One Boston daytrip in April
Jan 29th, 2009, 11:00 PM
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One Boston daytrip in April
I am trying to help some friends form Spain decide where to go for a day from Boston. Is Newport too far away?
They would like beautiful scenery, a good meal, but not necessarily museums.
I know April weather can be iffy.. any other suggestions as nice as Newport could be if the weather holds up?
Thank you.
They would like beautiful scenery, a good meal, but not necessarily museums.
I know April weather can be iffy.. any other suggestions as nice as Newport could be if the weather holds up?
Thank you.
Jan 30th, 2009, 12:17 AM
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When we stayed in Boston for 5 days I had researched places to visit from the travel guides & this site.
We went by train to Rockport & we still talk about it. The trains are so diferent to the UK & the journey would be shorter than to Newport. Rockport itself is an excellent place to visit for a day. I had thought about Salem & Gloucester but settled on Rockport.
We also went to Harvard but it did not impress us that much.
The North church area in Boston & Italian restaurants there are to be recommended.
We went by train to Rockport & we still talk about it. The trains are so diferent to the UK & the journey would be shorter than to Newport. Rockport itself is an excellent place to visit for a day. I had thought about Salem & Gloucester but settled on Rockport.
We also went to Harvard but it did not impress us that much.
The North church area in Boston & Italian restaurants there are to be recommended.
Jan 30th, 2009, 05:00 AM
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Newport is doable but a reach and a Big-ish Deal. What there is to do there amounts to the equivalent of museum-ing in that you are visiting large mansions. Oddly, one of the best Spanish restaurants I've been to in the US is there - but that's hardly an inducement for your friends.
The Rockport suggestion is a better idea. But, if I were tour-leader I would also tack on Gloucester (more "real" less tourist) and/or Marblehead, although a 9-passenger vehicle in the little streets of Old Town in Marblehead could be a challenge - worth parking on the edge and getting a map.
The Rockport suggestion is a better idea. But, if I were tour-leader I would also tack on Gloucester (more "real" less tourist) and/or Marblehead, although a 9-passenger vehicle in the little streets of Old Town in Marblehead could be a challenge - worth parking on the edge and getting a map.
Jan 30th, 2009, 07:18 AM
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thanks.. i am forwarding your suggestions.
favoite restaurant in rockport or gloucester? preferrably good food AND view, if possible.. and not so upscale ($20+ entries at lunch) that they will break the bank there.
Thank you.
favoite restaurant in rockport or gloucester? preferrably good food AND view, if possible.. and not so upscale ($20+ entries at lunch) that they will break the bank there.
Thank you.
Jan 30th, 2009, 07:28 AM
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Rockport is so small that you can judge the restaurants for yourself as you walk around. Almost all have a view. Rockport is on a small peninsula with shops and galleries -- people live elsewhere. Here's a website with a list of restaurants: http://www.rockportusa.com/
I prefer Marblehead - people actually live there and there is more of a palpable sense of history, some very pretty views -- if you do drive there, use a map to find your way out Marblehead Neck to the light tower - really lovely prospect. At least a couple of the cafes on Front Street have a view (Marblehead is also a peninsula, but much larger than Rockport and more residential except for Old Town.) Here's website, and you can see it's not so tourist oriented, although they do depend on people frequenting the cafes and shops in Old Town. http://www.marblehead.org/index.asp?NID=10
Gloucester is a working, historical fishing - seaport community (setting for movie Perfect Storm) - tourists tend to stick to near the waterfront and the statue of the fisherman. Some good shops and a great bookstore. There's more to it than that, but maybe not top of your must-see list, "real-life" though it is. www.gloucesterma.com
I prefer Marblehead - people actually live there and there is more of a palpable sense of history, some very pretty views -- if you do drive there, use a map to find your way out Marblehead Neck to the light tower - really lovely prospect. At least a couple of the cafes on Front Street have a view (Marblehead is also a peninsula, but much larger than Rockport and more residential except for Old Town.) Here's website, and you can see it's not so tourist oriented, although they do depend on people frequenting the cafes and shops in Old Town. http://www.marblehead.org/index.asp?NID=10
Gloucester is a working, historical fishing - seaport community (setting for movie Perfect Storm) - tourists tend to stick to near the waterfront and the statue of the fisherman. Some good shops and a great bookstore. There's more to it than that, but maybe not top of your must-see list, "real-life" though it is. www.gloucesterma.com
Jan 30th, 2009, 07:34 AM
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PS at the risk of mentioning a competitor to Fodor's, there's a great, interactive map of Marblehead at http://www.frommers.com/destinations...fm?destID=2361
Old Town is around Crocker Park and further out (Washington St. is spine, Front street runs parallel along water). You can see the other "thumb" of the mitten-shaped peninsula which is Marblehead Neck (a very posh neighborhood, by the way, with mansions and yacht clubs) but the light tower is at the end at Chandler Hovey park. Not walkable from Old Town, unfortunately.
