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Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
First time visit to the US (17sep-13oct) and pretty nervous/excited for it, so I'd thought I'd ask some goons for advice. I'm planning a 28 day trip for me and my girlfriend. We'll start by visiting new york for 3.5 days to meet up with an old friend of hers and see the city. Then we plan on road tripping through New England for 21 day to end up back in NYC for another 3.5 days. To be honest I haven't planned anything beyond some vague outlines, but I think we're quite happy with that. AirBnB is booked in hipstertown for the first 4 nights. In general we like nature, walking and good food. If any of those is combined with culture we can dig it (for example the freedom walk in Boston), but just plain dry culture (the bla bla bla museum in old people town Maine) will probably be less interesting to us.
So some questions:

- Car rental wise I figured out that car rental is much more expensive within new york(state) compared with just about anywhere else. So I'm figuring we'll take the metro north to fairfield CT and rent one there. There's a hertz there and that saves a couple honderd dollard (maybe more I can;t remember). Is this a reasonable idea?

- Then from there on we'll move through cape cod to boston. Any idea what to do in or around Cape Cod?

- I want to see some american sports so I thought about visiting a patriots game (on the 27th sep), but that seems rather impossible to get tickets for, so now I switched to harvard college football(against brown 25th sep). I'm not in it for the quality of the sport, but for the atmosphere and folklore. Again: Reasonable idea? Any suggestions?

- Then from the 26th on move north along the coast to end up in acadia national park, do some hiking and cycling there. I'm not sure how many days to reserve for moving up from boston to acadia. Any suggestions?

- So this is where the plan really gets vague. We need to be back in Fairfield,CT on the 9th of oct, but I have plans to maximum the 3rd of oct (if we take 7 days for moving up to acadia and hike/cycle there). Any suggestion to kill another six day? We wouldn't mind cycling or hiking some more, if possible in the beautifull autumn new england forests. Or anything really. We'll end with a couple more days of NYC where we'll do some more culture and tourist stuff. Suggestions for these X-y days are very welcome!

Thanks

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Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
I have no idea what the price comparison is of renting a car in NY vs CT but if you figured out that it's cheaper in Fairfield then yeah that's totally doable. It's a reasonable walk from the Metro station to the Hertz place so that should be fine too.

That said, the drive from Fairfield to Boston is absolutely nothing to write home about. It's boring as hell; there's pretty much no scenery. You might be better off just taking the train from NYC to Boston, and plus, once you're actually in Boston you don't want to be saddled with a car. You won't use it and it'll just be a waste of money.

What I'd recommend is you restructure it a bit:

-Head to NYC, do whatever there.
-Take the train (or a very cheap bus using megabus or boltbus) from NYC to Boston, do some stuff there for a few days. While in Boston, use public transit, not a car.
-Then, rent a car in Boston and drive to the Cape. Keep in mind the Cape is a fairly large area with a variety of different towns, many with their own vibes, so you should pick exactly where you want to go. Provincetown is going to be an extra hour+ drive from Boston than, say, Hyannis would be. Either way, drive to the cape, stay for however long
-Then drive to Acadia. You will absolutely not need "days" to drive to Acadia; it's like 5 hours from Boston so its a good drive but it's not a multi day trip or anything. If you were to go to from the cape straight to acadia it's definitely gonna take you a long-rear end time, but you could always break it up by stopping over in like, Portsmouth NH or Portland, ME.

I'd also recommend that instead of going to the Harvard football game, you go to a Red Sox (baseball) game. Much more history there, much more important culturally to the area. People only really care about Harvard football if you went to that school, compared to almost everyone in New England (except for those weirdos in Connecticut) being Red Sox fans. Also, the team sucks this year so the tickets should be easy to get and relatively cheap. The Red Sox will be at home in Boston from Sept 21-17 playing against either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Baltimore Orioles, so that works with your schedule. Here's their site and schedule: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/schedule/?c_id=bos#y=2015&m=9&calendar=DEFAULT

Also you should look into going to Salem, MA which is a nice little town with some very interesting/weird history.

If you have any questions let me know either in this thread or by PM I'd be happy to help

Empress Brosephine
Mar 31, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Massachusetts is a poo poo hole, go up north to New Hampshire.

