Where Should I Road Trip to in New England?

Quid

I've got a few days off coming up with nothing to do and plan to just take a road trip up through New England since I've rarely been much further north of Maryland. I've taken lots of long road trips in the past so I know what to do in regards to that, but I honestly have no idea what's up north of me besides maple syrup and beer.

Right now the only points I've really considered are Buffalo, Bar Harbor, and Estcourt Station. The last one is really only appealing to get as far north as possible and at 17 hours away is kind of iffy depending on whether I leave Sunday or Monday. I plan to get back home for my wife's vacation to start on Thursday.

The only catch is I can't cross in to Canada at any point. I'd prefer to avoid big cities like Boston and the ultimate goal is to cross off all the states I haven't been to.

Mongrel Idiot

I road tripped across New England a few weeks ago. Left Michigan, stopped in New York, and spent a few days in Portland, Maine before heading back home. Portland was a lot of fun - tons of good restaurants and pubs in town, lots of stuff to do on the water (my friend I was visiting and I took a schooner ride around the bay, which was pretty neat), and a bunch of parks in easy striking distance. We were going to try to do a hike up in Acadia National Park, but ran out of time. It seemed like anything outdoorsy was fair game up there. The same was probably true of Vermont and New Hampshire, though I didn't have time to stop in either.

Upstate New York was really pretty. If you wind up anywhere near Saratoga Springs, there's a restaurant there called the Old Bryan Inn which had pretty good food, and was also owned by one of my ancestors. The Saratoga battlefield park is pretty nice, too, if you're into touring battlefields at all.

tynic

Quid wrote: »

I'd prefer to avoid big cities like Boston and the ultimate goal is to cross off all the states I haven't been to.

that's a shame, because i was about to suggest swinging by Cambridge and we could grab a beer

The drive from eastern MA through Vermont up to Quebec is absolutely stunning, if you take the route past Lake Champlain. You could also head up into New Hampshire and hike the White Mountains, though I think that's a less attractive option.

The other thing I would suggest is to coast hop up through the fishing hamlets of MA and up into Maine. Very cute towns, nice scenery, great seafood.

Naphtali

The white mountains in NH are pretty scenic too. You could specifically drive up Mount Washington if you wanted, but hitting up a place like North Conway is nice. Pretty good brewery/restaurant up there as well (Moat Mt.)

Heartlash

The Berkshires in Western MA are filled with cute little towns and beautiful tree-covered hills if you're into that sort of thing. Would recommend Lee or Stockbridge (they are right near the Mass turnpike). I also second Portland, ME as a cool little seaside city with good harbor food.

I know you are trying to avoid Boston, but Walden Pond (which is about 45 min to an hour northwest of the city) is a great little spot. It's a particularly good stop if you like Thoreau.

EDIT: Also, the state of Vermont is kind of a giant episode of "How it's made." You can go to the Ben and Jerry's factory for a cool ice cream tour, or go farther north and check out the Magic Hat Brewery, etc.

In general, New England is full of great Breweries. Jack's Abby, Sam Adams, Magic Hat, Shipyard, Treehouse, Night Shift, etc etc.

Darkewolfe

Acadia national park. Finger lakes NY.

Xaquin

Catskills maybe?

Quid

My wife and I are planning a separate trip up to Boston so no worries on the beer Tynic.

I forgot Ben and Jerry’s was up there so that’s on the list now.

I’d love to find some place to spend a day and night in Acadia but from what I’ve read the campsites are generally full this time of year.

Mugsley

The Seacoast from North of Boston up through NH and ME is quite beautiful and littered with fun little towns (Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, ME I will recommend).

It depends whether you want mountains or coastline.

schuss

I live in Seacoast NH, so pretty experienced in these things.

If you're into beer, I'd push up into seacoast NH, where you can hit a ton of good breweries Nightshift in mass on the way is rad, then I'd roll through throwback and stoneface in the seacoast at a minimum (WHYM beer cafe is also very nice). Wallis Sands/Odiorne is one of our favorite spots beach/ocean wise, and about 10 minutes from downtown Portsmouth and some good eating (Row 34, Jumpin Jays, Cava, Flatbread are all excellent, among others). From here, you have one major choice - Maine or Vermont, as likely you won't be able to hit both. If you love nature - go Vermont, as Burlington into Stowe area is magical for outdoor options (biking, swimming etc.). Single Pebble is a great place to eat in VT, and just look at the top of BeerAdvocate for brewery reco's.
If you prefer big hiking, go up 16 into the white mountains for tons of good options (falls trail up Chocorua is a classic, or Lafayette/Liberty for a big ridgeline). As mentioned, Moat Mountain is pretty great for eating/drinking. Lots of great hikes, as well as Dianas Baths on a hot day (River flowing down through rocky terrain creating bathtubs). Cog railway is also a wonderfully unique experience (a train up a friggin mountain?). From here you can cut over to Portland pretty easily, which has more amazing restaurants and breweries than I can even start to list. Alternatively, just drive up the coast through Kittery and Ogunquit for some great sea scenery.

