simpsonc510

I've been coming up to the BOS GTG for years (2005 I think) and I always stay a few extra days for shopping and touring. I've been to Nantucket and the Cape, back in the early days of coming to this big event. For the last 3-4 years, though, I've selected New Hampshire as my destination for that last couple of days.

Why New Hampshire? I really enjoy the leaf peeping! Yes, we get color in Illinois, but there are years when the color around the White Mountains in northern NH is really RED and YELLOW. This is not one of those years, but it was still lovely. Such friendly folks up here!!!!!!!! Sincerely mean that!!!!!!!

The BOS GTG was the reason for coming east (from ORD) and it was another grand affair. We love listening to each other's travel stories and adventures. This time we had several newbie couples and they were delightful! Soooo glad they came. Hope they come again next year! And I hope some of those of you who have considered coming, but are still balking at the idea.... don't hesitate. What a wonderful group of people to get to know.

OK. Norwood Residence Inn was the appointed hotel, and it was fine. I've stayed in a number of R I's and they are all just a little bit different. This one was fine. I'm platinum with Marriott so had a nice room with a door to the bedroom. Some had a more open concept layout. Breakfast was good, and plentiful. Dinner at Bob and Karen's on Friday night was fantastic. Karen went all out to make it special.... there was even a birthday cake for lcuy (Lucy) who had been travelling from Cambodia of all places, to make the GTG!!

Lunch on Saturday was at a very nice Italian place (the name escapes me now...Olivadi or something?) and I believe it was also in Norwood. I could have stayed on and on, talking to everyone who came, but you never get a chance to speak to everyone!! Travelribbon....Stacy... I sincerely mean that I am proud of you and I want you to report in and let us know how you are doing after making your big move!!! Nikki, I know you will have a fabulous time in India, if you just loosen up and take it all in. Asia can be overwhelming! If you enjoy it enough, you'll want to return, like some of us keep doing. I'll be making my 29th trip to Bangkok in less than 2 weeks time.

Saturday night Dinner was at the Thai place in Cambridge that we've 'done' for years. Always great! We get a few people at dinner who cannot manage to make the bigger luncheon, so more people to try to talk to!! Talk talk talk.... travel travel travel... it's always fantastic. One of my favorite weekends of the year.

Off to New Hampshire on Sunday morning after the farewell breakfast at the appointed hotel. Weather was a bit showery on my drive to N. Conway. I stopped off in Amherst and had lunch with a very dear friend. I drove up 93 (or is it 95) to the exit at Lincoln, got into the huge traffic congestion, and then took the Kanc (Kancamogus) Drive. Beautiful! Traffic was heavy, as expected, but a lot of it was going in the opposite direction. Lots of places to stop along this drive to take photos. One of my favorite roads in the USA.

My Residence Inn in North Conway for 2 nights had a fireplace!!! I loved using it, once I figured out that you just had to flip the timer switch to turn it on (gas). I had an upgrade to an executive suite, and it was really nice. Some folks say this is their favorite Residence Inn, and I can see that it has a lot of pluses. Breakfast was good, but very busy. They have lots of seating area, which is much needed during leap peeping time.

Shopping at the various outlets was really great this year. No sales tax, and also big sales at most places I shopped! I had to pick up another suitcase to get everything home! My first Travelpro light way zip hardsider. It's probably sturdy, but feels so light.... time (and lots of travel) will tell. I came for sweaters, and ended up with sweaters, shoes, Coach bags, and some items for DH.

My last night was at Fairfield Inn, near Manchester airport. Forgot to mention that I always fly in and out of Manchester rather than BOS airport. I hate driving in Boston, so avoid that by flying into MHT and driving to the GTG, which is always on the outskirts of BOS. This Fairfield Inn is basic, but close to the airport. There is a shuttle if needed. I always have a rental car.

Had dinner once more with my dear friends in Amherst, and visited the new outlet mall at Merrimac. Nice! It's the Premium, not the Tanger Outlets. Still having great sales. There is a bigger Coach store here, and the variety of items (all at 30% off) is better than at N. Conway and/or Tilton.

