Our family of 2 parents and 2 teens are doing a round of college tours the first week of November. We are born and raised West Coasters who’ve never visited NE before (besides a couple of work meetings in Boston)!
We are finding ourselves with one night and one and a half days free at the end. We will finish up a UCONN visit in the morning and then fly out of of Boston two mornings later. Looking for something fun and relaxing for the family after lots of driving and tours.
Am thinking of a nice resort on the ocean? And Wine tasting nearby for the parents? There is a cool Library in Providence that I know our nerdy family would enjoy. Also plan to sleep in!
It’s not a great time of year for relaxing at a resort. Any interest in the mansions in Newport? The whaling museum in New Bedford (in a historic area) is fun for history buffs.
Yeah I know - I was thinking of sipping wine by the fire. Our D23 is strange and wants a cold climate for college! I guess I’m just looking for a relaxing atmosphere - less hustle and bustle.
Newport mansions are cool. One of my best vacations was just bumming around the Cape in October. Not busy and great seafood. Chowder on cold day is the best.
Do you like boats? I’d take a ferry to one of the islands (Martha’s Vineyard?) or just around. I love being on the water and it will probably be cold and windy, but to me it would be very fun.
Or you could tour Boston. Ride the Duck Boats (see, I like boats), walk the Freedom Trail, go to the Kennedy library. You could drive up the North Shore to Marblehead (boats!), Gloucester, or the artist colony at Rockport.
If you’re liking boats and the Cape, you could take the ferry out to Provincetown. But you should know that lots (most?) of establishments are seasonal and November is definitely off season.
If you’re not committed to RI, you might find more of what you’re looking for in the Berkshires (w. Ma.) Cozy inn, cute towns, good dining and wine, walks, etc. Very NE, just not seaside!
Mystic could be fun. Go to the seaport and/or aquarium. Some excellent restaurants. Plus just a pretty town for shopping. Right on the water. I think there may be a winery in nearby Stonington IIRC.
FWIW, we are basically planning a big circle with flying in and out of Boston. On the West Coast everything is so spread apart that I keep getting shocked when my itinerary says it’s 1.5 hrs between one destination or another. It’s hard to get my mind wrapped around it and I don’t want to be too harried even though the main goal is college tours with tourism second.
Here’s our potential itinerary. Please poke holes in it and tell me if I’m missing something or crazy!
Day one - Fly into Boston in the early evening. Crash at a hotel near the airport after a very long flight.
Day two - Boston - Freedom trail, bumming around
Day 3 - Endicott College, then up to Durham to visit UNH, Stay in Portsmouth that evening for the downtown Halloween Parade
Day 4 - Morning: Lexington/Concorde Battlefields
Afternoon: Clark U in Worcester
Day 5 - UMASS Amerst, Emily Dickinson Museum
Day 6 - Morning UCONN
Afternoon Providence or Newport or other? Water, boats, lighthouses, seafood?
Day 7 - Tourism - TBD
End day at airport hotel in Boston
we were in Newport this spring, and had never been. The yacht school was a quick visit but really interesting, and then we went to Fort Adams to take in the view and see Eisenhower’s house to boot.
But if you like outside bumming around in Newport, someone here gave us the advice to go to Sachuest point, and omg, it was perfection. Bound to be cold and all thatin November, though!
Yay! So glad you liked Sachuest Point! It’s such a gorgeous walk.
OP: Yes, lots to do if you pick Newport, and plenty of great hotels. Biking “Ocean Drive” is amazing, about 10 miles almost entirely on the water, filled with stunning architecture and nature. In November, there won’t be many cars on the road, so I guess that’s a plus about November! The Cliff Walk is great. Castle Hill is a stunning inn on a picturesque promontory, but part of its appeal is watching all the sailboats go by which won’t be happening then. But they have antique wood walled bars with fireplaces, etc, very cozy. TONS of great restaurants and a variety of cool little museums (Jay Leno has contributed a lot to the cool car museum there; there’s a great little art museum, the yacht museum, etc). Activities like glass blowing, etc,
The nicest resort in RI is The Ocean House in Watch Hill. It is very pricy. Usually listed in top 10 resorts in US. Although it’s off season, they do a great job of coming up with good off season activities and decorations, etc. Ive never stayed but we will go there to eat. It is gorgeous.
Sakonnet Vineyards n Southeast RI is pretty awesome, but November obviously isn’t ideal.
Providence is a very cool little city with so much to do and an amazing art and food scene and historic architecture.
In November I’d be torn between staying in providence vs. Newport and would probably pick Providence, whereas I’d pick Newport April through October…