Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with maine and massachusetts

Massachusetts history trip and Maine scenic ocean trip, t minus two hour

geegollygosh — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 04:35:59 -0800

My friend is visiting me in Rhode island today through Sunday night and has her heart set on historical sights in Boston and going to the coast of Maine (maybe acadia). Given weather, Boston traffic, and driving times, what is the best way to do this? Our original plan was to drive up to Boston today, park at the medford mbta station, and use the t to do freedom trail and the like, then drive up to Portland, stay overnight there, then continue on to acadia in the morning and use our days of nice weather to be in Maine.

My questions: how bad will driving in Boston be given the snow? I was already not too excited about driving in Boston on a weekday, but will it be exponentially worse in the snow? Also, is medford a good place top park? we just picked it for the price and figured it would be better to park on the north side so as to make an
easier escape in the evening.

-is there anywhere further south we could check out rather than driving up to acadia that still has super pretty ocean views? she's looking for some gentle hiking
but nothing too hard.

If we skip Boston today and do it Sunday, i might see if she wants to do a historical Massachusetts tou on our way up the coast. Where should we stop?

i'd never leave

Lou Stuells — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:49:46 -0800

Where can I find Diet Moxie offered as a fountain beverage? Any location in Maine or Mass? I can buy it in bottles and cans locally. But you know, a fountain drink is just that little bit better and if I were near such a wonderful resource, I'd want to know about it.

How can I make my honeymoon in New England run smoothly?

chrispy108 — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:14:00 -0800

My fiancée and I are hoping to spend a fortnight in New England for our honeymoon in October. I'd love your advice on how to make our honeymoon run smoothly! Having recently moved and changed jobs, whilst planing the wedding, we've kind of forgotten to arrange our honeymoon!

We've had some ideas, but I've got a few questions that I'm struggling to find answers to elsewhere.

Our rough plan is to fly into and out of Logan in Boston, spend the first few nights in a nice hotel nearby (Advice would be great here!), and then tour around a bit in-between.

1) What will the weather be like? We live in England, so are used to cold and rain, but not sure we want to spend our whole honeymoon sliding along a snow-covered road, is driving likely to be a problem? I'm a confident driver, and I've driven in Florida, but I've not got much experience of driving in "winter" weather, just a few snowy days here.

2) We both like museums, nice villages, lazy lunches and aren't too concerned about nightlife (although an evening drink in a nice pub/bar never gets turned down!). We're also a fan of theme parks. Are these kind of things going to be open? I know if you went to English seaside resorts in October you wouldn't find much open.

3) I'd love to get out and explore a bit, but equally, I don't want our holiday to become 12 hours a day in the car. What is a sensible itinerary to see lots, but without racing around?
I'm overwhelmed by the amount of recommendations on Google, and some of them to me look a bit packed. After using Google Maps to plan some long-distance routes around Europe, I'm also a bit sceptical of their times and wouldn't want to use just that to make my decisions.

4) Is it possible to get into/out of Canada? We'd love to see Montreal, but I don't know how the border "works" with an English couple on tourist visa? Is it a sensible drive?

5) I'd love to checkout an NHL game if possible, when is the schedule announced and how easy is it to get tickets for the Bruins? I know someone on holiday in England would really struggle to get tickets for most Premier League Football games.

6) Are there any MeFi meetups planned?!

Thanks in advance!

Recommend a Winter Getaway Hotel/B&B?

Miko — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:40:35 -0800

Can you recommend a good winter getaway hotel or B&B in Northern New England? Hoped-for criteria inside. So my sweetie and I would like to go away for a midwinter weekend in January or February. We are not downhill ski people, so ski areas are not necessarily what we're looking for, though we would enjoy walking or hiking or fun, recreational snow activities and maybe some XC ski if it were available. Something cozy, romantic, and remote-feeling would be just the ticket.

So I think the best way to do this is to describe what this place would be like in my sparkly fantasy of such a trip, and then see how close we can get based on recommendations.