Infinotize
Sep 5, 2003

Agree with train to Boston. There is nothing of value to a tourist (or anyone...) between NYC and Boston. Maybe cape cod but I've never been there. Check out Boston for a few days without a car, then get a car and go north. You will need a car at this point. Go to Maine and New Hampshire. You are in prime fall foliage season and things will be more way expensive and harder to book, but the scenery really is incredible. Distances aren't trivial but you don't need days to go anywhere, like said above Acadia is ~5 hours and that's as far north as you'll probably go, so go as fast or slow as you want. Acadia is great and has good hiking although touristy, but worth a stay somewhere on Mt. Desert Island a few days (I just got back from there actually). Also go to the White Mountains in NH. Do not skip if you like nature and hiking and stuff. Drive up Mt. Washington while it's still open for the season. Go hiking. Stay off interstates when you can unless there's nothing inbetween point A and point B.

Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
Thanks for your help guys. I'm juggling the idea of going to Boston straight from NYC, but find the train is pretty expensive and we need to go back again at the end, because we fly home from NYC. Flying seems a reasonable option though (but you miss al the scenery). How many days would you allocate in Boston? Also many thanks for making me realise that acadia is not that long a drive. I think I actually overestimated the distances in your giant country :-). Also the red sox seem enjoyable, even though they suck, but let's cross fingers and hope they do well when we're there!

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
Yeah the train is pretty expensive but look into buses - us.megabus.com and https://www.boltbus.com are both options and much cheaper. Wifi and power on the buses, plus bathrooms; it's a 4 hour ride or so but really not that bad.

Flying from NYC-Boston is super fast and can be pretty reasonable price-wise but keep in mind the annoyance of airports; between getting there, going through security, waiting at the gate, etc you can sometimes end up negating the time you save in the air.

and you're seriously overestimating how scenic the NYC->Boston drive is unless the prospect of seeing this for hours really excites you:



I think if you had 3-4 solid days in Boston you'd be happy with it. I live here; I'd be happy to grab a drink with you guys when you come through or at the very least recommend a few places for you to check out. Just send me a PM

numtini
Feb 7, 2010
Another vote for take a bus or train to Boston and to hit the Red Sox rather than a Harvard game. Fenway will absolutely be a great time.

I live on Cape Cod. I guess if I wanted to spend a day here, I'd probably drive out to Provincetown, get a clam roll (whole bellied fried clams on a hot dog roll) at a clamshack like John's Footlong in the center of town, go on a whale watch--take the last one of the day and you get to see the sunset from the water--its beautiful), then get a "clam bake" dinner at The Lobster Pot. If we have people visit us, that's pretty much what we do with them. Get a motel for the night in something like Eastham or Wellfleet--staying in Ptown is super expensive. Honestly, you can do pretty much the same thing in Ogunquit Maine or some other place on the coast.

In general, when you're road tripping in New England, you'll have a much better time if you take some time and avoid the highways. We took a long road trip out to Western Mass, up through Vermont, then back down through New Hampshire and just set the GPS to avoid any interstate highways. It was a completely different and better experience.

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
Whale watch is a great suggestion

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
hey Rojkir, what'd you end up deciding?

Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
We like all your suggestions, but my gf decided she doesnt like Boston as a place to start the road trip very much (based on nothing) so we're still arguing. She wants to rent the car where we originally planned, just outside NY and then drive along the cost using small roads to cape cod, then visit Boston based from a motel outside the city. I want to follow SA advise and bus to Boston, then rent a car there. So no, we're still in limbo.

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
Well the advice that usually trumps all other advice is listen to your girlfriend so just do what she wants to

Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
Well of course!
Leaving in 11 days now, so time for some more detailed planning:
Road trip (18 days in total)
Day 1. Pick up car in fairfield ct, drive to Newport, RI. Do Cliff walk or see The Breakers or whatever
Day 2 Drive to Cape Cod. Possibly do whale watch this day, otherwise chill/eat
Day 3 Cape Cod, cycle cape cod rail trail. Do whale watch if not done earlier.
Day 4 Either drive to Boston or chill another day. Still need to decide. However hotels in and around Boston are so goddamn expensive that I need to book beforehand, so we'll probably decide soon.
Day 5 spend day in Boston, Fenway park in the evening
Day 6 Leave for ogunquit, have lunch along the coast somewhere. Walk marginal walk in ogunquit
Day 7-9/10 Acadia, do what people do there.
Divide rest of time between white mountains and green mountains/Vermont route 100. Haven't found time to detail this yet

Cheesemaster200
Feb 11, 2004

Guard of the Citadel
Another possibility if you are determined to drive:

- Rent car somewhere in Brooklyn or Queens (JFK, LGA Maybe?
- Drive out east on Long Island.
- Visit numerous wineries, Greenport.
- Take Orient Point ferry to New London
- Drive New London to Newport (~1h)

This avoids the completely non-scenic hellhole of the CT 95 corridor and add some cool stops along the way. The ferry is also pretty cool if you haven't done it countless times. The roads on the north shore are also rather scenic.

