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Mid Part of New England Trip Help Part 2
Hello Again
We have the first part of the trip sorted Cape Cod to Newport (tick) We also have the last part sorted Portland area back to Boston The questions - we have 5 nights to spend in the middle so need help planning which areas to stay and in which order We will leave Newport visit Mystic en-route to manchester VT visiting Lenox along the way (definitely stay Manchester 1 night) should we stay 2 nights here? After that we want to visit Woodstock VT, drive the Kanc Highway with stops there and stay at Lake Winnipesaukee /Squam before heading off to Portland. So how best to manage that area - lakes first then highway or vice versa? How much time do we need to devote to the Kanc? so we have 5 nights to distribute between Manchester and Portland. Anywhere in this vicinity we should add in or see? Thank you :-) |
Manchester and Woodstock are both beautiful towns. In Manchester you can go to Hildene, Robert Todd Lincoln’s home ( Abe’s son). Ethan Allen formed the Green Mountain Boys during the American Revolution in what is now the bar/ lounge area of The Equinox Hotel. Go to the top of Mt. Equinox for beautiful views. Stay two nights in this area. Woodstock was restored by Laurence Rockefeller whose wife was a Billings, a notable local family. When you cross over to NH, go north a few miles to Hanover and see Dartmouth College and it’s pretty campus.
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Purely my personal opinion, but I would not go out of my way to visit Lake Winnipesaukee, unless I was going for a family get together to boat, relax, etc. Cute town with ice-cream and candy shops, theater, etc. great for Summer crowds with kids. Not that exciting, IMHO. Ultimately, it is a basic lake, big yes, but still just water, trees and nice homes along the shore.
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Originally Posted by HappyTrvlr
(Post 17331394)
Manchester and Woodstock are both beautiful towns. In Manchester you can go to Hildene, Robert Todd Lincoln’s home ( Abe’s son). Ethan Allen formed the Green Mountain Boys during the American Revolution in what is now the bar/ lounge area of The Equinox Hotel. Go to the top of Mt. Equinox for beautiful views. Stay two nights in this area. Woodstock was restored by Laurence Rockefeller whose wife was a Billings, a notable local family. When you cross over to NH, go north a few miles to Hanover and see Dartmouth College and it’s pretty campus.
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Originally Posted by Sassafrass
(Post 17331424)
Purely my personal opinion, but I would not go out of my way to visit Lake Winnipesaukee, unless I was going for a family get together to boat, relax, etc. Cute town with ice-cream and candy shops, theater, etc. great for Summer crowds with kids. Not that exciting, IMHO. Ultimately, it is a basic lake, big yes, but still just water, trees and nice homes along the shore.
It is hard knowing how to distribute these days in the middle to see the best bits but not drive way out of our way |
Woodstock is not my favorite VT town but I have missed visiting Billings Farm Museum . Nearby Quechee has Simon Pierce glass blowers and restaurant and just a bit further north is Norwich which has a wonderful farmers market on saturdays and is also home to King Arthur Baking if you need some specialty kitchen things, lunch, bread, etc. they also have baking classes which are booked far in advance. The Norwich Inn is nice and there's another restaurant across the street which makes it very nice after a long day not to get in the car again. Dan and Whit's country store is an institution and worth a visit.they probably have some you have to buy. Across the river in NH is St. Gauden's.
if there's no foliage traffic the Kanc is less than a half day. Before you head further east you might stop at the Flume for an interesting tourist hike or just to look thru the visitors center. The visitors center has a Concord Coach on display and surely you need to learn more about these. Built by the Abbot-Downing Company. An alternative to the Kanc hwy is to take a more southern route thru Moultonboro and then to Center Sandwich and over thru Tamworth. The Tamworth Distillery has tastings plus the building etc is beautiful. You'll connect with Rt 16 and can resume heading east to Portland. For off the beaten path you might try finding the Sandwich Creamery and buying some ice cream. Last time we were there it was self service/honor system. Tamworth area is where sled dogs were trained for polar expeditions. If you are looking for upscale arts and crafts there's a League shop in Meredith. If you are interested in hiking but don,t have the time you might read some books about the dangers of hiking in the White Mountains. Ty Gagne's Where You'll Find Me is tragic but also written from mountain rescue perspective. how could I forget that Squam was where On Golden Pond was filmed but you probably knew that. |
Originally Posted by dfrostnh
(Post 17331511)
Woodstock is not my favorite VT town but I have missed visiting Billings Farm Museum . Nearby Quechee has Simon Pierce glass blowers and restaurant and just a bit further north is Norwich which has a wonderful farmers market on saturdays and is also home to King Arthur Baking if you need some specialty kitchen things, lunch, bread, etc. they also have baking classes which are booked far in advance. The Norwich Inn is nice and there's another restaurant across the street which makes it very nice after a long day not to get in the car again. Dan and Whit's country store is an institution and worth a visit.they probably have some you have to buy. Across the river in NH is St. Gauden's.
if there's no foliage traffic the Kanc is less than a half day. Before you head further east you might stop at the Flume for an interesting tourist hike or just to look thru the visitors center. The visitors center has a Concord Coach on display and surely you need to learn more about these. Built by the Abbot-Downing Company. An alternative to the Kanc hwy is to take a more southern route thru Moultonboro and then to Center Sandwich and over thru Tamworth. The Tamworth Distillery has tastings plus the building etc is beautiful. You'll connect with Rt 16 and can resume heading east to Portland. For off the beaten path you might try finding the Sandwich Creamery and buying some ice cream. Last time we were there it was self service/honor system. Tamworth area is where sled dogs were trained for polar expeditions. If you are looking for upscale arts and crafts there's a League shop in Meredith. If you are interested in hiking but don,t have the time you might read some books about the dangers of hiking in the White Mountains. Ty Gagne's Where You'll Find Me is tragic but also written from mountain rescue perspective. how could I forget that Squam was where On Golden Pond was filmed but you probably knew that. The Flume looks great :-) Its hard finding accommodation in Burlington and Stowe seems super pricey but we need a stop around that area before heading to the Kanc highway. We wont be hiking anywhere too far just a short trip out to see various views or falls that dot take us up mountains i think - happy to photograph from the bottom lol - we might drive up to Mt. Equinox though Yes Squm & golden pond I knew but only from reading about it lol |
Take VT 30 from Brattleboro to Manchester for a nice drive through small VT towns
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