East Coast October Trip...help?

[3113]

Greetings, East Coast folk!

My husband and I need to be in Saratoga Springs, NY for the first week of November. As we have to be out there anyway, we've decided to use the week prior (last week of October) to take a little East Coast tour. I have no earthy idea what sort of tour we should take. So I'd like your help.

1) We'd be willing to fly into some other city if that makes for the best tour--or into Saratoga (i.e., nearest airport to Saratoga) if a round trip is possible.

2) We'll happily rent a car and drive; keep in mind, however, that neither of us is familiar with the highways out there, and we'd rather not get lost and find ourselves on the way to Mississippi. So sending us down too many weird dirt roads is probably a bad idea.

3) We are interested in visiting places in nearby states that are bizarre or literary. Salem is probably a given. A civil war battleground, however historic and important, is probably not. A place used during the civil war for spying, drugs and prostitution...AH! Yes, I think we'd like that.

4) We don't like to rush things, so this tour need not be filled with stop after stop. We like to take our time and detour if something catches our fancy. We aren't the sort of tourists who need to keep to a strict timetable. All that matters is that we end up in Saratoga Springs by Nov. 1st.

I think those four points are a good way to start. Obviously, we'll need thoughts on good B&B's as well, but those can wait. Any help, ideas, advice VERY much appreciated. I honestly don't know where to start on this or how to go about it. I'll probably visit a travel agent, but I'd like to have something in mind before I go.

Many, many thanks!

 

[cloudy]

If you're going to Salem, you might as well go to Boston for a couple of days. Tons and tons to see and do there, history-wise, but CD could probably tell you more.

Provincetown is a gorgeous little town on Cape Cod, and rates ought to be decent that time of year. Well-worth a visit.

 

[neonlyte]

Fly to Albany, rent a Hertz - it comes with sat-nav, makes it easier to get around. If you are in Saratoga Springs on a Friday, visit Rabbi Jonathan at the Synagogue in the Main Street, he'll be making bread for folk and welcomes visitors. No need to be Jewish and I'll guarantee you'll learn something.

If you are heading Boston way and like modern art, detour to Dai Beacon, it's off the interstate to Boston. I'll dig out directions if you want to make the visit. It might be the preppy-est gallery in the world and deserves a visit if you ever want to write a gallery into a story

Ok... so I only know off the track places.

 

[fcdc]

Hello! I am from upstate New York since age seven. (Albany area.) The good news is that fall is the nicest season in upstate New York, and there are tons of things within a couple of hours' drive. The bad news is you will have to drive. If you have your heart set on Salem, go, but I'd actually recommend against it; I was there for Halloween 2003 and it was really touristy; I've been there before, and it was still touristy.

Allow me to point you to some cool things that are within a few hours' drive.

ART:
Olana, the home of Frederic Church, luminist painter. A visit to this house was my sixteenth birthday present. I love it so much. It is awesome and looks like this:
http://www.preservenys.org/seven/olana1.jpg

Dia: Beacon, more art, but all sorts of weird/cool modern art. Contains works by Sol LeWitt, who just died. It's all modern, but the Andy Warhol is the weakest of the lot - a lot of exhibits are much, much more fascinating than Warhol. I 'didn't understand' modern art before I visited this museum. After I left, I got it.

HISTORY:
Gillette Castle, in Connecticut. It's a medieval castle, and it's nuts.

Emily Dickinson House, in Amherst, Massachusetts. I was a tour guide here for a summer. Emily Dickinson was crazy, and the house is spooky, but it's well worth a visit.

The Iroquois Indian Museum, right next to Howe Caverns. When I was in college, I took a class with Mike Tarbell, who runs the place. He is a full-blooded Akwesasne Mohawk and a seriously cool guy, incredibly interested in his own history and in helping people learn about the Iroquois. If John Ferguson is still there too (he may be dead by now), he is cool. A thousand years old and still an archaeologist. There a lot of Iroquois archaeology digs going on in upstate New York, and they're always uncovering new things.

