D.C. to the Northeast. What should I see?

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Mystic

You can have almost everything in CT, hiking, state parks, beaches, all within an hour or so. If on Amtrak, you also have stops in Stamford, New Haven, Old Saybrook and New London. You can also take Metro-North for intermediate stops like Norwalk, Fairfield and Bridgeport.

As mentioned earlier, tons of history, town greens and old graveyards - if that’s your thing.

For food, try New Haven style pizza and the lobster rolls here are different than in Maine.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

New England seems like more of an autumn destination. I still would love to see a Williams-Amherst football game in person in season, but sadly I am still employed.

 

[swingline]

All great suggestions, folks. Thanks.

I've been to Boston and NYC, so those aren't on my non-existent agenda. Basically, I'm just going to putter around like an old lady from church. The food entices me to many of these places.

I don't believe in GPS (and it's not included in a 1998 car), but I'll have an atlas with me, which will be good enough.

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

If you go to Mystic, do NOT go to Mystic Pizza. Grab a pint at the Harp and Hound, a stone’s throw away. I lived above it from 2006-09. It was fantastic.

if you find yourself in Connecticut, the lower Connecticut River valley is so nice. Essex is a good first stop - go to downtown Essex and the Griswold Inn, or the nearby Connecticut River Museum. Drive through Chester and Deep River, hop on the Hadlyme Ferry and go to Gillette’s Castle.

We live in Old Lyme and I can’t imagine being elsewhere.

 

[MileHigh]

Even though they’re pretty far from the “coast,” I’ll plug my happy place, the Finger Lakes.

It’s a 6-hour trip from DC, but once you get past Frederick, it’s a really easy drive up 11/15. And there is no more beautiful stretch of road than Route 15 from Williamsport, PA to Corning, NY.

You can get a pretty decent Airbnb at a condo complex in South Bristol, NY, which usually comes with water access and a private beach. Maybe not on short notice like this, though.

My late brother-in-law is from the Finger Lakes area. My sister loved it the few times they went back there.

 

[micropolitan guy]

If you go to Mystic, do NOT go to Mystic Pizza. Grab a pint at the Harp and Hound, a stone’s throw away. I lived above it from 2006-09. It was fantastic.

if you find yourself in Connecticut, the lower Connecticut River valley is so nice. Essex is a good first stop - go to downtown Essex and the Griswold Inn, or the nearby Connecticut River Museum. Drive through Chester and Deep River, hop on the Hadlyme Ferry and go to Gillette’s Castle.

We live in Old Lyme and I can’t imagine being elsewhere.

My nephew and his now-wife had their rehearsal dinner there in 2013. It was great. They got married at some vineyard in Stonington that overlooks the sound.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

My nephew and his now-wife had their rehearsal dinner there in 2013. It was great. They got married at some vineyard in Stonington that overlooks the sound.

Saltwater Farms? That’s where we got married. It has quite a backstory.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Saltwater Farms? That’s where we got married. It has quite a backstory.

Yes! Great place. We took busses up and back from town. My nephew and niece just bought some property in the area, they had been living in Colchester. He works at the submarine place in New London/Groton as some kind of engineer he can't tell us anything about.

 

[Azrael]

Adirondack Park / Lake Placid

Fire Island / Block Island / Nantucket / Martha's Vineyard / Cape Cod

Newport

Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge / Cape Arundel Inn, Kennebunkport

Keene, NH / Mount Monadnock

 

[Scout]

Traveling inland will be much more cost effective than the shoreline.

But, seeing a great boat harbor in the summer is really cool. When my family was on a tour boat, we had a former America’s cup sailboat come whizzing past us in full use, and it was impressive.