My wife and I were planning to vacation in New England this September for our anniversary. But we had to change our plans because my friend is getting married in Boston in November, and she doesn’t have enough time off work to do both. So we’re going to head to New England on a Wednesday and stay through Monday in mid November.
Our original plan was to do the New England in fall thing, changing leaves, Stratford Inn, maple syrup, etc… We were going to go to Vermont and maybe Maine. My wife still wants to keep this same plan, even though we are going in November. I think it would be better to spend the time in Boston (which I have never visited) instead, since it will be cold and past the prime fall season in Vermont/Maine.
What do NE dopers think? Is there anything worth seeing/doing in Vermont/NH/Maine in mid-November?
November is that odd tween-season time. Some of the ski places might have opened, depending upon snow (Kiliongyon in Vermont always tries to open early, even if they have to make snow).
The White Mountain National Forest is ope – you can see Cannon moutain and where the Old Man of the Mountain used to be, and Houston Rock, and the Goddess’ Bath (although I think the Flume is closed).
You can see the art museum and the history museum in Manchester, NH, and the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in Concord, NH.
A lot of the tourist things – Clark’s Trading Post, Polar Caves, Hobo Railroad, etc. will be closed, although I think that America’s Stonehenge in North Salem, NH stays open year 'round.
Not sure about Canterbury Shaker Village or the Robert Frost home – I think they close.
In the Boston area you can see all the local museums. The sites at Concord, Lexington, Salem, and elsewhere are open.
Killington is no longer the king of early and late season. They won’t be the first to open and they’re already closed. Nov is a chancy time in the mountains. You often have snow and ice, even if the daytime temps are fairly warm. After leaf season the tram at Cannon shuts down until skiing starts. The leaves are gone, things are gray, and not much daylight.
I think a trip to the Cape in Nov would be more interesting then going north. Combine that with Boston and the surrounding area and that could easily keep you occupied for Wed->Mon. I assume the wedding is in Boston on Saturday? When are you free to travel? No point spending all your time in a car.
They were sold this year. The new owners had the earliest closing date in decades and have been very public about how they are dedicated to quality, not quantity. They will still likely open by Thanksgiving (too much money to be made) but not sooner.
mid-November is really late to expect to see fall leaves. That’s more of a mid-September, October thing. By mid-November this past year we’d already gotten 4.5" of snow. I hope you ski, since those are about the only tourist-y areas that’ll be open and not indoors.
By “the Cape” do you mean Cape Cod? Oddly, the wedding is on Sunday. We’re probably free to travel any day except Sunday, although there might be some wedding-related activities on Saturday night.