New England trip: any suggestions?

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
This is for summer/early fall 2017. We have Boston and Bar Harbor, ME on the definite list, so what else should we see? We're trying to stick to the coast, but that's not written in stone. We like quaint towns, history, and unique tourist things. We also love a scenic drive. GO!
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
Plymouth, MA. :patriot:

You will be in lobster heaven when you go to New England. Our most memorable vacay was when we went to Kennebunkport, and stayed in a friend's condo on the ocean. I think y'all should make lobsters one of your giveaways!

Edit: My fondest memory of that vacay is when a hummingbird hit a window. Hub held him in his hand, and when the bird came to, we gave him sugar water by dropper. He revived, and flew away. Quite amazing.
 
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jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
One of the highlights of a trip my sister and I took to New Hampshire:

Built by a Native American Culture or a migrant European population? No one knows for sure. A maze of man-made chambers, walls and ceremonial meeting places, America's Stonehenge is most likely the oldest man-made construction in the United States (over 4000 years old).

www.stonehengeusa.com
 

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
Foxhound and I went up to Rhode Island to see bff's daughter graduate from Johnson & Wales AND I got to visit with a lifelong family friend. (and my revered GS Leader!) We went on the Newport, RI Mansion tour. It sounds dumb, but actually quite interesting, as all the rich folks used to go there to vacation in the summer, dahling, when it got hot in the cities.

Big names from long, long ago, Vanderbilt, Bouviers et. al. Hammersmith Farm is the childhood home of First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and the site of the reception when she married JFK. I am not sure if you get to tour that place - we drove by it. Didn't have a long time to tour (we were only up for the weekend) so we picked one house and did that one. (I think it was Vanderbilt's house)
 

mAlice

professional daydreamer
Foxhound and I went up to Rhode Island to see bff's daughter graduate from Johnson & Wales AND I got to visit with a lifelong family friend. (and my revered GS Leader!) We went on the Newport, RI Mansion tour. It sounds dumb, but actually quite interesting, as all the rich folks used to go there to vacation in the summer, dahling, when it got hot in the cities.

Big names from long, long ago, Vanderbilt, Bouviers et. al. Hammersmith Farm is the childhood home of First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and the site of the reception when she married JFK. I am not sure if you get to tour that place - we drove by it. Didn't have a long time to tour (we were only up for the weekend) so we picked one house and did that one. (I think it was Vanderbilt's house)

I've heard RI is beautiful, so I'd want to visit.

Places I'd like to see in New England:
MA-Plymouth, Salem, Sturbridge ( https://www.osv.org/ )
CT-Woodstock
RI-Westerly, Bristol

I'd also want to get away from the coast for a visit to VT. I've never seen a picture of VT I didn't like. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Destinations-g28966-q47370-Vermont.html
 

RareBreed

Throwing the deuces
Foxhound and I went up to Rhode Island to see bff's daughter graduate from Johnson & Wales AND I got to visit with a lifelong family friend. (and my revered GS Leader!) We went on the Newport, RI Mansion tour. It sounds dumb, but actually quite interesting, as all the rich folks used to go there to vacation in the summer, dahling, when it got hot in the cities.

Big names from long, long ago, Vanderbilt, Bouviers et. al. Hammersmith Farm is the childhood home of First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and the site of the reception when she married JFK. I am not sure if you get to tour that place - we drove by it. Didn't have a long time to tour (we were only up for the weekend) so we picked one house and did that one. (I think it was Vanderbilt's house)

Husband had a business trip to RI years ago that I tagged along with. We went to a few of the mansions too. Very beautiful. Need to go to the Brick Alley Pub and Restaurant for a meal. Really cool place. http://brickalley.com/
 

Hessian

Well-Known Member
Portsmouth, NH is a must...

Bar Harbor (Acadia National Park) is awesome!
I wish I could have spent more time at Strawberry Banke in downtown Portsmouth (Sort of a Nautical Colonial version of Williamsburg)
 

lucky_bee

RBF expert
CT is full of quaint little towns. If you're going along the coast, the area around where the Connecticut River meets the Long Island sound is my area :biggrin:

