New England Travel and Vacation Gazette and Other Wicked Good Content

Concord's Colonial Inn, Concord Mass. (photo by Eric) Do you enjoy going out for Thanksgiving, having someone else do all the cooking for you?  If so, you'll find no shortage of such places in New England, but the key is to find a destination that will get you in the local spirit. Here are some traditional, historic and charming New England spots in Massachusetts that are sure to provide a fabulous setting for your Thanksgiving Day meal... The Pilgrims were to first to celebrate Thanksgiving in America, so why not celebrate at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth? This wonderful outdoor living museum that recreates life during the Pilgrim days offers the traditional America's Thanksgiving Dinner, as well as a Thanksgiving Day Buffet. It looks like some seatings are already sold out for both Thanksgiving Day dinners, so we recommend making reservations soon if this event sounds interesting to you. Log onto http://www.plimoth.org/dining-functions/thanksgiving-dining-specia...

One of our readers, Stacy, would like to visit New England in December. Here is what she wrote: We want to do a short trip from Thursday-Monday from Atlanta Georgia in December. We have never been to New England and want to see as much as possible. Any ideas where to start? Where to fly into, rent a car, and possibly stay different locations each night? Thanks for the question, Stacy! We could write a book on what to see and do in New England during December, but for bandwidth purposes, here are some suggestions that I think you'll love: Fly into Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine, rent a car there, and drive 45 minutes south to Kennebunkport, Maine, where the spirit of Christmas saturates this beautiful small coastal town the first and second weekends of December. Amazing light displays, horse drawn sleigh rides, caroling, holiday musical entertainment, arts and craft shows, and historic trolley rides  are just a few of the events  that will get you int...

Main Street Market and Cafe, Concord MA (photo by Eric) When visiting Concord, Mass., last week, a local recommended dining at the Main Street Market and Cafe. Great recommendation!  The building is historic, the setting "old-timey" and the crowds bustling at this spot that acts more like an upscale townie restaurant than a market (really not much of a market to speak of here). The brick walls, wooden floors counters and low and high rise tables will make you feel right at home and the location in the heart of downtown Concord is ideal for grabbing a breakfast, lunch or dinner. I tried a bowl of beef chili with butternut squash and loved it! At first, I thought this might be too odd a dish -- that is, replacing beans with butternut -- but the combination turned out to be better than the traditional recipe. From Belgium waffles and baked goods to hot grilled paninis to pistachio crusted salmon filet, the Main Street Market and Cafe's menu is certainly extensive. ...

Source: momslifesavers.blogspot.com via Moms on Pinterest Barnacle Billy's restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine, seems like a rite of passage into the Maine summertime. Rarely do you find someone in New England that doesn't know about this landmark seafood restaurant specializing in fresh Maine lobster, steamed clams, chowder, lobster rolls, lobster stew, over sized drinks and, well, barbecue chicken (don't laugh, it's really good). It's not that Barnacle Billy's is better than other local restaurants, specializing in seafood. It's just that Barnacle Billy's has a well-known presence, a timeless tradition, a waterfront location and excellent seafood that results in this dining incumbent constantly being reelected by thousands of visitors and locals every year looking for a trusted, dependable restaurant. Barnacle Billy's actually has two locations, virtually right next to each other. Barnacle Billy's, Etc., offers more ambiance ...

Source: acadiamagic.com via Heather on Pinterest When creating our New England Pinterest pinboards , I came across one photo that I keep coming back to:  a colorful picture of downtown Bar Harbor, Maine.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Bar Harbor is the lively commercial center of the Acadia National Park area. Just minutes from Acadia where the ocean meets the mountains, Bar Harbor has an enviable and impossibly beautiful harbor location with enough shops and restaurants to keep the most insatiable shopper and diner happy throughout the vacation. Tree-lined in many parts and with a relaxing town common, Bar Harbor might be too hectic from Memorial Day to Labor Day Weekend for those in touch with the spectacular natural, pristine setting of Acadia National Park, but let's remember, too, that it's not exactly one of those tacky, souvenir-laden tourist traps. Sure, you'll get elements of that here, but, all in all, Bar Harbor has an attractive, often beautiful...

The Paragon Carousel at Nantasket Beach (photo by Eric) Many people felt like they were being taken for a ride when Paragon Park at Nantasket Beach in Hull, Mass., closed its legendary amusement park in 1984. The better part of a century brought a joyous beach and amusement scene that exuded a classic New England summer tradition with, to name a few staples, the unbeatable combination of rides, arcades, souvenirs, waves and ice cream. Who can forget that wooden roller coaster or the bumper cars? Paragon Park's closure gave way to housing development -- great for the people that live there by the ocean -- but sad for us to see Paragon Park and the memories associated with it just drift away. It was so close to home (about a half hour south of Boston, FYI), and really the ultimate day trip. While we'll probably never see a return of Paragon Park, there are still significant remnants that still make Nantasket Beach a worthy New England travel destination: The historic ...

