I'm traveling to Eastern Massachusetts for work for around 10-11 days, but I'll have a weekend and maybe one or two weekdays to clown around. To maximize the visit, what is the best itinerary? I plan to fly my girlfriend out while I'm working because we've never been to New England, and we'd both like to experience it. What are the best things to do? Bonus points if I can do something "off the beaten path" and can really impress my girlfriend.
I personally like nature, museums, bars, and odd things. My girlfriend loves all the stereotypical girl cutesy shit
Go to Ben and Jerry's in Vermont. Women love that shit. The drive through the mountains is pretty.
The Mad River Valley in Vermont is nice. I'd definitely recommend Vermont for one weekend, it's the only place I've been that was like the idealized version in my head, at least just to visit
It is beautiful there. Currently flooded out though. Ít great for tourists and outdoors things. Absolutely beautiful. Bút tough long term
The Mapparium in Boston is a pretty interesting sight
Drive up route 127 through Salem Manchester Gloucester Rockport then over to Essex Ipswich and Newburyport kinda a greatest hits of coastal New England that could be done in weekend and can go whale watching fishing and seafood etc
Also include Hampton Beach in New Hampshire for the full coast experience
Do Maine and Massachusetts basically mog Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut? I have no basis for that feeling, just in my gut
Yes, though that's largely because Maine is the biggest one and Massachusetts is the most populous so there's just more to do.
not at all, Vermont and NH are beautiful and incredibly idyllic, Maine is nice too but no mountains comparatively, nothing significant outside portland and the coast, Massachusetts is all city and not very pretty.
Maine's mountains might not compare to VT or NH in quantity or scale but Baxter State Park is hard to beat. The amount of wilderness in the state compared to the other two is a huge plus. Not that you have to work all that hard to find relative seclusion in NH or VT.
I wouldn't completely dump on Mass either. Glad I moved out of the state but once you leave Boston you do get the little towns on the North Shore, Berkshires, Pioneer Valley, and of course the Cape and islands.
At the very least I'm sure we can agree that CT and RI are firmly at the bottom of the list.
RI gets hate but the island itself is top tier, classically new england, Providence also has a decent city center despite all the shit parts
Where did you move to? Why?
NH. Still close to family and friends but it's comparatively affordable and quiet. It's not quite the freedom loving paradise that the libertarians here want to make it out to be but it's headed in a better direction compared to the rest of New England.
That's where I want to move to, Massachusetts is going downhill rapidly
It's really sad to see but equally unavoidable. It's the spirit of the age and only going to get worse before it gets better.
As long as you don't bring any of that baggage with you then come on up.
>It's not quite the freedom loving paradise that the libertarians here want to make it out to be
Yeah, at the end of the day all the Dominicans are right across the border in Lawrence and Lowell. But Mass itself is not bad at all. It can be boring, and I used to hate living in Mass. But the older I get, the less I can see myself living anywhere else.
Everything is just so damn functional. The traffic sucks but other places have it way worse. If you're upper middle class it's comfy.
I think I all the travel brought about by teenage suburban angst has made me realize that other places are shitholes in their own ways. Mass is actually pretty good. You can have a big house in the North Shore and world-class amenities in Boston at your fingertips.
People are down-to-earth and even nice, in their blunt American way. No fake politeness, but real warmth. Boomers will start conversations with you in the waiting room at the doctor's. If you don't mess around in the ghetto, brown people won't be a problem. Hard to be upset at the way things are when the sun is out, you've got cash and the love of a beautiful young woman. This place can't be beat for raising a family. If you don't like public schools and you can't afford a private one, there's plenty of people homeschooling you can connect with, this being America.
The sun setting at 4pm in winter is fucking depressing though, climate change sure ain't fixing that. Humans think we're so advanced, but it doesn't take much for us to be happy.
Boston is arguably pretty
>Massachusetts is all city and not very pretty
Yeah okay
Vermont and New Hampshire are quite distinct from each other, although their lifestyles have some similarities. New Hampshire is much more politically conservative and development-friendly, so commercial districts can be very spread-out. It is the boonies outside of town, with rustic homes hidden in clearings on rocky forested hills. Vermont's life focuses on its historic downtown districts in small towns across the state, as well as rural farm restaurants, farm stores, and other rural establishments. Vermont's countryside tends to be more small farms, at least in the valleys.
I would go to Portland and fight the homeless Angolan refugees
Is this a thing? I don't want my trip ruined by coloreds
I just got back and the African refugees were protesting for more gibs. It used to be a beautiful spot but now it's basically Detroit of the Atlantic coast.
I think they're mostly in Lewiston and Portland. No reason to visit the former and for the most part you wont notice them in Portland but if you do it's a sad reminder that there's a small but intense segment of the Maine population intent on self-destruction that imported them.
Its quite the contrast. Only 10 years ago, less than really. Portland, Maine was a very lovely spot to enjoy a weekend trip with your loved ones. Safe, quiet port city with cheap accomodation outside peak season. Now, it's being flooded.
I went to Burlington Vermont a few months ago. A lot of blacks, and about 2/3rds of the Uber drivers there were nasty Indian/Bangladeshi types.
>Arrive at BTV
>Going to do a quick stop at Mcdonalds (already ordered over the app, its ready) then go to the hotel which is around the corner from it basically. Total: $45 USD for a 7 minute trip from the airport.
>Indian(?) Uber driver gets nasty, saying he doesnt want to stop. Waste of his time. There's other customers
>Tell him he shouldn't have accepted it.
He realized then & there I'm not some white guilt liberal tard, tried to hide his car a bit up the street (about a minute walk from where he parked where he dropped me off) so he could cancel.
Nope. Found him anyways after popping in for literally 25 seconds for my food. We drove to the hotel, he dropped me off, and I called uber to get a full refund and left him a 1 star review. What a dumbass. Should've kept his mouth shut. Hopefully he goes back to his shit hole.
Burlington is really on the decline
I still think that from a tourism perspective you won't really notice it if you do the typical tourist things people do in Portland. Going to all the breweries and restaurants, taking boats out to the islands, seeing the lighthouses, walking the promenade, etc really reduces your interactions and keeps you safe. Obviously Maine is an extraordinarily safe state and Portland an extremely safe city. I would say you should take an active step further and make sure to avoid patronizing any businesses owned by them, don't stay in Airbnbs run by them, avoid Uber, etc etc
Connecticut - New Haven you could do in half day or a day. That's probably all I would bother with in that state.
Rhode Island - Go to Newport, for the cliff walk/mansions is kinda different, women love the photo ops there. You can go downtown and have nice seafood too. Worth a day trip, probably better than spending time in Providence.
Massachusetts - Cape Cod can be fun, but Provincetown is a bit of a hike (can take a ferry over) and crowded in the summer, but whale watching is actually nice. Would skip Nantucket and if you really want an island, pick Martha's Vineyard instead and rent a bike, stay in Hyannis on the mainland and take the ferry over.
Salem is also a fun experience outside of the hordes of people in October.
For Boston, Fenway is a classic ball park, otherwise probably spend time in Back Bay (bitches love Newbury Street) and the Commons, MassArt (not modern art museum, that shit is degenerate) or better yet Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Bitches love Seaport too but it's very commercial/millennial shit. North End is nice for a small Italian dinner and a bakery.
New Hampshire - this time of year, you could hike but no real skiing. The littles towns are nice but probably you could look into Hampton Beach, the boardwalk can be fun.
Vermont - Better place to visit in winter if you like skiing, and the leaves aren't quite changing yet, but Burlington along the lake is beautiful.
Maine - If you're willing to drive up, Bar Harbor can be nice but it's packed in the summers. Portland and seeing lighthouses, going to the breweries, etc women seem to enjoy.
you can also take a ferry from new bedford and avoid the cape completely. Which would be a good idea in July on weekend. Or take a ferry from plymouth to p-town and pretend your a pilgrim on the way back
Block Island, RI