Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   United States (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/)
-   -   New England Trip Report (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/new-england-trip-report-1076774/)

lkeade Oct 27th, 2015 06:41 AM

New England Trip Report
 
I have always wanted to see the six New England states and we decided to do it all in one whirlwind trip. This way we would get a feel of which states we would want to spend more time in. We did not plan this as a fall foliage trip, in fact we thought we would miss the colors with how late we were going in October, we were just working around my work schedule.

Dates of trip - October 16-Oct 24

Thursday/Friday

We departed LAX at 11:59 p.m. with a layover in Houston. We landed in Boston around noon and it took no time for our luggage to arrive and we were soon out the door. We had debated between taking the T, Uber, or a cab, but we saw the signs in the airport for the Logan Express bus. For $5 per person the bus took us to Back Bay and we had a short walk to our hotel. After getting used to riding the T we realized that would have worked for us, but we were tired and did not need the additional stress.

We dropped off our bags at The Chandler Inn, showered, and hit the ground running. We did not allow ourselves to nap as we wanted to get on east coast time. We walked from Back Bay down to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market to get a feel for the area. It was a long walk as tired as we were, but we got a feel for the city. We spent the next few hours wandering around looking at the pier and the shops before deciding to just grab some dinner at head back to the hotel.

Based on recommendations we had our first meal in Boston at the Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the country. I started with the clam chowder which set the standard for the remainder of the trip. My husband started with a Woodford Manhattan, which became the benchmark cocktail to beat. We both ordered broiled fish dishes and we both felt we ordered the better dish. The day was rapidly catching up with us so we finished our dinners and made our way to the T station. The T is great and we used it multiple times a day to get where we needed to go. Once back in the room we basically passed out from a very long day.

lkeade Oct 27th, 2015 06:51 AM

Saturday

We were up early so we were quickly out of the room and had breakfast in the Trophy Room, the restaurant attached to the hotel. It was very good to the point that my husband had bacon envy for how crispy it was prepared.

We headed to the T station and then made our way to Stonybrook. We were a bit surprised when they made us get off the train and on to buses as the tracks were closed, but we played along and the bus stopped at all the stations and three stops later we were in Stonybrook. We followed the signs and had a short walk to our first destination, the Sam Adams Brewery. We had tickets to the Morning Mash, the first tour of the day and the only one where you could get advanced tickets. It was a short but fun tour and ended with three tastings. We took some time to explore the gift shop before heading back to the train station where we caught our bus which took us to the train which took us to the center of Boston.

The next thing on the agenda was the Freedom Trail so we made our way to the Boston Commons to follow the red brick road that marked the trail. We spent the better part of the day following the trail and seeing the historic sites including Paul Revere’s house, the Old North Church, and Faneuil Hall. We deviated from the trial to have lunch in the North End . We had wonderful Italian food at Pagliuca's followed by cannoli’s from Modern Bakery. Everyone told us to go to Mike's but the crowds were insane and one of the Italian shop keepers had told us about Modern as an alternative. At Modern Bakery they fill the cannoli's to order and you can customize them anyway you like.

After stuffing our faces we got back on the trail. We headed to the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument. Once we were done we took a ferry back to the main wharf and then took the T to Back Bay. We rested in the room a while and then walked to Newbury Street to find dinner. We were unprepared for the crowds and had not made any dinner reservations so we were out of luck. We headed back to the hotel to find something in the area and ended up having dinner at Masa, and it was terrific. I had the duck breast which was excellent and a bargain at $21 for a great portion. After dinner we just headed back to the room and had an early night.

Miles walked today: 8.7

lkeade Oct 27th, 2015 07:02 AM

Sunday

We were once again out of the room nice and early and took the T to the wharf, grabbed some coffee and rolls at Starbucks, and then walked down to the dock for our Duck Tour. It was very cold today for Californians-37 degrees.
We were early so we took some photos and spoke to other people there for the tour. The Duck Tour took off at 9:00 and we really enjoyed this even though we saw most of the same sites we saw walking the Freedom Trail. The drivers stories put things into perspective. Once in the water, my husband got a turn to drive the Duck so this made him happy. We enjoyed getting to quack to all bad jokes.