How do you intend to get to Fairfield? Metro North?

Cheesemaster200 fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Sep 10, 2015

Moneyball
Jul 11, 2005

It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves.
I second the Salem suggestion. Too bad you're not doing the trip in reverse, and you could see Salem during halloween season.

Another suggestion I'd make is western MA. Some good scenery around the Mohawk Trail area and North Adams. But given everything you'll be doing, the drive might not be worthwhile.

A Proper Uppercut
Sep 30, 2008

I live in Massachusetts, just spent the past 5 days in Acadia Park. First time I've been here, and it's incredible. Couple things I would recommend-

Sunrise at the top of Cadillac Mountain. The entire park is open 24 hours a day, so you can get up there nice and early. Bring a blanket and flashlight. It can actually get a bit crowded.

Also on Cadillac, take a drive up late at night and check out the night sky. Acadia is one of the few places actually making an effort to have no light pollution and it shows. You can see the Milk Way and everything.

Sunset at Bass Harbor Lighthouse.

Park or take the bus into Bar Harbor and do the tourist thing, walking up and down Main St and checking out all the shops and restaurants. Killed a whole day doing that.

If your into hiking at all, do the beehive trail. If that doesn't freak you the hell out, do the precipice trail. They're pretty short but really fun and scary.

That's all I got right now. But I love this place. Do not want to go home.

Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
Wow that sounds excellent! Where did you stay?
@cheesemaster: yes metro north. Good suggestions about long island, shame we didn't consider that earlier

A Proper Uppercut
Sep 30, 2008

Rojkir posted:

Wow that sounds excellent! Where did you stay?
@cheesemaster: yes metro north. Good suggestions about long island, shame we didn't consider that earlier

I stayed in Southwest Harbor. It's on the opposite side of the island from Bar Harbor, but its only a 25 minute drive over to that area, and they call it Quietside for a reason. It's definitely a lot less crowded and populated, but there's still some good places to eat.

Noise Complaint
Sep 27, 2004

Who could be scared of a Jeffrey?
Consider coming out to rural New England rather than just riding the coast. You're here the best time of year you possibly could be for that. There's dozens of fall fairs going on including the biggest one in New England, The Eastern States Exposition (The Big E.) in West Springfield, MA. The classic country fair is a fantastic piece of Americana to take in, fried food and all. Do some apple picking, you can't throw a stone without hitting an orchard in the rural parts of New England, stop at some Farmer's Markets, especially the big one in Coventry, CT at the Nathan Hale Farmstead which was the home of the famous American Revolutionary whose name it bears. ("I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.")

If you find yourself in northern New England many ski areas including Killington in VT let you take the ski lifts up to the top to see the beautiful fall views, especially towards the end of your trip which should be near peak foliage season in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Stop and stay at a bed and breakfast and have some pancakes or french toast with local maple syrup.

If you do make your way to Cape Cod, make sure you stop at the Chatham Squire in Chatham, MA and get some steamed clams (steamah's) and a pint of local beer. You can go down to the pier after and see the fishermen unloading their catch.

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time

Noise Complaint posted:

If you do make your way to Cape Cod, make sure you stop at the Chatham Squire in Chatham, MA and get some steamed clams (steamah's) and a pint of local beer. You can go down to the pier after and see the fishermen unloading their catch.

this is great advice. That place owns and the fish slide is hilariously disgusting

Also you guys should consider stopping at Two Roads Brewery in Stratford, CT. Just about 10-15 minutes up route 95 from Fairfield.

Robot Mil
Apr 13, 2011

Apologies for the hijack but I'm also travelling New England way in a few weeks with my husband and thought I'd ask here for suggestions rather than make a separate thread! Our itinerary is:

October 1st: Arrive Boston
October 2nd: Hire a car, travel to Brattleboro
October 3rd: Burlington
October 5th: Jackson
October 8th: Bar Harbor
October 11th: Portland
October 13th: back in Boston,drop the hire car off and stay there fore a few days before flying home on the evening of 16th

I note the advice to avoid interstates (those are the 'I95' type roads right?) so will try and work our GPS out to avoid those. We're pretty nervous about driving over there but hopefully we'll be OK. Any other suggestions for things going on, stops to make or routes to try/avoid most welcome! I'm imagining that drives between places will be 3 hours or so, and I imagine we'll want to stop off on our travels so any suggestions of good stops between places would also be good.

