Things to do in the Northeast?

[IrishMeg]

My mom and I are taking a trip to the northeast in early September. We are flying into Providence, RI and heading straight to Boston. We'll spend a two days there seeing the sights and then we'll head out of there. We're planning on seeing Plymouth Rock (mainly just because we've never seen it) and probably also Salem.

After that, we aren't sure what we want to do. We will have a rental car and about 3 days to do whatever we want. We're from Florida, so we'll probably avoid the beaches.


Any ideas what else we could see while we are up there? We love to drive and are very laidback about traveling. We kind of take it one day at a time and just 'see what we see.' We are flying out of Hartford, CT.

TIA!

[LTJC]

September is a great time to be in the Boston and surrounding area! As a native, I would recommend walking around Harvard Square in Cambridge and the North End and Newbury St. in Boston. Lots of restaurants, shopping and general people watching. With all of the college students inundating the city, it's an exciting time to be in Boston. The South End of Boston is a thriving area as well.

Farther out is Walden Pond in Concord where Thoreau lived for a brief time. It is a great place to swim or walk around. There was even a Matt Damon sighting last week. :)

The Berkshires - tons of culture and loads of B&Bs if you want a break from the city.

Have a great time!

[amew]

Touring the mansions in Newport, RI can be really fun.

[Juliana]

Hi- I'm a native New Englander, and it is a great place to visit. The first place that came into my mind was Newport, RI. While it's definitely a little pricey, it has so much to offer- beautiful scenery, great dining and shopping, and gorgeous mansions to tour. Definitely check out many of the mansions there as well as the Cliff Walk area. There is a thread with Newport recs further down in the travel section- page 2 I think.

[IrishMeg]

Thank you for responding so quickly. Those are great suggestions! I have put them all on my list. Thank you!

Touring the mansions in Newport, RI can be really fun.

Someone else told me this. I think we will definitely try to get there!

[kiddo]

Honestly, I'd put the Plymouth rock thing at the bottom of your list. It is very disappointing.

Newport is a definite must see and Salem is cool. And of course, Boston!

[IrishMeg]

Honestly, I'd put the Plymouth rock thing at the bottom of your list. It is very disappointing

Yeah, I've heard. My mom wants to see it so she can say she did. She's a travel agent, so she always does the the obligatory stops when we are on a trip. Personally, I'd rather skip it but since its important to her I'll do it.

[Photobug]

Cape Cod and Rockport (MA) are good places to visit if you like the artsy/boutique shopping experience.

If you want to head out to central Mass, there's a lot of good antiquing (if you are into antiques, don't miss the Brimfield Antique Show (http://www.brimfieldshow.com/) .

I definitely recommend Old Sturbridge Village (http://www.osv.org) and if you are going to be visiting during September, I would also recommend visiting the Eastern States Exposition (http://www.thebige.com) (or the Big E, as it's known around here).

[IrishMeg]

Thank you for the links, Photobug! :)

[jarm]

Mystic is nice. They have a nice aquarium, a cute little shopping village, and if you've ever seen the movie Mystic Pizza, the real one is in downtown Mystic.