Northeast - New England Recommendations

I will be visiting New England next week, particularly Burlington, VT and Portland, ME.
(Also, I will be driving through N.H. to get between the two).

I am looking for recommendations not just for great rides and paths, but for anything. Restaurants, sites, pubs, museums, anything. Doesn’t matter how “touristy” the place may be. Tell me about the coolest things in your part of N.E. (Yes, I have already done a great deal of research, but I hope to find some
fun things that guide books, etc might have missed.)


Thanks!

Take exit 11 on I-89 in New London, NH, go east about 6 miles on NH 11 to Kearsarge Valley Rd. Follow the signs to the state park and climb the 2 mile trail to the top of Mount Kearsarge. The 360 degree view on a clear day will let you see every state in New England (if you know where to look)! Have a great trip.

When in Portland; the ride to and around Sebago Lake is nice. Little further west gets you into some hillier terrain and a bit less traffic. Food: Street and Company is my fav. in the Old Port - KILLER tuna steak and marinated calamari for an app. Some great cruises on Casco Bay. You can go out on a lobster boat. Bring fishing gear if you're into that; salt (stripers) and fresh (trout and salmon). Gritty McDuffs is a great microbrew pub in the Old Port. The Great Lost Bear is a cool spot for great pub type food and loads of beer on tap (can you tell I like beer?) The Lobster Shack at 2 lights is a great spot for lunch, especially if the surf is up. Drive up Mt. Washington on your way, and imagine riding it.

Thanks! I really appreciate the great recommendations. I hope to have a great
trip in N.E. :)

How are you getting from Burlington to Portland? Are you taking 89 down to 95, or are you heading across on 2?

In Portland, in the historic/tourist area there is a parking lot that is right next to a Japanese restaurant on the water front.

If you park in that small lot, there is an older guy with a long mustache that is the attendant, and we spent a half hour talking to him when we parked, and another half hour before we left. You can find out about Moxie Soda and how you should send a letter threatening to boycott Nabisco for stopping distribution of Pilot Crackers... You don't actually have to boycott, just threaten so that he can have Pilot Crackers again. They were discontinued once before, and some people banded together and got them to reintroduce the line.

If you want to drive up to Bar Harbor (which is where I was headed) he'll tell you about the alternate routes and the benefits of each one. Including pearls of wisdom like "there is a cement plant there, and I forget the name... but it doesn't matter because all cement plants are the same." He may have interesting information on routes to other locations as well. And, the fact that one route is preferable, not for anything spectacular compared to other routes other than the fact that after you take the drive, you can tell people that you have been to China...

We never got his name, but we gave him an honorary name as we were discussing him later. We call him Tom, as in "Tom's of Maine".

No matter where you go in New England (especially if you go further north than MA and the areas bordering MA) stop into small places to get a real flavor of New England. Some of the locals will talk to us flat landers like we are old friends...

Oh, and there are several interesting restaurants in that area. We had Thai, but there are a variety of ethnic and regional restaurants in that area of Portland.

"How are you getting from Burlington to Portland? Are you taking 89 down to 95, or are you heading across on 2?"

Well, Google Maps recommends the second option, and Mapquest recommends 89/95.

I was thinking of going with the Mapquest route.



gf

In Portland, take the ferry to Peaks Island and ride your bike around the 6-mile perimeter for some great views: http://www.cascobaylines.com

Besides the many breweries in Portland (I think they all taste the same), this is my favorite bar: http://www.threedollardeweys.com

Hi,
this depends on what your interests are, beyond cycling. The Portland area
has a ton of good restaurants. We just got our first decent Mexican place. It's just
west of the Old Port area that the fellow talking about crackers referred to.


Here is a start.

Fly in, and spend a day in the Portland area to recuperate. The Old Port is touristy
and has a bunch of good restaurants. My fave is J's Oyster Bar, they make a good bouillabase. Good oysters.. Sapporo (sushi) is good. I can suggest a number of others like that new Mexican joint.

The next day you could try the Lighthouse Loop. It's an easy 30 mile ride. I'll describe it later, if you want.

12 miles up the road is Freeport which is a shopping mecca. The LL Bean factory stores are worth a visit, I get most of my cycling clothes there heavily discounted.
The restaurant next door to the Bean's main store is Azure, and it's pretty good.


