Overnight trip ideas from Hartford for this weekend?
August 21, 2015 7:31 AM   Subscribe

My SO and I are looking for ideas for an overnight trip from the Hartford area this weekend. We were originally going to go to Providence for Waterfire, but it looks like rain so I'm looking for other suggestions.

We could drive up to about 2 hours each way. We like Northampton, Mystic, Narragansett, Boston, NYC...all of those are on the table, but I'm looking for somewhere we haven't already spent much time. Looking for somewhere with good restaurants and good people watching. Thanks for any suggestions!
posted by Shadow Boxer to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
How about Newport? I'd also say going to the museums at Yale, but I'm guessing it's student move-in weekend and may be a mess.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:37 AM on August 21, 2015


Best answer: Brattleboro? Such good food there. Peter Havens, TJ Buckley's, Three stones. They have a great bookstore, Brattleboro books and a terrific place to stop on the way "montague Book Mill".

It's less than an hour and a half away.
posted by ReluctantViking at 7:38 AM on August 21, 2015 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Well, depending on how weird you like to be, the NecronomiCon (Lovecraft convention) is still on here in Providence, so you could still use your hotel reservation. And I have to believe the people-watching there will be pretty amazing.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:48 AM on August 21, 2015




We like Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Cute little town on the water. Cute shops, nice downtown. Good brewery.
posted by smackfu at 8:08 AM on August 21, 2015 [2 favorites]


CT Open tennis is starting this weekend in New Haven. Brattleboro is a cool town as mentioned above.

You could also do a stay-cation and hit the Wadsworth and Bear's BBQ, follow up with some hiking in Glastonbury, Hebron or Farmington if the weather holds. Or day-trip to the Litchfield area and the northwest corner of Connecticut and explore the hills up there.

Is antiquing your thing at all? This seems like potentially a weekend to be inside shops full of old junk. I'd drive through MA and VT and find a hotel up there for the night in whatever direction you land in, after just driving around and exploring for a while.
posted by slateyness at 8:15 AM on August 21, 2015


Best answer: Seconding the Bookmill recommendation, especially if you hit it on the way to somewhere fun to stay overnight. They have a restaurant there, the Alvah Stone, that I haven't been to but one of my coworkers swears is the best restaurant around (and if you know the general Western Mass area, you know that's really saying something).

Have you spent any time in Amherst? It's very small, but there are some really cool things to do there. You can visit Emily Dickinson's grave (and her house, though I actually liked that less), and the college has a little natural history museum that is surprisingly awesome. There's a fun art-y cinema right in town too if you're into that sort of thing. (Do check and make sure it's not college move-in weekend, though.)
posted by catoclock at 8:46 AM on August 21, 2015


Beacon, NY is nice for a visit to the Dia. Lenox MA is also nice for a visit to The Mount. Newport, RI for mansions and yachties. You could also possibly take the ferry over to Port Jefferson and spend some time on the North Shore of Long Island.
posted by rdnnyc at 8:58 AM on August 21, 2015


Williamstown, Mass and Washington Depot, Conn are both nice places to check out. Not as much to do as Boston or Amherst, but both have pleasant downtowns, good food, bookstores and lots of beautiful New England scenery. Williams College has an amazing art museum, too.
posted by zippy at 12:18 PM on August 21, 2015


In addition to Northampton, which is my "go to":

Greenfield, MA,
Brattleboro, VT (and, God yes, Three Stones, but you need to make reservations),
Hudson, NY,
Williamstown, MA (WTF is still going on),
New Haven, CT (Yale move-in date is next week)
posted by Betelgeuse at 12:46 PM on August 21, 2015


Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Brattleboro sounds perfect, especially with the Book Mill on the way.
posted by Shadow Boxer at 8:17 AM on August 22, 2015


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