After the tour we headed into the New England Aquarium. We both enjoyed this, but I think the highlight was getting to see the sea turtles. After we got home and we were looking through our brochures we realized we somehow missed the jellyfish room and the octopus. We'll have to see them next time.

After the Aquarium we headed to the Quincy Market to find some lunch. We ended up eating at Dick’s Last Resort and it was better than we expected for a touristy place. My ribs/wings combo was delicious. After lunch we checked out the kiosks at the market place and bought some Boston Chipyard cookies (yum!) and I got some lobster socks.

Next stop was Fenway Park. We took the green line and then I made a bad choice of directions so we had to walk around the entire park to find the ticket booth for the tour. We hung out at the Red Sox store waiting for the tour to start. It was a good tour and we got the history of the stadium. The highlight was getting to check out the seats on top of the Green Monster and getting to go down on the warning track at field level. If you are a Red Sox fan you will get even more our of the tour, but I recommend it for any baseball fan.

After the tour it was back to the T and back to our hotel. We stopped in The Trophy Room and each had a Kahlua and coffee to warm up and we made dinner reservations for later. We went up to the room to rest and do some packing and then headed down to dinner. The meal started off badly when there was no table for us in the dining area and they had to seat us in the very loud bar. I ordered the cauliflower 'wings' appetizer for us to share and then ordered Chicken and Sausage gumbo and a burger. I loved the gumbo but the hamburger they brought me was still mooing so I had to send it back. After dinner we went up to the room and finished our packing and reviewed our maps as we were leaving Boston in the morning.

Miles walked - 6.4

elberko Oct 27th, 2015 07:41 AM

Looks like you did a good job of seeing Boston! Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

cw Oct 27th, 2015 10:26 AM

Enjoying your report. You really got around well on the T and managed to see a lot.

Boston restaurants seem to be busy every night of the week, but you were here on one of the biggest travel weekends of the year--the Head of the Charles regatta. You did better though at Masa. Generally the restaurants in the South End are better and more interesting than those in Back Bay.

Ackislander Oct 28th, 2015 12:58 AM

You don't waste any time, do you?

I admire someone who can take a Red Eye in the direction where time is going against them and get right out on the streets!

Looking forward to more.

lkeade Oct 28th, 2015 07:00 AM

Monday
We started the day with breakfast at The Trophy Room and then walked to the Hertz office to pick up our rental car. I usually drive on vacations but I made my husband drive the first leg as there was no way I was driving in Boston morning traffic with all the one way streets. We went back to the hotel to get our luggage and we were soon on our way to Rhode Island.

We really wanted to get to Connecticut, but per my husband’s rules you have to be out of the car to count being in a state so we needed someplace to stop in Rhode Island. We got off in Providence and stopped at a Dunkin Donuts. These are new on the west coast and we had not yet been to one, so we were caught completely off guard when we ordered coffee and got this concoction with three sugar and three cream. When you are expecting black coffee, this is jarring. When I took it back to tell them I asked for coffee I was informed you have to specify black coffee or this is what you get. I did ask how a first time customer would know this and just got a blank stare.

Next stop was Groton, Connecticut. We visited the U.S.S. Nautilus – the first nuclear powered submarine. There is a small submarine museum and you get to visit and tour the submarine. Both the museum and sub are free. It is a very interesting experience, but not for the claustrophobic and a little difficult to climb through the bulkheads if you are short.

We got back on the road and headed to Hartford. My company has offices there and I wanted to meet my coworkers. We stopped for a brief visit, grabbed lunch at a deli, and did a brief tour of Hartford before getting on the road and heading to our hotel in Farmington. We stayed at the Farmington Inn and it was very cute and very clean. It was definitely a good deal for the money. We took a walk to take in the beautiful colors of the foliage around the hotel and then headed to Truffles Bakery and we bought some wonderful goodies which we saved for the next day. From there we walked back to the hotel and had dinner at Naples Pizza just across the street. This place was recommended by my CT coworkers and it did not disappoint. My husband got a pizza and I got the grilled sandwich. The sandwich was huge and delicious and my husband gave up on his pizza after tasting the sandwich and it was definitely enough for two people to share.

