Best experience gifts in New England

March 28, 2022 6:55 PM

I have a "milestone birthday" this summer, and I am wondering if there are any amazing experiences that I should have. I live in Rhode island but would drive a couple of hours to do something awesome.

Previous examples of things I've done that I consider awesome experiences include:
- A two-hour glass-blowing class
- Half-day cooking class at Johnson & Wales University
- The "Behind the Lines" personal tour with a curator at the National WWII Museum (which was mind-blowing)
- Several brewery tours (though none in New England)
- Took a class on coffee-brewing
- Hiked a few of the 4000-footers plus Cadillac Mountain.

I like food and being outdoors and I really love getting to see things from the non-public side. A King Arthur Baking class would be great if it wasn't three hours drive each way, you know?

Maybe take a ride in a warbird, or sky-dive?

posted by wenestvedt to Shopping (12 answers total)

Spend a couple hours flying some Harris hawks with New England Falconry. I took my wife for her birthday a couple years ago and she loved it. You can also go hunting with them in the fall.

I don't know when Prospect Hill Forge will start up indoor classes again but they have other options. If nothing else, enjoy their terrible website.

Any small airport near you should have a flight school. Even if you don't ever plan on getting your ticket you could buy a couple hours with an instructor and fly over your house or something. Helicopters are also an option. There are a couple places you can ride in a glider. My wife and I did a flight over Mt. Washington a few years ago and it was spectacular.

You can ride in an open cockpit biplane up out of Bar Harbor airport. It's a neat experience but the thing is so slow you don't really go very far on the shorter ride.

Ballooning isn't huge out this way but I believe there are some options in Western MA or Vermont.

I think there are ways you can pay some money and spend a night up at the Mt. Washington weather observatory but I don't know the details.

The Boston AMC runs a rock climbing program every spring. It might be too late to join it this year though.

Wilderness first aid class at SOLO.

Just about any continuing ed class at the North Bennett Street School is worth doing.
posted by bondcliff at 7:10 PM on March 28, 2022 [7 favorites]

following on from bondcliff's ballooning suggestion, the Queechee Hot Air Balloon Festival is June 17-19 and you can book a balloon ride over some gorgeous VT landscape

https://www.quecheeballoonfestival.com/
posted by kokaku at 5:01 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

These might be too lame, but, throwing them out there just in case... If you like animals, there are a few farms in western Mass that offer llama hikes, where you go for a walk with a few llama buddies. My friends and I did that in college and had a blast hanging out with them, feeding them, and talking with their handlers about all things llama. Jordans furniture in New Haven has a big zipline/ropes course called the It Experience. Maybe Mystic CT has some cool boat tours? Ben and Jerry's factory tour? I'll keep thinking and come back if any other ideas pop up.
posted by carlypennylane at 5:20 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

For Father's day a couple years ago I took my dad on a bi-plane ride at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. It was surprisingly awesome! It's only 15 minutes (and $100 per person), but we both really enjoyed it. Not sure it alone is worth a drive, but maybe also book dinner at the CIA in nearby Hyde Park (the culinary institute, not that other one) and make a day of it?
posted by Grither at 5:28 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Mystic Aquarium has a VIP tour if you love marine animals or individual animal encounters (meet a penguin? paint with a seal!? feed the sea lions?) or be a trainer for a day.

For a larger commitment:
hike the New England section of the Appalachian Trail either all at once or in sections.

Canoe the Allagash - my dad & uncle do this every year (without the group) and love it. Both are experienced outdoorsman; I'd recommend going with a guide/group if you've never done something like this before.
posted by carrioncomfort at 8:14 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]

Howbout a warbird open biplane flight over Martha's Vineyard? This is on my own adventure list.

Appledore Island in the Isles of Shoals used to be open only to researchers, but now they are growing a public program. Some of my friends are part of the Eco-Culinary Retreat which looks pretty amazing - you harvest shellfish off the rocks, pick seaweed, do wild foraging, go fishing, and cook up what you find. They have some other programs too.
posted by Miko at 8:57 AM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]

The Connecticut Trolley Museum has a guest operator experience and the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine has a program where you can also learn how to be an operator

It may not be enough of an experience, but if you haven't already been there Purgatory Chasm is pretty cool, has rock climbing, and is nearby.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:06 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

I don't know much about this place, but I recently became aware that there's a wolf sanctuary up in Ipswich, MA, and you can pay for a "photographers session" that will get you to some photo blinds that are normally not available to the public.

The Mystic Aquarium has some "backstage" VIP tours and animal encounters. I thought the NE Aquarium here in Boston did that, too, but they may be on hiatus due to covid.

This doesn't exactly cover what you're looking for, but could be part of a longer trip - every year, a local artist makes hundreds of glass floats and hides them all over Block Island. If you find one, you're encouraged to keep it.

There are many lobster boats in the area you can charter if you want to try your hand at that (haven't tried any personally).

I know there are several recommendations about aviation-related stuff, but I can't help myself and there are surprisingly a lot of options in the area:
-Chatham Airport (Waco biplane)
-Katama Aipark on Martha's Vineyard (another Waco I think)
-Collings Foundation, a touring show (various WWII aircraft; you can pilot a P-51 if you've got enough scratch)
-Cape Cod Airfield, Marston Mills (biplane rides - actually, I think it's the same plane/guy that operates out of Katama - and skydiving)
-Newport (skydiving)
-Danielson, CT (more skydiving)
-Sterling, MA (Greater Boston Soaring Club, this is where everyone I know goes for gliding)
-Pretty sure there are a few places around here to get aerobatic flights but I'm struggling to find them now. Mike Goulian (world-ranked aerobat/Red Bull Air Racer) used to offer it, but it doesn't look like he's focusing on that anymore.
posted by backseatpilot at 10:30 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]

I first learned about it on the Blue, so it's a good bet you might already know about it, but there's a screen-accurate reproduction of several original sets from Star Trek in Ticonderoga, NY which includes the bridge, engineering, the transporter room, and sick bay.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:39 AM on March 29, 2022

Years ago for an older relative's milestone birthday, we hired a small boat at the Chatham Bars Inn and they basically took us on a private whale watch.

We had just been planning to hang out on the boat, but the skipper knew where to take us and the whales were so close we could have touched them. I had been on a bunch of whale watches before but had never seen anything like this.
posted by luckdragon at 4:35 PM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]

People have mentioned boat rides of one sort or another. Newport offers a variety, but I suspect you're looking for something more than a couple hours on the water. The more ambitious version is a multi-day cruise on a schooner. That's mostly a State O'Maine thing, mostly operating out of Camden and other Penobscot ports.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:59 AM on March 30, 2022

Don't underestimate the joy of a meteor shower. Not sure when your birthday is, but for one of my milestone birthdays, I went camping where I had an unobstructed view of the night sky for the Persid meteor showers. It was wonderful.
posted by annieb at 4:33 PM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]