There is another Beans factory store in North Conway, NH. Which is another good place to spend a day. We usually stay at the Conway Grand. The Grand is not grand, there are fancier but more expensive places if you want something special.
One of the most popular rides there is the Bear Notch loop. We will prob do it this weekend. My favorite is a ride that follows the border with Maine headed South, and then comes north in Maine back to Conway. Bear Notch is 40 miles and the other one is 50 more or less.

If you take 302 up to Conway, you can stop at a store called Cry of the Loon. Expensive knick knacks. The thing they have I like best is a $2,000 indoor fountain that is a piece of art that has water cascading down several metal bowls. Just past there is Sebago lake and there is an old fashioned looking ferry that you can ride around the lake.

The real question here is what your priorities are. For example, Acadia National Park is hugely popular and very nice but would eat up a day just to get there and another to get back unless you flew. You can rent decent bikes there and ride the carriage paths Rockefeller built. Park at the Jordan Pond tea House, ride up the mountain behind the pond and some of the other paths, and then have a lunch of popovers and lobster chowder. It's something of a tradition.

Boston has a lot. The Boston Aquarium is something I had to be dragged into and
now I love it. If you want art and museums, this is where I'd suggest you go.

The White Barn Inn is an extremely expensive restaurant/B&B that is famous both for it's food and the people that go there.

You can ride the chairlifts at ski mountains even in the summer to enjoy the views.

You could get a computerised custom fitting for a custom bicycle.

Edit... if you decide against Boston, I suggest taking the scenic route. It's why I mentioned 302. It will be more driving, but there are a bunch of places to stop, and a lot more scenery.

I was just in Green Mountain National Forest, and if you don't mind the climbs, the riding up and down RT 125 (off 107 from 89... I think) is pretty spectacular stuff. Gorgeous views, well-paved roads. It's not too far from Burlington - Hancock, Ripton and Bread Loaf are the nearby towns.

Taking either 89/95 or 2 will take you about the same amount of time. 89/95 will be all highway, Rt. 2 will take you through many small towns. The higher speed of the highway route will be offset by the extra mileage.


If you take Rt. 2, spend some time in north-east Vermont and northern New Hampshire. Route 2 will take you right through Cabot Vermont (where Cabot cheese is made). The Creamery (a restaurant) in Peacham/Danville is right on Rt. 2, and they have very good (if slightly pricey) food. Their service isn't quick, but they're very good. In Saint Johnsbury, you can see the weather station where most of the Vermont weather forecasts ("Eye on the Sky") are produced, and if you catch a planetarium show there's a good chance that Steve Maleski (again from Eye on the Sky) will be the one running it. There's an excellent Thai restaurant, Kham's, in St. Jay as you head towards the mall on Route 5.

If you get on 93 south (it starts in St. Jay), you can cut down to Rt. 302 in New Hampshire. Along 93 you'll hit Littleton, NH, which is a very nice town. They have a very nice walkable/rideable downtown, with very good restaurants and stores. There's a bookstore/toystore that's very nice, very kid friendly.

The stretch of road between St. Jay and Littleton can be awesomely beautiful.

93 will also take you through Franconia Notch, where the Old Man of the Mountain used to be. I don't remember if this happens before you get to 302, though.

302 will, I believe, take you past Mt. Washington. I've never been up it, but I hear it's very nice. It's pretty expensive to drive up, and you need good brakes for the ride down. You can also hike up, or take a cog-train.

Also, if you have the time, the area north of Saint Johnsbury is absolutely gorgeous. Derby, Newport, Lake Memphramagog. Lake Willoughby is simply stunning.

A few more.

Stephen Huneck's "Dog Mountain (http://www.dogmt.com/)" is just outside of Saint Johnsbury.

The St. Johnsbury public library, the Athenaeum (http://www.stjathenaeum.org/), has a public art gallery containing some very nice works.

There is great riding around Burlington. There is a bike ferry on the Colchester/South Hero Causeway that lets you do a loop out to the islands along an old railroad causeway.

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/vt/burlington/551125002728963691

There are lots of places to swim, and eat, and you can make it easy by coming back to BTV on the causeway, or extend it by going into South Hero center. Beware the ferry stops running at 5:00.

Also Check out: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/vt/burlington/263125002880055646

Look for more local parks and bike path recommendations at www.localmotion.org

Why is everyone recommending ethnic restaurants in Portland? You IDIOTS! When in Italy, you eat pasta, France is veal, Germany is Wurst and Beer. When in Maine you eat lobsters and fresh fish. It doesn't get any better. BTW, RT 2 is slow, but it's REAL New England. 89-95 is fast, and some of the views are good. Only take 89-95 if you're in a hurry. And expect a traffic jam on 95. ENJOY!

