New England Road Trip - August

Taking the car and driving from NYC to Arcadia, Main this August.
thinking of driving up the coast - stopping at several places and enjoying the scene…
and perhaps driving back on a different route - more inland

we will have 2 weeks+ to accomplish this trek in mid-August
will have our 8 yearold with us

Would love to hear any recommendations
Food/wine/places to visit and stay
things to do
camping/hiking activities

ALSO

would love to meet any of the New England/Maine beserkers that want to come hang out.


thanks in advance! (i looked through a couple of the previous threads but would love to hear more)

Boston for a few days.
Portland for a day and a night.
Camden Main is nice.
Rockland Maine has all the schooners. We did an overnight on the J&E Riggin with my kids. Captain Neal was from Brooklyn. [whistle.gif]

Maine is the place for lob**sta.**

If you like lobster, here are some really good lists:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=43.727445,-69.884033&t=m&source=embed&ie=UTF8&msa=0&spn=1.389343,1.922607&z=8&mid=zCz2RcTBwMfs.kDI3eXbXQp0U

If “inland” includes Albany, come on by and set a spell!

Mikhail- I will be gone for much of the month, but if the dates work out , would be happy to do a dinner with you when you are in Boston.

I’m in Maine every October. In Camden I stay at
Maine Stay Inn
22 High Street (US 1 North) - Camden, ME 04843

Then - we head up to Acadia. Visit Bar Harbor for a day but stay on the other side of the Island in Southwest Harbor. This place is good.
Kingsleigh Inn
Southwest Harbor, ME.

Bunch of lobster pounds in both areas. Avoid the lobster pound in Lincolnville (just north of Camden). Innkeepers usually have plenty or recs.

thanks all - keep them coming :slight_smile:

Jud - i think we are not going into Boston this time - going straight to Rockport MA or something like that. Boston is honestly hell to park in :slight_smile:

still taking notes if anyone else has ideas for must visit areas etc. :slight_smile:

the idea is to drive something like this? not sure if we have time for the inland drive just yet

You should stay in the Rockland/Rockport area instead of Camden and have dinner at Primo. Or, it isn’t a long drive to Primo if you really want to stay in Camden. You could plan it so you have time to walk around Camden during the day; it doesn’t take long to see a good bit of the town. Maybe drive up Mount Battie if the weather is decent. You get great views of the harbor and coastline from up there. The Samoset is a nice place to stay. The grounds are beautiful, and there’s a 1/2 mile breakwater that you can walk out on.

Also, if you want to cut down on the time of that inland drive, the upper part of I-93 going through the White Mountain National Forest is beautiful. I’m sure you can find some nice places to pull off for short walks and great scenery. There are some nice places to stay around Lake Winnepesaukee. The drive gets boring after that, but it will no matter which way you go. Albany would be less accessible, though. If you definitely want to include Albany, you could drive through Burlington, take the ferry across the lake, and take 87 south. It’s a lovely drive. You could even spend a night in Burlington, which is a nice town. You’ll get plenty of mountain views driving out that way.

Not stopping in Portland would be unfortunate. I know it’s tough to prioritize when there’s so much to see, but Portland is a great little city.

As far as parking in Boston, park at your hotel and don’t drive while you’re there. I’m sure you know it’s a tiny area geographically, even if you include Cambridge (which has some of the best restaurants in the area).

Sunday Brunch at Harraseeket Inn in Freeport is life changing !
I’ve driven from Miami just for it ! flirtysmile [tease.gif]

http://www.harraseeketinn.com/maine-inn/dining/sunday-brunch

Thanks!!

Doug - we are spending 3 days in Portland. Wrote down a lot of the stuff above - changing some things and adding others.

Just to clarify since lots of time has passed - but we are still welcoming ideas (thought not where to say since that is booked)

Nights in:
Rockport MA
York ME
Portland ME (3 nights)
Camden (2 nights)
Bar Harbor (3 nights)
Greenville (2 nights - go moose!!)
Conway NH (2 nights)
Manchester VT (1)
home sweet home!

restaurants - booked Primos
have a good list of lobster spots

would love more more ideas on food in Portland and Mt Desert Island though have some good rec.

any Antiquing spots - fell free to PM - we arent “big” buyers but love things with history.

Mikhail - Since you are heading out on Long Island I would make a winery stop before reaching the Orient Point Ferry. My choice would be Paumanok or Lenz. It’s pretty ambitious to make it to Boston’s North Shore the first day. I would think that a first night should be in the Mystic(CT)/Stonington(CT)/Watch Hill(RI) area. Here’s some ideas depending on your budget.

Inn at Stonington … http://www.theinnatstonington.com
Weekapaug Inn … http://www.weekapauginn.com
Ocean House … http://www.oceanhouseri.com
Mystic Hilton … http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/connecticut/hilton-mystic-MYSMHHF/index.html

Plenty of eats in the area including the dining rooms at the Weekapaug Inn and Ocean House. If you do consider this area let me know and I can make sure you find what matches your interest and budget. Also there are local attractions(casinos, seaport, aquarium, music venues, etc) that might be of interest.


Make Rockport, MA your 2nd night stay. Between the Mystic/Stonington/Watch Hill areas a nice detour through Newport RI might be worth the visit for historic mansions and the museums.

Gary

Gary - thanks… but we already booked the nights. We will be on the ferry by 9 am.

As far as LI ) I love the Massoud Family and visited with them recently. Look up my notes in the main forum )

We are getting off the ferry and straight for Mystic. Then lunch in Providence. Depending on time - Plymouth Plantation and in rockport by night. I don’t mind the drive. We have an 8 yearold with us as well - no casinos LOL

It is a bit ambitious but honestly trying to get north faster … we can do more RI/MA another time

Mikhail - Understood. If you don’t book early in coastal New England for the summer months it can be difficult to find lodging. If you do another trip into Vermont you might check out Bread & Puppets. It’s an unusual museum run on a commune in Glover VT… Museum – Bread and Puppet Theater . The museum itself is adult oriented because of it’s social and political messages using larger than paper mache life puppets. Some of the puppets are old constructions from Paris and NYC…Enjoy your trip in August…If you need to stop along Mystic for a bite let me know as this would be in my backyard…Cheers, Gary

Thanks ! That is both freaky and cool !

It’s very unique. As I added to the above if you need a meal stop in Mystic let me know…Gary