After dinner it was back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep. We had a big day planned for Tuesday.

Total walking – 4.7 miles

Tuesday

We had an early day as we were warned that we were going to hit bad traffic on the way into Hartford and we could not be late for our appointment. I had booked my husband for a falconry lesson at the Green Mountain Falconry Center. He has always been interested in birds of prey so I thought he would enjoy this. Per Google maps it was going to take us just under three hours to get there from Farmington, but we were advised to add an hour for morning traffic. After a continental breakfast in the hotel we were on the road.

We knew that if there was rain the lesson would be cancelled and there was rain forecast for the day. I sent an email to Rob, the owner, and asked for a status update. We wanted to know what was going on by the time we got to Brattleboro, VT as that would determine if we would turn off toward highway 9 or continue up to the Quechee Gorge on highway 91. We stopped for coffee in Brattleboro and there was a message from Rob saying that while rain was forecast it was currently sunny there. He left it up to us if we wanted to chance it or cancel. We decided to go for it and got on the road.

The drive on both highway 9 and highway 7 was beautiful and we saw some of the greatest colors of the trip. We did get rained on during the drive and we were nervous about the lesson but hopeful that we could at least see the birds if he could not do the class.

We made it the Green Mountain Falconry Center about 45 minutes early as we did not have any traffic out of Hartford. We met Rob and walked around and checked out the place while he finished setting up for the day as we were the first scheduled lesson. I had signed my husband up for the basic 45 minute lesson of learning about the birds and how to hold and handle them. They have an eagle, a falcon, and hawks at the center but hawks are used for the lessons. From the first moment that the first bird was set on my husband’s arm, he had a grin on his face that lasted for hours afterwards. I had also signed him up for the second lesson – the walk. You must do the basics class before you can sign up for the walk. Both my husband and the trainer each had a bird and they walked through the woods. The birds followed along and hunted while keeping an eye on the guys. Four or five times during the walk they would call the birds back and they seemed to instantly appear. Part of the deal is each participant can have one person walk along and take pictures and while I did not handle the birds I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This was definitely the highlight of my husband’s vacation.

After lunch we headed into Manchester Center and had lunch at Season’s Restaurant before getting on the road and heading to Jericho, Vt. We made the mistake of following the Google Maps direction rather than following our instincts and we ended up in the middle of nowhere without internet access to get us back on tract. Still, we had a beautiful drive through the Vermont countryside before ending up in Burlington. We did manage to get back on track and found our way to the Sinclair Inn Bed and Breakfast in Jericho, Vermont.

From the moment we drove up the Inn, I was happy. The building is beautiful. We were greeted at the door by one of the owners and given a tour of the Inn. Everything inside is absolutely charming. We were shown the living rooms, dining area for breakfast, our room, and an area upstairs where there was coffee, tea, cocoa, water, juices, and soda available 24 hours a day. They paid a lot of attention to details to make sure guests were comfortable. They had wine glasses and openers, a box in the bathroom filled with all types of supplies you may have forgotten to bring, wonderfully soft beddings, free Wi-Fi, etc. We had brought some wine with us from home (I love wine diapers for travel!) so we opened a bottle of Cab, poured a few glasses, and went down to the living room where there is a notebook with menus of the local areas. We decided we were too tired to drive far so we settled on going to the Jericho Tavern which was right down the street. We had a decent dinner, made even better by a wonderful waitress.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel, and went up to our room. Our bed had been turned down and chocolates had been left on the pillows and the shades had been lowered. We grabbed our glasses and wine, and headed down to the living room to catch our Tuesday night show. They did have TV’s in the rooms but the chairs in the living room were so comfortable that we could not pass it up. In the dining area they had set out freshly baked molasses cookies and chocolate dipped coconut macaroons. By 9:00 we were ready for bed so we dragged ourselves up the stairs and went to sleep.

