Post by Owen on Sept 10, 2014 8:12:42 GMT
1 ~ New England Fall Foliage Tour ~ 10 Oct 2007 ~~~ ZGordon
This travel tale was written by ZGordon and relates to a Insight Vacations Tour.
It was originally posted on the Insight Vacations forum.
BEFORE THE TOUR STARTED
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
My husband and I arrived a day early to do some exploring on our own. First, we bought some books at the Borders store down the street from our hotel, the Omni Parker House.
The Omni Parker House is a lovely old hotel, downtown, near the Public Gardens and Boston Common, and the public rooms are in the grand style. We had dinner in the dining room complete with Parker House rolls, of course. We split the filet mignon dinner and even then the portions were large.
In the afternoon, we walked up and around Beacon Hill, which has lovely buildings and gardens.
We met our Tour Director, Mary Lynch, in the lobby of the hotel in the afternoon.
Thursday, October 11
Bags out at 7 am, depart at 8 am.
This morning we met our Driver, Fran Gagnon from Vermont. She was very good. We had the full complement of 40 passengers on the bus: 3 from Australia, 1 from New Zealand, 4 from Singapore, 4 from the UK, 4 from Canada, and 24 from the USA. I recall someone’s asking for an actual photo of the knee room in the famous Insight bus; here it is:
We found two differences from the coaches that we had toured with in Europe with Insight; one, there was no back door, so loading and unloading took a lot longer, and two, there were no seatbelts. Otherwise they were much the same.
We had a tour of Boston in the morning and saw these statues near the start of the Boston Marathon:
In the afternoon, we drove mostly west to Stockport to the Norman Rockwell Museum. I used to love his covers in the Saturday Evening Post magazine. The museum was excellent, and I didn’t have time to see all of it. We then drove to Pittsfield to the Crown Plaza hotel. The leaves in Massachusetts were just starting to change colour, because the weather had been unseasonably warm and dry.
The included dinner at the hotel was good, but the service was very confused and some people did not get the choice of dinner they had pre-ordered.
Friday, October 12
Bags at 7:30 am and depart at 8:30 am
Our first stop was Williamsburg, Mass, the home of Williams College. This was a very pretty town. The second stop was in Bennington, Vermont, to see Hennings Garage and their antique cars. Vermont had mixed colour on the hillsides; still not quite peak, but very pretty anyway. We had lunch at Woodstock [not that Woodstock] and saw our first covered bridge. It was raining.
We then went to Billings Farm where there has been environmental farming for a very long time and there was an excellent farm museum.
Later, we had a photo stop at Quechee Gorge:
Then on we went to northern Vermont to the Trapp Family Lodge [yes, that family] in Stowe. I can see why the von Trapps chose the location; it was lovely. The hotel was excellent and reminded me of the hotel in Villiars, Switzerland that we stayed in. We had a very good 5 course dinner [it is called a Highlight Dinner in next year’s Insight brochure.
Saturday, October 13
We left at 8:40 am for our Green Mountains Excursion. We visited Cold Hollow Apple Cider Mill, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, and the Cabot Creamery to learn about making and tasting several cheeses. The leaf colours were very good, but we could not see Mount Mansfield because of the clouds. We got back to the hotel around mid afternoon.
OPTIONAL WALK AND DINNER IN STOWE, $47
This evening we had our first optional; a half hour walk along the river and in town, complete with ghost stories [suitable for this month!] The dinner at the Swiss Pot Restaurant was excellent.
Sunday, October 14
We left at about 8 am for our journey to North Conway in New Hampshire. First, we went to the Morse Farm Sugar Shack. We had a slide show about sugar maples with a funny commentary and a serving of sugar on snow – delicious! Then onto Montpelier, the Vermont state capital, for a photo stop at the State House.
We stopped at Bath, New Hampshire, for lunch; it is the site of the longest covered bridge in New Hampshire and one of the oldest in the USA:
We took the Kancamagus Scenic Byway to North Conway, stopping for two short walks in parks along the way. The North Conway Grand Hotel is very nice and close to many outlet stores. We hot footed it over to the LL Bean outlet store after we arrived and got a couple of bargains. The included dinner at the hotel was quite good.