Noise Complaint
Sep 27, 2004

Who could be scared of a Jeffrey?

Robot Mil posted:

Apologies for the hijack but I'm also travelling New England way in a few weeks with my husband and thought I'd ask here for suggestions rather than make a separate thread! Our itinerary is:

October 1st: Arrive Boston
October 2nd: Hire a car, travel to Brattleboro
October 3rd: Burlington
October 5th: Jackson
October 8th: Bar Harbor
October 11th: Portland
October 13th: back in Boston,drop the hire car off and stay there fore a few days before flying home on the evening of 16th

I note the advice to avoid interstates (those are the 'I95' type roads right?) so will try and work our GPS out to avoid those. We're pretty nervous about driving over there but hopefully we'll be OK. Any other suggestions for things going on, stops to make or routes to try/avoid most welcome! I'm imagining that drives between places will be 3 hours or so, and I imagine we'll want to stop off on our travels so any suggestions of good stops between places would also be good.

The route up from Brattleboro to Burlington is a gorgeous drive once you get off of I-91. The interstates aren't bad and do have views, but you're much better off taking side roads. Both Long Trail and Harpoon Breweries are on your way up near White River Junction. The Vermont Country Store is also right off of I-91 a few exits up from Brattleboro. It's definitely very touristy that caters towards people looking at the foliage and it's very kitschy but it can be a fun stop with an awesome food truck just outside. Ludlow is a fun little town near the Okemo ski resort that has a winery and some nice places to stop and get a bite. Definitely make your way up the ski areas and see if they have a gondola or lift running for some awesome views. Killington, near Rutland, is the best for this. It's generally pretty dead until ski season so much of the famous night life won't be open, but if you're there late enough in October and the nights have started getting nippy, they'll be making snow which is fun to see.

As far as Burlington goes, don't miss the Magic Hat brewery and see if there's a concert you'd like to see going on at the Higher Ground. It's a fantastic city to walk around with a lot of culture.

As far as driving goes, once you're out of the Boston metro area you'll be fine. Boston, however, is famously awful to drive in and around. I've been doing it my whole life and I still get all worked up and the inner Masshole rage monster comes out pretty quick.

Something interesting about Vermont for people visiting there. There's a vast network of unimproved roads (Class 4) in Vermont that spiderweb across the state. Most of these are ancient rights of way that date back as far as the Colonial-era. If you rent a Subaru or SUV you can drive for miles in absolutely stunning landscape. I'm talking like, not too far off some 1800's American landscape painting type vistas. These often pass through working farmland as well as old ruins. These are for the *very* adventurous as some of these rights of way can end in the middle of a farm field, or in the woods, or have been unused for so long as to be completely impassable. A couple years ago myself and some other fellow New England goons from Automotive Insanity did the Puppy Dog Run which leads from the MA border all the way to Quebec on all dirt roads. GPS files for that run can be found here. http://www.vtbmwmov.org/rides/ and a partial list of roads by town here: http://www.dirtopia.com/wiki/Vermont

Noise Complaint fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Sep 14, 2015

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time

Robot Mil posted:

I note the advice to avoid interstates (those are the 'I95' type roads right?)

So just to be clear, this advice was just to clarify that the drive from Fairfield to Boston isn't very scenic - a lot of people tend to make an assumption that all parts of New England are beautiful and picturesque. Some interstates are very scenic, and most are a mixed bag, with the benefit being that they generally get you from point A to point B quicker. On the whole I would definitely advise you take the interstates between your destinations as the signage is better, there'll be (hopefully) less traffic, etc. Don't avoid them as a matter of course.

And yeah interstates are any road that you see with the red white and blue shield type logo like this:

Moneyball
Jul 11, 2005

It's a problem you think we need to explain ourselves.

Noise Complaint posted:

Springfield, MA.

Bring a gun.

Robot Mil
Apr 13, 2011

Noise Complaint posted:

The route up from Brattleboro to Burlington is a gorgeous drive once you get off of I-91. The interstates aren't bad and do have views, but you're much better off taking side roads. Both Long Trail and Harpoon Breweries are on your way up near White River Junction. The Vermont Country Store is also right off of I-91 a few exits up from Brattleboro. It's definitely very touristy that caters towards people looking at the foliage and it's very kitschy but it can be a fun stop with an awesome food truck just outside. Ludlow is a fun little town near the Okemo ski resort that has a winery and some nice places to stop and get a bite. Definitely make your way up the ski areas and see if they have a gondola or lift running for some awesome views. Killington, near Rutland, is the best for this. It's generally pretty dead until ski season so much of the famous night life won't be open, but if you're there late enough in October and the nights have started getting nippy, they'll be making snow which is fun to see.

