yk

I'm at a loss of where we should go this weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice, so we'd love to be outdoors somewhere. I'd like to limit our driving time to 90 minutes each way.

Are there any festivals going on in New England this weekend? I did a search but nothing jumps out. If you know of any, please let me know!

We enjoy hiking (not too strenuous), DH likes the ocean, but no beaches. We also enjoy towns that's pedestrian-friendly. Shopping is low on our list.

One idea is Rockport + Appleton Farms in Ipswich.
Or somewhere Central Mass (How's Tower Hill Botanic Gardens at this time of year?)
Or perhaps Marblehead & nearby area?
Or Portsmouth?
We also haven't really spent much time in Southern Vermont and Southern NH; not quite sure which areas are interesting and how to "tackle" them in one day.

We've been to:
Hartford CT, Newport & Providence RI, Concord/Lexington/Lincoln MA, parts of North Shore (Salem, Gloucester, Ipswich), New Bedford.

I want to visit Portland Maine, but we'll have to wait until next month when the Homer exhibit opens at the Portland Museum of Art.

Thanks in advance for your ideas!

sassy_cat

Hi yk,

Tower Hill is in my neck of the woods. I enjoy the hiking there year round but especially in the fall, great views of Wachusett mountain and reservoir. The are some pretty fountains in the grounds and this time of year I imagine all the plants in the conservatory have been transferred outside. I actually love the tropical filled conservatory in winter but the lemon trees, etc do look good outside too.

This weekend is the bonsai show. I usually go to the annual orchid show but can't comment on this show, check the website for details.

Or maybe combine with a trip to Southern Vermont and hike or drive up Mt. Equinox, Manchester.
Google for details of the skyline drive etc.. pretty views!

Enjoy the beautiful weekend!

tchoiniere

Have you been to Mystic?

emalloy

Have you been up to Halibut Point State Park. Should be a nice place to hike a bit, have a picnic, enjoy the view.

bachslunch

Many New England towns have at least one, often several attractions that don't open until June, or in a few cases July. Waiting until next month, especially later in June, will likely open up more options.

Rockport might be a good choice -- at some point, I'm considering going there to see the Paper House and Halibut Point State Park.

New Haven is another option. The Yale campus is nice, and there are five museums on campus: Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Center for British Art, Yale Art Gallery, Beinicke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the tiny (and less essential) Yale Collection of Musical Instruments. And get a pizza: have been to Modern Apizza and can vouch for it being excellent, plus there's also Frank Pepe's and Sally's, both of which are supposedly very good but more "high maintenance" places to eat.

yk

Thanks for the ideas so far. We've been to Mystic, but many years ago, so that's definitely worth a revisit.

And no, we've never been to Halibut Point State Park either. I looked it up and seems a good combo with Rockport.

As for New Haven, it's a bit too far for a day trip; and while visitng the Yale museums is high on my to-do list, I really would like to be outdoors as much as possible, during our short New England "summer".

Cranachin

bachslunch -

I found the Paper House to be underwhelming. It definitely is not worth a special trip.

Vttraveler

A few places I really like in NH
St. Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, N.H.
http://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm

Enfield Shaker Museum near Lebanon, N.H.
http://www.shakermuseum.org/

Fruitlands in Harvard, MA is a beautiful spot with some interesting history

yk

Vttraveler, thanks for the reminder of St Gaudens place. We watched the PBS show on him recently, and then saw quite a # of his works at the Met in NYC last month. I checked the website and it doesn't really "open" until after Memorial Day. It may need to be an overnight trip with something else added, as it's too far for a day trip (according to Google, it's ~2.5 hours by car.)

Fruitlands is a good idea too. I wonder if there's anything nearby that we can tag on?

Vttraveler

Maybe the DeCordova museum and/or sculpture garden could be combined with Fruitlands

I didn't realize that the St. Gaudens site only opens Memorial Day weekend--I should have thought of that possibility since we have encountered the same problem in planning a trip in CO next week.

Ackislander

Mt Monadnock and Jaffrey, NH area? Easy climb to top, charming area.

Harrisville, NH, in the same area is a gem.

china_cat

Hi y2k!

You know how much I like Tower hill. I'm not sure if they have finished the visitor center renovations yet. When I was there last ( about 4 weeks ago?) they still had big piles of dirt around the building. Still, that was only moderately annoying.

have you ever been to World's End, in Hingham?
http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to...orlds-end.html
If you just wanted a place to walk around and maybe have a picnic, that would be a nice easy drive.

