Girls weekend away in the Northeast
Apr 21st, 2009 | 07:50 AM
#4
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
Six high school friends celebrated our 50th birthdays in Newport RI and had a great reunion. We visited the mansions, walked the fabulous Cliff Walk, shopped in the many great boutiques, ate seafood, took a boat tour of Narraganset Bay that included a tour of Hammersmith Farm, site of Jack and Jackie Kennedy's wedding. Sunset at Castle Hill is fun for all ages. In fact, at one time during the weekend, someone asked just who we were, because they had seen us having a great time all over town. We stayed at the Marriot because it accommodated the six of us well, but there are many good options including condos and time share properties. Have a great weekend whatever you do!
Apr 21st, 2009 | 08:48 AM
#6
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,466
Likes: 0
I'll give you some ideas that have worked for us, in fact, we did a late Sept trip to VT last year to visit the Quechee area. Our destination each year is somewhat dependent on what else is going on and what we feel we can spend. We have enjoyed Montreal, splurged on New Orleans and sponged off a sister in DC. Our traditional weekend is the 3rd weekend in September but we've altered it only when absolutely necessary except for when we went to New Orleans and decided Veterans Day weekend gave us an extra day and the weather would still be good.
The Quechee VT area wasn't my favorite. We stayed at a regular motel. Lunch at Simon Pierce was wonderful. Shopping at the Vermont Country Store and Quechee shops was fun. They liked Woodstock. Beware of one person with an agenda that takes over the whole weekend. Bad part: no evening entertainment
Stowe VT another year was much better. Visited places like Cabot Cheese. Went to a local play the first night. Accomodations at Golden Eagle Resort were very roomy. Very good restaurants. Stowe had a parade and festival on Sat. We did some shopping and just explored. One pottery studio gave us a tour of their facility and explained their huge kiln.
Burlington was another nice area for shopping and restaurants but not much to do at night. We toured the Magic Hat Brewery, Teddy Bear Factory, etc.
I tend to like the city trips the best because there is more to do at night. In Portland ME we went to a terrific show. The last time we went to Boston we spent Friday afternoon on a culinary tour of Boston's North End, dim sum on Sat, show on Sat night.
Sometimes we have lucked out and discovered an event that we didn't know about such as the wild mushroom festival at a small nature museum outside of Mystic. On that trip we also went to a carousel museum and the indian museum at Foxwoods. Usually we don't go to museums but those were good and I've also enjoyed the JFK library in Boston. We do not do clothes shopping or go to spas or anything athletic. We don't see much of each other during the rest of the year so we do need a lot of talking time but beware of an evening with nothing planned. Even a movie is better than nothing although sometimes we just eat late and finish up with a quiet evening back in our room. One year we stayed in Danvers, ate at an Indian restaurant, did a haunted Salem tour (didn't enjoy), went to the Peabody Essex Museum with tickets for tour of Chinese house, went to a Cirque du Soleil show outside of Boston.
More advice: ban cell phones and GPS devices don't work very well if the driver is paying more attention to the conversation in the back seat than what the device is saying.
The Quechee VT area wasn't my favorite. We stayed at a regular motel. Lunch at Simon Pierce was wonderful. Shopping at the Vermont Country Store and Quechee shops was fun. They liked Woodstock. Beware of one person with an agenda that takes over the whole weekend. Bad part: no evening entertainment
Stowe VT another year was much better. Visited places like Cabot Cheese. Went to a local play the first night. Accomodations at Golden Eagle Resort were very roomy. Very good restaurants. Stowe had a parade and festival on Sat. We did some shopping and just explored. One pottery studio gave us a tour of their facility and explained their huge kiln.
Burlington was another nice area for shopping and restaurants but not much to do at night. We toured the Magic Hat Brewery, Teddy Bear Factory, etc.
I tend to like the city trips the best because there is more to do at night. In Portland ME we went to a terrific show. The last time we went to Boston we spent Friday afternoon on a culinary tour of Boston's North End, dim sum on Sat, show on Sat night.
Sometimes we have lucked out and discovered an event that we didn't know about such as the wild mushroom festival at a small nature museum outside of Mystic. On that trip we also went to a carousel museum and the indian museum at Foxwoods. Usually we don't go to museums but those were good and I've also enjoyed the JFK library in Boston. We do not do clothes shopping or go to spas or anything athletic. We don't see much of each other during the rest of the year so we do need a lot of talking time but beware of an evening with nothing planned. Even a movie is better than nothing although sometimes we just eat late and finish up with a quiet evening back in our room. One year we stayed in Danvers, ate at an Indian restaurant, did a haunted Salem tour (didn't enjoy), went to the Peabody Essex Museum with tickets for tour of Chinese house, went to a Cirque du Soleil show outside of Boston.
More advice: ban cell phones and GPS devices don't work very well if the driver is paying more attention to the conversation in the back seat than what the device is saying.
Apr 21st, 2009 | 06:41 PM
#7
Original Poster
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
WOW!! I am thrilled to have all this input. Thank You!! The time of year is from the first week of June on. Some are looking for the affordability. We were supposed to go to Austin, TX and stay at the home of one of our friends. However, the whole cost of the flight became an issue. It is turning into a second job....planning this, but it will be worth it. I am trying to keep positive. We have no prfeerence on what type of weekend away, just good food and drink. Keep the suggestions coming. Thanks again ;-)
