Upstate New York & New England

We planned this trip around a wedding in upstate New York, adding on New England to visit friends and family. The wedding was in Lake Placid (NY). The we headed to Burlington (VT), the White Mountains (NH), Brunswick (ME), stopped along the way in Framingham (MA), and ended in Providence (RI) before heading home. The trip took 10 days and we drove about 1300 miles. 

Sept. 5: We left around 1:00 PM to arrive at our Harvest Host, Paradox Brewery, in North Hudson around 6:30 PM. The drive through the Catskills Mountains and the Adirondacks was beautiful, as was the weather. Along the route, we saw wild turkeys and deer. The brewery was more expensive than we expected with okay beer (Oktoberfest was particularly good) and the pretzel was good but overpriced. But the night was quiet and dark, and we had a good night’s sleep, despite a heavy rain mid-way through. 

Sept. 6: We woke up early, had a quick breakfast, and arrived in Lake Placid at the Cambria Hotel around 9:00 AM. The day was very rainy, unfortunate for an outside wedding. We walked around Lake Placid for a bit, had lunch at the Big Mountain Deli and Creperie thankful they were able to veganize their Donaldson, and then got ready for the wedding. Miraculously, the sun came out just in time for the ceremony, which was beautiful, with the mountains and lake in the background. After a fun night of dancing, we headed back to the hotel. 

Sept. 7: We slept in a bit, ate a pancake breakfast in the van, checked out of the hotel and started our drive to Burlington, VT. We had two pleasant surprises today! First, we didn’t realize that we had to cross Lake Champlain on a ferry. On the drive over, we couldn’t figure out why the short 60 mile drive would take two hours. But when we arrived hit the lake and saw the sign for the Essex Ferry to Vermont, we realized what we hadn’t planned for! The 25 minute ferry ride across the lake was beautiful, sunny, and warm! And it brought back fun childhood memories of when my family spent two crazy weeks on a rented houseboat on Lake Champlain. Arriving back on land, we drove the short distance to Burlington, finding a free (Sunday) parking spot on Winooski Avenue just north of Pearl Street. We walked around Burlington, seeing tons of Pride signs and people in Pride shirts. Our second pleasant surprise was that today was the Pride Celebration in Burlington. We walked down Church Street and then to the Waterfront, then up to University of Vermont. It rained a bit and then the sun came out. We stopped into the original Ben & Jerry’s but decided not to get ice cream. After walking all over town, we stopped to get gas and then drove over to our Harvest Host, Weird Windows Brewing. Despite being a bit hung over and low energy from the wedding the night before, we were still sorry to have arrived after hours because the porter and pickles looked really good. We settled in for the night, planned our next day to New Hampshire, and relaxed. 

Sept. 8: After a good night’s sleep, we started our drive to New Hampshire. Our first stop was to the White Mountain Visitor’s Center in Lincoln, NH. The ranger (Russ) we spoke with was really helpful in thinking about how we should spend the next few days, and we decided to start with a hike to Artist’s Bluff and Bald Mountain in the Franconia Notch area. The hike was only 1.5 miles long with a 430 foot elevation gain, but much of the climb was steep and over big boulders ending in a nice view of the area. After the hike, we drove over to the Ammonoosuc Campground, a really nice and friendly campground where we settled into the nicely wooded site G-5. While there appeared to be many seasonal campers who stayed in the campground, we saw only a few other campers during our stay. From the campground, we walked to the Ammonoosuc River, finding a nice trail behind a nearby church. We came back, showered, had dinner, chilled out, and planned the rest of our time in New Hampshire.

Sept. 9: Because today was supposed to be the warmest and sunniest during our stay, and at the suggestion of the ranger, we booked our tickets for the Cog Railway to the top of Mount Washington for 2:00. As a youth, I had hiked the White Mountains multiple times, including to the top of Mount Washington, staying at some of the AMCHigh Huts as well as backpacking. But on this trip, we decided to take the Cog Railway instead of hiking up to the top. Before taking the railway, in the morning, we hiked the Mount Willard Trail, a beautiful trail with a gradual incline to a spectacular view at the end! Coming down off the trail, we returned to the campground, had a quick lunch, filled our propane tank at the front office (a really nice perk!), and then headed over to the Cog Railway. Arriving a bit early, we took a short walk on the first part of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, following the river and stopping to walk out on some rock outcroppings. Then we headed back down to take the cog railway to the top of Mount Washington. While somewhat touristy, we had a sunny and warm day allowing for amazing views! We were able to see Lake of the Clouds Hut, as well as the other surrounding mountains in the Presidential Range and beyond. After returning to the bottom, we headed back to the campground for a shower, dinner, and TV (The Paper). 

