Fall in New England

My husband and I visited the Vermont/New Hampshire area the first week of October which turned out to be their peak color time for Fall foliage this year.  The weather did not always cooperate, but when the rain and fog cleared the colors were brilliant!  We stayed three days in White River Junction, VT and explored in different directions from this central location.

There were beautiful trees everywhere we went, especially in the Stowe, VT area.  The Green Mountains were extra majestic in the Manchester, VT area.  There were mountain streams, beautiful waterfalls and even a deep gorge in Quechee near Woodstock, VT.

 

We enjoyed searching for some of Vermont’s 107 covered bridges. After we found five, my husband had seen enough! A helpful website to locate covered bridges is http://www.coveredbridgemap.com/vt/.

 

 

 

 

 

While staying in White River Junction we enjoyed a play at the Northern Stage and the food at Jesse’s Restaurant and Tavern in nearby Hanover, NH.

After three days of nature we headed for city life in Boston.  On the way we stopped in Concord, MA to begin exploring historical places of the American Revolution.  The Minute Man National Historical Park was a great place to begin.  The Visitor Center had a really excellent exhibit and multimedia video presentation of the first days of the Revolutionary War. Many people were out jogging, walking or biking on Battle Road Trail. The North Bridge in Concord, the site of the “shot heard around the world”, has the Minute Man statue in a beautifully landscaped park.

We visited the Concord Museum and saw one of the 1775 Revere lanterns that were hung in the Old North Church to warn that the “British were coming”.  There was much more to see in Concord but we were out of time.

In Boston we continued our journey back in time with stops on the Freedom Trail. Boston has a created a unique 2.5 miles long pathway to lead visitors to 16 historical sites that makes the American Revolution come to life. Thanks to the help of hop-on hop-off trolleys we were able to visit Paul Revere’s house, the Old North Church, Old Ironsides, Bunker Hill, the Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall, and the Boston Tea Party Ships all in one day.  We even had time for a cruise of the Boston Harbor!

 

It was amazing how all these historical sites had been preserved in the mist of the tall, modern buildings of Boston.  My favorite was the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was first read from its balcony and the Boston Massacre occurred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a road trip to Plymouth, MA and saw the much smaller than expected Plymouth Rock. 

Nearby was the Mayflower II.  It was very meaningful to me after 25 years of telling the story of the Pilgrims to kindergarteners to actually board the Mayflower and see how the Pilgrims lived on their trip to America.  We continued experiencing their story in the PlimothPlantation.  The re-created Pilgrim village and Wampanoag homesite made me wish for a Kindergarten class to share this wonderful hands-on experience.

 

 

 

 

We were pleased with the location of the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel.  We were near all types of shops and restaurants in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace as well as the New England Aquarium, the Harbor Cruises and several stops on the Freedom Trail.

While in Boston we enjoyed seeing the really funny Blue Man Group performance at the Charles Playhouse.  The seafood was fantastic everywhere we ate, especially at Legal Sea Foods on Long Wharf.  It was also fun to watch some football and eat at Cheers.

Fall is a wonderful time to be in New England. Our six day trip wasn’t near long enough to do everything there is to do, but we enjoyed a great variety of experiences and had a wonderful time.