We are planning the annual Whatsit Family Vacation, and our attention has turned to the northeast. Neither Mr. Whatsit nor I has ever been to New England (well, he’s visited NYC a couple of times, but that’s it; I haven’t even done that) so we’re looking for suggestions about stuff that would be fun to do with small children in tow.
Details/parameters: We’ll be traveling for a week or so in early-to-mid August. NYC is out, as that’s its own trip and one we’ll be doing a different time. The kids will be ages 9, 7, and 4. Our plans are pretty vague so far but at this point we’re thinking we’ll be traveling around, as opposed staying in one place for a week. We would like to spend at least a couple of days camping if possible.
I’ll take any and all suggestions about stuff to see. Historical stuff, museums, science centers, interesting geographical features, tours, etc.
I’m an adult and I could spend a whole day at the Boston Science museum. I have loved going there at all ages there is so much to do there and never enough time. And while your in Boston go to Fenway and watch a game its just a hope skip and jump away from the museum.
Well, me too, I was merely pointing out that kids like it too I go once a year or so (the last two times were for the Mythology and Harry Potter exibits), and even getting an early start it’s hard to see everything in just one day.
I’ll second Storyland, which is a sort of mini-Disneyland well-suited to young kids. It’s way up in NH, though, so you’ll probably want to stay nearby. Fortunately, it’s not far from North Conway and its many hotels.
I’ll also recommend Clarke’s Trading Post, which has performing bear shows, a Chinese mini-circus, and a train ride* through The Wolfman’s territory, in addition to a mini-village of attractions (much of it salvaged from the old Freedomland amusement park and the 1964-5 World’s Fair). We go every year or two.
There are lots of neat little things in NH as well:
Polar Caves – basically the result of an ancient landslide, which makes it interesting. Not a limestone cave with stalagmites and stalactites, though.
America’s Stonehenge – some people claim this site was built by Vikings, or Phoenicians, or Romans, or Irish monks, or an early settler, or over-enthusiastic crypto-archaeologists. Everyone except the local indians. May have helped inspuire H.P. Lovecraft horror stories Salem, Massachusetts – you could kill a few days here. There are half a dozen witch museums (and a statue of Samantha from “Bewitched”), modern Wicca stores, The House of Seven Gables, a reconstructed sailing ship, a Pirate museum, a great movie monster museum (with original work by Hollywood makeup artists), a wax museum, a Children’s Museum (sadly much reduced now), the wonderful Peabody-Essex Museum (which concentrates on the China trade and history, and would rather you forgot about the witches), and lotsa stores and restaurants. There’s a trolley tour, duck boat tours, and at least three Ghost Tours, including one that’ll rent you electronic ghost-finding equipment. There’s The Great Hot Dog Restaurant, ant9ique stores by the ton, a big comic book store, a Polish Food Store, a Polish restauirant, and two fake Irish pubs.
Wood’s Hole on Cape Cod: Picturesque little town with an active draw bridge to let sailing ships through, small aquarium and maritime center.
Nauset and Skaket Beaches on Cape Cod (Orleans): One of the prettiest beaches there is, when the tide is low you can walk forever and see loads of tide pools with little critters swimming around.
And just to say it out loud, New York State (including NYC) is not part of New England. I grew up in Western NY and live in CT and it’s never been part of NE.
Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA. They’ve been striving to make it kid-friendly of late
Plimoth Plantation and The Mayflower in Plymoiuth, MA Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH, Enfield Shaker Village in Enfield, NH, Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, MA. And, of course, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine, the last active one. There are also Shaker buildings (and the remains of the Alcott commune) in Fruilands Museum in Harvard, MA. Salem Pioneer Village – a much-overlooked site in Salem, because it’s far from downtown, with its witchy stuff and museums, but worth visiting as a side trip.
Second most of what’s been said already. Know that Fenway Park is great, but not in any way cheap (in other words, if you werent’ already planning to make it the highlight of your trip, then it’s probably not worth it to you to pay that much). And you’d want to buy tickets now.
The Berkshires in western Massachusetts has lots of camping spots, and lots of arts attractions, if your kids can handle concerts (Tanglewood, etc.). For more wilderness, go up to Vermont or the White Mountains in NH for some real peaks. [Probably too strenuous for a four year old, but there are ‘huts’ run by the Appalachian Mountain Club in the white mountains. They’re really more like hotel/hostels, with meals provided, so you can hike up with just your clothes and a sleeping bag, stay the night and hike back down. Great for families].
Cape Cod is beautiful, and a great place to camp near both lovely beaches and plenty of ice-cream and putt-putt (plus art in Provincetown), but mid August is the crowded (people and traffic), expensive season. Unless you’re meeting another family there or otherwise have your heart set on it, I probably wouldn’t recommend it if you’re coming from a distance and want to see anything else in New England.
If you’re coming through New Haven around meal time, get pizza. [Put it this way: Frank Sinatra used to have a guy drive up there and back from NYC just to bring him pizza]
These are great tips so far. Thanks, guys. (Sorry about the NY/New England thing. Look, I’m not from around there. )
Yeah, Fenway Park is probably not going to be on the list. Nobody in the family is a big sports fan anyway; plus, years ago Mr. Whatsit came to visit me in Chicago, and we went to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs play, just so we could say, “We went to Wrigley Field.” Well…it was a baseball game. So we can probably give that a miss.
It looks like both the Boston Science Museum and Children’s Museum have reciprocal memberships with our local science center, so those are looking very good.
This looks interesting also. Does anyone have experience with the Mystic Seaport maritime museum? It looks really cool and I’m thinking of penciling it in as well.
I always enjoyed it when I was little, but it’s been a good 10 or 15 years since I’ve been. We used to do the occasional family outing type day down in Mystic: Aquarium, Seaport, a bunch of the little shops in the area, and some fresh seafood. It was a lot of fun when I was in that age range. Like I said, though, it’s been a while, so no promises.
I strongly recommend it, although it’s a pricey, and you want to spend most or all of a day there to get your money’s worth. They’ve got lots of kid-friendly programming and exhibits.
I’m 53 now, and the last time I was in New England was about 40 years ago, so take this for what it’s worth…
I really enjoyed the Salem stuff. And I loved the Peabody museum. I think that I could spend a week just in that museum, and still not be done with it.
If you and the family enjoy seafood, do try to go to the local places, where you’ll get fresh seafood at great prices. This isn’t such a treat these days, when seafood is flown everywhere, but it was considered quite a special thing back then…except by me, because I hate seafood.
I actually came into this thread to mention Mystic Seaport. We’ve been several times, and often take visitors there. There’s a museum, as well as a whole waterfront area, with various historical ships and historical recreations. It’s all very kid-friendly. Many local schools have field trips there.
The village of Mystic itself is fun to walk around in the area near the drawbridge.
If you haven’t been here in 40 years, you haven’t really seen the Peabody-Essex Museum. To start with, they merged the Peabody Museum with the Essex Institute (hence the name). Then, some 5 years ago or so, they did a MASSIVE rebuild of the place, doubling it in size and adding a huge interior space. They imported an entire house from China (the Yin Yu Tang) and attached it to the museum.
The PEM actually extends beyond the physical museum. They own quite a few historic homes in Salem, and if you ask at the desk you might be able to get a tour of one of them.
I go once a year or so (the last two times were for the Mythology and Harry Potter exibits), and even getting an early start it’s hard to see everything in just one day.
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