Monday, October 15
We left at 8:30 am for our White Mountains Excursion. We stopped at Willeys House Park [where the phrase “the willies” came from] in Crawford Notch [pass]. It was very windy and cold. Later, we got some lovely photos at The Silver cascade waterfall:
We took the gondola up Wildcat Mountain to see the views that we didn’t get to see yesterday because of the clouds, but it was very cold and windy up there; -10 degrees C [15 degrees F] with wind chill.
SECOND OPTIONAL [NEW], NATURALIST & DINNER IN NORTH CONWAY, $59
We didn’t do this optional, but from some who did we got the following report. The naturalist combined excellent slides, humour, and succinct information on how nature balances itself in the northeast of the USA. The prime rib meal offered huge portions, but the fish dinner was more reasonably sized. It was recommended that the portions be a little smaller, and the cost reduced to under $50.
Tuesday, October 16
7:30 bags and 8:30 departure.
The weather was finally sunny as we drove through Maine to the coast. There were lots of beautiful coloured trees and lakes along the way:
We stopped in Portland, and I had my first pumpkin latte. We saw the Wedding Cake House in Kennebunk, and went on to Kennebunkport for lunch. It was a lovely little seaside town:
We arrived at mid afternoon in Portsmouth, to our hotel, the Sheraton Harborside. In the evening we visited a lighthouse and had our Highlight Dinner of “Lobsta Bake”. I love lobster; it was messy and delicious.
Wednesday, October 17
7 bags out, 8:15 departure.
We took the coast road to Logan Airport in Boston, stopping in Newbury and Rockport on the way. We arrived at the airport at 1:10 pm, in plenty of time for our flight home.
GENERAL COMMENTS
This was a very interesting trip for those who have not spent much time in the US northeast. Our trip would have been improved by some more sunny days, but the area had been having a drought, so the rain was needed.
Our tour director, Mary Lynch, was full of lots of information for us, and the trip ran very smoothly. She was one of the organizers of this tour [in its second year this year.]
Our driver, Fran, was great, as all our Insight drivers have been.
I have just read your tour tale, I enjoyed it very much and it brought back many memories. I used to live in Montreal for more than 30 years,and we made many trips down to New England. I think I have been in all places except for maybe Bath.
I was just in the Laurentians at the end of September and the leaves were starting to turn. I miss that, it is so beautiful.
This travel tale was written by ZGordon and relates to a Insight Vacations Tour.
It was originally posted on the Insight Vacations forum.
BEFORE THE TOUR STARTED
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
My husband and I arrived a day early to do some exploring on our own. First, we bought some books at the Borders store down the street from our hotel, the Omni Parker House.
The Omni Parker House is a lovely old hotel, downtown, near the Public Gardens and Boston Common, and the public rooms are in the grand style. We had dinner in the dining room complete with Parker House rolls, of course. We split the filet mignon dinner and even then the portions were large.
In the afternoon, we walked up and around Beacon Hill, which has lovely buildings and gardens.
We met our Tour Director, Mary Lynch, in the lobby of the hotel in the afternoon.
Thursday, October 11
Bags out at 7 am, depart at 8 am.
This morning we met our Driver, Fran Gagnon from Vermont. She was very good. We had the full complement of 40 passengers on the bus: 3 from Australia, 1 from New Zealand, 4 from Singapore, 4 from the UK, 4 from Canada, and 24 from the USA. I recall someone’s asking for an actual photo of the knee room in the famous Insight bus; here it is:
We found two differences from the coaches that we had toured with in Europe with Insight; one, there was no back door, so loading and unloading took a lot longer, and two, there were no seatbelts. Otherwise they were much the same.
We had a tour of Boston in the morning and saw these statues near the start of the Boston Marathon:
In the afternoon, we drove mostly west to Stockport to the Norman Rockwell Museum. I used to love his covers in the Saturday Evening Post magazine. The museum was excellent, and I didn’t have time to see all of it. We then drove to Pittsfield to the Crown Plaza hotel. The leaves in Massachusetts were just starting to change colour, because the weather had been unseasonably warm and dry.
The included dinner at the hotel was good, but the service was very confused and some people did not get the choice of dinner they had pre-ordered.
Friday, October 12
Bags at 7:30 am and depart at 8:30 am
Our first stop was Williamsburg, Mass, the home of Williams College. This was a very pretty town. The second stop was in Bennington, Vermont, to see Hennings Garage and their antique cars. Vermont had mixed colour on the hillsides; still not quite peak, but very pretty anyway. We had lunch at Woodstock [not that Woodstock] and saw our first covered bridge. It was raining.
