Weekend outside of Boston???
 

We're trying to decide on a weekend trip away from Boston in the coming weeks. We want to find a place with enough to do (besides reading and Scrabble) since we're not skiers.
I was thinking either Woodstock, VT or Ogunquit, ME. Any other thoughts??? Ideally, a place no more than 2-3 hours away with a cute town and some good restaurants either in town or nearby. Thanks!

Portland, ME. Nice restaurants, cute non-chain shops, an art museum, and picturesque lighthouses nearby.

I'll second Portland. The food tour of the Old Port area is fun. Have lunch at Duckfat and "dessert" at the bakery that sells whoopy pies although even in winter I'd choose the ice cream sampler at MDI ice cream on Extension Street.

For things to do in NH, the Hippo Press, a free newspaper has many listings of things to do. www.hippopress.com It does a good job of covering Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Portsmouth areas. Concord doesn't have the best restaurants but it does have independent Red River Theater. And, if you like to read, you can browse the used bookstores in Henniker (west of Concord). For browsing the downtown area, Concord does have some interesting shops (League of NH Crafts, Butters, etc) and a good selection of coffee shops and lunch places on Main St.

The excellent Currier Museum in Concord also owns a Frank Lloyd Wright house, if that is an interest. But for a quick weekend, Portland, MW is hard to beat. And you can get there from North Station on the train.

We were in Portland last summer for a weekend, so we'd love to try something new.

Check out Connecticut. The Stonington area has lots to offer. Mystic is part of it with the Seaport and Aquarium (fun for adults too). The casinos Mohegan Sun and Foxwood are near and have shows with a variety of headliners as well as sports at times. There is even a neat museum at Foxwoods.

The Currier Museum is in Manchester (not Concord), but will enthusiastically second a visit there. The FLW home referenced (Zimmerman House) is also well worth seeing, but you need to make reservations ahead of time through the museum and it's not open year round.

But good advice is being offered here.

Newport, RI. The mansions regardless of weather, cliffwalk or seal watching tour if weather isn't bitterly cold, ice skating at the yachingtng center, and of course, most of the restaurants, bars, and shops are still open.

Thanks! I think we're going to go with Newport. Any great restaurant suggestions?

La petite auberge


cool place to stay:
http://www.jailhouse.com/getawaypackages.shtml

Consider the Berkshires. The NYT travel section just had an article about winter travel activites in the Berkshires:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/01/15...s-indoors.html