New England Coast...

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have just completed the order with the moving company, and will unfortunately need to relocate at the end of August. My question to you, the members of this fantastic message board, is what are the places I absolutely MUST visit before I leave New England? I’ve yet to set foot in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. I am currently unemployed, so budget definitely plays a role in my decision making process (i.e., if you know great “out of the way” el-cheapo places to sleep, which states charge more for gas, etc., that would be a gigantic help to me!) I tried to pick the brains of some of my ex-coworkers, but all I could get out of them was “you have to drive Route 1 along the coast of Maine”.

Help, please!

2

Driving along Rt. 1 is actually very fine advice. There is some lovely scenery. If you were to ask my dad, Mr. Maine, he would tell you you have to eat at Moody’s Diner in Maine. I don’t remember the town, but I do believe it would be a good tie in to that Rt. 1 excursion.

I live in RI, and I would suggest that you visit Providence on a Waterfire night. But, go out to Seekonk, MA to gas up for your next leg of the journey. Prices are significantly lower in MA than RI.

3

Acadia National Park.

You just have to get inland a little to find cheap places to stay.

It’s simply a must. Make it the goal. Drive to acadia. Then turn around go wherever you have to.

4

Mt. Monadnock. One of the most climbed mountains in the world – for a reason. As the name implies, it’s a single peak in the middle of lower New Hampshire, so you get amazing views for a reasonably small hiking investment.

Franconia Notch – Bridal Path and Falling Waters Trails. A very challenging hike in the White Mountains with some great views along a knife edge. Or you could hike up Mt. Washington among any of a number of paths.

5

You haven’t seen much of New England, then, eh? :smiley: Actually, it sounds like our experience is exactly reversed; I’ve been to all of the aforementioned states, but have spent a grand total of about an hour in Vermont.*

Anyway, I would recommend:

–A drive to Cape Cod (eastern MA)

–A drive to the Berkshires (western MA)

–There are some beautiful scenic back roads in Connecticut. Look in a road atlas like Rand McNally.

–A vist to Newport, RI. Walk around the city, and tour the mansions. Tickets for mansion tours range from $10 (one mansion) to $32 (5 mansions). If you only see one, tour The Breakers. Next best is Marble House.

–A day trip out to Block Island (RI). Block Island is somewhat like a downscale version of Martha’s Vineyard, but is not as expensive or snooty. IMHO, it is far more beautiful and pristine. A round-trip same-day ferry ticket is less than $15. If you have a bicycle, you can bring it for another $5, or rent one on the island. There are a lot of bike rental places on the island, and the competition keeps the prices pretty reasonable.

I totally agree with recommendations for:
–Acadia National Park
–Franconia Notch/White Mountains
–Driving down Rt. 1 in Maine.

As far as gas prices, RI and CT are both more expensive than MA.

P.S. Any recommendations for Vermont?

6

Although I would recommend a drive to Cape Cod, I wouldn’t recommend it on a weekend in the summer. The bachups for the Sagamore Bridge just getting onto the Cape are horrendus.

Do go to Franconia Notch. Even if you don’t take the challenging hiking trails, you can see the Flume, Houston Rock, Cannon Mountain, the Whirlpool, and The Place Where the Old Man of the Mountain Used to Be. You can also go to the restaurants and shops of placwes like Lincoln, NH.
Gas prices in Connecticut are way higher than in Massachusetts.
I’m partial to the North Shore, but I think you really have to go see Salem, Massachusetts. There’s a lot of preserved (and largely forgotten) history, the new Peabody-Essex museum is incredible, you can see places where Nathaniel Hawthorne worked and wrote about (House of the Seven Gables) and the hoopla surrounding the whole Salem Witchcraft stuff is not to be missed.

Do see the Freedom Trail in Boston – well worth it, and it’ll take you through downtown and past a lot of histoiric sites.