Old Town is around Crocker Park and further out (Washington St. is spine, Front street runs parallel along water). You can see the other "thumb" of the mitten-shaped peninsula which is Marblehead Neck (a very posh neighborhood, by the way, with mansions and yacht clubs) but the light tower is at the end at Chandler Hovey park. Not walkable from Old Town, unfortunately.
Jan 30th, 2009, 12:13 PM
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"People actually live" in Rockport...my mother and her entire family were/are from there, as are the thousands who still do live there...
In April the shops on Bearskin Neck in Rockport might be reopening for the season and you could have a nice day for strolling the Neck and downtown. I'd avoid this trip in cold, damp weather as we are prone to in April. Be sure to research why they call it Bearskin Neck, as my ancestor John Babson is the culprit. It makes for a great story.
I think Rockport is a wonderful day trip and have taken many visitors from the UK there. I think there is a wider selection of restaurants in Gloucester particularly along Main Street, but it is not as quaint and has a harder edge than scenic Rockport. Restaurants I recommend in Gloucester (I personally eat here often): Latitude 43, The Azorean, Passports (great for lunch), Jalapenos, The Gull, Alchemy (only the Gull and roof deck of Latitude have "views"). In Rockport, The Greenery and My Place By The Sea both have views. They could also take the scenic drive back Route 127 and stop at any number of local seafood establishments in Essex like The Village, Periwinkles, Blue Marlin, Tom Shea's. You can't go wrong at any of them.
I've grown up here on the North Shore and never seen the draw of Marblehead, but different strokes, I guess.
In April the shops on Bearskin Neck in Rockport might be reopening for the season and you could have a nice day for strolling the Neck and downtown. I'd avoid this trip in cold, damp weather as we are prone to in April. Be sure to research why they call it Bearskin Neck, as my ancestor John Babson is the culprit. It makes for a great story.
I think Rockport is a wonderful day trip and have taken many visitors from the UK there. I think there is a wider selection of restaurants in Gloucester particularly along Main Street, but it is not as quaint and has a harder edge than scenic Rockport. Restaurants I recommend in Gloucester (I personally eat here often): Latitude 43, The Azorean, Passports (great for lunch), Jalapenos, The Gull, Alchemy (only the Gull and roof deck of Latitude have "views"). In Rockport, The Greenery and My Place By The Sea both have views. They could also take the scenic drive back Route 127 and stop at any number of local seafood establishments in Essex like The Village, Periwinkles, Blue Marlin, Tom Shea's. You can't go wrong at any of them.
I've grown up here on the North Shore and never seen the draw of Marblehead, but different strokes, I guess.
Jan 30th, 2009, 01:30 PM
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amyb, had no intention of slighting true Rockporters (Rockportians?). I was referring entirely to Bearskin Neck, which is what lincasanova's friends would be directed to as tourists.
I grew up partly in Marblehead and have a special feel for it - a long series of photos from M'head, etc. Brothers worked in some of the restaurants in Old Town. But if someone gave me the choice of a house on Cape Ann or Marblehead, etc., I'd have a tough time choosing.
I grew up partly in Marblehead and have a special feel for it - a long series of photos from M'head, etc. Brothers worked in some of the restaurants in Old Town. But if someone gave me the choice of a house on Cape Ann or Marblehead, etc., I'd have a tough time choosing.