As far as Burlington goes, don't miss the Magic Hat brewery and see if there's a concert you'd like to see going on at the Higher Ground. It's a fantastic city to walk around with a lot of culture.

As far as driving goes, once you're out of the Boston metro area you'll be fine. Boston, however, is famously awful to drive in and around. I've been doing it my whole life and I still get all worked up and the inner Masshole rage monster comes out pretty quick.


Thanks for the suggestions Noise Complaint, will definitely have a look at those places! I will leave the driving in and out of Boston to the other half (I think he has a good level of road rage to fit in well...)

Riptor posted:

So just to be clear, this advice was just to clarify that the drive from Fairfield to Boston isn't very scenic - a lot of people tend to make an assumption that all parts of New England are beautiful and picturesque. Some interstates are very scenic, and most are a mixed bag, with the benefit being that they generally get you from point A to point B quicker. On the whole I would definitely advise you take the interstates between your destinations as the signage is better, there'll be (hopefully) less traffic, etc. Don't avoid them as a matter of course.


Hmm interesting, I would have assumed there would be more traffic on the Interstates, do the smaller roads get busier because of all the tourists doing fall road trips?

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
For the most part you're going to be taking the interstates that connect very rural, low density population centers, not the 405 in Los Angeles or anything. The other non interstate routes in the area are not as direct, will have traffic lights, and are not built to hold the same capacity. Interstates will almost always be quicker

Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
Two roads is closed when we pass by. (Monday). Too bad, looked fun! Are there any other small breweries worth while? We're both great beer lovers!
Less than 24h before we leave for nyc. I'll keep the thread updated if anything worth mentioning happens. Hijackers more than welcome.

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
bah, oh well.

Tons of breweries along the route you're going. In Boston you have Harpoon, Trillium, Sam Adams, Slumbrew, Night Shift, Idle Hands, Boston Beer Works, and Bantam and Downeast if you want cider. I highly recommend Harpoon, they have a wonderful gigantic tasting room there with a billion options.

Portland has Allagash, Gritty McDuffs, Geary's, Rising Tide, Sebago, and even a pretty drat good meadery - Honeymaker Mead.

You should also go to Sunset Grill and Tap in Allston, part of Boston - they have 113 beers on tap and over 300 bottles. Note that it's different than Sunset Cantina, which is nearby but focuses on margaritas rather than beer

Noise Complaint
Sep 27, 2004

Who could be scared of a Jeffrey?

Moneyball posted:

Bring a gun.

West Springfield is on the other side of the river from the city of Springfield and the Big E fairgrounds might as well be in Agawam. It's far from dangerous, especially when the fair is going on.

Noise Complaint
Sep 27, 2004

Who could be scared of a Jeffrey?

Rojkir posted:

Two roads is closed when we pass by. (Monday). Too bad, looked fun! Are there any other small breweries worth while? We're both great beer lovers!
Less than 24h before we leave for nyc. I'll keep the thread updated if anything worth mentioning happens. Hijackers more than welcome.

There is an absolute poo poo ton of breweries in CT and New England in general. Check out the CT Beer Trail page. http://ctbeertrail.net/page/breweries-1


Edit: Whoops, meant to edit my last post.

Empress Brosephine
Mar 31, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Go to New Hampshire.

http://www.visitnh.com

Riptor
Apr 13, 2003

here's to feelin' good all the time
dont listen to this obvious buzz marketer

Empress Brosephine
Mar 31, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
good things about New Hampshire©:

A: Girls don't sound like the mentally disabled cousin of valley girls (bwahstan)

Bad things about New Hampshire©:

A: Girls are really dumb
B: Girls have 4 teeth

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Lord Wexia
Sep 27, 2005

Boo zombie apocalypse.
Hooray beer!
Go hike Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. Then go visit Earl at Sandwich Master. That's my New Hampshire.

I'm pretty jealous of the trip from Burlington to Bar Harbor. Northern New England is one of my favorite places. Last year I went to Pittsburgh, NH and I felt like I was on another planet. There is a trail right on the Canadian border that's maintained by the Nature Conservancy. It cris-crosses the border and there are tons of signs of Moose (scat and tracks) and really great views. It ends at the Fourth Connecticut Lake which is the beginning of the Connecticut River.

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