Rural New England towns

In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Matt

On 2006-07-28 15:17:14 -0400, Matt B said:

In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Mystic has a nice historic seaport museum. Fairfield doesn't have much
of anything except big houses and the GE headquarters, which you won't
be able to get into.

Fairfield is a very nice town, but if you'll be on holiday (and on foot)
Mystic will be the better choice, at least for number of things to do in a
compact area.

Downtown is reasonably quaint, and there is a drawbridge where you can watch
the sailboats bunch up on their way to/from the sea. You can rent the film
'Mystic Pizza', in which Julia Roberts made her film debut, to see good
views of the area. Mystic Seaport is a restored village (museum town) that
is nice to visit. The Mystic Aquarium is right there, too, along with Bob
Ballard's Institute for Exploration. (Ballard found the Titanic, along with
many other wrecks, both ancient and modern). I believe there are tour boats
on the river, and there used to be a schooner that did short trips on some
days.

The hotel chains are well represented in the area, and I'm sure there are
B&B's all around as well, and restaurants of all kinds. This looks like a
pretty good link: http://www.mystic.org/

Keith

"Matt B" wrote in message
...
In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Matt

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:17:14 GMT, Matt B wrote:

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Fairfield is not rural -- it's NYC commuter country.

Mystic isn't really rural either -- it's New London commuter country, and that
area is full of Navy activity and contractors..

If you want a rural town, you're going to have to get well away from I-95.

If you just want something smaller than Boston and NYC that doesn't reflect the
usual big-city values, you might consider Newport, RI. Despite the Navy
presence, most people find it an intriguing place.

Where else can you find numerous America's Cup yachts, the International Tennis
Hall of Fame, the best 50-cent oysters you've ever eaten, a selection of
incredible mansions to tour, and wild mongeese?

-- Larry

"Matt B" wrote in message
...
In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Matt

My recommendation would be to do more research in Pennsylvania, where small
town charm still exist in some areas. Not sure how this would work into
your itinerary, though.

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:17:14 GMT, Matt B
wrote:

In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Matt

Mystic is nice but is a tourist area. Fairfield isn't a place to
visit. There wouldn't be much to do.
Litchfield is more rural although it's been discovered by a lot of New
Yorkers. It's in northwestern CT.

Mystic is a tourist trap.
On the other hand, Stonington Borough is a small seaside
village in the much larger town of Stonington (which also
by the way includes half of Mystic - the other half
of Mystic is in Groton, CT) which is relatively
uncrowded, with one inn to stay in -
http://www.innatstonington.com/
- nice shops and restaurants, accessible waterfront, the
only remaining active fishing fleet and lobster fleet
in Connecticut, and lots of historic colonial houses. It
is truly one of the nicest places to walk around in and
explore in the North East.

Matt B wrote:

In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Matt

Newport Rhode Island or Mystic Connecticut - though neither are rural
small towns, but bustling seaport towns with a good tourist trade

Both are definitely worth the trip, I can only speak personally about
Newport - great coastal walk, historic mansions with great architecture
and splendor, good food.

Matt B wrote:
In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Matt

wrote in message ...
Mystic is a tourist trap.
On the other hand, Stonington Borough is a small seaside
village in the much larger town of Stonington (which also
by the way includes half of Mystic - the other half
of Mystic is in Groton, CT) which is relatively
uncrowded, with one inn to stay in -
http://www.innatstonington.com/
- nice shops and restaurants, accessible waterfront, the
only remaining active fishing fleet and lobster fleet
in Connecticut, and lots of historic colonial houses. It
is truly one of the nicest places to walk around in and
explore in the North East.

Matt B wrote:

In order to get some respite from the cities during my coming US
visit, I was thinking of visiting a rural New England town on my way
down from Boston to New York (travelling by Greyhound). I'm planning
on spending a night and a day there before moving on.

So far the two that have caught my eye a

Mystic, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut (Money magazine says this is the 9th best place
to live in the World)

Are these places worth a trip, or does anyone have any suggestions
about other towns on route?

Somewhere where accommodation will be both available and not too
expensive is desirable.

Matt


Replying to several posts:


I suggested Mystic because it's actually on the bus route from Boston to
NYC. I agree that Newport is nice, but it's hardly rural, and would
necessitate a long diversion.

Stonington is most emphatically NOT home to the last fishing and lobster
fleet in Connecticut. I'm a boater in the area, and Stonington is the only
village in CT on the Atlantic, whereas lobstering is an inshore trade, as is
oystering. The entire coast of the state, FROM Stonington to the NY line is
rife with lobstermen and oystermen. Blue Point Oysters are generally though
of as the world's finest, and they are harvested off Norwalk, which is way
down there by Fairfield.

Mystic has attractions for tourists, but I'd never call it a tourist trap,
not in a million years. The town is absolutely authentic, and tourist
dollars help to keep it that way, but a trap? Not. People live there, in
almost every building, in apartments above the businesses they run. "Olde
Mystick Village" is a purpose-built tourist trap, but it's located out
between highway ramps, and it won't fool anyone into believing it's not just
an outdoor mall.

The Seaport Museum and the Aquarium exist as educational facilities, and
have for years. Ballard's Institute is there, and I only mentioned that for
the sake of interest. The man has accomplished a lot in life, and to even
think of him as a tourist attraction is bizarre. How many National
Geographic issues have featured you? I know they've somehow managed to
neglect me.

To the OP. There are many more rural places on your route than Mystic, and
you might enjoy any number of them for an hour or two, but in most you'll
find yourself wandering along a very busy Rt 1 finding little of interest.
If you're planning an overnight, then Mystic is good. A bigger city with an
interesting downtown and harbor area is New London, and it's a very walkable
town.

The coast of Connecticut is dominated by commuter beach towns. Very nice if
you can afford the beach place, but otherwise not very interesting, and also
not very accessible.

As for rural, it doesn't exist on the water side of I-95, but you'll find
family farms a mile the other way, and a lifestyle that is only now changing
after a few hundred years of disinterest. The new fight is against sprawl
and eminent domain, so bone up if you plan to stay in the area, for that is
the dominant conversation these days.

On 29 Jul 2006 15:05:39 -0700, "Vacation Mamma"
wrote:

Newport Rhode Island or Mystic Connecticut - though neither are rural
small towns, but bustling seaport towns with a good tourist trade

Both are definitely worth the trip, I can only speak personally about
Newport - great coastal walk, historic mansions with great architecture
and splendor, good food.


As always, thanks for the comments.

I liked the sound of Newport, but alas, yet again I have been foiled
by the great US public transportation system! It seems that neither
Greyhound nor Amtrak offer ways down there from Boston. Obviously it's
too far off the beaten track for them.

So it may have to be Mystic.

Anyone know if it will be possible to find a cheap motel in Mystic on
the day of arrival? I'm trying to avoid making firm bookings wherever
possible, to be as flexible as possible.

Matt