Day trips outside of Boston?

June 18, 2009 9:46 PM

What's a good place for a day trip within 2-ish hours of Boston? We're looking for something to do on a rainy Saturday... any and all suggestions are welcome!
posted by aether516 to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

If you're from the area, you may have already done this, but we enjoyed touring the mansions down in Newport, RI. Here's a link to more information. It's a great rainy day activity and it's only about 1.5 hours from Boston. I remember The Breakers as being particularly magnificent. The audio tours were also well worth it. If you enjoy doing this, they offer a great bundle of tickets for all the mansions that don't need to be used at the same time. It's a good deal. Plus, Newport is a cute town.
posted by theantikitty at 10:11 PM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Peabody Essex Museum is a short walk from the Salem commuter rail station.
posted by brujita at 11:30 PM on June 18, 2009

Not sure what you've already seen or what you like, but the Larz Anderson Automobile Museum is pretty cool.

Have you been to Plimoth Plantation? Or taken the whale watch boats?
posted by zompist at 12:13 AM on June 19, 2009

Bit further afield, but how about the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT?
posted by gkhewitt at 12:58 AM on June 19, 2009

Portland Maine is 2 hours away and has a crazy amount of good restaurants. It's quite pretty too. They have a really nice art museum and the first Friday of every month they have an art gallery walk that can be really great.

Just take my advice and don't move there! It's good for 24 hours or so.
posted by sully75 at 3:50 AM on June 19, 2009

The Wadsorth Atheneum in Hartford CT is a wonderful museum. You could spend half a day there. They usually have great traveling exhibits.
posted by archimago at 4:05 AM on June 19, 2009

2nding the Newport Mansions. Newport Grand is also down there so you can play slots.

There is Battleship Cove down in Fall River. I've never been, but my husband and his family went regularly when he was growing up and really liked it.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum looks very cool. I've only been in the foyer.

The CT casinos and the little known Twin River Casino just outside of Providence.

Providence also has some interesting stuff: State House, RISD Museum, Roger Williams National Historical Site, to name a few.
posted by chiefthe at 4:58 AM on June 19, 2009

You didn't say when and what ages you're trying to entertain. Let's assume you mean tomorrow. Let's also assume you are a tourist visiting Boston. The many museums, historical sites, and unique commercial venues listed above are possibilities but if you want to do something truly unique to New England, go on a whale watch out of Gloucester or Plymouth. You're undercover and the whales don't care about getting wet. You'll see the coast, see some wildlife, and keep all ages pre-occupied. If that sounds like too much you could do a Boston Harbor cruise from Rowe's Wharf which is right near South Station. This recent gloomy weather we've been enjoying hasn't been too windy so the seas should be calm enough to avoid sea sickness. And you get to tell people back home that you didn't just see the sights, you went on an adventure.
posted by birdwatcher at 5:31 AM on June 19, 2009

Probably not the kind of thing you were thinking of, but there is a lovely meditation center in Barre, MA.
posted by aka burlap at 6:25 AM on June 19, 2009

North Adams has MASS MoCA, and it's about 2-ish hours from Boston.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:29 AM on June 19, 2009

Foxwoods
posted by doorsfan at 6:56 AM on June 19, 2009

Climb Mt. Monadnock.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:59 AM on June 19, 2009

Do a trip to Manchester, NH. You can go see the LEGO Millyard Project at the SEE Science Center ( the largest permanent LEGO installation at minifigure scale in the world) and then go to the Currier Museum of Art which recently had a major expansion. Then have a great Italian dinner at Piccola Italia which is up there with some of the Boston North End places.
posted by fx3000 at 7:28 AM on June 19, 2009

Providence is nice, full of yummilicious restaurants and nice cafés. White Electric is a fave, next to my favorite bookstore in town (full disclosure: I know the owner), the small but wonderful Ada Books. Other things to do in Providence include visiting Lovecraft's grave at Swan Point Cemetary (there's a great ice cream shop/café nearby called 3 Sisters), going to the RISD Museum and checking out the Providence Kickball League, which is by far the craziest, drunkest kickball league in the nation (full disclosure: I'm on a team). Last weekend the pirate team invaded the pitch and stole the zombie pitcher, causing the zombies to rush the pirate dugout with buckets full of fake blood and gore, freeing their pitcher and splattering all and sundry. I can't promise that level of insanity every game. The league plays at Dexter Training Ground (a.k.a. Armory Park) and the first game starts at two in the afternoon and the final one ends at six (time estimates rough).
posted by Kattullus at 9:22 AM on June 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Basketball hall of fame in Springfield, The New England Sports Museum is inside the TD Banknorth Garden, right at North Station, The Fogg Museum, The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, The Museum of Contemporary Art in South Boston, The Science Museum, near the Cambridge Boston line.
posted by Gungho at 9:40 AM on June 19, 2009

Second Portland, Maine. Great art, really good food, interesting shops and the ocean.
posted by jdl at 1:03 PM on June 19, 2009