Have you been to the Currier museum in Manchester NH? I've been wanting to go up there to see the watercolor exhibit
http://www.currier.org/nowonview.aspx

What about the Harbor Islands?

Halibut point, suggested above, is another park I really love to wander around in. It's quite small, but you can just sit on the rocks near the ocean and enjoy the surf if its a nice day.

travelbuff

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Sturbridge Village in this post. It would be a lovely day and the trip will take about 90 minutes to get there on the Mass Pike.

The donation I think is $20pp but well worth the visit. The entire village has docents who can explain how life was really like in the time period.

There are a few restaurants there and a few intersting shops as well as a very nice gift shope on your way out.

Check the website, they have festivals all year long.

yk

We're planning to go to Sturbridge Village later in the Summer. And also the Harbor Islands in July or August. And yes, we've been to World's End in Hingham a few times.

Keep the ideas coming, as we're trying to explore a new place (hopefully) every weekend during the summer.

I may save Tower Hill Botanic Garden for the Fall; I remember how pretty your foliage photos are, china_cat.

Right now, DH seems to be contend with Rockport + Halibut Point; +/- Marblehead (depends on how early a start we can get). But the weather forecast seems to be now predicting cloudy + rain on Sunday...

Amuse_bouche

A long walk in Mount Vernon Cemetary, followed by a stroll on the Charles and dinner at Scampo

bachslunch

Amuse_bouche, did you mean Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge? Agreed that's a great spot to visit, if so -- though not in the rain, of course.

Amuse_bouche

sorry, yes, Mount Auburn then

RLFox184

YK,

I realize it is too late for this weekend but you said you wanted ideas for different places to explore throughout the summer. Don't overlook the Monadnock Region of Southwest NH as was mentioned by ackislander above. It's just ninety minutes from Boston but can feel like a world away!

Peterborough was the first feature destination of NECN's "one tank trip", has been named one of the top ten coolest small towns in the U.S., a "dream town" by NH Magazine, and was recently written about in the NY Times. It was the inspiration for Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" (he spent many summer's there). It is a quintessential New England town, very artsy with lots of great restaurants and shopping.

Also in Monadnock are Keene, a wonderful college town with a broad Main Street (Robin William's "Jumanji" was filmed on Main Street). Excellent dining and shopping here as well.

Other excellent Monadnock towns include (but are not restricted to) -Harrisville where it seems every building is on the National Historic Register (very small and scenic town) and Walpole, a cute NE town that is home to famous Burdick's Chocolate and Walpole Creamery.

If you want to get outside the towns there is of course Mt Monadnock, the most climbed mountain in the Western Hemisphere with its 40 miles of trails and 360 degree views from the top (you can see Boston's skyline on a clear day). I would not call it an easy hike but most people in reasonable shape can make the climb with a comfortable pair of walking shoes.

There is lots of other great, scenic, and accessible hiking all over the region (too much to list) but if you prefer driving you can take the auto-road to the top of Pack Monadnock (2300'), the oldest state park in NH. The views from the top are great and if you come in September or October it is a prime spot for watching the hawk migration (the Audobon Society sets up a viewing station there every year).

There is a covered bridges tour (five bridges) just South of Keene. You can drive it or you can bring your bikes (or rent them in town) and ride the Ashuelot Rail Trail which will let you loop through four of them. Another cool bridge tour is the stone bridge tour in Hillsborough...they are very scenic and the setting is picture perfect (very impressive that there is no mortar used int he building of the bridges and you can still drive across them).

If history is your thing, Franklin Pierce's (14th US President) homestead is open to tour in Hillsborough.

For more ideas on what to do in the Monadnock Region, visit www.southwestnh.com.

Nikki

I spent the day at the De Cordova Museum yesterday and it was lovely. I had never been there before. The grounds are beautiful with a sculpture park. I know it is pretty close to you, yk, so it is likely you have been there, but here are some pictures I took:

http://tinyurl.com/25mnp2p

yk

Again, thanks for all the ideas! Keep them coming as (hopefully) we have several months of nice weather to explore all these places!

We like Mt Auburn Cemetery a lot; have been there several times. In fact, the Friends of Mt Auburn Cemetery offers walking tours during the summer. Last summer we took one that was on the famous architects buried there.

Nikki, your pictures are great! What a perfect day yesterday to visit de Cordova. Yes, we've been there a few times too; it's got the perfect lawn for picnic. But I just read the recent review on the "rubber tire" sculpture show, which seems quite intriguing, and your photos confirmed that. So we may go out there to check that before it closes.

Let's hope it doesn't rain tomorrow!