New England road trip! Your insider tips needed.

September 20, 2007 10:32 AM

New England road trip! Your insider advice on local color, tasty food & drink, picturesque roads, historic spots and natural wonders -- anything we'd be silly to miss. Itinerary inside.

We'll be there the 1st week of October. The plan's to spend time in, around and between Portsmouth, NH, Durham/Freeport, ME, Bristol/Burlington, VT, and Conway/North Adams, MA. We're already planning on stopping at the Portsmouth Brewery, doing a hike on the VT Long Trail, looking for a couple covered bridges and hitting the MassMoCA.

posted by timnyc to travel & transportation (10 comments total)

When in Portsmouth, pop over the river into Kittery for some Loco Coco's. If you're going to have Mexican food in New England, this is the place to get it.
posted by schoolgirl report at 11:21 AM on September 20, 2007

or in portsmouth, have some tasty food and behold the fabulous bad art decor at the friendly toast
posted by rmd1023 at 11:31 AM on September 20, 2007

Don't miss the world's largest covered bridge or some approximation thereof in Windsor VT. The Harpoon Brewery is also in Windsor. Also, if you're in that area, I live in Bethel and there are some nice covered bridges in Tunbridge which is right up the road and maybe an hour or less drive from good Long Trail spots. Driving up Route 100 is pretty de rigeur but it might be trafficky that week and less awesome than usual.

I assume you have all this covered, but if you need a place to stay, I live in a huge house w/ lots of space. I have a bunch of Vermont pictures up on Flickr, feel free to browse them.
posted by jessamyn at 12:28 PM on September 20, 2007

If, for some reason, you get over to Johnson, VT, eat at Plum & Main. Best burgers and fries in the world (to a Long Trail thru-hiker, anyway).
posted by cog_nate at 12:33 PM on September 20, 2007

This is perfect. I was going to ask the same question as I'm going down next week-ish.
posted by mkn at 12:40 PM on September 20, 2007

Of course you're going to Mass MoCA, but there's not so much in that area. Perhaps you can make it to the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls?

In Freeport, you might consider Gritty McDuff's for lunch if you don't mind getting a little tipsy. Very nice beer.
posted by plinth at 1:36 PM on September 20, 2007

Clark Art Institute is nice, so is Williams College campus.
posted by of strange foe at 2:24 PM on September 20, 2007

jessamyn: Don't miss the world's largest covered bridge


Ahem.
(Look, it's all they have.)
posted by loiseau at 2:28 PM on September 20, 2007

I second The Friendly Toast in Portsmouth. It's an especially good place to stop if you need to load up on carbs for a long day of hiking! Great bread and diner food.

As you cross New Hampshire on 89, I would stop in Woodstock. It's an idyllic little town where the Rockefellers summered or something. Nearby in Quechee, have lunch at Simon Pearce. It's a restaurant associated and a pottery and glass workshop. The dining room is set directly over a waterfall and it should be just lovely this time of year. It's also got a killer wine list.

You could also stop in Hanover to see the Hood museum and the Orozco frescos. And in Norwich to visit the King Arthur Bakery (which is a mecca for bakers).

Skip the Ben and Jerry's factory and tour as it sounds a lot cooler than it is in reality.

If you have any questions about the Upper Valley in particular, I'd be happy to donate 2 more cents.
posted by B-squared at 2:46 PM on September 20, 2007

Ahem.

I stand corrected and damn if I'm not a few hours from that bridge RIGHT NOW. Amazing. I concur with all B-squared's advice also, esp skipping the B&J tour.
posted by jessamyn at 3:03 PM on September 20, 2007