Beer-cation to NE

For Mystic, if you are there Thursday - Sunday, hit up Beer'd. Excellent beer and the scene is fine for a 4 1/2 year old. The brewery tasting room space is small, but there's a huge common area in the old mill they are in where my 5 and 3 year old enjoy running around. Definite stop if you are there a day they are open.

You could easily hit Grey Sail in Westerly on your way out of town to Boston. Good beers as well.

With just one kid, I would actually recommend possibly trying The Whalers Inn in Mystic. The rooms are small, but the location is fantastic. Puts you walking distance to most of the major Mystic Restaurants / bars. Probably cheaper than air bnb from what I've seen.

I'd recommend The Engine Room and Pizetta for beer selection and the food is good (not great) at both. The Oyster Club has excellent food and a small but good beer selection, as well. I've brought the previously mentioned kids to The Engine Room and Pizetta multiple times. I brought one of them as an infant to The Oyster Club ... been there sans kids every other time so haven't paid attention to its kid friendliness.

Final Mystic thing, lots of nice wineries in the area if you want to do that. Pretty good wine and excellent scenery. Jonathan Edwards is my personal favorite but Stonington and Saltwater Farm (very close to Beer'd) are nice too.

Also, your three city destinations will put Tree House very far out of your way on the way (as you will be sticking to the I-95 corridor). If you are going home from Portland via Mass Pike to 84 then Tree House is on the way home.

There are threads on each of the three locations you can find with a search too (way more on Boston and Portland though).

 

In MA, Trillium and Castle Island are off rte 95. Night Shift in Everett is close enough to Boston. Also a little bias because they are in my town Bog Iron in Norton MA does some great beers.

In Maine are the usually suspects. But try to find some or go to Banded Horn and Bunker. Also Rising Tide Maine Island Trail Ale is soon to be released.

 

Treehouse is not really on the path coming up I-95 from Mystic (about 1.5 hours west of 95/90 intersection). And I'd not consider it kid-friendly unless your 4.5 year old likes standing in a line outside so you can buy beer. Trillium would be fine, I see kids at the Canton location all the time.

 

If you travel home via I-84 west and then south once in NY or PA, Treehouse is on the way. Since you won't be going to Mystic, I think that's a workable idea. I'd add that Old Sturbridge Village is very close to Treehouse and is an interesting place to visit, kind of like Mystic Seaport.

 

I second beer'd which is in stonington CT (close to mystic). My wife and I always hit up a Mexican restaurant in stonington that has real good food and margaritas! Also, agree that there are good wineries in the area.

Grey Sail and especially Ptoclamation would be slight detours off I95 in southern RI and worth a stop. Good beaches in southern RI!

 

In Portland you should be hitting Foundation and Austin St.

 

Seems like people mentioned a lot of great beer options for your travels, so I will throw a few answers to the "good family stuff" part of you question.

The Aquarium in Mystic will be great, there is also the Mystic Seaport for historical stuff, and Old Mystic Village for shopping and food.

Boston, the list is too large, but The Children's Museum is walking distance to the Fort Point Trillium location. And you family could hang out outside of the museum by the water while you run and grab some bottles.

Portland and the area have ton of family friendly options. Whale watches, scenic beaches, amusement parks (Old Orchard, Saco). Freeport (MBC) has the big LL Bean store and tons of outlets. I have been to the Little Tap House with children, its a good option for food and beer. Liquid Riot during the day for lunch and a few brews (gets crowded at night, more like a bar).

 

What people have already said is a good start. Of the Portland breweries - Oxbow, Rising Tide, and Bunker are not what I would call kid friendly. Allagash, Bissell (if they haven't moved by then), Foundation, Austin Street - all in one corner of an industrial park that is actually a nice setting and definitely kid friendly - see families there all the time. Plenty to do in Portland, plenty of places to eat and explore. And of course shopping...