Route 2 *is* slow, but I don't think it takes much longer than 89/95. My wife and I drove to Maine once, we took 89/95 and it took us 4 hours to get there. We looked at a map, "Hey, Route 2 shoots straight across, we'll be home in no time!". 4 hours later we got home. It *felt* a lot longer, but I think that's mostly because we were expecting it to be so much shorter.


If you just want to drive and drive, take the highway. Route 2 will be a back-country road for most of its length. There will be traffic, many of them commuters, with few passing areas. You may get stuck behind a tractor. Occasionally a herd of cows will break out of their fence and block the road (ok, this actually happened to me on 22A, but they're similar roads). You'll pass through towns, and the speed limits will drop when you do.

I'll add a vote for Acadia if you decide to head north. The popovers and lobster chowder at Jordan pond are wonderful. The area is simply beautiful (as is much of the Maine coast that I have seen).

And the restaurant near the parking lot with the colorful local character in Portland was Sapporo... Sapporo parking is free in the lot, so I am sure they are somehow connected.

Also, just south of Portland is Kennebunkport (sp) and you can drive through and see the Bush estate, along with a lot of other nice sites.

And there is another colorful person to visit north of Portland. He runs a private museum, and his wife is an opthamologist (in the same building). I forget what it is called (if it even has a sign other than for the opthamologist office) but it is hard to miss. It sits on the right of the highway as you are heading north, and the best parts of the collection are a couple of nice player pianos, and old Victrolas both of which he collects and repairs... This summer was the first time I had ever heard a Victrola... They were louder than I expected.

He also has a gas station that he moved to the property to restore, and a train station he plans on turning into an ice cream shop. The location is an old restaurant from back in the old days, and had some famous visitors.

He even has a LaSalle with the license plate BUNKER.... He got the plate in honor of a line in aa song... "gee our old LaSalle ran great"

Of course, my primary interests when I travel are interesting cultural elements and natural beauty. There is natural beauty all around.

For riding, I suggest White Mountains in New Hampshire. If you really want a challenge, ride from the rest stop just north of North Conway and up route 16 to the Glen House by the way of Pinkham Notch.

For mountain biking, I heard Bradbury State Park was good. I know it has great hiking trails.

And yes, Acadia National Park is great for all sorts of riding. They have a carriage trail as well many roads. Park Loop Road is awesome. You can also spend the day riding around the whole island - it's about 60 miles. You can also ride up Cadillac Mtn. And for seafood, the best place I know is on the southwest area.

Bradbury is a bit small for Mtn biking.

Wow, great response(s). Thanks to everyone for the info. I really appreciate it...

If you do the Park Loop Road in Acadia, it's best to go EARLY in the morning. Almost no traffic and very peaceful.

In Burlington check out Higher Ground (http://www.highergroundmusic.com/) for music and travel up to South Hero and Grand Isle for some great view os the lake. I would bike that. In a car it's too easy to just slide up to Montreal and get lost for a day. Or a month. In Portland...... ah, Portland. Under-rated city to be sure. There is a thriving arts scene there with galleries, music and tons of good food from all over the world in the (admitedly touristy) Old Port. My favorite, favorite bar in the whole wide world is Brian Boru's (http://www.brianboruportland.com/). On Sunday afternoons they have $3 Guiness Pints and real Irish music. Just up the road in Yarmouth is the DeLorme (http://www.delorme.com/default.aspx)headquarters and in Freeport are the outlets and LL Bean (http://www.llbean.com/?qs=3006396&trkid=21368S109090620). If you like outdoor equipment and are a little less of a Yuppy Puke, try the Kittery Trading Post (http://www.kitterytradingpost.com/) instead (plenty of outlet shops in Kittery though too). Go a little north of the city to Red's Eats (207-882-6128) for a Lobster Roll. It's right on RT. 1 on the left at the bottom of the hill after the Fire Station. After you eat go accross the street to the resteraunt there, I forget the name. Blow off the resteraunt but DO get the pastrys to go. Some of the best baked yummies in the state. Check out the Red Hook Brewery (http://www.redhook.com/Default.aspx?p=37)in Portsmouth NH about an hour south of Portland.