MetaChat - I need help planning my NYC/New England itinerary

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07 January 2009

I need help planning my NYC/New England itinerary starting next Thursday or so. →[More:] I plan to reach NYC late Saturday morning and stay until Monday afternoon. Then head into the most snowbound areas of NE for 3 to 5 days. Other than Lyndhurst mansion in Tarrytown, I don't particularly care to hit tourist spots. Local flavor is much more interesting. My time is quite flexible and my budget is adequate so long as I have some idea before I leave.

Now, should I drive or plane/train/bus? Also, cheap hotel ideas welcome. Thanks.

post by: Ardiril at: 10:58 | 22 comments

What are your interests? What part of New England intrigues you? Keep in mind the weather will be at best cold and at worst shitty. BUt if you can narrow down your goals or tastes, time available or budget, I can give you some good New England recommendations.

posted by Miko 07 January | 11:17

The countryside mainly. Old towns where people still live and work; the local hotel was built in the 40s and last renovated in the 70s. Farm country where, I know, the cows are in barns for the winter. I'm not really looking for anything of historical value, but places that have moved on despite their heritage. Getting snowed-in for a few days is not a problem.

Also, any potential mini-meetups?

posted by Ardiril 07 January | 11:57

New England? Maine has snow, ice, sleet(right now, in fact). A Portsmouth, NH meetup would be great fun, or Portland, ME. Both are nice towns. Portland is, of course, much nicer. heh. Peaks Island in Casco Bay is part of Portland, but feels removed.

Further up the coast, I recommend Friendship, ME, which is still a working fishing/lobstering town, very charming yet still authentic.

I'm up for a meetup, possibly even some tour-guiding in the Portland area if you're interested.

posted by theora55 07 January | 12:04

As for NYC, if I can drag jon and his cast to his closest haunt, I would be quite satisfied, although I have no idea what to do with my car if I drove.

theora: that sounds perfect! I grew up in NW Pennsylvania so sleet and such is no deterrent.

posted by Ardiril 07 January | 12:10

You'd like Westerly, RI, Martha's Vineyard, MA, Stonington, CT, Deep River, CT, or Northampton, MA, North Adams, MA, Montpelier, VT, and their surrounding countrysides. To see countryside you'll want to rent a car - trains go basically to the cities in New England and buses don't offer great coverage. What you can do really easily is get from NYC to points in New England by train or bus and do a car rental there. Check the Amtrak train lines - you can take one up through Western MA and VT or one up the coastal seaboard through coastal CT, RI, Boston, and Portland.

And yeah, if you know where you're going to be, it's not too hard to muster up a meetup in New England. We're nice. We're hardy!

posted by Miko 07 January | 12:10

Oh, how did I forget Gloucester, MA and the more rural neighbors Essex and Rockland. Theora55 reminded me of Gloucester with her mention of fishing towns.

posted by Miko 07 January | 12:11

As for what to do with your car in NYC - definitely don't bring it into the city. Instead, park for free in a longterm lot in a town in NJ or CT, and take the train into the city for however long you want to be there. The train ticket, plus all your subway or taxi fairs for transportation as long as you're there, will still be a ton cheaper than multi-day parking in New York.

posted by Miko 07 January | 12:14

Also, I can postpone this a week if that may be better for people's schedules. I would love to meet many of you and visit again those I know.

Looking at a map, heading west from Portland puts me right in the heart of Vermont and NH. Is that accurate? If so, then it looks like I can go straight up 95 to hit NYC and then on to Portland. Then go west and get lost for a couple days.

posted by Ardiril 07 January | 12:24

If anyone in SC NC GA AL north FL or along I-95 wants to join me, speak up. My time is flexible to accomodate your schedule and really, my main desire is to see Vermont in the dead of winter. Also, don't let expenses deter you so long as you can contribute a little bit.

posted by Ardiril 07 January | 12:32

There's a meetup on the 16th; if you postponed, you could come.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 07 January | 12:43

Yeah. It's about 7-8 hours from NYC to Portland, traffic depending. I-05 is the most direct but often slow. However, it does go through many good places for side trips and detours.

Annoyingly, in New England, there are not enough highways running W-E. But since you want countryside, you could indeed take smaller/state roads and old US highways, like 302, west through NH and VT. That will take you to some cool out-of-the-way places, but keep in mind also that it's ski season and will take you right into the thick of mountain traffic as well.

posted by Miko 07 January | 13:00

Drive. You'll see a lot more that way, and you'll have control over when you stop, etc.

Also, I recommend The Wayside Inn. Nice grounds to walk around in.

posted by Melismata 07 January | 13:05

tps: 1/16 isn't a postponment but a rush. I will have to leave a day early but for ej, I will do just that.

theora: Is Sunday 1/18 good for you?

posted by Ardiril 07 January | 13:33

melismata; That inn looks nice . I am pencilling it in for Saturday evening.

posted by Ardiril 07 January | 13:38

If you want to break up the trip from NYC to Portland and go to Mass MOCA on the way, stay at Porches, it's the best. I took my mom there for her birthday a few years ago and we still talk about it all the time. They have in-room massages too if you want to treat yourself.

posted by rmless2 07 January | 13:50

Well, there's a Vermont meetup this weekend but I bet we could muster a few people up when you come if you head this way. (Around Montpelier / Barre)

posted by YouCanCallMeAl 07 January | 20:27

Ardiril in NYC! The universe is a gracious and awesome place. Can't wait to see ya!

posted by Pips 07 January | 20:46

Tomorrow I will haul my laptop to a hotspot so I can check maps and firm up my plans. Hopefully we can talk jon into doing his best impression of Dr 'Fun' Scott at the meetup even if I have to rent a wheelchair for the night. Ditching the car for my 3 days in NYC seems to be my biggest problem.

posted by Ardiril 07 January | 21:20

When I used to drive into the city from Rockland County, I would arrive on Friday, ditch my car at my friend's place in Astoria and drive out on Sunday. The reason I chose Astoria is that they don't have the alternate side-street parking hassle on the weekends.

Maybe you can park near the jonmc/Pips-haus (or the TPS haus) and get a hostel in Manhattan?

posted by TrishaLynn 08 January | 08:14

Search and compare all NYC parking garages and locations.

Option: park in the Newark Airport park/fly lot for something like $15/day, take the shuttle and train into NYC ($10ish). Much cheaper than NYC parking.

Which way are you coming from?

posted by Miko 08 January | 17:51

Probably I-95 from the south for as far as that gets me.I haven't had a chance yet to loo at any maps. Also, I need to find a hotel for Thursday and Friday. Anyone know something cheap and safe?

posted by Ardiril 08 January | 22:30

I should be asking where is essexjan's meetup and are any reasonable hotels nearby?

posted by Ardiril 08 January | 22:47

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