Lexma90

Trying to decide on a rough itinerary for an east coast trip this May. Hubby has a meeting in Boston, so the entire family is going (DH, me, two kids, 10 and 7). We used to live in Boston, ages ago (pre-kids), and love Maine, but it's a bit cool there in May. 10-year-old loves cities; 7-year-old is more of a nature girl, though she's enjoyed all the other city trips we've taken. None of us are into shopping; we generally like historic stuff; I love cities too, hubby does, though less so, and we're all big foodies.

We're considering 4 days or so in Boston, taking kids to historic sites (most of which our son remembers from our last trip there), including 1/2 day biking from Lexington to Concord, and visiting places and people from when we lived there. Then on to Plimouth Plantation for 1/2 day or so, spending the night in Plymouth. Me and the kids love historic places - Williamsburg was a huge hit with the family several years ago.

The on to Newport for one or two nights. This is where I start to really need help. I figure one full day in Newport, visiting some mansions, doing the Cliff Walk, eating lobster. Does that seem right? (Remember more time here means less time elsewhere) Then I'm torn on Mystic Seaport, which we'd do as a day trip from Newport, I think. The outdoor ship museum sounds unique, but it just doesn't seem that interesting to me. The kids are on the fence about it.

Then on to New York, either by car or train (any suggestions on that?). I guess I'm not in a touristy mood - we'll visit the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Met, and some other stuff, but I'm more in the mood to just take in city life, experience the neighborhoods, etc. I know our time is short, but I'm even thinking of visiting other boroughs, though there's enough in Manhattan to keep us busy for weeks. Any suggestions from the great New York fodorites are welcome!

I'm considering hotels near Central Park, such as the Salisbury, and on the Upper West Side. I've primarily visited NYC on business, when I had no time for anything, and stayed in midtown, so don't have a feel for much else. Can anybody give me a feel for upper midtown (or whatever you'd call the area of 57th) vs. the upper west side? (If you can make comparisons to Chicago neighborhoods, that would help, as we lived there too.) I'm a runner, so staying near Central Park is high on my list. On the other hand, I'd love the neighborhoody sound of descriptions of the Village. Though I don't see any hotels there that sound great for a family trip.

And about public transportation in NYC these days. I'm totally at home in Chicago taking buses and the L, and occasionally taxis, but are there locations and situations in NYC that we should avoid, or avoid at certain times? Are buses or the subway the best choice, or does it depend on whether it's rush hour? (The kids view the transportation as part of the fun of a city.)

I'm collecting restaurant suggestions for NYC too, and have already developed a list based on other Fodor's posts. There will be 1-2 grownup-only nights (Per Se, Daniel, the like), and 1-2 family nights, where we're looking for fantastic ethnic food (which could include NORTHERN Italian); the kids are adventurous (a favorite from our DC trip was Ethiopian), and we don't want mediocre "family-friendly" places. I'd love to fit in dim sum (another family favorite) and a Jewish deli (not necessarily sandwiches, but blintzes, knishes, matzoh brie, latkes). And not in midtown, so we can experience more of NYC.

Sorry for the length, but I'm trying to give details that will help guide advice-givers. Thanks in advance!

EmilyC

OK, I'll tackle the Newport part of your question. Newport in May can be great but if the weather is not so good, this could dampen your fun. It's too early for the beaches but you and the kids should have a good time at the Cliff Walk and exploring Ocean Drive - lots of great spots to stop and feed the gulls. Your kids might enjoy flying kites on Ocean Drive - this has become a popular past time because of the ever present ocean breezes. One or two mansions should do it. You can have fun exploring around the beaches and over on Goat Island behind the Hyatt - this is an unknown spot for most tourists. If you got some really good weather, the kids would love a sailing adventure on any of the schooners that provide day sails in the area. If the spirit really moves you, take everyone fishing for a half day on a local charter.You will all enjoy the old forts that can be explored at Fort Adams and there is a small but interesting sailing museum there.A walk down Thames Street is fun and you can get good lobster in many local eateries. More info can be had at "gonewport.com
Unless your kids are boat people. I think they are too young for Mystic Seaport. On weekends during good weather, the place is more interesting. There is also a decent aquarium in Mystic but no where near the caliber of the one in Boston.
Dump your rental car and take the train to NYC - Amtrak is much easier and you end up at Penn Station - a short cab ride to most hotels.In New York, the kids would like Madame Tussaud's, American Girl for your daughter, Toys R Us for both. We recently visited the American Indian Museum in lower Manhattan which was very interesting. It's nearby to Battery Park, Ground Zero and trips to SOL and Ellis. If they like history, the kids will like Ellis Island. Good luck!

GoTravel

The Salisbury is one of the best located hotels in Manhattan in my opinion. It is a very short walk to Central Park, Times Square, Fifth Avenue Shopping, Rockefeller Center, etc.

Get the two bedroom apartment at the Salisbury. My parents stay there often and it is great. Two bedrooms, two full baths, living room/dining room, kitchenette. The one bedroom is also very large and both are on the top floor and have vaulted ceilings.