schuss

Oh, and if you did end up going into Vermont or cutting across NH, I know some amazing swimming spots in western NH.

Chiselphane

I grew up and spent most of my life in CT so if you have any specific points of interest you'd like to hear more about, sing out.

If you're looking for a one-and-done stop, then Mystic CT is a great choice. Beautiful scenery, massive history (Mystic Seaport is a must). An incredibly cool bascule bridge right in the middle of town. Lots of great food all over the place too. There's tons of great stuff near Mystic too, the Nautilus is docked nearby and that's a free museum since it's maintained by the Navy.

schuss

Special Navy bonus as I remembered you're in the service - there may be a nuke being serviced at Portsmouth Shipyard, and plenty of Navy folks around.

Shadowfire

Quid wrote: »

My wife and I are planning a separate trip up to Boston so no worries on the beer Tynic.

I forgot Ben and Jerry’s was up there so that’s on the list now.

I’d love to find some place to spend a day and night in Acadia but from what I’ve read the campsites are generally full this time of year.

There's also the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in Shelburne, and on the Eastern side of the state are a ton of covered bridges you can see. The one connecting Windsor, VT, and Cornish, NH, is still I think the longest covered bridge in the country.

Also, if you're near the area, I'll buy you a damn beer.

Quid

I think the plan is going to be to head north along the coastline to maybe Portland then cut over to Vermont before heading south again. Assuming ~3 days that should give plenty of time to tool around in each state.

Donnicton

If you're anywhere near the I-91 area of Western Mass, consider stopping at any of the following:

Crepes Tea House(West Springfield location, not Holyoke). It's an Eastern European style restaurant with mostly Eastern European foods and their main claim to fame are giant crepes filled with your choice of fruit and filling, and a menu with over 100 varieties of tea. You can buy them by the mug, quart or samovar or even take bags of the tea blends home to brew yourself.

Additionally, the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory is a neat place to stop at if you find yourself near South Deerfield, Massachusetts.

The Yankee Candle headquarters is also in South Deerfield and they're absolutely massive, containing a whole shopping center including candy and gift shops.

Webster's Fish Hook in Northampton is a great little clam shack that serves a solid variety of seafood at good prices. One of my favorites, though it's quite out of the way for me so I don't get to go often.

DisruptedCapitalist

I'd offer you a beer too, but there is nothing worth visiting on my end of Massachusetts. So, I agree with everyone on this page, and I'll add a few more:

• The mansions in Newport Rhode Island are really fun to go and tour. And Newport is a great touristy town with lots of fun eclectic shops, and there are also a lot of nice vineyards in that part of RI. http://coastalwinetrail.com
  
• Heading north, The Lowell National Historic Park in Massachusetts is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the US. My eldest went on a field trip there last Fall and I came along as a chaperone and I was amazed! The National Parks Service really did a great job restoring the old factories into an excellent museum which really gives great insight into all the peoples and cultures that immigrated to Lowell over the years to work in the factories.
  
• In NH, if you visit Mount Washington and North Conway, whatever you do don't try to leave by heading south through North Conway, especially on weekends. You'll be stuck in traffic for hours. Best to go over the Kancamagus Highway and then you can head to Vermont, or south towards the lakes region. If the lakes are of interest to you and you like B&Bs, might I also recommend http://www.thewhipplehouse.com which is near Newfound Lake and Wellington State Park, which boasts some of the clearest water in NH.
  