Ancient New England proverb: when it comes to barbecue food, it's better to have slow cook food than food from a slow cook. The Boston, Mass., area offers several great places for well-prepared slow cook barbecue foods (definition: utilizing less heat than grilling over a longer period of time), including Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington and Newton, Redbone's in Somerville, Mass., and Firefly's in Marlborough. All these dining spots have chefs that clearly know what they are doing, which is great given that there's also a good number of local barbecue restaurants that miss the mark. Real barbecue cuisine does not equate to rotisserie! Often, we can do better on our own with some high quality barbecue sauce and meats bought from the local butcher and proper use of the grill. It's nice, however, when someone else with a virtual PhD in barbecue cooking does all the work for you. Thankfully, a newcomer to the Boston area barbecue dining scene, brings perhaps the bes...

Cape Cod Canal Bike Trail (photo by Eric) Do you like riding a bike but are afraid of the crazy drivers out there on the road or the awkwardness of passing pedestrians on the sidewalk? Well, the good news is that many bike trails have emerged in New England (a good number of them converted from old railroad tracks), offering paved trails and great scenery. Here are four bike trails in New England that we highly recommend: Cape Cod Canal Trail The amazing canal water views make this seven-mile trek a  "must-visit" destination for the outdoor enthusiast visiting Cape Cod. Beautifully maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Cape Cod Canal Bike Trail is convenient, too, located virtually at the gateway to Cape Cod. The trail spans from Sandwich to Buzzards Bay. The views of the gigantic Sagamore and Bourne Bridges -- connecting the mainland to Cape Cod -- are worth the visit, too! Stowe Recreation Path  Forests, meadows, rivers, arched bridges and mountain s...

Belcourt Castle, Newport, R.I. (photo by Eric) Touring the Newport mansions in Newport, R.I., might seem like an obvious New England travel attraction, but it's definitely a "rich"  experience worthy of a visit. Once "summer cottages" to the rich and famous from the Gilded Age (beginning in the mid-19th century), many of the Newport mansions  remain in great shape and available for tours. The Preservation Society of Newport County offers the majority of house tours, including The Breakers, Chateau-sur-Mer, The Elms, Marble House and Rosecliff. The tours can take up to 90 minutes, given the size, details and nuances of each home. My recommendation would be to see no more than two homes a day, as the experience can eventually become overkill.  By purchasing a multi-house ticket, you can spread out the visits on different days. Speaking of tickets, you can order online or on site at any participating house. Log onto the Preservation Society of Newport County ...

Source: Uploaded by user via Brea on Pinterest Two miles of beach, a boardwalk, 558 open camp sites and also extensive open spaces away from the beach to walk: what's not to like about Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Conn.? Hammonasset Beach is the largest beach in Connecticut, and certainly one of New England's finest. Located on Long Island Sound,  the extremely well-maintained beach is situated on 919 acres with every step of the way a utopia for beach enthusiasts. Not only do you get some beautiful New England ocean beach scenery, but soft sand, relatively warm water in the summer, attentive lifeguards on duty, a concession stand, picnic areas and a nature center as well as walking, biking and rollerblading opportunities within the park. Most importantly, you get a generally well-behaved crowd here -- many families and peaceful types with few showoffs. Perhaps the best way to visit Hammonasset Beach is to secrure a camp site. Why take a day trip when y...

Evelyn's Drive-In, Tiverton (photo by Eric) Cape Cod and Maine tend to get most of the accolades when it comes  to the best New England seafood shacks. Let's not forget, however, about the small state of Rhode Island that comes up big with countless outstanding roadside seafood spots. Here are three examples: Seafood lovers will certainly not feel underwater when visiting Evelyn's Drive-in in Tiverton . This plain-looking seafood shack features an amazing Rhode Island clam chowder (with a thinner broth), mouthwatering clam cakes, the unusual lobster chow mein, huge fried seafood platters, lobster rolls and grilled salmon, to name a few. The atmosphere feels like a coffee shop by the water -- nothing fancy and with quick, to-the-point diner-like service. Located on scenic Nanaquacket Pond, Evelyn's also features a very pleasant outdoor patio dining area where the pond has more of a coastal feel than inland. Evelyn's is so good that the Food Network's Guy Fi...