Good luck snagging reservations at Per Se. If you can get in, please let me know how you did this as I want to eat there!

nytraveler

For New York with 2 kids that age I wold defiitely suggest the upper west side. Much more of a real New York neighborhood (incr4edible diverse in every way)and great stuff for the kids: Museum of Natural History, Central Park (with playgrounds, a small but good zoo, and opportunities for biking or boating in the park). Also, this area has a ton of great mid and inexpensive restaurants of every possible ethnicity - so you can be as adventurous as the kids want (including Ethiopian, Morrocan, Argentinian, Dominican, Turkish - as well as all the basics).

For a hotel suggest you try the Lucerne - gets uniformly good reviews at moderate prices and is only a block from the park and the subway. (The upper west side has two subway lines and a bunch of buses - so it's convenient for almost everywhere in the city.)

Subway is the best choice - and is safe at all hours in tourist areas (runs 24/7 - although

nytraveler

Sorry - the cat somehow hit post.

Although with 4 people a cab may be no more for shorter distances. Buses take considerably longer than subway - but the crosstowns at 72, 79, 86 and 96 are great for getting to all of the east side museums.

And yes - at rush hour they will all be mobbed - suggest you hang onto the littler kid then - since you can be swept out the doors inadvertently in the mob.

bardo1

If you are not that excite and your kids are on the fence, then simply drop Mystic Seaport and add that day to NYC.

While Mystic Seaport is a quinticentially charming New England port village, it is geared to the elderly visitor or those who put a priority on "quaint", IMO.

In NYC, make a point of spending some time in Soho and Greenwich Village - a full day easliy for the two combined.

Another day you might want to subway to Brooklyn and then walk the Brooklyn Bridge toward Manhatten (gorgeous!) as a prelude to exploring some of the downtown area.

escargot

Regarding Boston: you might want to check out the Go Boston card (gobostoncard.com) and see if it would help you out, either way the web page has a lot of info, a good place to choose things. If your daughter is a nature girl, you may want to look at thetrustees.org for ideas on area easy hikes, trails with lovely views/ and/or for ideas in the Plymouth area or on your way driving down there. (Worlds End, Hingham, etc) see: plymouthguide.com and something like the historic Jenny Grist Mill might interest you also, as well as the plantation website to see if something special is happening during your stay.

It takes me about one hour to get from Boston to Plymouth, leaving Boston say around 9am after traffic - you could spend a few hours at the Plantation, have lunch on the harbor, see Grist Mill or something else and head straight on to Newport which is about 90 minutes away and easily nix the night in Plymouth also. I would check out the web sites and see if there is enough to hold you in Plymouth for any longer than making it a day stop from say 10am-4ish and moving along to Newport.

Newport: agree with other post, Cliff Walk most enjoyable, even if you have to bundle up from ocean breezes. Ditto for a cruise in the harbor on the Adirondack II sailing vessel, often overlooked and a short walk from the main drag of America's Cup Ave is the Newport Art Museum (history: architect Richard Morris Hunt, very signifcant work, first Stick Style American architecture) , the Norman Bird Sanctuary and drive w/ stops along Bellevue to Ocean -

Newport has an aquarium, as does Boston.

The Newport Tennis Hall of Fame is a gorgeous facility and has a fabulous tennis museum. It's right on Bellevue Ave on the way to the mansions.

newportmansions.org might help you select which mansions to see depending on the architecture, story, history - and if any events happening during your stay. When in May? The boat show is from May 18-21 at the Newport Yachting Center right on the main drag - and it can be crowded there regarding reservations - gonewport a good web link and glenfarm.org to see if the polo club has anything interesting going on, polo doesn't start yet but they may have some exhbitions happening.

If your heart is set on Mystic you might prefer considering stopping on your way to NY if you do indeed drive - instead of a day trip from Newport.
You can get a feel for Mystic in a few hours, see what you want, lunch and be on your way to the city - but I'd search their web and see if it is really a must do for you and your interests. There is a lot to do in Newport aside from shopping and much history (EmilyC listed some great ideas)

Are you flying out of NYC? If so, and you decide to skip Mystic, I would also consider nixing the rental car depending on the cost and taking the train to NYC. Maybe if you can't return it in Newport, you could look into returning it in Providence, Ri and taking Amtrak from there. You won't need a car in NYC anyway.

Have fun ! And who knows what weather May will bring - it could be absolutely lovely.

Fodorite018

I agree about dropping Mystic in favor of the other places. We lived nearby and enjoyed it, but with limited time, etc I would nix it. If by chance you go do, and need a filler for time, stop by the Submarine museum in Groton, about 10 minutes away.

Lexma90

Wow! What helpful suggestions all around; thanks all. All of the Newport activities sound like those we'd enjoy, in particular (except maybe the 1/2 day fishing). I know the weather will be iffy - unfortunately, I can't change the date of hubby's meeting. And 1-2 mansions is probably the right amount for us. Nature Girl doesn't care so much about that kind of thing, and while City Boy does like that kind of thing, we took him to France last year, and he may feel the mansions are similar to the Loire Valley chateaux, but without the history.

It sounds like my gut feelings about Mystic Seaport, for our crowd, are accurate. So that's probably nixed.

