Road Trip!! Allegany, Adirondack, green mountains, white mountains
August 30, 2016 4:52 PM   Subscribe

We'll be driving east on our annual Maine trip starting Saturday the 3rd. For 3 whole weeks this time! Want places in PA, NY, VT & NH to camp, hike, eat, drink & sightsee.

We'll be driving east on our annual Maine trip starting Saturday the 3rd. For 3 whole weeks!! Squeee!! Anyway, we'll be living in our highly luxurious 25 year old "class B" camper van, (tentatively named Maria Magdalena Campervan Beethoven, for...reasons) and would like your input. We would like some reason to like Ohio, because Ohio is in the way. We can get through Indiana OK, but if anybody knows any lovely over night spots in Ohidaho.... Sorry, Idahio... woops! Idowa. OK.... That state south of Michigan, we'd love to hear about 'em. We've had some somewhat less than pleasant camping experiences along Lake Erie ( I'm looking at you Geneva On The Lake!) So we're heading south, along 80, thinking of spending our first night at Mosquito Lake State Park because, hey! Marketing! And "Pestilence Crick State Park" is full. I also want your favorite spots between there and Acadia National Park. We like moderate hikes, we'll have bikes, and we have a wide variety of likes. We love art, love to cook, and like any quirky, unusual attractions along the way. We're from Wisconsin, so any particularly noteworthy pubs, bars or taverns on the route would be welcome. We've mapped out a Vermont beer trail for one day, but basically, if you'd just imagine your dream trip in that neck of the woods, tell us about it! We do this route every year, so we know the territory, but 3 whole weeks!!! Thanks.
posted by Floydd to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I just came back from Acadia, and every time I drive through Maine I'm astounded how large it is... We stayed northeast of the actual parks, in the pretty decent, but somewhat retro Mainayr Campsite . If you can get the sites on the cove it's totally worth it, and super quiet compared to the sites closer to Acadia. Additional benefit, it's near both Winter Harbor as well as the Tidal Falls at Frenchman bay which are pretty neat to have lunch by.

Along the way, I always like a stop in the Portsmouth Brewery, which has really good beer and wonderful food. However, Portsmouth is pretty terrible for parking a regular car, I have no idea how to manage an RV in town.... It may also be too far south for you.

I personally really like the quieter Winter Harbor part of Acadia National park, it seemed perfect for biking.

Otherwise, you probably already know the other tricks...
posted by larthegreat at 5:11 PM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Do you know your route?
A favorite camping place is Button bay State park. The park grounds aren't amazing but it's perched on this spot on Champlain that the light is just beautiful. i think that corner of Vermont is one of the very prettiest and I have done my homework! It's basically in Vergennes -it is a great little town with 3 great places to eat.
Go north to Shelburne Museum. It is maybe my favorite places in New England. It's tough to describe but if you like art/history in the least bit, I feel like it's a must.
Museum of
I like St Gaudens National park over the border from Vermont into NH.
You might like the museum of everyday life
There's also the spider web farm.

Leaving Vermont...

Near Acadia, in Lamoine I love Seal Cove Farm. On Fridays and Saturdays they bake and serve pizza outside. BYOB.
posted by ReluctantViking at 5:41 PM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]


Best answer: A few ideas:
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:17 PM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]


What's your route through Ohio?
posted by ChuraChura at 12:34 AM on August 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I agree with Johnny Assay that I-86 is visually nicer than I-90 through New York State but lord, the road quality is the pits, especially through the reservations.

Also, CMOG and MassMOCA are definitely worth the stop. We just made our annual pilgrimage to CMOG two weeks ago and it's pretty fantastic. Also, they have a glass studio where you can "make" a variety of doodads (pendant to globe sculpture). The smaller stuff (lampwork pendant) is more hands-on than the globe (where you mainly pick colors and provide the breath to inflate the globe). My wife and step-son have loads of fun doing that every year. Visit the town (across the river). They have some good restaurants and stores.

I'm guessing your route through NYS to MA is I-90. If that's the case, here are a few thoughts:
  • I've been hiking in the Red House Allegany State Park and it's beautiful. The hikes are quite easy.
  • Eternal Flame Falls in Orchard Park, NY - it's about 15 minutes off I-90. Parking is by the side of the road, the hike in is easy and less than a mile.
  • You'll probably stop by Niagara Falls. If you do, the best donuts in the world are at Frankie's, about 3 blocks from the falls. Bring your enhanced driver's license or passport because it's worth going across the bridge to Canada to really see the falls.
  • In Buffalo, there are a few brewpubs but Resurgence Brewing Company seems pretty popular. Stop by Black Rock Beverage and pick up some locally bottled pop (or soda) in cute 10oz glass Pop Shoppe bottles. They have everything from soda (which beats Coke/Pepsi by a mile) to birch beer, peach, lime, strawberry, grape... at least a dozen flavors. You may want wings. Anchor Bar is the traditional "invented in Buffalo" but Duff's are considered better by locals. Two of our favorite places to eat in Buffalo are Sato Ramen (get the tonkotsu ramen) and La Divina Mexican Store (they serve tacos that are out of this world). Try to visit Canalside and the Outer Harbor, if you can. Both are beautiful parts of Buffalo. You can take the bike ferry from Canalside to the Outer Harbors for $5.
  • Rochester has the excellent Eastman Museum, which happens to have a national parks exhibit up until Oct 2.
  • Just past and north of Rochester is Chimney Bluffs State Park. Really cool, dramatic and you can climb all over them.
  • In the Adirondacks, I can recommend Old Forge: it's a beautiful little town. Long Lake has sea planes that look like a lot of fun. The Cranberry Lake campground is really nice and a number of nifty hikes in the campgrounds and nearby. Two places near there I can recommend are the old Benson Mines tailing hill (it's the sandy looking area). On the ground, it looks like the surface of Mars. And this is just a quick stop, but the entrance to the NYCO wollastonine mine at Remington Corners usually has a big pile of brilliant white wollastonite for the taking (they put it out for the rockhounds). Depending on your route, you may want to stop in Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake.
  • If you're going through Massachusetts and going to MassMOCA, take Rt 2 to Greenfield (worth a stop) then Rt 5 to 116 to Amherst and Northampton. There's a really cool bookstore in Montague if that's your thing. You'll pass Mt. Sugarloaf on 116: it offers a beautiful view of the Pioneer Valley. Bub's BBQ in Sunderland (just down the road) is fantastic. In Amherst, if the water is still warm, Puffer's Pond is fun to swim in. Amherst is nice to walk around. Emily Dickinson's home (and grave) are in town. Hasting's is worth stopping in. Over in Northampton, go to Thorne's Marketplace and Faces (I think they still have the Art-o-mat). Smith College has a nice but small greenhouse/botanical garden next to their pond. Miss Florence Diner, a little outside Northampton, is a must see.

posted by jdfan at 3:17 AM on September 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers! We'll be heading out on 80 and probably back on 90 through Ohio and PA, then off through the hinterlands into NY VT NH and into ME. We'll avoid MA this year, but this is an annual trip and it's on the short list for next year, unless we decide to go through Canada again.
posted by Floydd at 7:48 AM on September 1, 2016


I'm too far south to be helpful in Ohio, but if you want to improve your feelings about the Buckeye State, come visit us in Columbus!
posted by ChuraChura at 9:30 AM on September 2, 2016


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