Come along on a Fantastic Fall Getaway through New England. If you are like me, you love checking off states that you have visited, here is a trip that includes FIVE. We say it only “counts” if you sleep there and this adventure will take you through 5 states in 7 days, and I promise you don’t feel like you are driving too much. We used Enterprise and rented a Jeep Wagoneer for our family of 5 with 4 suitcases and a backpack for each of us and we had plenty of room.
We started our adventure with a direct flight on JetBlue from Los Angeles to Boston. Jet Blue offers free Wi-Fi, complimentary soft drinks, snacks and was a great choice for low fare airlines. Just do not forget your wired headphones if you plan to use the TV on the seat in front of you. Our plane had the MINT seats in the front and those looked amazing! Maybe one day, right JetBlue?
Once we landed, we stayed at the Springhill suites by Marriott on Revere Beach. It comfortably slept all five of us and had a free airport shuttle, as well as complimentary breakfast. The local enterprise picked us up in our Wagoneer the next morning to fill out the paperwork and rent our car. It was around 6 minutes from the hotel and extremely convenient. Once we had our SUV, we hit the road the Salem (with a quick stop in Saugus, because that is where my husband grew up; but the CA version). Salem was about 30 minutes from the Boston area, and we parked in the parking garage right in the middle of town for about $6. During weekends in October, this increases to about $40. This town is known for Halloween, so that makes sense. We walked around, following the yellow and red lines painted on the ground to take you to all of the hot spots. We ate at Dire Wolf which had delicious sushi along with American fare and drinks. We decided to take the hour-long ferry to see all of the sites in the town, including the Bewitched statue, a few Hocus Pocus sites and listen to all the history of the famous Salem Witch Trials. Did you know Salem has its very own Waikiki Beach? This is located on Winter Island and is a gorgeous place to take pictures with a light house in the background.
After spending a few hours in Salem, we continued on for 54 minutes to New Hampshire and stayed at the AC Portsmouth Downtown/Waterfront hotel. There is a rooftop restaurant and bar with igloos during the fall and winter months. Portsmouth is located in New Hampshire (there is also one in Rhode Island that we will drive through later in the trip). Portsmouth is the cutest New England town to walk around, visiting cute bakeries and coffee shops, boutiques and restaurants and right along the waterfront. The one thing we did not do here that I wished we had was the Seal Walk at the Sea Coast Science Center. It started at 11:30 and we were booked to take our family photos in Maine at 3:15, so I didn’t want to risk being late.
After visiting a few shops and enjoying coffee and croissants downtown, we headed up north to Portland Maine, which was just 52 minutes up the road. In Maine, we stayed at the Westin Portland Harborview. These rooms were on the smaller size, only full-size beds, so we opted for two connecting rooms here. It is in the heart of Downtown, walking distance to Otto’s pizza, famous for their Mashed Potato, Bacon and Chive pizza. My favorite was the Hot Honey pizza. After checking in and getting some appetizers and margaritas, we headed to Cape Elizabeth and the oldest lighthouse in Maine. Following our pictures, we headed to Freeport Maine, site of the L.L. Bean Flagship store that is open 24 hours a day. There are various shops and outlets to walk around as well as restaurants to dine in. The next morning, we headed to Kennebunkport, Maine and saw more adorable boutiques, coffee shops, the summer home of President Bush and his family and gorgeous coastal views. Maine may be one of the most beautiful states, I have ever visited.
Next, we headed to Vermont. This was the longest drive on our trip so far and would be a two-hour drive. The gorgeous, wooded area and a few trees still hanging onto the last of their gorgeous fall leaves, made it go by quickly. We pulled into Brattleboro and the kids enjoyed swimming and a fire pit, while my husband and I enjoyed Vermont Cheese, breadsticks and wine we grabbed at the grocery store. In Vermont, we visited The Retreat, which has beautiful hiking trails, animals and an adorable store/gift shop. You can’t miss the Vermont Country Deli, where we had sandwiches, treats for the drive and just up the road from a gorgeous, covered bridge. These were called the kissing bridges when they originated because of the privacy they offered. The most unique hotel in Brattleboro is called the Viking Villages. These are small viking style cabins that are perfect for families and about 15-20 minutes from town. We were originally going to stay there, but the kids wanted to be somewhere with a pool, and these were more secluded. From Vermont, we headed back to Massachusetts, with a stop at the battlefield of Concord and Lexington. Our son is in fifth grade and his teacher told us they would be learning about the minute men and that battle, so we made sure to stop by so he could see it.
We could not stay too long, as we had 3:00 tickets for the Fenway Park Tour. We headed straight there and lucked out finding street parking next to the stadium. We toured Fenway and were able to sit in the Green Monstah seats. We went into the Press Box and heard all about the history. This was one of the most fun games to see, because of the seventh inning stretch that included signing “Sweet Caroline”. The history at this ball park is amazing and we were lucky enough to catch a game here in 2019. After the tour, we were parked right in front of the Yard House and we were all starving, so we stopped in for their Happy Hour. Their happy hour is only for food and included their pizzas. I loved the $8 poke nachos that I ordered. After our late lunch/early dinner, we drove to our hotel, Boston Marriott Long Wharf. We used points and one of our upgrades to stay in a one-bedroom suite. This hotel is right on the water, walking distance to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, the aquarium and is stop 1 on the hop on, hop off tours. Here we walked some of the Freedom Trail, visited Paul Revere’s house and enjoyed the views of the harbor. That night we stopped into Faneuil Hall for ice cream and clam chowder. The next morning, we rode the 2-hour full loop of the hop on, hop off bus to hear the history and see the city before we headed to Rhode Island.
We drove to Rhode Island, about 90 minutes from Boston and stayed at the Newport Hotel and Spa. It was walking distance to all kinds of shops, restaurants, has gorgeous views of the harbor and was another great Marriott property. While in Newport, we visited the mansions, The Breakers and walked a portion of the Cliff Walk.
We flew home out of Providence the day before Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful. No lines, no crowds, an open middle seat, and it was only 30 minutes from Newport (via the toll roads). We were even interviewed by their local news team (Channel 12 WPRI) for braving the holiday travel the day before thanksgiving.
We flew home on Southwest and I continued my streak of earning a free glass of wine for locating Chick Norris in the emergency pamphlet.
Trip Trek Go 