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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.
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Sep 14, 2015 17:45
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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: 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 |
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Sep 14, 2015 21:47
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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.
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Sep 16, 2015 21:30
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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! 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.
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Sep 16, 2015 21:34
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