SCIENCE:
Howe Caverns, near where my parents live. It's kind of touristy, but is nonetheless fascinating to look at. Upstate NY was a hotbed of geology (the mountains just off to the east were originally African mountains, a volcano erupted in Quebec, and the Appalachian mountains dumped all their 'garbage,' so to speak, on upstate NY, so the rocks are pretty strange and weird. Even if you don't go here, when you're driving, pay attention to the rock layers on the highway. They're very dramatic and distinct.

SPORTS:
Lake Placid Olympic Park. You can actually go down the luge and bobsled, or could when I went. I'm not even kidding, the actual track, on an actual bobsled and luge. Bone-rattling, awesome fun.

Great Escape. When I was a kid, it was not owned by Six Flags, and was a cool, podunk-y park with charm and character all its own (and a wonderful wooden roller coaster.)

If you are a skier, there is skiing within ten minutes of Saratoga, and on good mountains (the Adirondacks). There will be snow in October. Expect snow, in fact, when you go. Bring sweaters.

You are within three hours of Montreal, Boston, and New York City. If you want to go to those cities, definitely go. Hopefully this gives you a taste of the region without resorting to boring things like the Saratoga race track or the Baseball Hall of Fame (also nearby, in Cooperstown), so there you go. If you have anything specific that you want to see, let me know.

 

[fcdc]

Fly to Albany, rent a Hertz - it comes with sat-nav, makes it easier to get around. If you are in Saratoga Springs on a Friday, visit Rabbi Jonathan at the Synagogue in the Main Street, he'll be making bread for folk and welcomes visitors. No need to be Jewish and I'll guarantee you'll learn something.

If you are heading Boston way and like modern art, detour to Dai Beacon, it's off the interstate to Boston. I'll dig out directions if you want to make the visit. It might be the preppy-est gallery in the world and deserves a visit if you ever want to write a gallery into a story

Ok... so I only know off the track places.

DIA BEACON!

 

[MagicaPractica]

Upstate New York = Fingerlakes and wineries! Enjoy. I particularly love going up through the Adirondacks for a quiet retreat but most of the places I think of are for relaxation and writing.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Lots to do if you do stop in boston. I'll have to think about this a bit but off the top of my head:

For Art there is the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, or MFA for short, which is not to be missed for any art lover. Also, right behind it is the Gardener Museum, also a must see.

Downtown is tone of shopping if you're into that. The Backbay is the heart of Boston shopping, concentrating mostly on Newbury Street. Lots of swanky shops and overprices stuff. Also lots of resturants over in that area.

Speaking of eating, one great resturant is 'Top of the Hub'. It's a resturant on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Tower, (the 2nd tallest building in Boston). Food is pretty good (although horedously overpriced) but the views are spectacular, especially at night. Be sure to make reservations.

Other areas of intrest are Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market. A historic outdoor market area right near city hall. Kindof a touristy area but cool in a way. Right across the street is the New England Aquarium which is good if you're into fish. Going the other way is city hall plaza where there are alot of free concerts in the summer on the weekends if that's when you'll be here.

I'll have to think about this some more. It's been a few years since I lived up in Boston.

I'd say something about Providence, but unless you're into shopping or history, there's not to much here. Although in the summers they do 'Water Fire' along the river. They have fires in baskets in the river and the shops & resturants set up their patios for the night. Gives it all a european feel. Also ther are often street preformers and such. There's also a Gondola (yes, an authentic Venitian gondola) giving rides in the river.

Newport is also a big tourist area. Lots of shopping, resturants, history, etc. Also they have the mansion tours and of course the beaches and ocean. Try the 'Cliff Walk'. It's a walkway along the rocks between the ocean and the mansions. Very senic.

And finally, no trip to New England would be complete without a trip to Cape Cod and it's beaches. Even if you don't swim, just go fro a ride down to Provincetown (called P-Town by locals). It's beautiful.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

If you do Providence-the strip clubs there are way better than any you'll find in MA.