Do you love a good downtown? We have a few favorites in our region that offer small town New England appeal, stores, restaurant, historical preservation and traditional ways, and an overall welcoming feeling. Without further ado, here are some of those great downtown districts where we'll let the pictures do the talking... Salem, Mass. Bristol, R.I. Keene, N.H. Mystic, Conn. Milford, N.H. Northeast Harbor, Maine Hanover, N.H. Chatham, Mass. (Cape Cod) Wickford Village in North Kingston, R.I. Newburyport, Mass. Portsmouth, N.H. Springfield, Vt. Do you have a favorite downtown in New England? Tell us a little about it by commenting below. Or, please feel free to comment these downtown districts featured in this post. Happy travels!

Apple goat cheese salmon with asparagus, rice, and cinnamon and cranberry balsamic glaze from The Raven's Nest, Walpole, Mass. (photo by Eric) Driving into the city for a "date night" out can be such a pain -- fighting traffic and rude drivers, paying more for parking and tolls than a meal, and having our car value go down about 60 percent in one night from hitting pothole after pothole. Fortunately, the past 10 or 15 years have been good to us Boston suburbanites looking for a quality meal, close to home. Many restaurant business types, chefs and entrepreneurs have opened up restaurants in the suburbs closer in concept and quality to those high-profile city restaurants that I think sometimes have more appeal as a conversation pieces than places we'd like to go. We have found a southwest Boston suburban dining gem called The Raven's Nest Pub and Eatery in downtown Walpole, Mass. Built much like the Irish pubs owner Mark McAuliffe grew up with in this ...

What a great introduction to Wolfeboro, N.H., when the Chamber of Commerce is located in an absolutely beautiful, historic building called Wolfeboro Station! We highly recommend visiting the nice folks at the Wolfeboro Chamber of Commerce before exploring Wolfeboro, N.H., and surrounding communities. Wolfeboro -- nestled on the eastern shores of Lake Winnipesaukee -- goes beyond just being a place with a lake and some cute, little shops, inns and restaurants. It is a classic New England small town with lots to do, but not in an overbearing programmed "Hey, everybody, look at how much fun I am having" kind of way. Museums, sightseeing tours, theater, concerts, arts and crafts shows, community dinners, hiking trails, scenic back roads drives and boating, fishing and swimming opportunities await you in a truly underrated area of New Hampshire. It just feels normal here, not some phony manufactured marketer's dream. Known as the "Oldest Summer Resort in America,...

Let's continue the ice cream blogging one more time by giving a shout-out to Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream in Mystic, Conn. Now, it's always good to find an ice cream place in a great travel destination like Mystic , and even nicer when the ice cream, atmosphere and service are outstanding. The ice cream is definitely more expensive, but it's well worth the slight increase in price. The reason: most ice cream has a higher volume of air, which means less taste. You'd be surprised how many well-known ice cream places employ this method. Creating one batch at a time of creamier, superior tasting ice cream with premium ingredients, as well as frozen yogurt and sorbet, really elevates this ice cream into our personal "Best of New England" category. When visiting here, I always get the "Lemon Chocolate Kiss," a mouthwatering combination of, surprise, lemon and chocolate! The atmosphere is bustling and the frequent lines move right along due to some skil...

We all love those classic New England ice cream stands -- rural ambiance and all -- but it does absolutely no good if the ice cream is lousy. Fortunately, Kimball's in Westford, Mass. (about an hour northwest of Boston), has kept its long-time quality tradition intact by serving what we feel is some of the best ice cream we've ever sampled in New England. Whether a traditional vanilla or a creative gingersnap molasses, the ice cream is always richly flavorful here -- and served in generous portions. Kimball's also has two state-of-the-art miniature golf courses, an outdoor grill and seafood shack a bumper boat area, an animal petting area, arcades, a golf putting area, driving range and batting cages. The setting is beautiful -- not touristy at all -- and the overall experience some of the most fun we had when traveling New England last summer. I remember when Kimball Farm was just an ice cream stand. Those were truly memorable times driving in my dad's wood pane...

