New England trip advice please

Is this trip wide open, or do you have a basic itinerary put together? Which of the 6 NE states will you be visiting (obv MA and VT, but which others)?

 

This doesn't involve any of the local heavy hitters, but you could do a lot worse than to head up to the Salem/Ipswich/Gloucester corridor in MA for a day to hit some beaches/waterfront, explore some history, have some seafood (fried clams are a specialty), and check out a few breweries. Notch, Ipswich, and Cape Ann all make great beer and have fun taprooms in that area.

There's some good cider up that way too if that's of interest to anyone in your crew. Have a blast whatever you do!

 

In addition to @meefmoff suggestions (some of which is do-able by train from Boston), you could make a day out of the Boston Harbor Islands (http://www.bostonharborislands.org). I'd suggest booking tickets asap if you're interested.

The ferry terminal is centrally located - about 1/2 mile from the Trillium beer garden and is relatively close to a bunch of popular beer bars/restaurants in the financial district/seaport/downtown (Gingerman, Tip Tap Room, Stoddards, Row 34, etc. )

 

Portland, ME is a great destination for beer and non-beer tourists. The downtown area has tons of great restaurant and shops. The big breweries (Bissell, Foundation, Allagash) are on the edge of town and require a car ride to get to, but it's worth the trip if you want to bring beers home. Allagash offers free samples for everyone over 21.

 

Portsmouth NH is a great beer town and on the way from Boston to Portland. I'd hit those three and get in:

MA
Trillium
Nightshift

NH
Smutty
Stoneface

ME
Bissell
Alagash

 

Portland is beautiful. Foodie heaven. Get breakfast at Marcie's Diner and order a Panwich.

In Boston, walk the Freedom Trail, go up in the Prudential Center, go to the Aquarium, take a duck boat tour, walk the Common and Public Garden, have lunch on the Legal Harborside deck (close to Trillium Fort Point), go down the street from Legal to the Institute of Contemporary Art, try to see the Gardner Museum, and walk Newbury Street for great shopping, peoplewatching and food. Oh, and a whale-watching cruise - leaves from the aquarium - is pretty awesome.

If Vermont is a consideration, and it definitely should be, the Shelburne Museum is unique and awesome and about five minutes away from Fiddlehead. Also if you're up in that area, go to Foam Brewers and enjoy the fantastic Lake Champlian waterfront.

 

If you head up Vermont way, give us a call. We're surrounded by Alchemist, Hill Farmstead, Kingdom Brewery, 14th Star, Rock Art, Switchback, Fiddlehead and the rest. We do a beer tour twice a year, but if you come up any other time we'll give you some great tips on where to sample -- and even have a few in our beer fridge for overnight guests!

 

It's a lot of ground to cover that area in just 5 days in my opinion. I think you'd be best off looking for areas of interest that happen to have cool beer as well. Portland, ME is pretty outstanding between dining and breweries plus other stuff to do to keep it from being too beer-centric. Portsmouth, NH also, but in my opinion the brewery scene is better in Portland with Allagash, Oxbow, Bissell, Foundation, etc. While I am only 35 minutes south of Boston, that's on a good day, and I don't head into the city often but you could do worse except for traffic and cost. Portland's a bargain and a good walking city as well. Portsmouth is lovely down town and also easy walking, but I would rate the beer scene just a bit below Portland. A route I've been toying with for a quick(ish) getaway would be Mystic, Nightshift, up to Salem for Notch and sightseeing stuff, then head further north. But that depends on the overall route from PA.

When we head north, it is always leisurely and I hate to stick to a schedule on my free time. I also don't like driving around to just get from A to B then hustle off to C, but that's me. It takes a while to connect the dots. Sometimes people don't realize how spread out some things are in New England - not always in distance, sometimes just navigating/back roads/construction which ends up being aggravating.

 

Yeah if I were doing this it would be Boston/Portsmouth/Portland. Plenty to do beer & non-beer in those 3 cities.

Boston - Trillium & Night Shift
Portsmouth - Great Rhythm
Portland - Bissell, Foundation, Lone Pine

And frankly, all 3 are great walking cities. Just get out of the car & explore on foot. And by hitting only those 3 you don't spend the entire trip in your car.

 

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I updated your list.

 

OP, because there's just one beer drinker (you), can you say what the group's priorities are (history, beaches, countryside, hiking, Boston/avoid cities etc) ? Then we could recommend places like that, with their associated beer options.

 

Definitely second on the Portland advise! Great waterfront area with an amazing beer scene and sightseeing

 

I moved away from New England three years ago. My beer suggestions would be dated, so I'll focus on things I love that I know don't change (much).

I strongly second the advice you've gotten on limiting the area you plan to visit. New England is bigger than one would think, and the east-west roads in northern New England are limited. Also, I don't know where you're coming from in PA, but you have to allow time to get there. The northeast corridor is congested in the summer.

Boston is a terrific city to visit, with lots of sights and many beer venues. The Freedom Trail is great. It does focus on history, but it takes you through interesting neighborhoods. In New England history and charm are intertwined. The Harbor Islands are a wonderful destination via the ferry. Be aware that they'll require at least half a day. Boston lodging is really expensive. Driving can be mildly thrilling to scary to outsiders, depending on your tolerance for excitement. If your wife / mother in law is helping navigate, that's a plus. Parking is very expensive.

Portland, also a good beer town, is a good end point. On the way you could explore the North Shore (Massachusetts coast from Boston to New Hampshire). This is a highly charming and naturally beautiful region. (Also historic at no extra cost)! The area closest to Boston is built up with dense traffic, so I'd skip otherwise great places like Salem & Marblehead. (I'd avoid Rte 1 as much as possible for the same reason).

On the North Shore, if you think the family would like beach time after leaving Boston, you could take 95/128 to Crane Beach in Ispwich / Essex. This is a very clean, quiet and beautiful 4.5 mile long beach. The parking lot is at the western tip, so the possibilities for exploration are great. Don't forget the trails through the dunes behind the beach. In Ipswich itself is Ipswich Ale Brewery (http://www.ipswichalebrewery.com/HOME.html) . Never been to the pub/restaurant, but they make good beer, especially the Oatmeal Stout. I also like their Ipswich IPA, which dates from the days when "New England IPA" meant an English-style IPA with more balance between malt & hops.

If you're not interested in the beach you can take 128 to Halibut Point, the state park at the rocky tip of Cape Ann, and drive back down the west side of Cape Ann. This is an area for which the words "charm" and "beauty" were created, especially Annisquam. Personally I'd consider skipping Rockport, a tourist trap jammed in the Summer.

Going north, Portsmouth is well worth a visit. In addition to some great bars/brewpubs, it's got Strawberry Banke, a whole neighborhood of 18th century homes open to the public which is cool to see even if you don't linger.

Others can advise better on Portland.

If you really want to get to Vermont, I'd drive there directly from Boston via 93/89, skipping Maine. Vermont is very high on the beer, natural beauty and charm scale, and zero for urban excitement. Of course, you'd see hills rather than coast.

You might think I get paid by the word here, but I get really inspired think of the qualities of those places I left behind.

Have a great trip.

 

Great post - very thoughtful and to the point for the OP.

 

If you happen to drive through RI take the family for world famous donuts at Allie's Donuts then drive ten minutes to Tilted Barn

 

I would avoid some of the bigger name places like Treehouse and Trillium and Alchemist. A lot of those places are almost 100% stand in line, get beer, drive home kinds of experiences. I dont think your group will enjoy somewhere like that. You would have much more fun in Portland ME or Waterbury VT where there are lots of good craft beer restaurants.