Total walking – 2.5 miles

dfrostnh Oct 28th, 2015 10:25 AM

Enjoying reading about your trip! Looking forward to more.

SambaChula Oct 29th, 2015 02:50 AM

Very enjoyable report.
The falconry sounds fascinating. I always liked seeing that at the Rennaisance Fair near San Francisco.

Yes, at Dunks (and locally) that is called a "regular" coffee. I suspect most "first time customers" at DD here get their first taste in mother's milk. :-)
Btw, my S.F. friends thought civilization had finally arrived here when Peet's did.

lkeade Oct 29th, 2015 06:02 AM

I'm so happy we were able to get to the Falconry School. I believe they are now closed for the season, so I think we just made it. It's an experience I would recommend to anyone!

Samba, we did not think of it as "Mother's Milk". We both hated it. It became a running joke the rest of the vacation. Not only did we have to point out DD's since they are everywhere, but if one of us wanted coffee the other would point out DD and it would be followed by a statement that we didn't want coffee that badly. I know that offends everyone who is used to it, but it did not work for us. To be honest, we also don't understand the love of Pike's at Starbucks.

lkeade Oct 29th, 2015 06:15 AM

Wednesday

We were up and dressed early, as usual, which was a problem as breakfast was not served until 8:30 and we were more than ready. We had coffee and went outside to take pictures while we waited. We had a great breakfast with two couples from New York. Breakfast started with coffee and juice and fresh strawberries and bananas with fresh made whipped cream, sliced almonds, and a drizzle of honey. The main course was French toast with blackberries.

After breakfast we headed to Waterbury Center to the Ben and Jerry’s factory tour. Our timing was a bit off as we got there right behind a large group of high school students who were sent to individually buy their tickets for the tour. That was a nightmare. The kids themselves were very well behaved, I wish I could say the same thing about the chaperones. The Ben and Jerry’s tour itself is short but interesting. They gave out generous samples but the flavor of the day was Cotton Candy and it was way too sweet for me (and not chocolate based).

Our next stop was Cabot’s Annex which is mostly known for their Vermont Cheddar cheese. You can sample all of the cheeses and my favorite was the cheddar horseradish. We did not buy any cheese but I bought a few organic dog biscuits, some mead, and a local beer for my husband. We then stopped in at Lake Champlain Chocolates and bought a bar of dark chocolate for my dad and maple caramel chocolate for us to share. We ate the maple caramel bar a few days later and we are still thinking about it. I’ll have to go online and get some for the holidays. Our plan was to head to the Cold Hollow Cider mills, but we knew this was where the high school group was headed so we decided to skip it. We had just been to Oak Glen is So Cal before our trip and it is very similar.

Once we had enough of Waterbury, we drove to Burlington Vermont as we heard so much about how great Church Street was. Just as we were leaving the parking lot my toe caught the uneven pavement and I went down hard. I knocked the wind out of myself and felt like I could not breathe. I was fairly convinced that I had broken some ribs, the pain on my side was so intense. I was finally able to get up and move and we walked to Church Street and just found a bench to sit on for quite a while.

Once I was convinced that I was going to make it and not need Urgent Care we made our way to the shops but there was not a lot there that interested us. We stopped for coffee at Uncommon Grounds and stopped for ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s. They had a flavor called Chocolate Therapy and I figured it was meant to be as I needed therapy after my fall. It was delicious.

Our next stop was at the Vermont Distillers tasting room where we were pleasantly surprised by both the Maple Liqueur and the Maple Cream Liqueur. We promised to be back and headed down to the harbor to check out Lake Champlain. It was on this walk when we found a group of bright red trees and I could not believe that something this gorgeous was right in front of me. The colors were unreal and the best foliage of the trip.

