New England In July - HELP
 

We have probably done less planning for this vacation than ever! Leaving July 11th for 12 nights. Flying into Providence and have that night the next day and night with our teenage daughter before dropping her off at an engineering leadership camp in Needham @ Olin College. Then we are on our own until we pick her up on the 22nd. Oh - last two days before picking her up spent with relatives in Boston so pretty much saving that for last.

We are SO confused - where to go what to do where to stay. We did Robert Morris Inn last year that was our first B&B experience but it was not a true B&B in the room we had. So we are thinking a combination of B&B type places and maybe some regular old motels. Moderately priced with maybe one real splurge that has to be really worth it.

I am a real foodie so I love visiting wineries, artisinal cheese makers and food places. We love markets, antiques, bakeries, and gardens.

Any and all ideas are very much appreciated at this point as we are majorly running out of time.

Start with Newport, drop the dear girl off in Needham and then? What are your interests? Have you explored any of New England? Ocean, mountains, history, environment? Help us out helping you out!

There are wineries in Newport.

Perhaps a coastal trip to explore the antiques in Essex, MA, staying in Gloucestor or Rockport. Wonderful towns

Head north to Maine, Ogunquit, York, Kennebunkport. Loads of good food fun and sea.

If you consider a stop in historical Concord and Lexington MA with a trip to Walden Pond, there is a great cheese shop in Concord that offers olive oil tastings.

I like the coastal tour idea: see Cape Anne, then up to Portsmouth and Portland -- great food, quaint cobblestone town centers, nice to stroll around in. Then either more of Maine or head for the White Mountains and Lake Winnepesaki.

On the other hand, markets, antiques, bakeries and gardens sounds like Cape Cod (I'm thinking Provincetown or Wellfleet) or the Islands (Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket) ...

There is a website for the Vermont Cheese Trail, with maps and everything, by which you can tour the several cheese -making farms in the state.

I haven't checked for garden tours in other states but July is a popular month for visiting other people's gardens. The tours are usually sponsored by a garden club or a fund raiser for a local charity. Usually these are held on weekends. I noticed that in York ME there is one garden open each Sunday. A friend has recommended Tower Hill Botanical Gardens (forget town, but off Rt 495) and Garden in the Woods in Framingham is very unique. It is now run by the New England Wildflower society.
While in Boston be sure to visit Boston's Italian North End bakeries. We very much enjoyed a culinary tour of the North End with Michele Topor. Yummy tastings. You will need a reservation. A lot of historical information as well. You might also do some research on chowhound.com. There's some great threads about where to find the best lobster rolls and a list of homemade ice cream places. I've been to Cabot cheese but have yet to visit some of the VT artisianal cheesemakers.
Portsmouth NH would be a good base for a few days. Visit the coast, Strawbery Banke gardens, Prescott Park gardens, Fuller Rose gardens. Great restaurants. It would be close enough to visit York for a Sunday garden tour. Also has an excellent farmers market (Saturdays, I think). Then, maybe a few days in VT. I think there's a second winery in NH in the seacoast area but I am only familiar with Flag Hill Winery and Distillery in Lee, NH. It's a former dairy farm now producing their own wines AND vodka!!! Not sure if they can sell their vodka on the premises yet but it's available in NH state liquor stores.
There is plenty to do in New England, esp in July!

Vermont Cheese Trail! Who knew!!!

Speaking of Vermont, we once went to Stowe for the 4th of July to avoid the ocean crowds and had a fantastic time!

To answer the questions - this is our first trip to the region so we haven't been to or seen anything there. Not much on camping or hiking - hubby has bad knee. Not one to just lie around on beaches which is why we avoid FL - do like cool ocean breezes and walking along beaches if it's not burning hot. I love being on/around the water.

Anything really cool (to a teenager) to do between/around the Providence/Boston/Needham area the one day we have with our daughter?

There's an enormous outlet mall in Wrentham, MA.

Providence itself has a nice downtown area. At night, they have this fire-on-the water thing, where you stroll along the waterfront and see these fires (which look like they are burning on the water), and listen to music. Its hard to explain, but its cool.

I lived in Boston for a while and one of our favorite directions to go was north when venturing outside the city. I LOVED Marblehead...a couple of relaxing days there might be nice. Then, maybe head up the coast to Kennebunkport or Freeport, Maine.

If you're interested in Vermont, we visited Stowe a couple of times and can vouch that it's a wonderful place to spend some time. Maybe even The Birkshires.