5 days to see New England?
Question:
My wife and I and our 3 year little girl are coming to a conference in Boston in mid-September this year. We are planning on coming in the Friday after Labor Day, flying into Boston, and then doing a driving tour of New Enlgand before arriving back in Boston Wednesday evening. Our plan is to arrive Friday night, drive up to Portsmouth, NH for dinner. The next day, we're taking the scenic route all the way up to Acadia and staying in Bar Harbor for the night. Sunday, we'll drive from Bar Harbor over along Hwy 2 to Mount Washington and ride the Cog Railway. We'll probably stay at the Mount Washington resort that night. Monday is a long one, driving from Mt Washington over to Burlington(most likely with a stop at Ben and Jerry's for the little one), VT and then down to Lenox, MA for the night. Then, Tuesday we'll drive from Lenox down to New Haven, CT (want to see Yale and check CT off our list of states visited), then over to Newport, RI, and then over to Cape Cod somewhere. The last day, Wednesday, we'll drive from Cape Cod up to Plymouth and then arrive in Boston that afternoon or evening. At least that's our PLAN . . .
1) Does that sound do-able? Each day would be about 200-300 miles in the car, with stops along the way, so I'm not overly worried about our little girl hanging in. We're from Georgia and drive to see family in PA often, so long car rides are not a problem for us. 200-300 miles is nothing to us.
2) What would you recommend we stop off and do along the way? Any can't miss attractions along that route or in any of those towns?
3) Any lunch recommendations along Hwy 2 in Maine or NH on the way to Mt Washington?
4) Hotel recommendations for Portsmouth the first night? Should we try to drive a little farther up - maybe to Portland that night to make the next day's drive a little easier?
5) Is it worth going over to Burlington, VT? We've heard how pretty a town it is right on the lake, but if it's not worth the extra time, we'll head south from Ben and Jerry's. We'd probably stop for lunch in Burlington.
6) We're still up in the air about where to stay on Cape Cod. Our initial plan was to get there early enough Tuesday to take the ferry to Nantucket and spend the night, but I'm worried about making sure we get there by a certain time and think I'd rather just drive to a nice little place somewhere on the cape. Hyannis, Chatham, Yarmouth? Are they any different? Would it be better to drive another 30-45 minutes to visit the seashore or go into Provincetown? Any specific hotel recommendations? Restaurant recommendations?
7) If you've spent time in Plymouth, can you give me a quick rundown of the attractions we would want to see and avoid? I'm sure you're overwhelmed with attractions through there, and I imagine many of them are real similar. Need held sorting through the madness.
Feel free to answer as many of those questions as you can. Thanks for taking the time to help us Southerners come see your beautiful part of the country!
8) Would it be worth it or possible to leave Cap Cod on Wednesday morning, stop by and see Plymouth, and then instead of heading straight to Boston drive up to Salem and see the sights there before winding up in Boston?
Thanks for your feedback! I like the idea of stopping by and seeing the chocolate moose - great way to start the day off for a 3 year old! Are you familiar with the Rock of Ages quarry in Barre, VT - that sounds like another good pulloff?
I know you said the trip was doable - perhaps I should ask whether it sounds like a good plan or not? Is it overly ambitious? I know it's going to be a little superficial to simply drive through some of these areas instead of stopping in every little town, etc or spending only one night in places where you could easily spend a full week, but that's what you get with a trip like this I suppose. Thanks again for the feedback!
Answer:
All those are doable but wouldn't be very enjoyable to me because of too much traveling each day.
Portsmouth is nice to visit but you would be better off traveling to Bar Harbor from the Portland area to save time.
Nicest places to stop on your way to Bar Harbor is Camden Maine which has a beautiful harbor with some tall ships. Even better is Boothbay harbor, lots of nice shops and boats. Both of those might be out of your way though.
Once you get to Bar Harbor you could easily spend a couple of days seeing Acadia National Park and it would be a shame not too! There's some great attractions to see there including a beautiful coral swimming beach set between cliffs. You could also travel to the top of Cadillac mountain to watch the sunrise on the first place in America every day! It's beautiful up there with the ocean on 3 sides and you can literally see hundreds of miles in every direction. The park also has miles of old carriage trails that you can hike or bike.
I've stayed at the Bar Harbor Inn which is right on the harbor and in the center of town so you can walk to everything:
http://www.barharborinn.com/property.html
Save money by getting a room in the Newport building which isn't on the water but right behind the main building. Their free continental breakfasts are fantastic and you can bring the food outside to sit at a seaside table or on their porch while watching the sun rise and the lobstermen pulling in their traps just a few feet from the shore.
There are also free shuttle buses that leave from Bar Harbor common and travel all over the Island and Acadia Park. You can get off anywhere and take another bus back, very nice!
Rte. 2 is a lonely but very scenic road. There aren't a lot of places to eat but there are some near the larger villages. Once you get to Gorham NH there are plenty of places to eat.
Burlington VT. is a pretty big city on Lake Champlain and also has a LOT of traffic. If you plan on stopping here expect to waste some time. If you just want to just see the lake go to another part.
Plymouth doesn't have much to see or do except visit Plymnouth rock which is just a rock in the ground surrounded by a wooden box, nothing great! Pymouth Plantation is their best attraction which is a village recreation from the 1600's.
Salem is much more interesting than Plymouth is but you would have to travel past Boston to get there while Plymouth is along the way from P-Town.
Cape Cod is very nice that time of year and I suggest going to the Woods Hole/Falmouth area. The water is warm enough to swim in and you could hop on the ferry to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket.
I suggest going to Oak Bluffs on Martha's Veneyard which is a lively place with some great shops and restaurants. They also have the oldest carousel in America which your 3 year old will love!
I visit Martha's Vineyard frequently and my favorite place to stay is at the Wesley Hotel in Oak Bluffs (walking distance from the ferries). It's right across the street from the harbor and it has a huge porch where you can sit on it's rocking chairs and watch the people and boats and have a few drinks (BYOB).
The Gingerbread houses are right behind it and the town is a minute walk away!
It is also located on the bus route.
It doesn't have many modern ammenities because it's a very old hotel but we love it there, so relaxing and the perfect spot.
If you take a ferry without your car, then take The Island Queen out of Falmouth because it docks right across from the hotel so it is an easy walk.
http://www.wesleyhotel.com/
http://www.islandqueen.com/
htt p://www.oakbluffsmv.com/
Favorite restaurants on Martha's Vineyard:
Oak Bluffs:
Giordano's restaurant and clam shack has great Italian food (indoors) and the outdoor stands have the best pizza on the Island along with fantastic fried clams.
Ocean View restaurant has great American style food and is very nice.
Nancy's has great seafood and a wonderful outdoor patio to eat on and it's located right on the harbor.
Edgartown:
Newes From America is a great pub with fantastic pub grub. It's located in the Kelley House.
http://www.kelley-house.com/dining_news_…
Rent mopeds or jeeps and have fun exploring the Island, there are great beaches!
Nantucket is nice but very expensive and kind of snobby IMO.
Avoid Hyannis, it's like visiting a city of about 80,000 people!
Chatham is very nice and has some great beaches but the water is cold.
Provinctown is very scenic but be warned that it has a large gay population that is very open publicly. Don't be shocked by what you see, lol. It would be about a 3 hour ride to Boston from here.
Hope I helped, Have Fun!
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