-located anywhere in Northern New England (not CT or RI). We would also consider Cape Cod, though, but not the North or South Shore of MA.
-an old Victorian or farmhouse-style building that has that sort of rambling character surrounded by scenery that's nice to look at (woods, fields, ocean, doesn't really matter as long as it's pretty)
-serves breakfast and maybe some other meals
-has nice touches like cocoa and cookies or cider or an evening port to suprise you
-has really comfy rooms with really comfy beds, rooms that you want to spend time in
-fireplaces in the rooms, or even just in other parts of the building that you can feel comfortable lounging in
-good parlor or reading room, maybe some puzzles and games around, for really quiet pastimes
-offers some kind of winter outdoor recreation like hiking, snowshoeing, ice skating, maybe sledding, dare I say sleighride...
-friendly but hands-off hosts who know how to give guests space

NH/MA/ME with the family

Addlepated — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:06:33 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for family friendly day trips centered around Portsmouth, NH in August. We're going to be in Portsmouth for a week in August with our kids, 10 and 8 year old girls. We do have some stuff we've got on the agenda (a visit to Salem, MA and a pilgrimage to Red's Eats), but I'm looking for other recommendations. I think the girls would love stuff like gazing at tide pools or playing in the surf - where's the best place to do those things? But other suggestions for must-see things would be great (a previous AskMe mentioned Old Sturbridge Village, for example - is this worth the trip?).

I'd like to keep stuff less than 2 hours drive away from Portsmouth. Other restrictions: no boat stuff (seasickness), and our weekend is taken up with other plans so no weekend-only stuff.

Oh! And will there still be people selling wild blueberries on the side of the road in August? Please say yes!

What are your favorite coastal towns and local treasures along the northeastern US seaboard?

cior — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:17:10 -0800

What are your favorite coastal towns and local treasures along the northeastern US seaboard? I'm taking a month off to sail from NYC up the northeastern US seaboard. I've never spent time in this region beyond layovers and brief visits to major cities for work.

Not terribly outdoorsy, so I'm mostly looking for small town adventures, historical spots, insider tips, quaintness, hole-in-wall eateries and bars, special experiences. I may spend a few nights ashore along the way, so if you have a favorite B&B or inn, feel free to share.

When able, I'll be renting a bike to increase my land-based range, but for the sake of simplicity, my needs are limited to actual by-the-sea opportunities that can be reached on foot from a marina.

I love research, so simple hints are more than enough. I'm not looking for the community to replace a travel agent.

Travel in the NewEngland states. A little help please?

filmgeek — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:38:37 -0800

Travel plans through the Northeast (New England States) Looking for the fun/quirky ideas. Myself and my g/f - we know we want to travel in the New England area for about week (from Aug 7th-12th). We're cheap and we like to keep it that way (but don't want to camp in tents.)

We're thinking about going to the Arlington craft sale in VT on sat the 8th and the Mystic Outdoor festival on the 9th...

And beyond that, we don't know. We're mobile, adults (late 30s), I've traveled more than she has; but this is a first (a random cartrip vacation together.) She's never been to a BnB (so kitchy little cheaper ones are good...)

Not so interested in food festivals, but a brewery visit is fine...music festivals aren't our cup of tea either. Also a no-go anything involving the caging of animals (circuses and zoos make the baby jesus cry.)

Maybe a meetup (or crashing at a mefi's place) would be fun too.

C'mon - Give us your best. Feel free to toss in quirky or touristy 'don't miss' things

Help Me Make Old New England New.

MasonDixon — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:38:40 -0800

Obscure New England? I've seen the best, what about the rest? What quirky, "second tier," and out of the way places have I missed? My SO and I have been all over New England, we've seen the big stuff, especially the major stuff along the coasts. So . . .

What quirky, unique, oddball, hidden gems or secretly awesome places have we not been to?

What seldom visited state parks, by-way diners, unusual attractions, great picnic spots, attractions from an earlier age and things only-the-locals-would-know can you suggest?

Where did I eat this cod?

MasonDixon — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 07:19:25 -0800

North of Boston on the coast. There was a crumbling fort, a small beach and a cute little restaurant. My wife and I often take daytrips during summer to towns and parks on Massachusett's North Shore, and have been doing so for few years. But we have no idea where this place was:

As I remember it, this location was an island, an overlarge spit of land, or a peninsula --a relatively small self-contained sort of area. It was reached by a narrow out of the way road, which at the time we went was blocked for a voluntary toll by fundraising local firefighters.

The outstanding features were a crumbling stone/brick fort which was a couple of hundred yards away from a cute restaurant with pretty decent fish and chips. The restaurant was adjoined by a small shop or convenience store and was right on/overlooking the beach. A beach and a narrow road stretched between the restaurant/shop and the fort. It was fairly crowded, parking at least was somewhat difficult.

I am fairly certain it was in Massachusetts though there is a very small possibility it could have been in coastal New Hampshire or in Maine, but certainly no further north than Portland.