We then went to Billings Farm where there has been environmental farming for a very long time and there was an excellent farm museum.
Later, we had a photo stop at Quechee Gorge:
Then on we went to northern Vermont to the Trapp Family Lodge [yes, that family] in Stowe. I can see why the von Trapps chose the location; it was lovely. The hotel was excellent and reminded me of the hotel in Villiars, Switzerland that we stayed in. We had a very good 5 course dinner [it is called a Highlight Dinner in next year’s Insight brochure.
Saturday, October 13
We left at 8:40 am for our Green Mountains Excursion. We visited Cold Hollow Apple Cider Mill, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, and the Cabot Creamery to learn about making and tasting several cheeses. The leaf colours were very good, but we could not see Mount Mansfield because of the clouds. We got back to the hotel around mid afternoon.
OPTIONAL WALK AND DINNER IN STOWE, $47
This evening we had our first optional; a half hour walk along the river and in town, complete with ghost stories [suitable for this month!] The dinner at the Swiss Pot Restaurant was excellent.
Sunday, October 14
We left at about 8 am for our journey to North Conway in New Hampshire. First, we went to the Morse Farm Sugar Shack. We had a slide show about sugar maples with a funny commentary and a serving of sugar on snow – delicious! Then onto Montpelier, the Vermont state capital, for a photo stop at the State House.
We stopped at Bath, New Hampshire, for lunch; it is the site of the longest covered bridge in New Hampshire and one of the oldest in the USA:
We took the Kancamagus Scenic Byway to North Conway, stopping for two short walks in parks along the way. The North Conway Grand Hotel is very nice and close to many outlet stores. We hot footed it over to the LL Bean outlet store after we arrived and got a couple of bargains. The included dinner at the hotel was quite good.
Monday, October 15
We left at 8:30 am for our White Mountains Excursion. We stopped at Willeys House Park [where the phrase “the willies” came from] in Crawford Notch [pass]. It was very windy and cold. Later, we got some lovely photos at The Silver cascade waterfall:
We took the gondola up Wildcat Mountain to see the views that we didn’t get to see yesterday because of the clouds, but it was very cold and windy up there; -10 degrees C [15 degrees F] with wind chill.
SECOND OPTIONAL [NEW], NATURALIST & DINNER IN NORTH CONWAY, $59
We didn’t do this optional, but from some who did we got the following report. The naturalist combined excellent slides, humour, and succinct information on how nature balances itself in the northeast of the USA. The prime rib meal offered huge portions, but the fish dinner was more reasonably sized. It was recommended that the portions be a little smaller, and the cost reduced to under $50.
Tuesday, October 16
7:30 bags and 8:30 departure.
The weather was finally sunny as we drove through Maine to the coast. There were lots of beautiful coloured trees and lakes along the way:
We stopped in Portland, and I had my first pumpkin latte. We saw the Wedding Cake House in Kennebunk, and went on to Kennebunkport for lunch. It was a lovely little seaside town:
We arrived at mid afternoon in Portsmouth, to our hotel, the Sheraton Harborside. In the evening we visited a lighthouse and had our Highlight Dinner of “Lobsta Bake”. I love lobster; it was messy and delicious.
Wednesday, October 17
7 bags out, 8:15 departure.
We took the coast road to Logan Airport in Boston, stopping in Newbury and Rockport on the way. We arrived at the airport at 1:10 pm, in plenty of time for our flight home.
GENERAL COMMENTS
This was a very interesting trip for those who have not spent much time in the US northeast. Our trip would have been improved by some more sunny days, but the area had been having a drought, so the rain was needed.
Our tour director, Mary Lynch, was full of lots of information for us, and the trip ran very smoothly. She was one of the organizers of this tour [in its second year this year.]
Our driver, Fran, was great, as all our Insight drivers have been.
I have just read your tour tale, I enjoyed it very much and it brought back many memories. I used to live in Montreal for more than 30 years,and we made many trips down to New England. I think I have been in all places except for maybe Bath.
I was just in the Laurentians at the end of September and the leaves were starting to turn. I miss that, it is so beautiful.