Now it's time to head back to Illinois. I've just finished my last pumpkin spiced coffee. Somehow it just tastes so much better up here. Maybe it is the fall color outside, maybe it is that crisp morning air.... who knows. It's delicious!

MareW

I enjoyed your report! I really hope to go to this GTG sometime. My husband and I were staying at the RI in North Conway on Sunday night too! Would have said "hello" if I'd known another Fodorite was there.

simpsonc510

I should have been carrying my orange fodors bag or something... too late now. Oh well... And please DO try to make the GTG at some point.

cigalechanta

Carol, I'm happy you had a great time.
The Kancamogus highway is a favorite of mine too.

simpsonc510

Hi Mimi!
Forgot to add that I drove the 'other' colorful scenic route from N. Conway back to the interstate and then south to Manchester yesterday morning. The 302 is also very nice. Another route with places to pull off for photo ops. It passes a large historic hotel with Mt Washington in the background. Is it the Mt Washington Inn?? or something like that?? This route seems more 'open' in places, but it still has the forest and babbling brooks that I love, as well as the mountain views. It isn't one that I do EVERY year, like I do the Kanc.

Cranachin

Carol,

I was disappointed with the Kanc—or at least the part of it I drove. I live NE of Boston and have heard about it for years, and this year I decided to go up there on Columbus Day. Traffic, by the way, was not bad at all once I got past Concord, NH.

I started driving the Kanc from Conway but I was underwhelmed. Is the best part the western part? (I was also a little surprised that the lady working at the first NH Welcome Center across the border from MA didn't know what the current foliage reports for the Kanc and 302 were when I asked her. I think she said no one had updated their staff!)

I turned off the Kanc at Bear Notch Road, which was as delightful to me as the western Kanc was disappointing. I took Bear Notch Road up to 302 and then took 302 west to I-93 and then south on 93 to see friends in the Lakes Region for the rest of the day. I was glad that Mt. Washington was not hidden by the clouds—had some nice views of it. The leaves were past peak in the White Mountains but were not quite at peak in the Lakes Region. Lots more yellow than I was expecting and not as much red or orange (especially compared to around where I live).

By the way, the reason I started on the Kanc from Conway is I took 113 up from Ashland to Sandwich to visit the Sandwich Creamery. I have to say that after reading such glowing reviews of it on Fodor's I was disappointed in it as well. It wasn't bad ice cream, mind you, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped. I much prefer White Farms on the Ipswich/Rowley town line in MA and Richardson's in Middleton, MA. I guess we all have our ideas of what makes great ice cream!

Glad you had a good trip to New England. Maybe one year I will make it to the GTG as well.

cw

Carol, Glad I saw your report. I was wondering how your weekend turned out. Glad to know the Merrimack outlets came through for you too. How nice that you get to visit with friends while in NH.

So nice to see you again and looking forward to next year.

MareW

Cranachin, our foliage trip was long this year, so we drove the Kanc twice. (We do many of the stops along the way.) The first time was on Friday, and at that point, the North Conway end was actually the more vivid. We noticed a lot of fading and leaf fall when we went again on Monday.

I haven't tried the Sandwich Creamery, but I've liked White Flower Farms for years. I tried Richardson's for the first time last year. I guess I always though that since so many places in around here carry it, they had gotten to be too big and couldn't be that special. Wow, was I wrong!

dfrostnh

The Sandwich Creamery is something of a small adventure to find but it's small, with a much more limited list of flavors than Richardson's. I think of Sandwich fondly but it's more to celebrate a successful small farming business than on the NH ice cream trail. For awhile, we visited Sandwich in February and made summer visits (since it's a day trip for us) and twice saw black bears near the road in the summer. Richardson's is widely distributed in New England and I'm not even sure who serves it as "locally made". I originally went there with my parents back in the *gasp* 50s.

The Kanc is not my favorite drive. I prefer to route from Rt 16 south of Conway over thru Tamworth and Sandwich and around the Squam Lakes area. It was a great area to go on a garden tour one year. My favorite approach to the north is up I93 since the scenery just gets better and better until you're actually in the mountains.