Based on what I've read about the Cliff Walk, it sounds like the end, where the state park is, is closed right now. Is that the case? I was thinking we could walk the Cliff Walk, then I could run back (remember I'm a runner) and get the car, while the family hung out.

The train into NYC sounds like the best choice - and fun, too. Yes, we'd fly into Boston, out of NYC, making a nice point-to-point trip (that would also add 2/3 new states to the kids' lists of states visited). And I checked Amtrak; looks like we can catch the train in or near Newport.

I really like the sound of the upper west side - I would like to avoid the
touristy feel (i.e., Times Square), and it sounds like as "real New York" as we can get at this point. And thanks for the info on the subway and buses from there. (Though the Salisbury is still a possibility as well.) And biking in Central Park is another activity I've told Nature Girl is a possibility.

On Per Se, I haven't done any research on the difficulty of getting reservations yet! We've had 3 marvelous dinners at the French Laundry, though (managed to swing those reservations), and I'd LOVE to be able to compare that to Per Se. If not, there are definitely other restaurants I'd also like to go to.

And FYI, the reason for spending the night in Plymouth is that we may spend the last night in Boston with friends, make a late start the next morning, pick up a rental car, spend the rest of the day in Lexington/Concord, then drive to Plymouth in the early evening. Beginning with Plymouth and Plimoth Plantation the next day, then drive on to Newport when we're done with the Plymouth area. And Plymouth sounds kind of nice for one evening.

I'd love any addiitonal suggestions...

mclaurie

If you plan on the train, make sure you check for any possible discounts. There are several websites where they're posted.

The Salisbury suites imo offer a good compromise of midtown location convenience and extra space. It's more a neighborhood where people live than other parts of midtown. I also think the Affinia 50, another all suite hotel is terrific. If you want to stay on the upper westside, the Lucerne is probably the nicest but their suites I think are pricier.

EmilyC

Cliff Walk is beautiful but not really great for running, parts are narrow, rocky and can be slippery. The major problem is that you simply can't get around people that quickly because it gets crowded and this will make you nuts. Better spots for running are Ocean Drive ( best spot), around second beach, around First beach, on the beaches if you can do the sand.
You can drop off a renatl car in Newport and take Amtrak from Kingston RI to Penn Station. To get to Kingston you can take RIPTA or cab it!

Liz5959

Also think about (for nature girl) going over to Jamestown, when you are in Newport, and climbing around the cliffs at Beavertail. I know you can get into the lighthouse for a tour. They also used to do some nature walks from the lighthouse, my kids loved going down on the rocks and looking for cool stuff in the tidepools. May, however, may be too early.

I don't know if there is a link for Jamestown, or Beavertail, but you should be able to google it. Jamestown is just over the Newport Bridge. You have to go that way from Newport to get to I95, so, it could be a mornings activity on the way out of town.

escargot

the Cliff Walk is just for walking, and carefully in places - go to www.cliffwalk.com and it keeps you updated on what parts are open - they are working on many sections of it as they were not good walking surfaces and needed some structural work.
Either way, it is nice to walk whatever segment is open and see the ocean on one side and mansions on other.

Running you would have to do on the road/Bellevue to Ocean/along shore - it might be something you do while they walk the same area or if they do something else. Depending on where you stay, you could run early from America's Cup up to Bellevue, straight down to Eastons Beach/Aquarium, either keep going all the way to St. George's or turn and go down Bellevue and all along Ocean - see if you can find any running routes thru google - RI has a few newport road races maybe they post their routes.

Since you mention some mansions esp your son has seen, (although Newport mansions have their own unique history) you might want to skip say Rosecliff (designed on the grand trianon which may be similar to the ones he saw in france) and look at Breakers and Marble House for a different feel.
Astors Beechwood (not a preservation society property) might be enjoyed by all of you - they have tours with 'actors' and that's how they slip in the story/gossip/etc which my kids liked when they were younger - you get the 'story' as you walk from room to room and 'bump into' maids, butlers, etc - there are framed newspaper articles about Caroline Astor (who started the social register and about her entertaining in nyc) and the father who went down in the Titanic , etc.

They have a separate web: astorsbeechwood.com and try ketupa.net/astors/htm to get the full story.

Maybe you should think of renting bikes in Newport if weather permits, and bike to Bellevue Ave, and see your 2 mansions that way, and then you could bike all along Bellevue and Ocean and back and you could even bike to the Newport Art Museum and other sites. Many of them are close, particularly the mansions - and you can explore some of the side roads that lead to the water, Salve Regina College, etc.

Also, you may already use it, but opentable.com is a great way to make rezzies w/out having to dial for dollars - and Per Se is on the NY page, so you may want to give that a try - but also call teh restaurants if you see a blank, b/c they don't put all their tables on the web. - But it might help w/ rezzies for other nights.

escargot

oops "if you see a blank" - I meant if they appear full on the web, doesn't mean they are, try a call too. good luck.

NHsandy

Hi,

While in Boston, check out the New
England Aqaurium. In addition to the aquarium we have an IMAX theater and whale watches that should interest the whole family. The website is www.neaq.org. Enjoy!