Sept. 10: Although our intention today was to visit several small towns before heading to our friends in Tamworth, we decided to start with a hike to the upper falls of the Ammonoosuc River. The 3 mile RT hike started behind the grand Mount Washington Resort and Spa, past the golf course, and up a bridal path, leading to a bridge overlooking the falls. While the hike was nice, we returned to the van later than we anticipated. We headed over to Bethlehem, stopping along the way to each lunch along the road. Bethlehem is a tiny but quaint and welcoming town that is worth the visit. After walking around a bit, we headed a few miles further west to Littleton, a slightly bigger and also welcoming town with pride flags and lots of fun shops along Main Street. We stopped into a store to purchase a Grateful Dead dancing bear sticker, then walked around a bit before heading down Route 93 to the Kangamungus Scenic Byway that travels west and east between Lincoln and Conway along the southern border of the White Mountains. Stopping at a few places along the way, including the Russell Colbath House, we enjoyed looking for moose (which we did not see) and driving through the beautiful mountain road with leaves beginning to change color in the fall weather. Just before reaching Conway, we stopped at The Red Barn, a fun antique store, and purchased a new whirlygig for our yard. Then we headed to our friends’ house in Tamworth where we had a wonderful dinner, enjoyed their house in the woods, and caught up on the passage of time. 

Sept. 11: After breakfast and hanging out a bit with our friends, we headed out toward Brunswick, Maine to visit another set of friends. We stopped at a rest stop along the way and then headed to Freeport to check out the original L.L. Bean. We found the town of Freeport to be a bit disappointing as it really is one bit outlet mall dominated by the L.L. Bean campus and a conglomeration of stores. After walking around a bit, we headed to Brunswick, arriving in the early afternoon. Our friends’ house was just down the road from Bowdoin College so we walked around the campus and the adjacent Brunswick Town Commons. After dinner and a fun time catching up, we headed to sleep in the van. This was the first time we mooch-docked at a friend’s house and we found it worked out really well as it gave everyone their own space and meant we didn’t have to schlep our clothes and assundries into the house. 

Sept. 12: After a good night’s sleep, we woke up, ate breakfast with our friends, and headed to the Brunswick Farmer’s Market where we purchased a dark lager from Moderation Brewery, some vegetables, and some peanut-butter oatmeal cookies. We spent part of the day walking around town and going over the Androscoggin Swinging Bridge. The area around the bridge is beautiful and we enjoyed walking on the huge boulders on the banks of the Androscoggin River. We also ate a delicious vegetable bun for lunch at Little Saigon, finishing off the meal with amazing vegan gelato at Gelato Fiasco. We ended the afternoon by driving to Harpswell to see the Auburn Colony and Potts Point Preserve, a beautiful area surrounded by water. After a long day spent with good friends, we enjoyed a good night’s sleep in the van. 

Sept. 13: We slept in a bit, had a leisurely breakfast, and then drove the 2.5 hours south to Framingham, MA to spend the afternoon with our niece and nephew and their two children . A highlight was playing with our great nephews and enjoying an early birthday celebration of vegan ice cream sundaes! After fun playing with the kids and spending time with our family, we drove the short hour down to our Harvest Host, Working Man Distillers, in Pawtucket, RI. We ended a great day drinking a delicious “pickletini” and tasting good bourbon in a unique and relaxing space. 

Sept. 14: We had chosen to stay in Pawtucket as it is close to Providence, so in the morning, we drove the short 15 minutes into town, parking in the downtown area. We walked all over town, covering about 8-9 miles, walking through Brown University, RISD, down to Fox Point, and up to Federal Hill. There, we stopped for lunch at Caserta Pizzaria, enjoying a delicious spinach pie and vegan pizza. We also took a short visit to the RISD Museum of Art which is home to some amazing artwork, walked along the river, and got caught in a downpour just before reaching the van. Then we drove to the West End to see the area and the Cranston Street Armory which was closed but still impressive, before heading down to the Fishermen’s Memorial State Park Campground, our last campground of the trip. Being very grimy after walking around all day, we wanted to take showers, only to find that there were no showers in Area 1 where our site was (site 94). So we quickly drove over to another area in the campground, took a short coin-operated shower, and came back to eat leftover pizza and salad for dinner. Despite being close to other campsites and surrounded by other campers, our site provided a nice view of the water and a beautiful sunset. Before it started raining, we were able to take the short walk to the water and hike up the short hill to the look out area for a great view of the bay. Then we relaxed before heading in to listen to our audiobook, The Girl from Oto. 

Sept. 15: We woke up to my 60th birthday and headed home. The drive was fine other than being stopped on I-95 for 45 minutes due to a fire along the side of the road. Arriving home mid-day allowed us to unpack, start some laundry, and enjoy a nice Thai dinner and ice cream dessert with friends and family. This was a really nice trip that went smoothly and as planned!