After a quick look at the lake we headed back into town for a cocktail but did not find anything that looked promising. The wine bar was closed for a private party, the next place only had high tables with stools that I did not feel I could sit in right now, etc. We returned to the distillery and bought our bottles and headed to South Burlington to check out the Magic Hat Brewery. We enjoyed our time here and did some complimentary beer tasting and I actually found something I liked. I’m not a beer drinker but the beers were light enough that I could handle them. I particularly liked a beer called #9. My husband mainly drinks Guinness so most of the beers were too light for his taste.

We went looking for dinner but the first few places we tried did not open to 5:00 and we did not want to just hang around and wait. I did not want to go back to Burlington. We decided to just drive back toward Jericho and stop at something along the way. Of course, everything was either on the wrong side of the street or we noticed it too late to make the turn and we were back at our B&B and now very hungry and grumpy. We ended up just going back to the Jericho Tavern but this meal was less successful. The waitress was not pleasant or helpful and we did not enjoy what we ordered. It was a completely different experience from the night before.

By now, the fall was catching up to me and I was exhausted and in a lot of pain so we just went back to the B&B. I took a hot shower and checked out my bumps and bruises while my husband got me some coffee, and we ended up staying in the room the rest of the night.

Total Walking – 4.5 miles

Inakauaidavidababy Oct 29th, 2015 07:48 AM

What a wonderful adventure. Hope your ribs and bumps and bruises healed quickly. I always travel with a bottle of meds including excedrin for headaches, ibuprofin for aches and a couple of pain pills for those "I'm in severe pain, but not worthy of Urgent Care as this too shall pass.

You've inspired me to order some maple caramel dark chocolate leaves and some apple cider caramels for the choclateer.

Thank you for sharing with such great detail.

lkeade Oct 29th, 2015 08:52 AM

Thanks,Inakauaidavidababy

I'm almost back to normal. Still can't sleep on my left side and a few bruises remain, but it only slowed me down for that one day. To quote Monty Python - "It's just a flesh wound".

lkeade Oct 30th, 2015 07:33 AM

Thursday

We went down to breakfast and one of the hosts, Tom, gave us the chocolates he could not leave on our pillow the night before as we did not have turn down service. We had another wonderful breakfast. This time breakfast started with coffee, orange juice, and pumpkin bread. The next course was poached pears with rhubarb, strawberries, and cranberries. The main course was eggs benedict with roasted red potatoes.

All too soon we had to check out and get on the road. We headed to New Hampshire and stopped at the Anhueser Busch Brewery, not for the beer, but to see the Clydesdale Stables. We hung out there long enough to look at the horses, play with the Dalmatian, ‘Bud’, and stretch our legs. The horses are beautiful and the barns contain some of the wagons including the actually wagon that delivered beer to the White House when Prohibition ended. After having our fill we then we got in the car to find my companies Nashua branch. We stopped in and visited with my coworkers, got directions, and then headed to Maine.

We made it to Ogunquit, Maine and checked into The Grand Hotel. The location was great and the room was huge. It’s not the cutest hotel in town, but you get a lot for your money as every room is a suite. We had a living room with couch and loveseat, tv, table and chairs, microwave, sink and refrigerator. The bedroom had a king size bed which was the most comfortable bed of the trip. We had a patio with two Adirondack chairs. The hotel has coffee 24 hours a day and a continental breakfast that we did not take advantage. There is an indoor pool and outdoor Jacuzzi. There is a DVD lending library at the front desk.

We were really hungry by now and got some food recommendations but after walking to Perkins Cove we found most places closed for the season or on very limited hours. We found MC Perkins Cove was open, but it was only the bar that was serving so we went in to have a cocktail and look at the menu. We spoke to the bartender until the dining room opened and my husband was able to taste some of the bourbons he had been interested in. Once the dining room was open, the bartender escorted us to the best table in the place. We had a really great dinner with a beautiful view of the ocean. We shared the crab cake appetizer and it was delicious. My husband ordered the cedar plank cooked cod with mashed potatoes. I ordered lobster mac and cheese even knowing that it would probably give me an upset stomach. We shared the side order of sautéed spinach. I paid dearly for eating the mac and cheese but it was wonderful with big chunks of lobster.

