Is Nantucket worth visiting in November? (r)

A reader question:

Hey SWNE friends -

The girls and I are thinking about an off season (November) jaunt to Nantucket in search of quiet relaxation and seafood.  Any thoughts - pros or cons - about visiting at that time of year?   

Thanks!

 

Reader Travel Question: Massachusetts: Boston, Points West, and the Revolutionary War?

 A reader question:

Dear Muffy,

While you're in NE travel mode, could I kindly squeeze in another question?

After sadly losing nearest and dearest family members, my oldest friend, one old and one young dog in the past five years, I've realized that, at the age of 56 now, perhaps I ought to start actually planning those 'someday/one day' big trips that I've been thinking about for years (you never know what's around the corner).  There's Norway, Japan and the Alps further afield, but Massachusetts is also on the list.  I'd really appreciate any suggestions and recommendations from your readers for places to visit, anywhere but particularly in the west of the state.  We plan to do the full tourist bit in Boston. I'm a dual UK/US citizen and I've long been fascinated with the Revolutionary War period (if I'd moved here a few hundred years earlier I certainly would have been a Patriot!).  I've been to Cape Cod so am familiar with that part of the state, but plan to visit again.  We'd also like to do some hiking in the Berkshires and visit The Mount.  Any nice hikes/towns/places we shouldn't miss out on and any particular order or direction it might be best to travel in?  The west, Boston and The Cape feels awkward logistically.  Having a rental car in Boston would probably be a hindrance, so best to do that first and pick up a rental car on out way out of the city?  I lived in Waltham for a year when I was six but that was another lifetime!

Many thanks,

Two Reader Questions on New England Travel

 One reader question:

I am loving these pictures Muffy. I had a quick question. If you wanted to visit Maine and the town, where would you stay and what’s the closest airport. Thanks and enjoy your day. 

 And another:

I'm currently looking at visiting your general bit of the world and wondered if you'd have any recommendations on where to go? Probably starting and finishing in Boston but NY would also be a possibility. Would very much like to do a coastal tour of some sort, probably lasting about a week. Anything Nautical would be high on my list to visit, Mystic Seaport springs to mind (no idea where that is in relation to you to be honest), maybe some of Cape Cod, Lighthouses etc - any suggestions most welcome and nothing set in stone, I've to take in Nashville in the same trip oddly.

What locations would be on a Preppy Atlas of New England?

 A reader question.

Dear Muffy,

 It seems like there are iconic or historically meaningful locations that have been pivotal to the evolution of the preppy culture.   You have shown some of them here, Murray’s Toggery in Nantucket, Choate, the Guilford green, the gravestone of  Thomas Dudley, The University Club in New York, the site of the first Harvard-Yale Regatta in 1852, South Beach on Martha's Vineyard, the rowing boathouses along the Charles River.  What are others, like Phillips Exeter, Brooks Brothers' original New York location, Newport's Rosecliff Mansion where scenes from The Great Gatsby (1974)  were shot, and the John F. Kennedy's Hyannis compound? The more wonky the better!

 

Between Gloucester, Newburyport and Points North to the New Hampshire Line.

 A reader question:

Hopefully we will be heading to salt water Massachusetts next month.  Since this community is well informed and helpful about all things in that part of the world, any suggestions about what not to miss between Gloucester, Newburyport and points north to the New Hampshire line?  Any particular favorite drive or local restaurants the tourists overlook?   It was great exploring Gloucester south to Marblehead last year so we wanted  to do something different this year.   Thanks for any and all suggestions.  Thank you!

Favorite Maine and New Hampshire Hotels?

 

A reader question:

My wife and I have two young (5,8) children and we are just now staring to plan a driving trip around the coasts of Maine and New Hampshire.  Do you or your readers have any suggestions for hotels?   I love staying at great hotels, and wonder which should be on the "must visit" list.  We don't know the area at all.

Thank you for this and for this wise, sane community.    

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/) 

Favorite Classic Hotel or Resort?

I am a concierge at a classic old resort on the coast of Georgia, which attracts many guests and members from the northeast. I'd like to know what other great old hotels and resorts the readers enjoy going to. Thank you! 