Thanks for your report. It's fun to hear and pros and cons of favorite places. We steer clear of North Conway even though it's a very beautiful town. Just too many people for us. Sandwich is very quiet and peaceful which is amazing since it is so close to Lake Winnipesaukee.

simpsonc510

I've done Bear Notch Rd and it is also nice. I'm sorry you (cranachin) were disappointed with the Kanc. By turning at Bear Notch you missed (maybe) the better half? Anyway, the Kanc will still rank among my favorite drives. The 302 is also very nice.

And yes, I've been down south of N. Conway on a variety of roads that wind through the woods on their way to the lakes area. They are all lovely lovely lovely! So glad I had a couple of days to explore them. There are still places I've not discovered! That includes the two ice cream places mentioned above! (next time!!! haha)

CW, yes it was a nice GTG and also nice to see friends in NH. We'll do it again next year.

simpsonc510

I maybe should also add that I come from downstate Illinois... think cornfield country! That makes the Kanc even more scenic!

Cranachin

Carol,

Thanks for the reply (I hope I have not hijacked your thread!). I wondered if maybe the western half of the Kanc weren't better, but I did not have time to do the Kanc/302 loop I had hoped and so opted to cut up to 302. Maybe I was just that much too late, as MareW says.

As it turned out, I think I would rank the roads I traveled in this order for the day I did them:

1. Bear Notch Road

2. (tie) 113/etc. in Lakes Region & I-93 pretty much the entire length of the state (pleasantly surprised by both, esp. I-93, which I've driven several times but not in early October)

4. 302

5. eastern Kanc


dfrostnh,

Glad you chimed in! I had hoped you would.

One big surprise for me at Sandwich Creamery was that no one was on duty; it was a room with a freezer (ice cream) and cooler (cheese). It definitely was not a slow day when I was there. A middle-aged woman and (I assume) her mother were there when I arrived, a couple of teenagers (!) came in while I was inside, and a family pulled up as I was leaving. No bears, though. But I did meet a UPS truck as I was headed down Hannah Road to the Creamery! I saw another one (or the same one again?) when I popped over to see the Durgin Covered Bridge. What are the odds?

Not all ice cream flavors were available (at least in half-pints), including some that I would really have wanted to try (like Tipsy Turtle and Lemon Squeeze). I settled on Peppermint Stick (a good test of a creamery's skill). I almost chose Birch Bark (but finally didn't because I am not a huge white chocolate fan) and would have tried Cranberry if I could have seen it. Richardson's had some wonderful cranberry one time, but I could not tell from Sandwich's ingredient list if it were cranberry-flavored (which I would have tried) or just cranberries in vanilla (which I would have passed on).

By the way, I live not that far from Richardson's, so it is VERY local for me. It's fun to get a cone or cup and then stroll out back to visit the cows. I have friends who buy their milk there—cheaper than the supermarket and better quality, too. I'd guess anywhere on the North Shore of MA you could call Richardson's pretty much local. NH, definitely not!

Carol, if you want to visit Richardson's "next time" it is not that far off I-95 (if you decide to go that route to eastern NH). White Farms is more out of the way.

nanabee

HI Carol!!
I'm so glad you posted. Maybe one of these years I can convince lcuy to share a rental car and we can follow along behind you! I have always wanted to do see the fall colors in New England.

Wasn't the GTG fun. It really is a special group of people and I am truly amazed by all the travel stories and adventures everyone shares. I am excited for Craig & Jeannie who are going to Bhutan very soon. I can't wait to hear their travel trip report.

dfrostnh

Cranachin, we are lucky to have some locally made ice cream around the Concord NH area. In fact, the "other" Richardson's plans to start making it at their Boscawen location. Their farm is in Dracut and should not be confused with the larger, more famous Richardson's of Middleton.

In the future I'll warn people that Sandwich Creamery is quite small as well as quite off the beaten path.

simpsonc510

Hi nanabee! Sorry we didn't get time for a real chat! I'd love to 'do' the leaf peeping together sometime. I think you would enjoy it. Are you a shopper??