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Post by sprite on Jun 16, 2022 12:04:35 GMT -5
My sister will get married in NH on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. for about a week before and after that, our plan is to travel around New England. We'd originally thought of a road trip through the back roads--our parents motorbike around there a lot and have lots of suggestions. But if the car rental situation doesn't improve, that might not be feasible.
How easy is train travel? I have the impression it'll be better on the East coast than other parts of the country.
Is JFK still a bit of a nightmare to fly into, in terms of delays? It's borderline chaos here. I'd prefer to fly into a smaller airport, but we would like to spend 2-4 days in NYC and it seems sensible to do that at the start (I don't know why, it just does).
Very excited about this trip, but suddenly two weeks is not enough to do some country drives, a few day hikes, some city visits...
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 16, 2022 18:36:57 GMT -5
Train travel in the East is fun when you want to go where the train is going, like anywhere between New York and Montreal or anyplace between New York and Portland, Maine. Otherwise you have to transfer to a bus, which isn't bad, but not as cool as a train. The train organization (Amtrak) gives you the opportunity to reserve many of the buses on the Amtrak site, but not all of them; then you have to go onto the Concord (I think) site, etc....
Just warning that if you want to take the train from New York to Portland, you either have to get out at South Station and take a bus or get off at Back Bay, take the T to North Station, and transfer to the Downeaster up there.
No info about JFK... I haven't flown out of there since I went to Ireland in 2013, I think? You could always fly into Boston Logan rather than NYC.
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Post by sprite on Jun 17, 2022 4:31:07 GMT -5
yeah, I was thinking of Boston. Annoyingly, I suspect we'll be travelling just after a lot of the cheaper airlines stop their summer schedule to the smaller airports.
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 17, 2022 4:55:05 GMT -5
That's too bad... there's also a restricted post-summer train schedule, I think; I recall only being able to take the train to visit Spawn in Old Orchard Beach certain months of the year.
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Post by sprite on Jun 26, 2022 10:25:26 GMT -5
Is 600 bucks for 8 days of rental a reasonable price? I can't remember the last time I rented a car!
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Post by Liiisa on Jun 26, 2022 10:57:55 GMT -5
Based on what I looked into for Maine this summer, that's very reasonable. But of course remember that there can be taxes and extra fees and all that kind of business, so a $600 quote from an initial search could end up being $800.
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Post by Webs on Jul 9, 2022 9:14:49 GMT -5
JFK is not a nightmare. It's the easiest airport to get you from the Airport to Manhattan.
$600 is very reasonable for 8 day rental but do not start your rental until you are ready to leave NYC. And pick up the car outside the city. Everyone I know usually picks up in White Plains (Westchester county) which is an easy train ride from Manhattan via Metro North. It also gets you out of most of the craziest traffic driving out of the city.
If you're going to NH, Portsmouth is an easy drive to Ogunquit but if you're driving from NYC area to there I recommend taking the Hudson to Berhshires to Boston route because you'll be hitting some love little towns and seeing beautiful fall color that way.
Let us know more specifics desires and we can help with other details.
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Post by Webs on Jul 9, 2022 12:03:35 GMT -5
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 9, 2022 13:29:53 GMT -5
I've taken Route 2 a number of times for various reasons - good road, though there's this one hairpin turn between Greenfield and North Adams that's kinda surprising. I spent 2 nights in North Adams a couple years ago on my way up to Vermont - stayed at The Porches hotel and went to Mass MOCA, which is a great space.
Webs I was born in Port Chester and my grandparents lived there, so we went to White Plains a lot. To this day I pronounce it "Wipelanes" like we used to there. Anyway that was off-topic, but totally agree about getting a rental car someplace other than in the city.
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Post by sprite on Jul 9, 2022 15:54:37 GMT -5
Oh yes, no way in hell we're driving in NYC.
We'll either die or split up.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 9, 2022 17:03:54 GMT -5
I used to drive to NYC all the time when Spawn was little because my ex's mom lived on the Upper West Side. I was younger and far more intrepid then. I think the last time I did that I nearly turned the wrong way onto some one-way street from Columbus Circle and was faced with this tsunami of oncoming speeding yellow cabs... I made a quick U-turn and managed not to pee myself.
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Post by Webs on Jul 9, 2022 21:13:01 GMT -5
Well, my dad was a cab driver and I can navigate most streets with ease. So I'm kinda biased but I prefer it when I'm not competing with tourists.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 10, 2022 5:51:28 GMT -5
Oh wow Webs, I bet!
