FIrst Time This Far East...Please Help Me Plan!
 

I would SO appreciate any suggestions that would help me plan about 7 days in early Aug. beginning at JFK and ending in Port Jefferson (somewhere on Long Island) meeting my daughter's fiancee's family. Are we biting too much off to try and see parts of Conn., Mass. N.H. and Vt. before circling around down to Long Island? I would rather come back a dozen times than to try and do a marathon! We love to get off the beaten path so are there any "hidden treasures" you would share? We are happy doing just about anything...we love the water, poking through antique/junk shops, local sites and museums and fine dining doesn't have to be included (we've never met a beer and burger we didn't like)! Thanks in advance!

Five states in 7 days is way too much. Assume that you have already seen NYC - and this time you're looking for other areas. (If not - I would just do NYC with possibly one day trip up the Hudson and then head to Port Jeff.)

Don;t know what you mean by hidden treasures. What are your interests? It's not clear from your list except you like water and don;tcare what you eat. Do you like history? museums? colonial towns? nature - and looking at or taking part in (hiking or boating?) Is the water you want the sound, the ocean or lakes?

You might want to start up the Hudson then head across CT and take the ferry to Port Jeff.

Oh - and if you want the ocean I would head for LI sooner and spend a couple of days (weekdays) in the Hamptons (wineries, beaches, colonial towns, museums, whale watching and fishing and all the nightlife you wan)t - before heading to Port Jeff

I agree 5 states in seven days is too much.

Do you know how long you will actually spend in Port Jefferson before heading home?

nytraveler,
Actually, haven't seen NYC but we're thinking that could be a whole trip in itself. And no, it isn't that we don't care what we eat, we would just rather drop less $$$ on food and do other things. BY "hidden treasures" I mean towns, sights, restaurants, museums, etc. that shouldn't be missed. Hey, it's hard to ask the right questions because we don't know the area:-) Sounds like the Hamptons offers a lot.

see the world,
As for Port Jefferson, we need to be there by Aug 12 and were thinking of staying just a couple of nights (really just for the dinner with the future in-laws).If we show too soon they'll feel they have to entertain us so we're vacationing on the front end. So what are your thoughts on how to spend our week?

nytraveler makes a great suggestion.

I would head up the Hudson River Valley (I recommend Storm King Art Center www.stka.org - a fabulous, huge sculpture park and FDR's summer home in Hyde Park) and then take either the Mass Pike or I-84 through Western Mass or to Hartford, respectively.

Both the Mass Pike and I-84 put you on I-91 where depending on time you can go north to Brattleboro VT or south to the Connecticut shoreline and I-95.

Mystic Seaport (off I-95) is a fabulous living museum about Colonial times and the whaling era. And, Guilford and Madison CT are both off the beaten path, totally quaint New England towns, if you have time.

To head back to New York, you can go up to Point Judith in Rhode Island or you can go to New London CT and catch a ferry across LI Sound.

Get a good map and you will see the route I am talking about. Sorry to be so confusing!

nytraveler has a good suggestion. The Hudson River has a number of towns of interest, both historically and for cute, antiquing stuff. (The only place that's coming to mind at this late hour is Hyde Park, but there's more!) Then swing down into Connecticut and hit any number of places along the coast. You can then take the ferry from Bridgeport to Port Jefferson. (Bridgeport is an old industrial city that sadly hasn't been much revitalized, but the ferry ride across saves you from driving in NYC in both directions.)

Also, if you like historical sites, I recently discovered the Teddy Roosevelt house at Sagamore Hill on Long Island. Really interesting, and a beautiful tranquil spot... According to the website it's about 28 miles from JFK.(www.nps.gov/sahi/home.htm)

I hope this helps!

Make that http://www.stormking.org/

And I meant the ferries leave from Point Judith and New London. Didn't mean to imply you go to NY through RI!!!

I'd skip CT. That's just me -- Mystic was not my thing.

Why not visit Boston for 2/3 evenings and then head to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A great fishing village - I highly recommend staying at the Wentworth (may already be booked for the summer). Then head back (but I am directionally challenged, so pay attention to the directions of others, lol).

Me again!

Another point of clarification - to take a ferry from Point Judith to Montauk, LI you must go through Block Island (which is fabulous if you have time) or as someone said you can go direct to Port Jeff from Bridgeport.

Here's a link:
http://www.longisland.com/ferries.php

Not to bring a sour note to this but keep in mind that most hotels, motels, etc are booked by now for August on Long Island as well as up the Hudson.
I seem to remember Port Jefferson being charming with some nice seafood restaurant right on the water.
Considering summer traffic, I don't know if a trip from Long Island to the Hyde Pk/Rhinebeck area.
But then (nytraveler, am I right?)-you can take the Mass Pike and go to the Berkshires and Tanglewood, Lenox and Stockbridge maybe.
I am a mess when it comes to travel time/distance.

STW - just curious, what makes Mystic a "pass-it-by" fishing village but the fishing village of Portmouth NH (which is much further and more industrial) worth the drive?

I agree Boston is nice but I was suggesting more of a leisurely, "closer-in drive since they already "passed" on NYC.

Great suggestions, amaclise. Storm King is a great modern art sculpture park, fun to walk around.