Lots of sweet towns with beautiful houses (there's so much old money in this area, it's stupid) and they all...ALL have some hidden gem of a restaurant or café or deli. Old Saybrook - Essex - Deep River - Chester - East Haddam area. Essex especially has a neat little downtown area to walk around and grab drinks at various pubs, plus one of the most famous New England Inn and Restaurants, the Griswold Inn. It's been operating as such since 1776. The area also boasts the CT river Museum, the Essex Steam Train, Gillette's Castle (it's actually a former home some rich old dude built to look like a castle that overlooks the CT River), The Goodspeed Opera House (no opera but super fun musicals comparative to Broadway), next to one of the only swing bridges left in the country. You can also take a schooner cruise up and down the river or an Eagle watch boat tour. Old Saybrook (5 mins away) has a lot of things too. Katherine Hepburn used to own a ginormous mansion out there (you can still see it if you find a local willing to point it out) but there's a small theater there named after her, the Kate. Super quaint little downtown with shops and many restaurants (lots of seafood!) and several coastal scenic drives that are half scenic for the water, half scenic for the mansions :lol: So much pretty.

Plus it's all right around I-95 so not too far off the map, and most of it is visit-able all in a day or two. Plus, continue heading up I-95 another 20-30 mins and there's the beautiful USCG Academy on the Thames River, right across from Groton Sub Base (the USS Nautilus museum is super cool and would be thoroughly enjoyed by Monello) and another 10 minutes is Mystic CT - Mystic Seaport - that's a huuuggeee historical place with an awesome downtown for shopping, walking, drinking, and seeing. There's a museum for the seaport (used to do whaling out of this port), an old drawbridge, Mystic Pizza (where Julia Roberts got her start in THE movie), the Mystic Aquarium, and so many amazing restaurants, low-key and fine dining. I know a couple hole-in-the-wall places where you'll find the best Lobster rolls evah. :drool:

And I know you're not much of a casino person, but there's also the Mohegan Sun casino and Foxwoods both near the Groton/Mystic area. Supposedly the museum outside of Foxwoods is out of this world - the Pequot Museum. There were many indigenous tribes in that area, huge influence. But those casinos are very chill compared to the ones I've seen down here. They're geared to an all-inclusive experience. Many celebrities frequent them bc they're more low-key. And of course, dining is fantastic.

late August - mid-Oct is great for any and all these places bc the trees are filled in and it's not too muggy like it is in June/July. I'll stop now though, that's enough :biggrin:
 

Merlin

Registered Smarta$$
Pilgrim Monument, Provincetown, MA
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA
Nubble Lighthouse, York, ME
Boothbay Harbor, ME
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
I've heard RI is beautiful, so I'd want to visit.

Me too and have always wanted to go to the Newport Jazz Festival. I am sure B would love that.

Places I'd like to see in New England:
MA-Plymouth, Salem, Sturbridge ( https://www.osv.org/ )

All three are interesting in their own way. Old Sturbridge Village was by far my favorite. Loved exploring it and would love to go back. Salem was very commercial in areas but the history is so fascinating and there were lots of quirky shops and attractions around. Plymouth was also rich in history and beautiful scenery.

Marblehead is another great place to visit. Stayed at a bed and breakfast there right on the ocean - absolute heaven! It calls itself the "Yachting Capital of the World" and it probably is but it is steeped in history and fun to explore. It is less than an hour drive north of Boston and Salem is about 30 minutes away.

I'd also want to get away from the coast for a visit to VT. I've never seen a picture of VT I didn't like. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Destinations-g28966-q47370-Vermont.html
It is beautiful. I have driven through parts of it but would like to take time to explore more of it.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Thanks, all - and Luckybee, I was hoping you'd see this and chime in. If not, I was going to message you. :yay:
 

lucky_bee

RBF expert
Thanks, all - and Luckybee, I was hoping you'd see this and chime in. If not, I was going to message you. :yay:

:high5: it's seriously such an underrated area. And to think the majority of people traveling to all those more popular places in Rhode Island and Boston have to drive right thru these towns with nary a glance at the highway signs. Once you start narrowing down a route, let me know and I'll be happy to give more details. I love it and miss it a lot sometimes, but it's just way too damn expensive, more so than MD, and it's too damn cold :lol: otherwise I'd totally still be there.
 

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Fenway Park in Boston is a must, along with Newport, RI - Cliff Walk, the mansions, Newport Historic District is way cool and OLD! As PE mentioned, Fort Adams is neat. A few days in Newport will be well worth it.
 
In NH, there is an area around the Old Man in the Mountain that is spectacular. It's near Cannon mountain in the Franconia Notch park area. One fall we got campsite at the base of Cannon mountain, took the tram to the top and hiked back down. Took most of the day, but so worth it.
 

stgislander

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
If you're in Maine north of Portland, you should stop in Wiscasset and Damariscotta before heading up to Rockland.
 
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