 

Favorite Clothing Shops and Great Places to Eat Afterwards

J. Press, 380 Madison Avenue, New York City - All Photos by Salt Water New England.

An email from Chuck Ramsay:

I enjoyed your post on your favorite restaurants.  It made me ruminate on my favorite clothing shops and how they are in close proximity to some of my favorite eating establishments.  I thought I would run them by you.

1) J. Press (Cambridge, MA) is nothing short of Mecca.  I can stay for hours soaking up the history.  Then go one street over to John Harvard’s Brewhouse for great beer selection and good food.

Cambridge's J. Press

2) I grew up close by Eljos (Charlottesville, VA), and spent much time as a kid gawking at the window displays.  It has moved from the UVA Corner, but not too far.  Go to The Corner, then to The Virginian (it’s been there so long I’m sure Jefferson raised a grog or two there).

3) Alvin-Dennis (Lexington, VA) is next door to the beautiful Washington & Lee campus, another childhood haunt.  Then go two blocks to The Palms, a Lexington institution.

4) At  J. Press (New York City), I bought my first blue ocbd w/flap pocket.  Then take a cab to P.J. Clarke’s Bar on 55th with great food and even greater ambiance. [Link to entry]

5) Murray’s (Nantucket) is a pilgrimage of sorts for me.  Then walk over to Brotherhood of Thieves on Broad St., one of my all time favorites, with great sandwiches.

The Author's Photo

6) I love The Admiral’s Buttons (Camden, ME).  Then go around the corner to The Waterfront Restaurant on the deck for lobster, or up the street to Cappys for amazing chowder and a cold Geary’s.

Cappy's Chowder House

7) The Holmes Store (Northeast Harbor, ME) is a nice shop in one of my favorite coastal Maine villages.  Then walk down Main St. to Colonel’s Restaurant for fresh Maine seafood.

8) George Dean’s (Athens, GA) is the quintessential college shop, one block from U of GA campus.  Then walk across the street to The Grill, an Athens institution.

9) Landry’s (Oxford, MS) is cool shop near Ole Miss.  Then go one door down to Square Books and browse, and finally a couple of more down to City Grocery, a legendary Oxford watering hole with outstanding food

10) Grady Ervin & Co (Charleston, SC) is in one of my favorite cities.  Then walk over to Hank’s Seafood or take a short ride to Sullivan’s Island and eat at Poe’s Tavern, with great burgers followed by a walk on the beach.

11) Laurance Clothing (Annapolis, MD) and McGarvey's Saloon & Oyster Bar.  Awesome. I can't wait to go back and spend more time walking around Annapolis and the harbor and sample a few more pubs.

12)  F.L.Woods (Marblehead, MA) is a great shop and The Barnacle has the best chowder I have had outside of Maine. Beautiful town and harbor.

The Barnacle in Marblehead, MA

Oh well, at the moment, I can only dream of being in one of these venerable establishments browsing and then over for a great meal.

Cheers, Chuck Ramsay, Murfreesboro, TN

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Old School Prep left this comment, and I thought I would add some of my own pictures and copy it here.

I was very impressed by Chuck Ramsay's interesting list of top notch Prep/Trad clothing stores and nearby noteworthy eateries. I would like to offer two more of each to make the list an even dozen.

13) J. Press (New Haven, CT) is the genesis of it all. It is conveniently located near the beautiful Yale campus and a short walk to Louis Lunch for a wonderful luncheon fare.

J. Press, York Street, New Haven. RIP

14) J. Press (Washington, DC), although it lacks the traditional ambiance of the Cambridge and New Haven stores, it is an oasis of Preppy clothing in our nation's capital and a short jaunt from the Old Ebbitt Grill for a hearty lunch of oysters and fine Kentucky Bourbon or other great food choices.

Washington, D.C.

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To these, add:

15) Royal Male (Newport, RI) has one of the best and most unique collections of wonderful clothes, mostly from the UK and Europe,  hand curated by the one-and-only Etienne.  Then, get some chowder at The Black Pearl.

Royal Male

16) Andover Shop (Cambridge, MA) and Charlies Kitchen.

Andover Shop