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

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

USA Today: 11 charming New England coastal towns

A reader sent in this list from yesterday's USA Today on 11 charming New England coastal towns.

  • Bar Harbor, Maine
  • Camden, Maine
  • Kennebunkport, Maine
  • Rye, New Hampshire
  • Portsmouth, New Hampshire
  • Newburyport, Massachusetts
  • Chatham, Massachusetts
  • Newport, Rhode Island
  • Narragansett, Rhode Island

  • Mystic, Connecticut
  • Madison, Connecticut

If you could add one town and take one away, which would you do?

(https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2021/09/07/new-england-vacations-11-charming-coastal-towns-and-villages/5649827001/

45 comments:

  1. I would like to add Milford,but I would be hesitant to remove any of the other lovely towns.

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    1. Another vote for Milford. It’s the town with the longest shoreline in Connecticut. There are many fine beaches and a handsome Green. The Audubon lands at the mouth of the Housatonic (Herman Melville said, “the best tonic is the Housatonic.”), are spectacular.

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  2. Remove Bar Harbor, Maine, and add Marblehead, Massachusetts.

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  3. Remove Rye, NH, and add Barnstable, MA.

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  4. Delete Bar Harbor (ruined by the cruise ships) and add Damariscotta

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  5. Remove Bar Harbor and add Sugar Hill, NH.

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    1. Ummm ... gentle reminder ... the article was about New England COASTAL towns.

      Sugar Hill is pretty, though and btw, it's NH's newest town, incorporated in 1962.

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    2. Opps . . . well, in that case, I would add the town of Nantucket, incorporated in 1687. (I would really like to add Monhegan Island but it's not an official town. It is an incorporated "plantation." )

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  6. Anonymous 9/8 7:40, my wife grew up in Barnstable. Though I'm not familiar with Rye, I concur with your endorsement. Lovely village. Her parents moved to Rhode Island years ago, but we've rented houses in Barnstable a few times when we haven't gone to the Vineyard.

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  7. Remove Bar Harbor and add Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA

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  8. This existential question has given me pause. What will occur should I suggest deletion of one of these Prep Heaven Annexes? Will all the women immediately cease wearing Lilly and gold Knot earings? Will all the men burn their needlepoint belts and Sankaty-Logo polo shirts? Will all the Volvos registered in the deleted metropolis metamorph into Toyota's? Will all the adolescents presently enconsed at Groton and Emma Willard be called home to attend (sorry I have to type this) high school? Will everyone stop drinking Stormies and Bullshots? Will all the 50-year old Alden loafers be tossed into the garbage? Any what about all the Tennis Players in White? Will they be remanded to Walmart to find suitable rayon replacement exercise/casual wear? These thoughts haunt me to the point where I am unable to participate in this exercise. Oh, the hummanity!

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    1. Might this be the hummanity that snacks on hummus and drives Hummers?

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    2. Wait a minute, I snack on hummus, am I to stop this consumption if I wish to continue to read this?

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    3. Also isn't it "humanity"? Referencing either the Hindenburg or the WKRP Thanksgiving episode.

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  9. Marblehead would be a superb addition to be sure! Thank you so very much!

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  10. I love Westerly, Rhode Island!

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  11. Narragansett is a nice place, but not much of a town. I’m curious what the writers used as their criteria

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  12. Please remove Bar Harbor. It is the epitome of tackiness. Thanks

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    1. +2! We summer on MDI and don't dare go to BH unless to stop at Hannaford's if we must.

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    2. I like how they have a teenager they hire for the summer to direct drivers around the tiny parking lot. :-)

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  13. The Bar Harbor has a beautiful natural setting

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  14. My daughter interned at a New York City magazine the spring semester of her senior year at Sarah Lawrence. Coming up with 'Best of' lists like these were last minute fillers always assigned to the interns, and that to the least experienced. The lists were merely compiled from a brief internet search. No surveys done or any real vetting was given to them. USA Today? Probably even less real effort.

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  15. I don't know what to remove, but I like Newcastle, NH, and Rockport, MA.

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  16. Agree with the suggestions to remove Bar Harbor... it can be, as my mother once referred to it, "a bit honky tonk." But though, they're very small, would suggest addition of Northeast and Southwest Harbors... can't lose Mt. Desert Isle completely.

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  17. Maybe add Falmouth MA or Guilford CT and knock off poor Bar Harbor...although my children used to like the "Oceanarium."

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  18. Bar Harbor haters can stay in CT and MA and make everyone happy

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    1. Or maybe stay in one of the lovely, less commercial villages that surround MDI and ferry over when in need of a shot glass or refrigerator magnet.

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    2. I use a Southwest Harbor frig magnet to display my Snob Certificate on my Sub-Zero(tm)

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  19. I'd like to add Rockport MA, Woods Hole MA, Warren RI, and Bristol RI.

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  20. I would definitely add Wickford, Rhode Island. Charming village with a main street lined with 17th and 18th century antique homes and a harbor facing down the West Passage of Narragansett Bay.

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  21. What wonderful responses to the question posed.
    Yet, I am left wondering what it is that makes the quintessential New England town. What would the town look like? What would the people be like? Does this quintessential New England town already exist?
    I hope some you S.W.N.E. fans will share your thoughts.
    Thanks, an S.W.N.E. fan.

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    1. For me, it's a vibrant & walkable downtown. Older but well kept homes (cedar shakes are a plus). A working port that is not just filled with pleasure craft. A diverse mix of residents (age, race, class). Someplace to buy fresh seafood, preferably a lobster or clam shack. A good pub doesn't hurt either.

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    2. That's sounds wonderful. I would love that!

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  22. Honestly Madison isn't charming at all - Essex and Chester are far more charming. Castine is unbelievable

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  23. Haven't been to Nantucket or Edgartown in decades so don't know whether to suggest. Maybe Vineyard Haven?

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  24. This is a crazy list. Rye? Good for surfing, I guess. Mystic? Hmmmmm. Maybe Barnstable and Marblehead lobbied to stay OFF this list......

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  25. Take off Newport and add Nahant.

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  26. I would add Watch Hill, RI and take out I don't know what.

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  27. Delete Newburyport. Add Centerville and/or Osterville.

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