Ummm...Maine Beer isn't particularly child friendly either - small tasting room, some outdoor space, but right on the road and I didn't find their staff to be particularly friendly on my last stop there - maybe a bad day. Of course, Freeport center and LL Bean are right up the street so you could easily split up.

Search Portland and Boston in this forum and you'll find tons more stuff. Wife and I usually stay in Ogunquit, ME in between Portland, ME and Portsmouth, NH/Kittery, ME.

Don't underestimate your driving time either - tolls/traffic are a PITA, and construction at the most inopportune times is the sixth major sport in New England....baseball, football, hockey, basketball, politics, construction!

 

Treehouse might be hard to work into your schedule. If you go too late on the weekend, they might already be out of everything good. Thursdays are the best for getting good releases, but they are also wild. tH is far out of the way and can require long waits.

Truthfully, if you have plenty of other places in mind, dont suck up too much time going to TH. You can always trade for most of the cans, and i doubt your daughter will be too interested in multiple hours of driving to wait in lines

 

1) Treehouse is absolutely worth it and kid friendly, for the most part. Lines suck though.

2) When traveling 95 north from Boston to Portland, in a small city called Portsmouth on the border of NH and ME, is an awesome brewpub called Portsmouth Brewing Company. Affiliated with Smuttynose, great beer, food is phenomenal, absolutely worth a stop and almost never have to wait for a table.

3) Allagash in Portland ME is absolutely worth a trip. Brewery is beautiful. Just make sure to schedule a tour ahead of time.

 

Tree House is about an hour out of the way from Mystic to Boston. Philly to Portland is a seven hour drive and you're making it a beercation. You could take a flight shorter than seven hours from Philly to San Francisco or Paris and skip the Golden Gate Bridge or Eiffel Tower while you were there because it would take you a half hour each way and the hour of your time wasn't worth it. That would make about as much sense. Go to Tree House.

 

Agree that some breweries are more kid friendly. I live in Portland My 3 y/o gets bored at most Rising tide literally has a playground across the street which ishould nice. MBC never works out small with no outdoor space. Industrial way is fine, all spill into the parking lot. Don't forget alla gash! If your looking for more kid centric stuff in Portland feel free to message me.

 

Boston children's museum, Trillium, fort point market, row 34. All within a few blocks of each other. Perfect afternoon. Throw in the Boston tea party museum if you wanna add a little history.

 

To be realistic ... Mystic to Boston is about 1 hour and 40 minutes (traffic neutral). Mystic to Treehouse is that same distance with a guaranteed line and wait for beer. Then Treehouse to Boston is about 90 minutes (without traffic). With a family in tow ... This is a detour not an alternative route.

 

Tree House is a must-do, imho. Best. Beer. Ever. There are long lines, but the people are great, it's organized in that they pass out little cards from which you select what beer and how much; they limit you to can/bottle purchases and in MA you can only use TREE HOUSE GROWLERS!! I brought up a bunch of growlers from PA to use but you aren't allowed. So you need to borrow some TH Liter bottles and/or growlers before you go. I made my wife and son stand in line with me so i could score some extra cans/bottles(alter ego in cans, double shot in bottles) and i spent about $300 just for beer/bottles. worth it, especially for the fresh Julius, though I like Haze better. Alter Ego is a fine beer, and there are others that i would like to try as well, but it all depends on what they are brewing on the day you go. People start lining up around noon for a 5 pm opening. i was number 100 in line, and took about half an hour to get my cans/bottles and another half hour to wait for them to fill my growlers. Not too bad. there were about 500 people in line; i got there 1 1/2 hours early, have always had great talks with others in line, they come from all over the country, and it is 98% dudes in line, so broapolooza to be sure. Across the street is an ice cream place with baby goats, so that is an option for the family if you wait in line by yourself. Sturbridge is nearby if you like history. It's about half hour from 84 as you are heading to Boston from Hartford, and a scenic route. VT is really the place to go for a beercation; fiddlehead, alchemist, hill farmstead, lawsons, etc. make it a prime destination, plus it's Vermont.