All through dinner we watched the rain, and due to the unseasonably warm weather (only day of the trip), we had not brought jackets. Just as we finished, the rain stopped and we had a really nice walk through the village and back to our hotel. We opened the second bottle of Cab that we had brought on the trip (I love Wine Diapers for travel) and had a quiet night in.

Total walking – 2.9 miles


Friday

We decided to skip the continental breakfast in the hotel and we headed down to the Marginal Way to catch the sunrise. We were there, the sun wasn’t; it was stuck behind a cloud bank. We gave it some time but eventually gave up and headed to the Cove Café for breakfast. I had the cinnamon roll French toast which was completely decadent and my husband had bacon and eggs. While speaking to the waitress she mentioned how good their corned beef hash was so we made plans to return tomorrow to try that.

After breakfast we explored Perkins Cove and then got the car and headed to Freeport to check out the L.L. Bean store.

We started with the outlet store and we were really disappointed as it seemed everything was either XS or XXL. I did find some warm pajamas. We visited a few other outlets (North Face, Patagonia) and then the L.L. Bean flagship store without buying anything. We gave up on shopping and headed to Portland.

Once in Portland we parked the car in the structure by the cruise ship dock and went to find some lunch and ended up at Andy’s Bar and Grill. It looks like a dump but it was pretty good, but a long wait for food. We spent the next few hours wandering the streets of the Old Port section.

We headed back to the main street and saw a sign that the Liquid Riot Brewery was having a bourbon release party right then. We stopped in and my husband bought a sample and declared it very good, but he decided not to purchase as our Wine Diapers would be full for the return trip. After wandering around the wharf we decided that we had enough, got in the car, and headed back to Ogunquit.

We parked the car at the hotel and we walked downtown to see the part of the city we had not yet seen. We both wanted to find t-shirts or sweatshirts, but we came up empty. Even though it was the start of Ogunquitfest, shops were closing at 5 p.m.

We then started looking at places for dinner. My goal was to have a lobster roll while in Maine so we stopped at That Place in Ogunquit because we saw it on the menu. We got seated and realized that it was only on the bar menu, but I decided to stay put and find something else. This ended up being the best overall meal of the trip. Everything about it was perfect. Great cocktails (Woodford Manhattan and French Martini), starters (roasted red and golden beets with goat cheese and Caesar Salad), main dishes (Cioppino and Pork Chops with Apple Cinnamon Chutney), and our shared dessert – Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie with caramel drizzle. We had to roll ourselves back to the hotel after that meal. We changed into warm pajamas and finished off the bottle of wine that we had opened the night before.

Total Walking – 8.6 miles

lkeade Nov 4th, 2015 12:33 PM

Saturday
This was our last day of vacation and it is always bittersweet. We were anxious to get back home to our house and our dog, but also did not want vacation to end.

We got up and did some packing and then headed back to Marginal Way, hoping to see that sunrise. It was so cold and even with coats and gloves we were freezing. Today had even more clouds than yesterday so the sunrise would have to wait for another trip. I have no doubt that we will be back in Ogunquit sometime in the future. We’ve already picked out where we are going to stay.

Once again we had breakfast at the Cove Café and my husband got his corned beef hash and I had a crab and bacon omelet. We went back to the hotel and finished packing our bags and we said goodbye to Ogunquit and Maine and got on the road.
It was a short drive to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and we parked the car and walked around. We walked down to the water and realized it was way too cold for our California constitutions. We headed to a coffee shop and sat and warmed up. It’s a very cute town and I would have liked to spend more time here but my husband was anxious to get to the airport, not knowing how long it would take.

