There's no winter like a winter spent in the suburbs and north country upriver from the Big Apple. With no shortage of things to do and diverse indoor recreation possibilities, we're fully immunized against cabin fever no matter what the polar vortex has in store for us. Here's why we think #northofnyc is the place to spend coolest season of the year:

The pretty, pretty pictures.

Our neighborhoods under a blanket of fresh powder just look so #instagood.

We can do pretty much anything without ever going outside.

New Roc City has a full indoor miniature golf course. Grand Prix New York in Mount Kisco has fully indoor go-kart tracks, bowling, an old-fashioned arcade (the 80s were great, weren't they?) and even a bouncy castle. There's rock climbing facilities, like The Cliffs at Valhalla, and even a Connecticut outpost of Chelsea Piers, an all-weather athletic oasis with facilities rivaling its Manhattan counterpart. (And we didn't even mention all the local clubs with indoor tennis courts).

The comforting aroma of chimney smoke in the air.

Few things are sweeter than Eau de Lit Fireplace wafting with the breeze, adding a magical layer that makes us feel warmer and toastier inside, even if we're out in the cold.

Pond hockey and free skaters frolic at Gorham's Pond | Credit: Darien Times

Pond skating.

Why stick to a man-made frost corrals when you can feel like a figurine on a little mirror in a Department 56 holiday village? Many municipalities in our area offer natural outdoor skating, like at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers, Tilley Pond in Darien and Mead Pond in New Canaan. And if you're more comfortable having a wall to grab onto, our contrived ice venues are pretty nice too, like Rye's famous Playland Ice Arena.

We can drive to the slopes.

From Hunter Mountain and Wyndham in the Catskills to Butternut in the Berkshires, we've got the best skiing and snowboarding in the region right in our backyards. You can hop a lift as far south as Thunder Ridge, minutes from the Southeast Metro North station.

Because art.

We've got world-class galleries and art museums like the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Dia: Beacon in the Hudson Valley. The Walker Center for the Arts at Katonah's Harvey School is hosting Glenn Close on January 23rd as the latest celebrity guest in its "An Evening With" series.

We can catch a good show without heading into the city.

From the Tarrytown Music Hall to the Bardavon to the Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center at Bard, we've got no shortage of places large and small to catch a good performance. Port Chester's Capitol Theater has the B-52s, Wilco and Foreigner booked for February. We want to know what love is, don't you?

Snow days.

Parents might have mixed feelings about this one, but if you're growing up here you know you're living a Floridian child's dream—so long as you don't have to make it up in June. (Plus, maybe you'll spend it racing go-karts).

Peekskill Brewery | Credit: LoHud

Brewery tours.

Grown-ups can have their own version of a snow day touring one of our many craft breweries and artisan distilleries, like Captain Lawrence in Elmsford and Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner—the latter has an on-site restaurant in an old grist mill.

We can't imagine spending it anywhere else.

Really.