Despite all the changes recently wrought (most of the used bookstores – and some unused ones – are gone! Sob!), Harvard Square and Back Bay Boston are great walks through eccentric neighborhoods and odd shops.

See Mark Twain’s House in Hartford. They just added a museum!

See at least one “restored village” in NE – Mystic Seaport in Connecticut(19th century whaling village), Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA.(19th century America), Plymouth Plantation in Plymouth Mass.(17th Century American settlement), Old Salem Village (several ages, and often neglected, in Salem, MA). Or see one of the Shaker Villages (Sabbathday Lake, Maine – the only one still active; Enfield Village in Enfield, New Hampshire; Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH; Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, MA, in the Berkshires (with its round stone barn), or Fruitlands Museum in Massachusetts, with bits of a Shaker Village, Indian stuff, and the remains of the Utopian Community started in the 19th century.

7

(that would be South East CT for the seaport) I live just a few miles from this, it is well worth it. And with-in walking distance is a fantastic Acquarium and Institute for Exploration, Where Rob Ballard is located now…they guy who discovered the titanic.

If you have been in VT for so long and are now moving…get to the shore. All of the shores in New England have several things in common. Lot’s O Salt air, clam/seafood shacks. For God sakes have a lobster, a piece of corn, some steamers and a whole lot of clam fritters when you are down here. Why don’t you drive down I-91 to CT - come see the Seaport and Acquarium, drive up to Providence on 95, See the Blue Bug - keep going to the Salem MA (stop in the Custom house and the Witches Vignette. Kepp going to Maine and drive up the coast a spell and you’ll have a great long weekend. Stay at Motel 6’s and have a blast.

8

Most of my Vermont excursions involve endocrinologists or food (and ne’er the twain shall meet!), but there are a few experiences I would recommend to all my friends:

#1. Dinner atTrattoria Delia. Tom, the owner, makes an annual trek to Italy to pick up new ideas. This is the place where first I experienced food and wine tasting better together than on their own. Mmmmmm…

#2. Driving I-89 between Montpelier and Burlington in the fall. What’s really keen about this is you can include a little side-junket to the Ben & Jerry’sfactory on your way up to Stowe, where a Gondola ride can be had to the top for a not-so-modest fee, or, if you’re up to it, hike! One very important note to be made: have an up-to-date map of Vermont on hand, and go home via the “Trapp Family Lodge” route. By so doing you will avoid what I think might be the biggest line of cars on a 2-lane road I’ve ever seen (they put a stop sign where the road that takes you to Stowe meets Route 100. :smack: )

#3. Beer. There are two places for top notch suds, one of which is within walking distance of Trattoria Delia, that being3 Needs; the other is Magic Hat.

9

If you are going to drive Rt. 1 in Maine in the summer, be prepared for lots of traffic, tourists, overpriced crappy stores and restaurants, and only occasional coastal beauty. Better to have a specific destination that will get you off of the hell that is US 1. I concur with the Acadia recommendation (although that can be a traffic/tourist hell all its own on a weekend), and also suggest that you drive a bit further up the coast to Schoodic Point. I believe the park there is actually part of Acadia but is much wilder and less heavily visited.

The midcoast area (Camden, Belfast, Rockland) is picturesque, and some southern coastal towns (Ogunquit, York) have nice beaches and touristy stuff to do. But beware–our licence plates don’t read “Vacationland” for nothing. You’ll likely meet many more folks from Mass and NY than Mainers on the mid to southern Maine coast in the summer. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. . . it’s just crowded is all I’m saying.

p.s. Gas ran me $1.89 a gallon in my mid-sized inland city this weekend. Expect to pay more on the coast.

10

Franconia Notch is really nice. Didn’t get to spend enough time there.
The Desert of Maine was a fun place to stop for a couple of hours. It is near Freeport, and LL Bean.
And if you are at all interested in marine life, go whale watching. There are several places on the coast, mostly in Mass. I used Cape Ann Whale Watch and it was fun experience.