Mario's Italian Restaurant in downtown Lexington, Mass., has been around, seemingly, forever. A small, slightly noisy and always crowded restaurant, Mario's makes some amazing homemade baked ziti with the right combination of layers of pasta, seasoned ground beef and tomato sauce, and a creamy cheese Bechamel sauce cooked to a golden brown. Mario's also makes some very good pizza and other pasta dishes, but I always make it a point to get the baked ziti here. There's nothing quite like it in my restaurant book -- and that includes those pricey, higher profile restaurants in the area. Hope you get to try some, whether as a local or a tourist visiting historic Lexington!   Mario's is located at 1733 Mass. Ave in Lexington, Mass. Tel. (781) 861-1182

Source: visitingnewengland.com via Visiting on Pinterest We were fishing for some new ideas for Pinterest pinboards and thought it would be a great idea to create a "Best Lobster in New England" pinboard . Highly visual and showcasing some of the best lobster shacks and full-service restaurants in New England that we and our friends embrace, these are definitely "go-to" dining spots for local lobster and lobster rolls. Some lobster dining destinations you'll see on this Pinterest pinboard: Barnacle Billy's in Ogunquit, Maine, Abbott's Lobster in the Rough, Noank, Conn., Woods Seafood in Plymouth, Mass., and Markey's Lobster Pool in Seabrook, N.H. That's just a sampling so for a full-course online tour of more incredible lobster destinations in New England, we recommend following this appetizing pinboard for current photos and descriptions and future updates! Related articles: The best lobster rolls in New England Maine lobster sala...

Source: blog.preservationnation.org via Preservation Nation on Pinterest Congratulations to Bath, Maine, for being chosen by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a 2012 Great American Main Street Awards winner . The National Trust chose only five communities in the United States "whose successes serve as a model for comprehensive commercial district revitalization." Other winners include Culpepper,Va., Jacksonville, Ill., Valley Junction/West Des Moines, Iowa, and Washington, Mo. I know it must have been a daunting task for the Preservation to choose towns and cities for this award, as so many communities in our great country have worked so hard to improve their downtown districts. Locally, I think of, in addition to Bath, Melrose, Mass., Wakefield, Mass., Bellows Falls, Vt., and Saco, Maine, as shining examples. That being said, I believe that Bath was a fine choice for this accolade. Last time, I visited in 2008, Bath really impressed me with its nic...

We couldn't resist showing you a few more perspectives of Salem, Mass., this one from the Salem Common. Founded in the 17th century, this large, historic district provides a wonderful setting for a downtown district stroll. Amazing, well-preserved 18th century homes surround this eight-acre Common that also features a beautiful gazebo (pictured below), well developed paths, plenty of benches and an overall sense of peace and quiet. Directly across from the Salem Witch Museum and a couple minutes' walk to the impressive downtown Salem shopping district , be sure to put this on your list of things to do when visiting Salem! Book a room in Salem MA at the lowest available rate

Cupcake display at Butter Cafe and Bakery, Walpole, Mass. (photo by Eric) We have tasted many fine cupcakes through the years, but Butter Cafe and Bakery in Walpole, Mass., comes up with flavors that "take the cupcake" in the Boston area. Root beer, blueberry pie, red velvet, orange creamiscle, Andes mint, ice cream sundae, peanut butter cream, Boston Creme Pie, and their own version of a Hostess cupcake (much, much better than the Hostess brand!) are just a few of the cupcakes offered at Butter Cafe and Bakery that are nothing short of mouthwatering. Butter Cafe and Bakery is also a great spot for breakfast and lunch with some creative, delicious dishes like the braised short rib grilled cheese and pressed duck sandwiches -- but be sure to not to miss out on these delicious cupcakes! Butter Cafe and Bakery is located at 935 East St., Walpole MA. Tel. (508) 668-2123                     ...

Today's New England public service announcement (PSA) podcast focuses on a cheese rolling competition to be held this summer in the beautiful coastal town of Belfast, Maine. This calcium-rich event is one of the more unusual attractions that has come across our news desk in quite sometime, but it sounds awfully fun and an event we might just attend ourselves! For full details, click on the audio clip above. Thanks to the Office of Maine Tourism for tipping us on the event. If you have a travel-related PSA that you'd like to hear announced through our blog, drop us a line and we'll consider it for broadcast. Thanks, and happy travels! Book a room in Belfast Maine, at the lowest available rate

Source: visitingnewengland.com via Visiting on Pinterest Last night, I had this rather interesting dream about a social media competition, and the judges were Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler from American Idol . Their focus was on judging the hot social media site, Pinterest. In the dream, Randy started out by saying, "Yo, yo, yo! Dawg, every time I think I have seen it all, someone like you comes along and gives its own special voice to social media. When you hit your visual note, I was like, "yo," this social media site can rock! You are definitely in it to win it! Dude, you were unbelievable! I mean, that was dope, man!" Next in the dream, J Lo said, "Pinterest, you know how much I love you -- you know, that you make your social media site so visual and full of pretty images like flowers, arts and crafts, and fashion. And it's that visual element that makes you so special. I know you're new to the social media game, so yo...