New England - things to see and do

[Puggit]

Duck Tours (amphibian things that occasionally catch fire...) in Boston was great fun. http://www.bostonducktours.com/

[The Leaper]

3-4 hour whale watching trip from Barnstable, Cape Cod. Need to book ahead. It's the "high season" for this right now.

R.

[The Leaper]

Kennybunkport is a great small town, really nice, good to stop by and have lunch near the river, or have a lobster burger from the Lobster Shack.

Also, at Camden take the road up into the hilltop, really great views etc.

If you have a whole day in Maine you could seek out Baxter Park and/or Rangeley Lake, also great places to be.

R.

[Orchid1]

Yale University in New Haven CT

The Newport mansions especially "The Breakers", it was the summer house of the Van der Bilt family and it is absolutely stunning.

http://www.newportmansions.org/

http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/the-breaker...

If you pass close by visit Litchfield in Connecticut, it's a small random town we stumbled across when driving through, it was like something out of desperate housewives. In fact everywhere in Connecticut was nice as far as I saw.

Provincetown in Massachusetts is an interesting little place as is Providenc, Rhode Island.

You'll love it wherever you go, i'm definately going to do it again at some point.

[rednotdead]

On Cape Cod - Chatham, Provincetown, Wellfleet. Avoid Hyannis. Traffic can be a nightmare on the cape but when you get out towards P'town and Wellfleet it's a very pleasant place and seems a slow pace of life. Great beaches, and some wild coastline.

Boston - loads to do: the Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall, the old burial grounds, the Common, North End Church, Paul Revere's house, Bunker Hill, Mass Statehouse, go up the Pru tower, a cruise on the Charles is a pleasant way to waste a couple of hours (beer on board too) and you get a different perspective of Boston, MIT and Cambridge. Go to the North End for some fantastic Italian restaurants. The trolley bus tours are a good way to see the city (it's very small) and get your bearings. Great aquarium too if you get a wet day.

[Puggit]

She's gonna love Idaho and the Dakotas

[anonymous-user]

As above, Newport RI is a lovely place - some great sea-food, quaint colonial buildings in the old town, the mansions, the naval stuff, America's Cup/sailing, old Presidential summer houses, lobster boats, etc. Well worth a visit - have friends who live there, and we love the place.

[fat80b]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

Some great tips already Thanks

Looking forward to Cape Cod - we've booked in to a very family friendly traditional beachside place, so hopefully will be a good spot to unwind at the end of the trip.

The Cape is OK, we did something similar a few years ago.

My tip would be : go to games of the local Cape Cod Summer Baseball league - Each town has a team and they bring in the best junior players from all over the country to play in the summer league so it is a high standard.

Games are on Weekday evenings in nearly every town.

Turnout is good and even if you don't like the sport, it gives you a real feeling of local life.

Bob

[louiebaby]

The aquarium in Boston is a good way to lose half a day with a nipper, and worth it for adults too.

Moose watching in New Hampshire might be a bit late for a 2 year-old. A drive up Mount Washington would be a good idea if the weather permits, but it can be pretty drafty up there.

You'll have a great time, I love that part of the world.

[BertieWooster]

When you are in Maine I would definitely recommend heading up the coast (via US1) to Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park. The scenery is just amazing up there.

[ViperDave]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

The plan is to get all the states ticked off before mini-me turns 16. This is our first US trip with her and we are ticking off:

Massacheusetts
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
New York
Connecticut
Rhode Island

Puggit said:

She's gonna love Idaho and the Dakotas

Idaho is easy, its on route to Yellowstone and there are quite a few things elsewhere worth a visit. South Dakota is easy too with Mt Rushmore and the badlands np.

Where we are struggling is a strip of states down the middle of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota. May have to plan in a storm chasing vacation to complete the list.

[5ohmustang]

Northern maine and parts of New Hampshire are nice. There the only place that I find remotely interesting in the NE. You should rent a cabin in Maine.

Personally my favorite states are Colorado, Alaska, Montana, Idaho. Then parts of Tennessee, North Carolina, Wyoming and Utah.

Are you renting a mustang?

[louiebaby]

Glad you had a good trip, remember an American gallon is 3.8 litres, whereas ours are 4.5 litres, so you probably did even better on the mpg. (Helpful when applying Man-Maths to buying one.)