Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Friday, September 25, 2020

A Reader Question for the Community: Core places to experience New England in Autumn?

 

A Reader Question for the Community:

Core clothes are nice, but I want a list of the core places to go in New England to experience Autumn!  What would you put on that list?

 


24 comments:

  1. Maine blueberry barrens east of Schoodic: https://downeastacadia.com/blog/fall-foliage

    ReplyDelete
  2. The town of Lenox, Ma., The Codman house in Lincoln, Mass., Portsmouth, NH. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. LL Bean in Freeport, ME. Just some of my favorite places on this planet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Try kancamagus Highway in NH...stunning White Mountain views:
    New Hampshire Route 112 is a 56.39-mile-long east–west state highway in northern New Hampshire. The highway winds across the state, connecting Bath to Conway through the heart of the scenic and mountainous White Mountain National Forest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also like US302 in the same area. Conway NH is a pretty good place to HQ for a few days, and then do a NH112-US302 loop

      NCJack

      Delete
    2. Travelled that route many a time when up in N.H. Saw the Old Man of the Mountain a year before he lost face!

      Delete
  4. Often overlooked, more varieties of hardwood grow in southern New England than in Vermont,
    New Hampshire and Maine. More variety means more different color.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Forgive me for this indulgence. One evening in early November while driving out to Orr's Island, I came around a bend in the road and saw the most beautiful sunset bursting over a salt water farm. As in a Wyeth painting, the farm field slope before the farm house was riotous in color, enhanced by the clear, sharp rays of the sun. We must never forget that, in Maine, one can see the sun rise and the sun set whilst living in a place like Orr's Island or any number of other spits which thrust south eastward into the ocean. This November night, I was a Prince of Maine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 🤷‍♂️

      Delete
    2. Dearest Anonymous September 26, 2020 at 10:10 AM-
      Orr's Island is an island in Casco Bay and the Gulf of Maine, part of the Atlantic Ocean. The island is within the town of Harpswell, Maine, U.S., and forms an archipelago with Sebascodegan Island to its north and Bailey Island to its south.
      Education is a good thing AnonymousSeptember 26, 2020 at 10:10 AM.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for sharing that charming and touching experience. I've visited Orr's Island and Bailey Island several times.

      Delete
    4. Thank you all. What I did not add is that my drive that day started in New Jersey, where I live, and was to end shortly after the salt water farm and the sunset at the home in Harpswell rented by my son and two friends. They were seniors that year at Bowdoin. Two best friends and a woman friendly to both. Their home fronted the bay and in winter was very cold, so much so that my son had only a five foot circle of heat framed by a plug-in heater in his bedroom at night. They finished Bowdoin that year, one leading the Men's lacrosse team into the first NCAA national tournament in the College's history, the other Captain of the Men's Tennis Team. God love them. I visited rarely because it wasn't cool to do otherwise; I loved him and them so. Roll our camera forward and my son's friend and the female roommate married ten years later and now have a child. It it difficult to type emotion. As a single parent, my son was my world. For him, his friends were his world, that hear Down East, that year spent near Orr's Island. God bless them. Postscript. That May, I rented a van and loaded my son's possessions from Harpswell for the drive back to New Jersey. I took a picture of the three of them that day, so wonderful, so free, so unburdened by the layers of grief and sorrow that attend to later life. That instant, the three were Princes and Princesses of Maine, indeed. I loved them so, and cried until I reached the border in New Hampshire.

      Delete
    5. Anon 1:27 I am well aware of most of the Maine coast. My family has had a home in Christmas Cove for 76 years. I appreciate that we all have special memories in our lives. The affected tone of the post just seemed quite forced and silly.

      Delete
    6. If you decide to write a book about this, I will buy it.

      Delete
    7. Thank you. I write for a living, albeit in contracts, motions and briefs to courts. In those, words are used to cajole, convince and confirm. For posts such as the above about my son, words are used to evoke, conjure and explain. But, I would never be satisfied writing about my life; it's hard to type emotion, as aforesaid.

      Delete
  6. Freeport Maine, and driving the Kank!

    ReplyDelete
  7. New England is the fertile crescent of higher education. While some schools are holding virtual classes for the fall semester, college campuses are just visually stunning this time of the year.

    The Charles River is a great area for afternoon walks to get a sense of the culture, historic buildings and nature preservation on both the Boston side and Cambridge side.

    If you have access to a bicycle, I highly recommend the Minute Man trail though I should warn you to keep an eye for high-speed cyclists and double-wide baby carriages.

    The Mohawk Trail provides a scenic drive through the Berkskires, Western Mass and Southern VT. Stop at a Country Store and pick up some Maple Syrup.

    Franconia Notch is my favorite hiking trail in NE. The ridge is amazing.

    Tougas Farm for apple picking and cider donuts.

    If you have limited time, just pick a few spots in Maine - God's Country and you can't go wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Driving over Hogback between Bennington and Brattleboro, Vermont is unmissable. Lunch at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, MA is also an autumn must (as is Christmas Eve lunch for our family.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Many sincere thanks to The CirquitorSeptember 26, 2020 at 6:19 AM.

    Hours later, I emerge from the fantastic Time Machine of then, and now.

    https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=books_pubs

    https://maineanencyclopedia.com/orrs-island/
    Click on the above/the images to open larger.
    Left, low, side bar: links: Maine Bicentennial 1820-2020. Browse using Maine Maps. See entries containing video. Browse by historical calendar/date. Find us on Facebook.


    Ye Gads, I need a stout cuppa tea now.
    And many sincere thanks to The Lady who makes this gem of a blog, you are so appreciated, such as all who posts here lending us their education...

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Pearl of Orr's Island
    Book by Harriet Beecher Stowe

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hikes up Mount Equinox in Manchester, VT or in Jamaica State Park in Jamaica, VT along the West River; Franconia Notch, Mount Chicorua, and Mt. Monadnock in NH; smaller towns along the Maine coast or anywhere in the Rangeley lakes area.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Over forty years ago my husband and I toured New England in October. Then we had children, work, and so forth and have never been back. This has given me a new rallying cry in the midst of Covid-19. Next fall, we will tour New England, and hopefully eastern Canada. Thank you for the post.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hiking up Mount Battie in Camden, Maine. Where the mountains meet the sea.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Freeport Maine, and Camden Harbor! Thank you so very much!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated.