jacsing

Hello,My husband and I are arriving in Boston on Oct 7 and proceeding to his birthplace of Lawrence/Pelham, has not seen it in 40 years.We will spend 2 or 3 days in that area, then the rest of the time, we would love to get your advice as to the best time plan to see as much of New England as possible, departure from Boston on Oct 18,late afternoon.

cigalechanta

Jacsing, I was born in Lawrence. Yikes, not much to see there. My old neighborhood was torn down, No one I know lives there anymore. If I can be of any help. I lived in Boston since a teen and now across the bridge in Cambridge. Any questions reach me at hotmail.com

gail

If your husband has not seen Lawrence in 40 years he is in for a shock. I work as a home care nurse in Lawrence and surrounding areas, and see many people who were born and raised in Lawrence. (I am not originally from New England). They speak sadly of how Lawrence used to be a nice place to live, work, raise a family - and many areas are now over-run with poverty and often-associated problems - drugs, crime, etc. It must be distressing to these people to see their city deteriorate (the latest "scandal" is that the Lawrence school superintendent has been unable to pass the state-required English fluency exam).

I know that did not answer your question, but I thought it might be useful info. As far as what to see, as mentioned in a near-by post, this is a very booked-up time of year with people wanting to see foliage, so make reservations yesterday. It would be useful to know if you prefer to, after Boston, spend a few nights in one or 2 places, or want to travel and see as much as possible - with more driving and staying in a different hotel every night.

jacsing

Gail, Thanks so much, he of course must see this for himself, then move on.
I have booked 2 nites in Salem, then we want to get into upper NH to see the foilage, driving and staying in a different hotel each nite.
Is it possible to include Canada, or not enough time?

jacsing

Thank you so much, he wants to see his old school St Mary's, and then over to Pelham. Of course he must do this, and then move on, to see as much of New England as possible.

cigalechanta

St mary's is, and has ALWAYS been a girls'school. At one time high school now 1st to 8th. when they graduate they could go on to Central Catholic high

Anonymous

This article refers to boys going to St. Mary's.

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/sto...122/LN_003.htm

Groundhog

You're going to be a bit late for the leaves. Usually the first week to 10 days is peak time for leaf peeping.

My vote would be for Maine along the coast. Kennebunkport for sure and if you decide to go to Vermont, Woodstock is a darling little town. You'll see lots of white steeple churches. I'd skip New Hampshire and go to Ct. or RI if you have time. The Cape is nice, but takes a long time and you need to know where you are going. Plymouth, well, I guess it's nice to say you've been there and seen the rock, but it's very small and the town is very commercialized. Have a great time and give us your report when you return.

dfrostnh

Pelham is still nice. Tell your husband that a huge shopping mall has been built next to Rockingham Race Track. He won't recognize Salem either since strips malls have replaced the truck farms. This is a great time of year to visit. Warner NH has a foliage festival over Columbus Day weekend. I think they have a website. You could drive up to Montreal but you would want to spend a few days there. Check the schedule for boat cruises in Portsmouth NH. We just took the inland river cruise on the Heritage and it must be fabulous in the fall. Depending on the tide the boat will go up the Piscataqua to Durham or up the Cocheco to Dover. 40 years ago Portsmouth was a place you wouldn't want to visit but now it is beautiful with great restaurants and Strawbery Banke Museum. We always enjoy the drive on Rt 1B over thru Newcastle which can eventually lead to Rye and Hampton. Then head to Portland and then east to NH's lakes and mountains. Better book a hotel now. If you have trouble with reservations, Concord might have more vacancies and would make a decent home base. Rt 93 will take you north. A little loop thru VT and return via Rt 89. Again, make a reservation in VT ASAP. The foliage should still be decent in the Concord area by Oct 18. It will last longer on the coast and could be gone by then in the mountains. You may want to concentrate on southern VT and loop down into western Mass.

gail

I think dfrostnh has the right idea - one thing about central and northern New England is that the roads are great and direct north-south, but often lacking east-west. So if you do some coastal Maine thing, for example, even if distance to inland NH mountains/lakes is not that great, it often is more difficult to get there.

Don't know what your budget is, but try to stay for your 2-3 Boston days right in the city rather than some close-by but annoying to get into city place. You will have to add on cost of parking car, but I think it is worth it. Or, if you are renting a car, pick it up after your Boston time, head to Lawrence and then up Rte 93 or coastal route, depending on what you decide.

gail

Track down posts under "New England what to see and do" floating around on this board the last few days - similar questions and some useful answers

jacsing

Gail,Thanks for the info,very helpful.
In an effort to see Vermont,Montreal, and coast of Maine. Would you go up 91 to 89 then somehow make a loop to get to coast of Maine? Or see coast of Maine drive to Montreal, and return to Boston Airport thru Vermont and NH? We have 10 days.