I have always wanted to see the fall colors of the northeast coast, so we embarked on a greatly anticipated family fall trip to the New England area. We flew to Connecticut, rented a car, and had lots of joyous greetings when we met up with my parents in New London. We spent two nights in a rental house that fit everyone and enjoyed exploring this area.
Highlights: *Ran, beach-combed, and swam at Ocean Beach Park *Our oldest daughter visited and was wowed by Connecticut College *Ate lunch at Muddy Waters Cafe *Explored Fort Trumbull *Visited B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill, the oldest steam-powered cider mill in the US
Day 3
Today was my mom’s birthday and we had an adventurous day traveling and sight-seeing. We went to Newport, RI to do the Cliff Walk, then moved onto Plymouth, Massachusetts to see the Mayflower replica, Plymouth Rock, and to eat lobster rolls and ice cream to celebrate Mom! We landed in a dreamy house in Cape Cod to spend the next couple days.
day 4
Today called for a calm, peaceful morning kayak paddle in the backyard of our rental house in Cape Cod, followed by a day trip to Martha’s Vinyard. What a beautiful island with so much to explore. Boutiques, beautiful homes, cliffs, trails, lighthouses, and seafood! While we enjoyed this quick pass through, we all felt we could have spent some more time here.
day 5
Today we slept in and had a relaxing morning at our rental house on Hyannis Bay. A few of us walked to the ferry to check out Nantucket in the afternoon. I wanted to bike around the island to cover more ground with the limited time we had, but I was the only one with that desire, so we explored on foot. We enjoyed the brick and cobblestone roads and super cute, though pricey, shops. I had planned to come home with a native Nantucket basket but was naïve to the expense of those little jewels, so I admired them in the shops and left them on the shelves.
We may have come back from Nantucket empty handed but filled our adventuring cups and checked off new places explored together! We also came away with lessons learned visiting this time of year and will be better prepared to plan an “off season” trip to this island if we return (may I suggest a girls trip that involves some biking??). Many shops closed early and some shops and restaurants were not even open this time of year. While we didn’t have to fight the crowds, we were surprised with how desolate it felt.
day 6
Today was a travel day, but we still made the most of it, and crossed two new states off our list. We left Cape Cod and breezed past Boston and New Hampshire. We had a lunch break in Portland, Maine before making it to a little ferry that took us to our next home on the island of Islesboro. We were definitely out there, and had some challenges navigating this ferry, but had a beautiful spot on the water. We were able to have a nice homemade family dinner and cake to celebrate my husband’s birthday, and got in some beach combing, where we found big shells and amazing sea glass.
day 7
Today consisted of Acadia National Park and the vibrant fall colors of Maine. This one is best described with the pictures we captured. We could have spent several days exploring this park but were grateful for the sections we experienced!
day 8
Travel Day! We left Maine and hit New Hampshire again via the Kancamagus Scenic Byway through the White Mountain National Forest. This was a beautiful drive with many scenic overlooks and a couple of short hikes to waterfalls. The Sabbaday Falls were a sight to see and luckily weren’t too crowded! We ended in Vermont to finish off the last few days of our trip.
day 9
Stowe - yet another beautiful area. We attempted to take a gondola up to Vermont’s highest point, but it was closed for the season. We found a huge corn maze and adorable calves and goats and enjoyed a fun fall activity, even though we came out the same way we entered (family corn maze fail). Afterwards, we found some bikes to rent and I was so excited to explore the town trails…and the rain hit. We were drenched and numb by the end but had another adventurous day in the books!
day 10
Today was our last day of vacation and we hit it hard. I enjoyed a peaceful jog in the morning on the recreational trail, perused some shops, saw the Trapp family lodge, found a couple hikes to waterfalls, and ended with a food tour (Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Cabot cheese, Ben and Jerry’s, and Lake Champlain Chocolates).
It was a wonderful trip exploring the New England area. We all agreed this was not a one and done trip. We would love to come back and visit this area again! I’m going to miss the lobster.