metro area.
How Overlanding Has Gained Popularity in America | Via: Los Angeles Times
Many folks are familiar with #VanLife but there is another sub-segment of American local travelers who are eager to explore and live off-the-beaten-path. While new-car sales declined nearly 15% in the U.S. last year, according to trade association SEMA, there was one bright spot: overlanding. The sector has essentially exploded.