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Post by Webs on Jul 10, 2022 15:20:19 GMT -5
Hints - For show choice wait until closer to your date, because things close and open rapidly in the fall. I often buy day of tickets at the TKTS booth - www.tdf.org/nyc/7/TKTS-Overview It's how I saw Book of Mormon, Moulin Rouge and so many other shows. Driving, NYC to NH - I would stop and overnight in Hudson and Boston and take your time to stop and browse along the way. That's only 2 overnights and you should be able to find affordable places to stay outside Boston. In NYC, It will beautiful for walking but have an umbrella if it says rain. Best views of Statue of Liberty are via the free Staten Island Ferry. Just do a round trip. There's not a lot near the ferry terminal on SI and your time is limited. If you're going to do the WTC Memorial, do that the same day. This is where the city started. Wall Street literally had a wall separating the settlement in Lower Manhattan from the wilderness above. The cemetary at Trinity Church is a glimpse into history (Alexander Hamilton is buried here). |
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 10, 2022 19:53:07 GMT -5
Whereas I'd skip Boston because the traffic is HELL and who needs Boston when you've just been in New York, and just head straight to Vermont or Maine.
Oh sorry psw lol... of course Boston is lovely because of psw.
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Post by Webs on Jul 11, 2022 12:07:27 GMT -5
Whereas I'd skip Boston because the traffic is HELL and who needs Boston when you've just been in New York, and just head straight to Vermont or Maine. Oh sorry psw lol... of course Boston is lovely because of psw. I don’t disagree but some of Boston is very edumacational. That’s also why I said stay outside Boston. So missing Boston might be an idea. |
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 11, 2022 13:21:00 GMT -5
True! But when one could be in Maine or VT….
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Post by Webs on Jul 11, 2022 18:12:25 GMT -5
Definitely. And now that we've totally confused her...
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Post by sprite on Jul 12, 2022 12:16:18 GMT -5
One of my great grandfathers immigrated via Boston. I used to have a quite a bit of family there, but some of them were rather snobbish. Luckily, those ones are all dead now. I have a feeling I'd like to stay in Salem, and just take the train/bus to Boston. I've been a passenger in a pick up truck with someone who'd never been to Boston, t'weren't fun. But I need to look at a map--no point staying on the wrong side of Boston for the airport. Now, tiss-ups/piss-ups in Boston and NYC could be fun.  |
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Post by Webs on Jul 12, 2022 20:13:51 GMT -5
Salem could be fun that time of year as long as it's not ON the 31st.
And yes I was waiting for more firm dates from you to suggest gathering the masses.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 13, 2022 4:47:14 GMT -5
Wooo NYC/Boston pissup -- I am up for either!
You know, I've never been to Salem - I've been to Maaahblehead and Essex and Gloucester, but not Salem, and those places not since jeez the 80s.
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Post by sprite on Jul 14, 2022 15:47:04 GMT -5
I will post dates as they roll in. |
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Post by Webs on Jul 14, 2022 20:05:53 GMT -5
Okay
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Post by tzarine on Jul 22, 2022 14:25:43 GMT -5
I've taken Route 2 a number of times for various reasons - good road, though there's this one hairpin turn between Greenfield and North Adams that's kinda surprising. I spent 2 nights in North Adams a couple years ago on my way up to Vermont - stayed at The Porches hotel and went to Mass MOCA, which is a great space. Webs I was born in Port Chester and my grandparents lived there, so we went to White Plains a lot. To this day I pronounce it "Wipelanes" like we used to there. Anyway that was off-topic, but totally agree about getting a rental car someplace other than in the city. we used to live in purchase & took the commuter train from white plains to get to the city! people did pronounce it that way! tzarevich was really close to massmoca @ wills! sprite have time for an nyc meetup? |
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Post by sprite on Jul 22, 2022 15:25:23 GMT -5
deffo a meet up! partner and I might be doing separate ones. Boston. Bloody hell Boston has expensive hotel rooms. |
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Post by Webs on Jul 22, 2022 15:51:28 GMT -5
That's why I said stay outside Boston. I say bypass Boston altogether and just go to Salem.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 22, 2022 16:18:28 GMT -5
I stayed at a reasonably cheap/good place in Boston near Back Bay called I think Hotel 140? Of course this was more than 5 years ago, but it seems to still be there.
But yeah, staying out of town works.
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Post by tzarine on Jul 22, 2022 17:11:39 GMT -5
deffo a meet up! partner and I might be doing separate ones. Boston. Bloody hell Boston has expensive hotel rooms. do you have any points or miles? bc i know marriot gives great hotel deals w those also try lastminuterooms |
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Post by sprite on Jul 23, 2022 4:55:11 GMT -5
We used his BA points for our flights, which was helpful. Next step is using mine for rentals and maybe hotels. In the past, we've found that the hotels using points were so expensive that points just brought them down to the same price as the other options!
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 23, 2022 5:32:32 GMT -5
I finally broke down and booked AirBnB for the stopover on my drive up to Maine next week because all the proper hotels were so excruciating. I'd say I'd let you know how this one turns out except it's in Springfield, which I don't see you really needing to visit.
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