emalloy

Stay flexible for the RI/CT part of the trip. If weather is bad, do some of the inside activities, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum is great, but do check the hours/days it is open. Mystic Seaport and Mystic Aquarium both are nice and have both outdoor and indoor venues. The Seaport has mostly outdoor things that would interest kids and would be great if it were too cool for the beach.

There are ferries to Block Island from Point Judith RI and New London, CT. You can get around there on bikes or by taxi, so you don't really need the expense of taking your car over for a day. Pack a picnic and wear your bathing suits.

bludaizy

Thank you to everyone that gave pointers and suggestions! We just got back from a wonderful trip! Ended up doing the following:
Friday: Flight delayed 4.5 hours So, taxied to hotel, found some dinner and just did a little walking around.
Sat: Freedom Trail....took our time, spent full day walking it and seeing the sights, including Boston Public Library, Farmers market, concert in Boston Commons, etc. Lunch in the North End, Dinner at Cheers
Sunday: Church, Subway ride to USS Constitution, walked back to North End to get some pastries at Mikes, did a little shopping and just took in all that was around us and whatever crossed our paths.
Monday: Drove to New Hampshire. Breakfast and Friendly Toast - Loved it! Day at Water Country (it was clean and nice but nothing extraordinary). Drove up to Portland, hitting Rt 1 once we crossed into Maine. Stopped at York Beach and Nubble lighthouse on way in. Dinner: Portland Lobster Co.
Tuesday: Breakfast at Becky's. Drove to lighthouses (Portland Head and Two Lights) and then to Crescent Beach. Can't remember where we had lunch leaving there but it was a cozy little restaurant with great food, not too far from the beach. Spent afternoon walking around Portland. Had a snack of Duck Fat fries, followed by Whoopie Pies. We didn't lack for food. Haha. Had fun walking around and going in the shops. Took the hotel shuttle to the Great Lost Bear for dinner (huge selection, fun atmosphere), back to town and took in a movie. Ended up staying at the Holiday Inn by the Bay. Got a bayview room. Loved the view!
Wednesday: Drove to Plimoth Plantation. Mayflower II. Then drove to Providence, RI ...Dave and Buster's. It's in an awesome mall but we didn't have time to explore it. Would've loved to have had a full day for Providence. Hotel in Warwick.
Thursday: Breakfast at T's (YUM!)and then continued south to Newport. Everyone had seemed pretty unsure of my suggestion of the Cliff Walk and the mansions. I told them we'd leave if they didn't enjoy it. They loved it! We only toured two of the mansions (Breakers, Rose Cliff) and a portion of the Cliff Walk (it was EXTREMELY hot, even for us southerners). We finished off the day walking through some of the shops and dinner at Brick Alley.

It was a lot to fit into a short time, but it was a great way to see lots of places. We loved the trip!

Ozarksbill

So thanks for that report...nice vacation for a family incl. two teens. So you did see the Breakers etc. And Plimouth Plantation is special I think. Freedom Trail always a touch of Colonial history. So despite the heat you did take in one of the Out of the Box concerts?

Am wondering if you missed ice cream at Nubbles, also village of Old Strawberry Point in NH, and Lexington-Concord? Oh well. So what did the teens like best?

Bill now in Watertown, MA

bludaizy

Oh, completely missed the ice cream! Never would've passed that up!! Ha! We didn't sit down and stay for an Out of the Box concert but we did walk around and stop and listen for a while. Didn't know about Old Strawberry Point either. Really don't know that we could've fit much more in. I really wanted to do Lexington-Concord but we had to pick and choose. Just ran out of days. It was our back up had the weather been cooler.

My oldest (18) loved it all. She loved the history side of things. She wanted more time to see more of Rhode Island. My youngest (16) loved Maine. She and I both talked about spending more time in Maine and being able to explore further north. She also really enjoyed the mansions in RI. I think she would've enjoyed Boston and Plymouth more if it had not been so hot All four of us rated this as a great vacation.