We had an interesting drive into Boston. It started when we approached our last toll plaza and a smiling toll taker told us that the car in front of us had paid for us and said to tell us to have a great weekend. We smiled for miles! We had done this for people on the bridges in the bay area, but it was the first time on the receiving end. As we approached Boston we tossed the directions from Google and followed the ‘Best Option to Logan’ signs which took us on random highways and small streets before leading us directly into the airport. We dropped off the car at Hertz, walked out the front doors, and the airport shuttle was there waiting for us. Within minutes we were in the terminal and we were able to walk right up to the counter and drop off our bags. We then were able to go through PSA pre-check (randomly received on all flights) and we were soon airside with a lot of time on our hands.

We walked through the terminal looking in the shops for any last minute souvenirs and then headed to Legal Sea Foods to grab some lunch. Finally, at the airport, I was able to have that elusive Lobster Roll that I have been wanting the entire trip. It was probably a very good thing that I waited as I might have been eating these every day of the trip if I had tried it sooner. Now, fat and happy, we went to our gate to wait for our short flight to Newark. It was a very bumpy flight with lots of turbulence, but thankfully there was an off duty pilot in the seat in front of me. I decided that I would not panic until I saw him panic.

We made it to Newark and only had to walk a short distance to find our gate to LAX and we dropped our bags and took turns walking around and watching the bags. I left my husband there and went and bought some sandwiches and chips so we had something for dinner on the flight. Boarding took over 40 minutes and as we were in group 2 we had a long time in our seats, but no problem finding overhead space. I was very happy that I paid for extra leg room for the long flight home. We took off a little behind schedule but made up most of the time in the air. Once we were at cruise altitude I ate my dinner and watched a movie, slept a few hours, and finished my novel as we taxied to the terminal.

Total walking – 5.8 miles

Final thoughts

Less than 24 hours after we got home, my husband was looking at flights and hotels and trying to figure out how we could get back to Ogunquit, Maine. I think it will have to wait a few years as we have other trips lined up ahead of this.

I will someday go back to New England when the colors are at peak, but that will have to wait until after retirement as my current project schedule will always keep me busy until the middle of October.

From now on, I will always pay for extra leg room for all flights over four hours. Even being short, it makes a huge difference in terms of comfort.

I will never forget to bring my asthma/allergy meds again. A woman sitting next to me on one flight had a cat in a carrier and there is no way to plan for this when selecting seats. I am highly allergic to cats. Luckily, I was able to trade for another aisle seat.

Thanks for taking the time to read my report!

dfrostnh Nov 5th, 2015 02:18 AM

You really lucked out since this has been the most beautiful and warmest fall in years. It was fun reading about places we have visited. Yes, Portsmouth is a lot of fun to explore.

emalloy Nov 5th, 2015 02:19 AM

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. If you were here this week it would be warmer than usual - although not warm by CA standards.

For heading to Ogunquit next time look to flying into Manchester, NH. Southwest goes there and the car rentals may be a bit less expensive than Boston.

Thanks for the report.

lkeade Nov 5th, 2015 06:36 AM

Thank you for that tip! We thought we would have to fly into Boston again. I'll look into Manchester.

cw Nov 5th, 2015 04:03 PM

ikeade, thanks for taking the time to write this great, detailed, report.

I think you took the best road(s) to Logan. I don't know what google recommends but it's good you followed the signs.

Glad you got your lobster roll! It was hot in Boston today--so you just never know about the weather.

tower Nov 6th, 2015 09:31 AM

beautifully written, detailed TR..thanks IkeAde!!. I'm a native New Englander but have been in SoCal for 57 years. My son and his wife (who also liver here in Ojai)just returned from a 6-week auto trip west coast to east coast. I spoke with them daily and got my vicarious kick!

Their favorite region? New England. They hit the height of the foliage in VT and New Hampshire, and caught up with more in Virginia and the Smokeys. They had their Maine lobsters in Bar Harbor (Bah Habah) and Ogunquit. My son is a rabid photographer and I was watching him edit the 1000 pix they took....outstanding...and so nostalgic for me.

I was last in New England on one of my book tours in 2013...it's still "home" to me after all these years. Gotta find a lobster roll...there is a Food Truck gathering once a month near where I live, and one features lobster rolls...you can bet we'll all be there next month!


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:03 AM.