Any itineraries for 3 days around Boston/New England?

[dzorug]

Hi, does anyone have suggestions for a 3-day trip on Sept 16-19 starting and ending in Cambridge, MA? The quirkier the better! I've seen fall foliage itineraries, but I'm worried that the colors may not have turned so early. Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Kenneth

[AZBuck]

There will be some color at that time of year, and it's always worth having a peep at it. In late September, the color is best in central Vermont, northern New Hampshire, and northwestern Maine. For some historic records of where the best color is, and for current reports once the change starts this fall, check out The Foliage Network.

As it happens, these regions also contain some of the quirkiest sites in New England (IMHO). You could make a nice trip of heading up the center of Vermont - there are few roads better than VT-100 for quiet beauty. Check out Coolidge's home town of Plymouth. Drive across the floating bridge in Brookfield. Wander among the truly unique gravestones in Hope Cemetary outside Barre. Stop at the library/theatre in Derby Line where the audience sits in the US while the actors are on stage in Canada.

Continue across northern New Hampshire on either NH-110 or NH-26. While not as famous as the Kancamagus Highway, these routes are still quite nice and won't be nearly as crowded. Maybe stop in Dixville Notch, a town that becomes famous every 4 years as every registered voter turns out at midnight to cast the first votes counted for president. Take a moose tour in Berlin/Gorham. Wander around the Rangely Lakes in Maine. See the Stanley Museum (the steam powered cars) in Kingfield. Finally wander back down the western Maine border on one of my favorite roads in that area, ME-113.

Hope these suggestions help. If you've got other specific desires, speak up. I just came back from visiting family in northern New Hampshire and as a house gift, I put together a 'book' of things to do in northern New England, so I've got more suggestions than can be quickly listed here.

AZBuck

[Quebec Gen]

Kenneth,
If you like nature and mountain hiking, you'll be spoiled! Like AZBuck said, New England is very colourful during the fall. Head to the White Mountains, the Green Mountains and to Baxter State Park in ME. If you're more of the lazy kind, you can still drive up Mt Washington to catch a glimpse of the beautiful scenery and the autumn leaves. If you want to go accross the border, Mts Orford and Owl's Head in Quebec are magnificient during the fall. Maybe if you tell us more about you, we could help you better.

AZBuck,

Stop at the library/theatre in Derby Line where the audience sits in the US while the actors are on stage in Canada.

That building is the Haskell Opera House built in 1904. Apparently, the architects (one Canadian and one American) intended to make it a small scale version of the old Boston Opera House. 60% of the building is in Stanstead, QC and the other 40% is in Derby Line, VT. A few miles west of the Haskell, in Beebe Plain (Stanstead) you will find Canusa St (Can-USA), one side of the street is in Canada and the other in the US.

Gen:-)