Everyone's sort of touched on the stuff in Boston, so I'll shut up on that.

If you flew into Boston and drove to Saratoga, you'd get in some beautiful scenery (we'd be at peak foliage) and you could do some cheesy (but so fun) stuff like apple picking and hayrides and such as you pass through the state.

Salem is a blast-the hawthorne hotel is the most centrally located hotel in the city-you could walk to all the cool stuff there. If you didn't have to be in NY on 11/1, I would more than recommend halloween in Salem. It's crazy, it's occasionally a little commercial, but it's an experience worth having.

CT has some weird PT Barnum stuff down near NYC if you feel like detouring that way.

VT has the Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream Factory tour, which was fun AND gets you free ice cream (and the ice cream graveyard on site is amusing)...about 20 minutes from there is the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, which also has a tour. Along the road are plenty of artists like glassblowers who do art while you watch.

 

[3113]

Thank you all for these ideas! They're a terrific start. So, from what I'm reading, most of you seem to think that we should start in Boston and head North from there to NY

I'm all for Cape Cod and the stop at the ice cream factory and I think Salem will be a given even if it's commercial. It would be nice to be there for Halloween, but we'll really have to be in NY by then. Probably just as well. Emily Dickenson's house, hm? Nice idea!

I'd love visit the Adirondacks for a week and just write, but that's another vacation...or maybe not. That's a very different idea...I'll run it by the husband....

I guess I'd better get out a map and start working things out....

 

[3113]

The good news is that fall is the nicest season in upstate New York, and there are tons of things within a couple of hours' drive. The bad news is you will have to drive.

We're natives of L.A. Have you ever seen Steve Martin's movie "L.A. Story"? One of my favorite parts is when he gets in a car, drives half-a-block then gets out again That's an L.A. native for you.

We don't mind driving. Not at all.

 

[fcdc]

We're natives of L.A. Have you ever seen Steve Martin's movie "L.A. Story"? One of my favorite parts is when he gets in a car, drives half-a-block then gets out again That's an L.A. native for you.

We don't mind driving. Not at all.

You will when you see the typical New York driver.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

We're natives of L.A. Have you ever seen Steve Martin's movie "L.A. Story"? One of my favorite parts is when he gets in a car, drives half-a-block then gets out again That's an L.A. native for you.

We don't mind driving. Not at all.

He didn't drive a half a block. He drove to his neighbor's house...

 

[bluebell]

Thank you all for these ideas! They're a terrific start. So, from what I'm reading, most of you seem to think that we should start in Boston and head North from there to NY

A lot of the cool, small town, artsy-craftsy, Gilmore Girlsy things are going to be in the squishy states next to/around New York. Of course, you're also going to have the opportunity to be in the big city places. Saratoga is quasi-central to some good states.
Actually, now that I think about it, you'd have the chance to see some things in Pennsylvania if you wanted to (Amish country?). It's a huge state, though, so in in the interest of saving time, you might want them to be more near where you have to end up.

I'll second Magica's Fingerlakes nomination. Lovely.

There's a really nice B & B up in Albany, NH called The Darby Field Inn, which is a little farther northeast from Saratoga.

Also, if you choose to do CT, aside from Gillette Castle, there's Mark Twain's house and museum in Hartford.
The place I really recommend in CT, though, is the Taj Mahal of used book stores.
I don't know whether you do used books or not, but let me tell you- this place could make a bookworm cream in their undies (and probably has).
The Book Barn is in Niantic, CT- so it's close to NY City. They have buildings of books.
Can you tell I'm getting all excited just thinking about it?

 

[Wildcard Ky]

If at all possible, arrange your trip so that you can see West Point. It's quite impressive.

 

[Guest]

Also, if you choose to do CT, aside from Gillette Castle, there's Mark Twain's house and museum in Hartford.
The place I really recommend in CT, though, is the Taj Mahal of used book stores.
I don't know whether you do used books or not, but let me tell you- this place could make a bookworm cream in their undies (and probably has).
The Book Barn is in Niantic, CT- so it's close to NY City. They have buildings of books.
Can you tell I'm getting all excited just thinking about it?

these were my stomping grounds all my life. Gillette Gastle is a bit cheesy but Devil's Hop Yard is really cool to have picnic lunch and you can dip your toes into the 'creek' that runs through it.

The Book Barn is owned by some old dear friends of mine. I was really surprised to see that listed here since i was always under the impression that it was obscure.

Mystic is touristy but fun. Lots of really cool stores with handmade (not bought in tiawan) crafts. you can see Mystic Pizza, yes, where they filmed the movie and made my life living hell for an entire summer.

There is something cool that you may not ever hear about. its called the Gungywamp. If you call ahead, you can get a tour.

The Gungywamp complex consists of paleo and neo-paleo Indian sites, colonial sites, post-colonial sites. Previous "mysterious" sites have been investigated, and re-investigated, and have been explained more fully within this website's Stonewatch newsletters

This society was cofounded by my father. my favorite part is the wall of tears. many people who take a guided tour are often moved to tears in this area and there is no real explaination for why.
Gungywamp

There are almost always some sort of ghost tours going on in CT. here is a nifty link: Trail of Terror

If money isnt too much of an issue, you can take a river cruise on the Sabino. its really cool and if you see a crazy old man running down a dock with a blow horn, that would be my step father. he hates the sabino with a passion because it uses coal for power.

If you do go to P-Town, you may want to stop in Hyannis for whale watching.
Whales

I have lots more but i think this might be the longest post ive made in over a year!
Have fun and if you have any questions, gimme a hollah!
v~

 

[3113]

The place I really recommend in CT, though, is the Taj Mahal of used book stores. I don't know whether you do used books or not, but let me tell you- this place could make a bookworm cream in their undies (and probably has).
The Book Barn is in Niantic, CT- so it's close to NY City. They have buildings of books.
Can you tell I'm getting all excited just thinking about it?

Ding! Ding! Ding! Oh, yes. THAT is going on the list! Thank you! Excellent suggestion.

Actually, now that I think about it, you'd have the chance to see some things in Pennsylvania if you wanted to (Amish country?). It's a huge state, though, so in in the interest of saving time, you might want them to be more near where you have to end up.

If we could manage Pensylvania I'd do it in a heartbeat. The one pilgrimage my husband and I want to make is to Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. If anyone sees a way to visit that and still make the tour on up to Saratoga, let me know.

 

[3113]

There are almost always some sort of ghost tours going on in CT. here is a nifty link: Trail of Terror

Thanks for that link! That's gonna be helpful.

 

[bluebell]

The Book Barn is owned by some old dear friends of mine. I was really surprised to see that listed here since i was always under the impression that it was obscure.

Wow, Vella. That is so great! I love that place. Most of my books are from there. It's still obscure, but not as much as it used to be. It's gotten its fair share of press over the last few years. Busier now than it used to be, but busier means more books for me to fill my life with.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Oh, yes. THAT is going on the list! Thank you! Excellent suggestion.

Woohoo! Glad to be of service.
And Vella added some things that I didn't know about either...I should check them out myself.

If we could manage Pensylvania I'd do it in a heartbeat. The one pilgrimage my husband and I want to make is to Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. If anyone sees a way to visit that and still make the tour on up to Saratoga, let me know.

Falling Water is in Mill Run, PA.
If you span outwards in the map, it seems pretty westward of where you want to be in NY, and I would wager it could take you up to eight hours each way.
Depends on how fast you want to go (be warned about the police, though- they will not be merciful.)
If you wanted to devote a few days to PA, then you could hit some other spots as well, or else you could make it a one-off and just hit Falling Water.
(Captain Obvious strikes again)