New England in mid-November will likely be quite gray, definitely cool, and possibly wet. The leaves are definitely off of the trees. Tourist season this is not.

$50 a room puts you into Red Roof Inn and Motel 6 territory in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and definitely means you will be staying away from the center of town. We recently had a $69 weekend rate at a Marriott Courtyard in Lowell, Mass., roughly 30 miles north of Boston. On Sunday night, the rate bounced back up to $129. You're competing with business travelers... best of luck!

Bradley Field is about 25 miles north of Hartford, almost to the Massachusetts border, and is closer to Springfield than to Hartford. The good antique shops are nearer the Berkshires -- for example, Litchfield, Conn. and Great Barrington, Mass. -- and along the coast, especially Stonington. I'd also stop in Chester, Conn., off Route 9. Great stores, great place for just walking around.

If you're not familiar with Boston, gravitate toward Cambridge and Harvard Square, which on a chilly November night can be as warm and inviting as a good fire. It's street theatre, interesting but inexpensive restaurants, and a crowd that mingles until long after midnight. During the daytime, the best promenade in town is up and down Newbury St. in Boston's Back Bay. Charles Street (the one that bisects the Public Garden and Boston Common) is generally considered Antiques Row, together with the area just north of Government Center. Nothing is cheap, but looking is free.