 The skill of packing light is something I’m constantly trying to perfect, especially when it comes to cramming as much as possible into a carry-on suitcase. While I can pretty much fit two pairs of shoes, five outfits, toiletries, a cell-phone charger, a camera, and an extra book without fail, I nearly always arrive at my destination wishing, ironically, that I had another bag — one I could actually hoof around with. Enter Baggu’s Daypack, which I stumbled across during a recent stop into Black Ink. On first inspection, it appears to be a simple six-inch square nylon pouch with a zipper. But unzip and unfold, and voilá: insta-backpack with one outer pocket. The fact it can be shoved into any tightly packed suitcase or carry-on means I’ve just found my new favorite travel bag.
$24, Black Ink, 5 Brattle St., Cambridge, 617-497-1221; 101 Charles St., Boston, 617-723-3883; blackinkboston.com; baggubag.com.
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 Over the weekend, Bostonista went up to New Hampshire for what was supposed to be a relaxing White Mountain experience. We booked a superior room in the venerable Mount Washington Resort, a century-old grand hotel with incomparable views of the snow-capped Presidential Range, recently completely refurbished. Having stayed there before, I spent the drive up prepping my fellow editor for the establishment—it’s old, it’s grand, and the hallways look exactly like the endless, over-scaled, and decidedly creepy hallways in “The Shining.”
Sure enough, when we left the elevator that evening and made our way to our room, she turned to me and did her best “redrum” imitation. And that’s where I figured the joke would end.
After dinner in the huge dining room, serenaded by a pony-tailed gentleman playing Disney’s greatest hits on a grand piano, we headed back to our room. We got ready for bed, she climbed into hers, but I was still wandering around, checking my email, brushing my teeth. Then the overhead light went off, on, off, on, off. It wasn’t a flicker—it was rhythmic. I looked at her. She shrugged. I went over to the switch and studied it. Did it have a timer or something, she asked? No. It was a simple switch. So I turned off the light, went to bed, and didn’t think anything more about it. READ MORE
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 It’s not quite fall, not quite winter (and, unbelievably, almost 2009). Foliage is over, skiing has yet to begin. So, faithful readers, I’m sure you’re wondering what Bostonista was doing in Vermont this weekend. The answer: A whole lotta nothing… in the best possible way.
Overstressed and overtired, we drove up to the Stowe area late Friday night, in good company. After a quick fish & chips fix at apres-ski mainstay the Shed, it was up the road to the newborn Stowe Mountain Lodge. Though we’d taken a hard-hat tour of the property last year, we never imagined it’d look like this. READ MORE
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 We recently rented a house in Nowheresville, NH. The place was a dream, and the trip, divine. Getting there? Not so much. After a four-hour battle with Friday afternoon traffic, our navigation system lead us off the beaten path and onto a country-dark dirt road that was liberally sprinkled with sharp rocks, cavernous ditches, and (we swear) the Blair Witch. Disgruntled and on the brink of turning home, we finally made it.
Once there, however, we found the homeowner’s warning that standard GPSes often lead guests down an undriveable road. Really? Thanks. If only we’d used FlipKey, a new Boston-based website that provides the real dirt on vacation rentals.
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 Sure, he brought us the best show ever about Boston and female insecurity. But he also brought us this, which quite possibly put people off Lake Placid (and horror-comedies) for the next decade. But, all is forgiven, David E. Kelley, not in the least because the new and improved Lake Placid Lodge is now luring back visitors.
After a fire ravaged the historic site in 2005, the lodge was forced to operate as a lakeside inn during reconstruction. But the Relais & Chateaux property announced its return to luxury resort status with a new layout, featuring a 25,000 sq. ft. main lodge, a new dining room (manned by Chef Kevin McCarthy), and 11 renovated and enlarged guest suites. Each room offers gorgeous views of Lake Placid and White Face Mountain, includes its own fireplace, and comes stocked to the brim with antique furnishings and an artisan-crafted bed. READ MORE
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 Bostonista was in China last week. Well, actually, just me, and just Shanghai. With over 21 million people, it’s now the largest city in the world, and its population is exploding, apparently through mitosis, given that the Chinese are only permitted one child per couple and must donate the rest to charity.
(To see Rachel Levitt’s photos from her trip, go here for a slideshow).
I traveled there for a few reasons but mainly to escape the press which has been hounding me lately for opinion, photo-ops, and gaffes. China looked so far away, I thought it might be the promised land for the paparazzi-exhausted, and as a communist country, it would reveal to me all the reasons why we shouldn’t nationalize our banks or health care. READ MORE
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 Bostonista loves a good ribbon-cutting ceremony. Particularly when said ribbon is attached to a giant, oblong box that might just contain, say, that house-warming gift we keep hinting at. But we digress; today’s real ribbon-cutting party is exciting, too. Especially since it’s at one of our most favorite local haunts, Logan Airport.
Ever since Delta went ahead and spiffed up its glass-enclosed Terminal A, the airport’s other wings have felt a bit second rate. (Except for the notoriously shabby AirTran Terminal, which is, at best, fourth or fifth rate.)
Not to be outdone, American Airlines‘s Terminal B rallied with some $33 million in new construction, restaurants, and shops. The whole glossy affair officially opens today.
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 Let us guess: You’ve lived in the area for years but have never actually made much effort to explore the city (and look like a day-tripper? Quel horreur!).
At Bostonista, we love brushing up on our town’s scenic history, but, like you, can’t stomach waddling aboard one of those clunky neon tour tanks and squawking up and down Beacon Hill. Instead, we’ve been satisfying our curiosity under the radar with Audissey Guides, a locally owned company that offers free self-guided audio tours available for download on its site.
A few months ago, we trekked from the Park Street Church to the harbor, but skipped out on an equally overlooked (by locals, that is) part of town. Luckily, Audissey recently released a new walk specifically devoted to the nation’s first public botanical garden. Here are some of our favorite stops in the aptly named Public Garden.
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 Bostonista loves being driven around in pretty much anything. Except, that is, stuffy, malodorous hotel courtesy vans (we swear they must be universally manned by Fung Wah grads). Is it too much to ask to get carted to and fro in something a little cooler—not to mention greener—than those air polluting gas guzzlers?
Apparently, it isn’t. This month, one of Boston’s favorite warm-weather hotspots (you know, the one with the rooftop pool we’ve been raving about all summer) is starting a transportation revolution.
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 Sometimes we Bostonistas wander a little further north of Boston than Cambridge. this past Labor Day weekend, we explored Vermont’s Northern Kingdom where, tucked up close to the Canadian border, is the fabled Craftsbury Outdoor Center.
This rustic retreat sits on a long, narrow lake, surrounded by verdant farmland, and is the perfect place to explore the rarefied world of sculling. Craftsbury offers an intensive program for experienced rowers or newbies, so we signed up for the weekend course, and mentally prepared to get our butts kicked by a corps of rowing zealots. READ MORE
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The skill of packing light is something I’m constantly trying to perfect, especially when it comes to cramming as much as possible into a carry-on suitcase. While I can pretty much fit two pairs of shoes, five outfits, toiletries, a cell-phone charger, a camera, and an extra book without fail, I nearly always arrive at my destination wishing, ironically, that I had another bag — one I could actually hoof around with. Enter Baggu’s Daypack, which I stumbled across during a recent stop into Black Ink. On first inspection, it appears to be a simple six-inch square nylon pouch with a zipper. But unzip and unfold, and voilá: insta-backpack with one outer pocket. The fact it can be shoved into any tightly packed suitcase or carry-on means I’ve just found my new favorite travel bag.
