A Connecticut Question

We are from (old) England. We plan to travel by car from New York to
Boston in early October.
We would like to stop off for a night somewhere near the middle of the
journey (we assume that means Connecticut?). Previously we stopped in
Mystic, which was nice, but there must be similar/better places for a
break in the journey?

Any suggestions welcome.

Steve & Lynda

wrote:
We are from (old) England. We plan to travel by car from New York to
Boston in early October.
We would like to stop off for a night somewhere near the middle of the
journey (we assume that means Connecticut?). Previously we stopped in
Mystic, which was nice, but there must be similar/better places for a
break in the journey?

There's no need to break the journey from a time point of view; it's
only 4 hours and is usually faster than flying if you include all
travel time. If it's for sightseeing, there are several good options,
but not in Connecticut.

If you go up the coast on Interstate 95, Newport, Rhode Island is a
place worth a visit for a day or two. It was the summer home for many
of the industrialists from the 1920's, and you can tour their
"cottages", which are generally on the scale of some of the UK's Great
Houses.

You can also continue on to Cape Cod, and/or to Plimoth Plantation, a
reconstruction of the settlement of the Mayflower settlers.

Another alternative is to take I-95 only as far as New Haven, then I-91
north to I-84 West, stopping at Sturbridge Village, a "living history"
reconstruction of a village from the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution. You can easily spend a day there.

Larry

"Larry" wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
We are from (old) England. We plan to travel by car from New York to
Boston in early October.
We would like to stop off for a night somewhere near the middle of the
journey (we assume that means Connecticut?). Previously we stopped in
Mystic, which was nice, but there must be similar/better places for a
break in the journey?

There's no need to break the journey from a time point of view; it's
only 4 hours and is usually faster than flying if you include all
travel time. If it's for sightseeing, there are several good options,
but not in Connecticut.

If you go up the coast on Interstate 95, Newport, Rhode Island is a
place worth a visit for a day or two. It was the summer home for many
of the industrialists from the 1920's, and you can tour their
"cottages", which are generally on the scale of some of the UK's Great
Houses.

You can also continue on to Cape Cod, and/or to Plimoth Plantation, a
reconstruction of the settlement of the Mayflower settlers.

Another alternative is to take I-95 only as far as New Haven, then I-91
north to I-84 West, stopping at Sturbridge Village, a "living history"
reconstruction of a village from the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution. You can easily spend a day there.

Larry

I agree that there's no real need for a break, but breaks are nice for their
own sake. In early October the foliage will be turning to autumn colors.
If you'd like a nice, scenic drive with lots to see along the way, I'd
suggest that you head north from New York on the Taconic State Parkway,
which will take you to I-90 (NY Thruway/Mass Pike). Turn toward Boston on
the Mass Pike, then exit at Lee and drive Rt 7 north to Rt 2, which from
Williamstown east to Greenfield is known as the 'Mohawk Trail' and can be
researched on the web as such. This will take you thru the Berkshire Hills,
which should be ahead of the curve color-wise, and it's a wonderful rural
area, although there is some touristy kitsch, but also little splendors like
the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls. After Greenfield, Rt 2 becomes a
faster road, and you can follow it to any number of approaches to Boston.

This would be taking the long way for the sake of it, but probably
worthwhile right at that time of year.

Thinking about it, if you stay north until you reach Lowell, there is a
downtown National Park that you might find interesting. Lowell was a hub of
the textile industry in the US for some time, and the National Park consists
of canals, water turbines, and old factories (that still operate for the
tours), and the free experience comes complete with a ride on a restored
streetcar.

Keith

A possible stop using the Mohawk Trail corridor, noted below, is North
Adams, home of Mass. MOCA a fun modern art museum. Stay overnight at
the Porches, some funky cabins across the street.

Another interesting cluster of towns halfway between NY and Boston is the
Northampton-Amherst area of charming college towns.

In
.net
"k" writes:


"Larry" wrote in message
roups.com...

wrote:
We are from (old) England. We plan to travel by car from New York to
Boston in early October.
We would like to stop off for a night somewhere near the middle of the
journey (we assume that means Connecticut?). Previously we stopped in
Mystic, which was nice, but there must be similar/better places for a
break in the journey?

There's no need to break the journey from a time point of view; it's
only 4 hours and is usually faster than flying if you include all
travel time. If it's for sightseeing, there are several good options,
but not in Connecticut.

If you go up the coast on Interstate 95, Newport, Rhode Island is a
place worth a visit for a day or two. It was the summer home for many
of the industrialists from the 1920's, and you can tour their
"cottages", which are generally on the scale of some of the UK's Great
Houses.

You can also continue on to Cape Cod, and/or to Plimoth Plantation, a
reconstruction of the settlement of the Mayflower settlers.

Another alternative is to take I-95 only as far as New Haven, then I-91
north to I-84 West, stopping at Sturbridge Village, a "living history"
reconstruction of a village from the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution. You can easily spend a day there.

Larry

I agree that there's no real need for a break, but breaks are nice for their
own sake. In early October the foliage will be turning to autumn colors.
If you'd like a nice, scenic drive with lots to see along the way, I'd
suggest that you head north from New York on the Taconic State Parkway,
which will take you to I-90 (NY Thruway/Mass Pike). Turn toward Boston on
the Mass Pike, then exit at Lee and drive Rt 7 north to Rt 2, which from
Williamstown east to Greenfield is known as the 'Mohawk Trail' and can be
researched on the web as such. This will take you thru the Berkshire Hills,
which should be ahead of the curve color-wise, and it's a wonderful rural
area, although there is some touristy kitsch, but also little splendors like
the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls. After Greenfield, Rt 2 becomes a
faster road, and you can follow it to any number of approaches to Boston.

This would be taking the long way for the sake of it, but probably
worthwhile right at that time of year.

Thinking about it, if you stay north until you reach Lowell, there is a
downtown National Park that you might find interesting. Lowell was a hub of
the textile industry in the US for some time, and the National Park consists
of canals, water turbines, and old factories (that still operate for the
tours), and the free experience comes complete with a ride on a restored
streetcar.

Keith





--
"There's no such thing as Free Parking!"
Larry Gould

On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 03:14:20 +0000 (UTC), "Larry Gould"
wrote:

A possible stop using the Mohawk Trail corridor, noted below, is North
Adams, home of Mass. MOCA a fun modern art museum. Stay overnight at
the Porches, some funky cabins across the street.

Also don't miss MOBA (http://www.museumofbadart.org/), the Museum of
Bad Art, in Dedham, Mass. I'm sure it's even more fun than the MOCA,
although I've never seen the latter.

--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

wrote:
We are from (old) England. We plan to travel by car from New York to
Boston in early October.
We would like to stop off for a night somewhere near the middle of the
journey (we assume that means Connecticut?). Previously we stopped in
Mystic, which was nice, but there must be similar/better places for a
break in the journey?

Any suggestions welcome.

East Haddam, CT might be a good place for a stop. They have two really
interesting sights, the Goodspeed Opera House, which is a lovely old theatre
venue which has an active calendar of musicals. It's a 19th century theatre
in a lovely building.

Gillette Castle is also in East Haddam, in the state park. It is a manor house
built to look like a medieval castle that was the home of the actor William
Gillette who famously played Sherlock Holmes on Broadway.

If you have interest in Theatre or architecture (I am interested in both) this
would make a lovely stop in your trip.

Julie

--
Julie
**********
Check out the blog of my 9 week Germany adventure at www.blurty.com/users/jholm
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm