The idea for this trip started because we wanted to be in New England for the fall, its called "Fall Foliage" and we are leaf peepers! We are to meander through the states that make up New England, namely, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island! Each state has a defining strap line, Florida, for instance, The Sunshine State, quite what got in to New Hampshire, who chose Live free, or Die! Heading out of Boston we visit Harvard University which sits in the town of Cambridge, on the opposite side of the Charles river to Boston. It's one of America's more famous Ivy League unis. It's a unique area, old buildings, leafy quadrangles with students studying, bells chiming...
On the road to Gloucester, a small seaport, 30 miles north, famous as the location for "The Perfect Storm" which is the centre for whale watching, our chosen mammal voyeuring! Our operator's office wall is peppered with pictures of Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney, taken while in town.
We spent 4 hours at sea, meeting two huge hump back whales called Putter and Nile! Identifiable by their colouring in their tail fin, one was born in '87, the other, '93, they were half brother and sister! About 15-20 metres long and passing through from The Bay of Fundy to the Caribbean, they were extraordinary. We also saw Minke whales, harbour seals and dolphins. We saw two other humpbacks, a mother called Valley with her 9 month old calf, about 10 metres long. To get so close to these behemoths is jaw dropping, they are a force of nature.
We scurried up the coastline towards Portland, Maine in the hope of making a lobster beach shack before 8.00pm, to no avail. Driving through villages and towns, in this vain attempt, nearly every house flies the American flag, Halloween celebration has begun with ever more elaborate displays, from pumpkins to blow up vampires and ghouls and there are lots of artists and sculpturers studios, antique and collectables shops. The Americans do like a good festival to dot their calendar, the fact Halloween is a month away is of little import. Oktoberfest is being much celebrated by restaurants, bars and anyone else in need of an excuse. We stopped off is a small town called Morristown, where they had shut off all the streets for a major Oktoberfest!
Our hotel comes recommended by concierge.com. The Pomegranate Inn is seven charming rooms set it a house full of antiques, modern art and elaborate decoration. You chose your room, in advance, from the website. The inn keeper is HenrY, yep, HenrY used to be a photographer in Ohio and its very cool. The house is in a great area, lovely old buildings on wide, leafy roads. Dinner was a French (ish) restaurant, Petit Jaqueline, with French cocktails, mine was a half pint of French marguerita, dinner was superb. The following morning, after a bizarre breakfast of poached peach, blueberry crumble and an omelette we head down to Portland's harbour area, again, established, arty and.. different, we like Portland!
We have 200 miles ahead of us which involves driving through the White Mountains which traverse the National Park and makes up the Leaf Foliage route. It's spectacular, the elms and maples vie for most colourful droop and there are trails to walk, waterfalls and lots of other leaf peepers!
Our overnight stay is in Newport, on the banks of Lake Willoughby and 6 miles from Canada. Again, the Internet has thrown up the quirky, "Little Gnesta" which is a house "Swedish inspired" because the owner, Ruth, likes IKEA! It's lovely and we have a great room. She explains the nearby border is a major pain to the locals, Newport is not blessed with a great retail infrastructure, so the locals head to Canada for things like the dentist and food shopping. They get grief at the border and rebel against it. There is one street which has a side in each country called Canusa Street, that's Can from Canada..... and a theatre built on the border line with an actual line running through the stalls to indicate which country you are sitting in! We decided to take on the border, with passports in hand, having booked dinner, on the other side! We have to deal with the Canadians when entering, he's far from complimentary about where we've come from. You cross the border and the world changes instantly, they speak French, different banks, retail, kms instead of miles, cellular network, currency, signs etc. 300 yards from the border we have a delightful meal of salad and savoury crepes, in a restaurant which is the front room of a house. We can only speak French and, about France, with the proprietor, while listening to Edith Piaf!
Back to the border, 5 minutes of questions and checks, and we are back into the USA and everything changes thru 360 again! The area is known as North East Kingdom and is the only area where the locals, Americans, speak French!
One of the joys of driving around are the signs. Every business has a strap line, often very good, even churches get it on the act, one said "where the sheep come to feed"! A lot of the signs are as big as the business! Also, the road kill here is infinitely more exotic, we've seen raccoon, porcupine, skunk, coyote and, if you are very unlucky, moose who could easily total you, and your car!
Our second day of leaf peeping starts with a cosmopolitain mix over a scrummy breakfast; two Slovakians, a Taiwanese lady, us and two Americans all chatting round a large table in lively debate. The day takes in Lake Willoughby, a trail around it, a meander to Stowe, a very up market ski resort, yet to have snow, a circular route through the Green Mountain National Park, the banks of the huge Lake Champlain, (which starts in Canada, but isn't a Great Lake), a visit to the home of Ben and Jerrys, who'd have thought such a huge worldwide brand started in such a small town as Waterbury, checking in at our great Stowe Meadows home stay and, finally, an awesome dinner at the Hen in the Woods, Waterbury where I had a cut of beef called a Hangar Steak, which was the most tender, mouth watering meat I've ever eaten. A couple of hundred miles and 14 hours of quality R&R! Vermont is clean, manicured, wholesome and a pleasure to visit. There is a quality to Vermont,which is why it's so enjoyable to be here, especially at this time!
Our overnight stay at Stowe Meadows is a huge second home belonging to a successful young couple who are great hosts. It's very luxurious, extremely comfortable with great thought having been put into the accomodation. The reason we prefer home stays is that they are personal, you are guest of people who care, not a business, learn more about your surroundings and meet like minded people. Caroline, our hostess with the mostest, introduces me to a new American verbalism, the world needs to prepare for multi tasking to be replaced by parallel processing!
After a great breakfast, where we had grits, a kind of semolina meets polenta, we set off for another meander, this time south to Lee in Massachusetts. 200 miles of delightful countryside, interesting towns and villages and great views, albeit, for the first time with some rain. The leaves have peaked in the north but, as we drive south we see more of the red shade that adds so much to the look, happy peepers!
Our final overnight stay is at The Appletree Inn, a huge Southfork type mansion owned by a retired couple from New York, called Len and Gloria. It has 11 rooms and, as we arrive, another couple announce they've just got engaged while walking a local hill, as you do! Wine and cheese is served at 5.00pm everyday and the guests and hosts congregate to say "hello" and catch up on their day. It's very traditionally furnished, lots of frills and Halloween trinkets. You can't walk too far within the house without being confronted by candy, cookies or alcohol, they are determined you should enjoy yourself! The Americans eat early, I can't imagine how they get on visiting Spain. Len and Gloria leave at 5.30 and we are tucking into a very good Indian by 6.30!
It's our last day, hopefully, as we've heard Heathrow is blanketed by fog and flights have been cancelled. Gloria's idea of breakfast is a waffle, maple syrup and ice cream, when in Rome!
Our route to Boston airport is a circuit from Lee known as the Mohawk trail. Lee is part of an area called The Berkshires, you can imagine the pronounciation! We drive up Mount Greylock, at 3,500 ft, the tallest in Massachusetts, and the first mountain that is collectively known as The Appallations. The most interesting town we pass through is Williamstown which is a big college. The facultys all look substantial and permanent, a seat of learning. The trail is full of Indian souvenirs, moccasins a go go! The weather threatens rain, with grim predictions of 2 inches of rain and thunderstorms. Fortunately, their predicting I'd as good as the UK and we have pleasant weather throughout. The leaves do their thing but, we are now ex peepers and decide to drive into Boston for a late lunch before heading for the airport. I do like Boston, Angelka refers to it as the quality and excitement of a court shoe, which means I'll say it's a well made brogue!
Having dropped the car off, 1275 miles in the week at a cost of less than £100! Petrol is around $3.60 to the gallon, and they complain about that!
The whole trip has had a great feel, itinerary, weather and dramatic buildings, icons and vistas. I think that New England in the Fall is a very classy tick in the box, something we should all consider a potential trip of a lifetime. Add in Washington DC or New York, somewhere like Martha's Vineyard, or The Hamptons and you've really cracked it. It's a shame that digital cameras and tablets struggle to take pictures of the hues on show, photo shop will take care of it and I will post pictures in the next few days, once I've had the chance to enhance!