Staying Close To Home Series - Focus on New England
New England – 'Home Sweet Home!' Yes, that's right. I was born and brought up in Boston. My favorite time was autumn – Mother Nature has one incredible show in the fall.
One thing about living in such a cultural area – we as children in school were exposed to the many attractions as part of our school curriculum. In my elementary years we followed the 'Freedom Trail', visiting the many historical sights including 'Paul Revere's House' and the Old North Church all the while learning about the time leading up to the Revolutionary War. Every grade level you had at least one educational field trip that included trips to such sights as the Boston Museum of Art, The Science Museum, Gardner Museum, Children's Museum, as well as trips out to Concord, MA where the Revolution started and where many of the famous historical writers such as Hawthorne and Emerson lived, not to mention battlefields. I now realize how very fortunate we were.
During the summer months we were able to steal away to the lakes region of Maine for a family vacation. Our favorite area was Big Sebago Lake region. We would swim in the lake, take a canoe ride down the Saco River, hop on the Saco Queen river boat for a day out or just hang back and play cards with the family – those were the days. Of course we had many friends that preferred the coast of Maine to the lakes. Old Orchard Beach was a hot spot in the summer (still is).
As we grew older we would backpack up the white mountains and camp along the streams. Climb the Flume gorge with all its natural wonders. I enjoyed this more during the autumn months where there were not as many tourists and the weather a bit cooler. During the winter a days drive took us back up to the mountains to ski the many areas of New Hampshire and Vermont.
Of course Historic Boston is not the only place in Massachusetts. We have the north shore where you can taste the fresh catch as it comes in off of the fishing boats in Gloucester, and tour historic Salem where the famous witch trials were held. Cape Cod has many of what New England is all about from the old whaling villages to the art galleries to the sand dunes along the shore.
Rhode Island - for a small state they have so much culture. Providence is an incredible culinary delight. We loved taking in a fine Italian meal at one of the restaurants along the streets of Federal Hill. We used to travel from Boston to Rhode Island for a spectacular lobster dinner at Tweet' Balzano's Family restaurant in Bristol (oh, like I couldn't find one in Boston).
Newport in the summer is where you find a lot of excitement and happenings. You can walk along the Cliff Walk and view the mansions of the the past from the ocean side or take in one of the mansion tours. During the day in Newport – you must get to the beaches early as you will not find a parking place after about 9 am. They are that busy. We have been fortunate, my husbands' family has had a summer house just up the road from Eastons Beach (known as first beach to locals) so it is really just a short walk to activity. The Newport Marina is very busy during the summer as well. At one time Newport was home to the America's Cup yacht races.
No doubt you follow the footsteps of history and culture when visiting New England but you will want to take in some of the other activities as well.
There are many tour companies that offer tours to New England. Here are a couple that are popular:
Tauck World Discovery - 'Cape Cod, The Islands and Newport' – Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Provincetown New Bedford, Newport, and Quincy. Highlights- NE Clambake, Scenic Air Flight, Whale-watching cruise.
Collette Vacations: 'New England Back Roads' – Boston, Springfield, Vermont, Bennington, Burnlington, Stowe, Lincoln, NH, North Conway, Boothbay Harbor & Kenebunkport, Maine.
Highlights- Adams Farms, cruise of Lake Champlain & Adirondack Mountains, Tour of Ben & Jerry's, travel along the Scenic Kankamangus Highway.
Best time to travel to New England is in the fall – you have the added attraction of the fall foliage along your way. Tauck and Collette have many more New England tours available as well.