If you like the water and cute little coastal towns, the CT coast has a lot to offer. Mystic is a good suggestion - there's a yummy little clam shack on the east bank of the river, and the maritime stuff is interesting, too.

I personally would suggest leaving out Boston for another trip, for the same reasons you want to come back to visit NYC. (If you do feel up to it, it's about a four-hour drive from NYC to Boston via the shorter inland route on I-84. You could hit the CT coastal towns on your way back to Long Island.)

If you opt to take the ferry from Point Judith, you could skip over to Block Island beforehand. It's a classic NE coastal community, with lots of summer activities for its many visitors. The ferry also leaves from Point Judith, and could easily be a day or partial-day trip. The ferry from Point Judith to Long Island will put you at the eastern end, so you could probably check out Montauk and the Hamptons as you head back west...

amaclise, I seem to be writing just as you're writing! I guess we're on the same page. ;)

ggreen we seem to agree on a lot!

Gaillynn - dont' plan your trip around where there's no traffic. The route nyt, ggreen and I suggested (if you choose to consider it) is traveled by visitors and locals alike all the time, and everyone gets where they're going.

Checking around for places to stay is a good idea but you need a nice itinerary before you can do that!

Scarlett's right about traffic, and booked hotels... The Berkshires (Tanglewood, etc.) are lovely, too, but get just as booked up as everywhere else.

As far as traffic goes, hopefully you won't be on the same schedule as everyone else! By all means, AVOID car travel on July 31/August 1, when people begin and end their vacation rentals. Weekends in the summer are especially bad, too (Fri eve eastbound and Sun eve westbound). I-95 along the CT coast and the LIE through Long Island become parking lots... But with 7 days ending on a Saturday in Long Island, you should be okay! Are you departing JFK on that Sunday?

amaclise, you're right - it would be terrible to plan a vacation around traffic patterns!

Gaillynn, at your leisurely pace and given your dates, you shouldn't have any real problem with traffic. The one concern I would have is if you fly out of JFK on Sunday evening, since you'll have to be in the westbound traffic with everyone else. The family you are visiting will have a good idea of how much time you need to leave, so I wouldn't worry too much about it!

We booked our hotels / houses in Jan/Feb for August.
So that is what pops into my mind right away. :)

Gaillynn,
There is so much to do in this part of the country that it is indeed hard to choose.

You have been given lots of good suggestions. I would offer that staying in a smaller geographical area may be just as interesting and a lot more relaxing that trying to get to lots of different states.

Conn. has so much to offer that you could easily spend your time there before heading off to Port Jeff. I would take the ferry from Bridgeport to Port Jeff and not try to drive there. There is a terrific restaurant just as you get off the ferry [I can't remember the name]. It is nothing fancy, outdoor dining and I had THE best lobster ever there! And no one has mentioned how quaint a town Port Jeff is...you might want to plan a day there.

I happened across this article and thought you might find it informative. You can skip the actual story line about the Spa and read it for a feel of the area. http://tinyurl.com/oj86o

And there is more info here that might prove useful. http://tinyurl.com/rvg6y

The Hudson Valley [ NY] also has lots of spectacular sites too, and it is a fairly simple matter of getting to Bridgeport to catch the ferry.

I lived in this area for most of my life before moving to the southwest, you will love it!

Hope this helps....
Debi

amaclise, Portsmouth becase of its proximity to the ocean. And I like the ocean. The OP could certainly squeeze in CT and Mystic. My kids liked it, it just wasn't my favorite. But then, what do I know? :)

Thanks, all! I appreciate everyone taking their time to respond. Please continue on with suggestions as you think of them and if you ever need ideas for Colorado please post them...I was born and raised in this most wonderful state!

Gaillynn,
What a small world...I live in SW Colorado and here I am giving you suggestions for North East =;

Well - since you haven;t done NYC that's what I would do - and then just trek out for the wedding.

But if you want other things you can head up the Hudson (Bear Mountain State Park, US Miliray Academy at West Point, FRD's home at Hyde Park and several Dutch Patroon poerties at Tarrytown as well as the Rockefeller properties).

The head across into CT - which has a lot of small cute towns and museums and head to Mystic (which I loved).

Then take the ferry across the sound and spend a couple of days on Long Island (Teddy Roosevelt's house in Oyster Bay, Old Bethpage Restorations which has colonial and federal buildings with all sorts of activities demonstrated, great beaches - including Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Parks) as well as alittle Hamptons is you have time. You'll have a LOT of trouble finding a place to stay in the Hamptons but if you stay neat Port Jeff it's reall not far to either the North Fork (mostly wiwneries) or the South Fork - old whaling villages, Montauk lighhouse and some incredibly beautiful towns and estates to look at - the latter from afar (many make houses in Hollywood and Maibu look like shanties beside the RR tracks - since they were built by old money, not the trendy trailer trash of the moment.)

If I were going up the Hudson Valley for the first time, in addition to the sites that have already been mentioned, I would include Sunny Side, the home of Washington Irving and also a tour of West Point Military Academy.

I just came across this article about the Catskills - A road trip thing -- and it looked like a fun trip...

http://tinyurl.com/oehqw

Hope this helps...
Debi