• Which brings me to another gem in NH. (And @tynic I've been meaning to suggest this to you as well for a while.) The Shaker Village museum in Canterbury NH, is a beautifully preserved example of a Shaker community in the US. They offer tours of the old buildings and what's most fascinating was how they embraced the technology for the time which you can see on the tours. They always were seeking inventive ways to improve their community; and despite their strange religious practices (they got the name shakers from their ecstatic dancing during worship), they were very modern and diverse for their time. The village is particularly beautiful in the fall when all the trees have turned colors and local smoke houses and orchards are making all their seasonal goodies. http://www.shakers.org
  

DisruptedCapitalist

Oh, and not to totally dump on North Conway: it's a great place if it's your destination, I just would not recommend passing through it.

Smrtnik

Seconding Newport, RI, and Portland, ME

Elvenshae

I lived in Newport for a couple of years back* in high school, and during the summer, it is totally mobbed. Also, Rhode Island drivers are the worst, and Newport drivers are the worst of them.

Still a really cool town, though, with a really amazing music scene, too. Newport Jazz Festival is 3-5 August this year, at Fort Adams (where I used to live). There's a sailing club there that's open to the public, and Ft. Adams is pretty cool to tool around in, too - it's a pre-Civil War coastal defense fort that's been upgraded several times over the years, getting its last major refit right before WW1 and serving as a coastal defense headquarters in WW2.

Sailing is *huge* in Newport, and it's a great place for it, if you have the time.

You can also swing through Fall River, where there's the Battleship Cove Maritime Museum. The crown jewel of the collection is the USS Massachusetts, but they've also got a number of submarines, aircraft displays, destroyers, PT boats, etc. So, pretty cool stuff.

That also lets you visit the Somerset Creamery, which is literally my favorite ice cream place in the world. Only open during the summer, they make all their stuff locally. Get a waffle cone.

Some other food suggestions: get the chowder at the Wharf Tavern, in Warren, RI; prime rib or lobster (and free cinnamon sticks) at Magoni's in Somerset.

EDIT: Forgot - Fall River / Swansea is home to a sizeable expat Portuguese and ... Lebanese? ... community, and they run some amazing bakeries.

If you're feeling really, really hungry, then try the Nordic Lodge; not sure how you go about getting reservations there these days, but it's a ridiculously expensive ($100 / person) buffet that features (among lots of other stuff) steaks, lobster, and Haagen Dasz ice cream.

I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest you pick up coney dogs (chili, onions, mustard) for lunch at some point. I guess they got their start in NYC, but they've been perfected in southern Massachusetts.

If you're passing through CT, then remember that it will be under construction. CT is always, always, always under construction. Like, the whole state.

Driving up the coast of Maine is singularly beautiful. (Also, cheap shacks on the side of the road offering local-caught lobster dinners. Probably less cheap than they used to be, though.) Mystic Seaport is home to a bunch of tall ships, and that's neat to see.

The Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos are popular places to pause and lose some money, depending on where you're driving from or to.

Out on the Cape might be a bit out of your way, but it's yet again a lovely place to drive through.

* HAHAH! Hah! Hah. hah. *sob* I am super old now.

zepherin

When you are driving through New Jersey, there is a town called Bordentown, and a restaurant called Toscano's. I had a dry aged new york strip there that haunts my dreams.

Quid

Jersey is unlikely since tomorrow’s Ben and Jerry’s followed by heading down to the Catskills to stay for a while before heading home.

Biggest takeaway is that while I can definitely lay down in my car, a mat for where the seat hinge is at would help a lot.

mts

To jump on this. We are driving up to Waterville NH from jersey beginning of August,. If anyone has any things to break up the drive a bit for a 2 & 7year old it would be appreciated

Shadowfire

zepherin wrote: »

When you are driving through New Jersey, there is a town called Bordentown, and a restaurant called Toscano's. I had a dry aged new york strip there that haunts my dreams.

If you're getting steak in Jersey, go to one of the Library restaurants. They're called No. 2, etc, but they're amazing.

DisruptedCapitalist

mts wrote: »

To jump on this. We are driving up to Waterville NH from jersey beginning of August,. If anyone has any things to break up the drive a bit for a 2 & 7year old it would be appreciated

Half way through Massachusetts where I 84 meets the Mass pike, is old Sturbridge village. It's a recreation of a pre-revolutionary 18th century New England village. It's about a four hour drive from the George Washington Bridge. When you're done you can take the Mass Pike to I495 then onto US 3 which goes up to NH.

Lots of reenactors there play the part of villagers and museum guides. The blacksmith's shop was my 8-year-old's favorite spot when we went there last time (she's 10 now). Though, I don't know if a 2-year-old can tolerate it.

https://www.osv.org