Traveling with the family through New England, need suggestions!

[Hotsauce]

This summer my I am taking my family (young kids) through New England. I'm looking for family friendly activities from Boston MA to Portland ME. The only thing I know we are doing is the Children's museum and Fenway in Boston. 

Suggestions of places to eat and things to do are appreciated. 

[sharkkiller]

I heard there was a pretty big town up there with lots to do. You should maybe look into that.

[Anybodyhome]

Gotta do the Cliff Walk and, if available, take a mansion tour in Newport, RI.

And stop in Brunswick, Maine. Even though it's about 30-45 minutes north of Portland, it's a cool small town and the wilderness around there is pretty nice. The lobster is cheaper outside of Portland, too. Most tourists go right to the favorite spots and they charge ridiculous prices. When I was at the shipyard in Bath, we used to buy lobsters right off the boats down on the docks for $5-10 apiece... course that was 27 years ago, too.

But Newport is very cool- don't miss it.

Also, if you're going at the right time, find a local county fair out in the middle of nowhere in Maine. They're small, quaint, very family friendly and you can get the kids up close and personal with real farm life, animals, etc. First time I ever saw a horse pull was at a county fair up in central Maine.

[cookinwithgas]

Boston to Portland isn't that far....

 

Visit Rockport/Bearskin Neck, home of Motif #1

http://bearskinneck.net/

Salem SPOOKY!

http://salem.org/

Loved taking the whale watching tour:

http://www.bostonharborcruises.com/whale-watch/

Boston Garden is beautiful. Kids love the "Make Way for Ducklings" statue:

http://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/make-way-for-ducklings.html

The "Cheers" tourist stop is across and just up the street from the statue. The swan boats are also right there and are neat.

https://cheersboston.com/

http://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/boston-swan-boats.html

If you want to see Boston is a pretty cool way check out the Duck tour:

http://www.bostonducktours.com/

 

 

 

 

[CRA]

Definitely do the Duck Tour in Boston.  Good way to see the sights and kids should enjoy when it there ride suddenly transforms into a boat. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

Go to every NFL stadium in NE, bury a Roaring Riot card on the grounds, take a pic flipping all of them the bird. 

[toldozer]

The aquarium in Boston is pretty good. I wouldn't recommend Paul Reveres (sp) at least I think it was his house. The tour took all of four minutes.

[rayzor]

for me the thing that was always interesting to me (even as a little kid) was the history of the area, esp in massa chusets. my dad grew up outside of boston (worcester and grafton) and he and his parents did a good job of teaching us about the importance of the history from the area.

one of my favorite places as a little kid was plimoth plantation and mayflower 2 in plymouth mass. they have a full scale reproduction of the mayflower that you can go and take a tour on. i think they keep it docked, but it's still really cool (or at least it was to me as a little kid). plimoth plantation is also a recreation of the original settlement of the pilgrims that has people who dress up, speak, and carry out life the way it was back then and have an interesting way of interacting with the outsiders who come in and ask questions.

you could also go to concord, mass. that's pretty much where the american revolution began. the "shot heard round the world" was fired at the north bridge there in town and they give tours there, though you've got to pay for it. there's also the minute man national historic park, the "old manse" that was pretty much the center for early american political/philosophical thought and was a regularly visited/lived in space by ralph waldo emerson, henry david thoreau, among others and it's really close to the north bridge. there's also walden pond where thoreau built the one room cabin he wrote "walden: life in the woods" about. it's all something you could do in half a day or maybe a whole day, but what was amazing to me was just how much history there was in such a small area.

there's also a lot to do in boston that doesn't have anything to do with history that is fun, but if you're going to be spending a few days in that area, going to concord and plymouth could be interesting for your kids.

[cookinwithgas]

Oh yeah Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, is in drydock but there are still tours available, could be neat to see it out of the water.

[Snake]

Wear a Yankees hat while in Boston. It will be a all day experience of there culture. 

[dave-o]

I was just in Boston....  If you want some history I would consider doing the Freedom Trail....   This was my seat at Fenway....  Such a cool experience....

 

 

 

 

 

The harbor tour was cool too....

 

 

 

The Freedom Trail is cool if you are in the mood for some history and a good walk.  Old STate House...

 

 

[Davidson Deac II]

3 hours ago, cookinwithgas said:

Oh yeah Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, is in drydock but there are still tours available, could be neat to see it out of the water.

Second this.  Seeing the Constitution is on my bucket list. 

[dave-o]

13 minutes ago, Davidson Deac II said:

Second this.  Seeing the Constitution is on my bucket list. 

I was a tad disappointed...  It is in dry dock and surrounded by scaffolding(sp) They are busy working on it....  It was hard to see it with all the stuff around it...  Still pretty cool tho....

 

[Davidson Deac II]

15 minutes ago, dave-o said:

I was a tad disappointed...  It is in dry dock and surrounded by scaffolding(sp) They are busy working on it....  It was hard to see it with all the stuff around it...  Still pretty cool tho....

 

I will probably wait until it gets out of dry dock before I go.  I still want to see and be on it though.  I am a history buff. 

 

Many years ago, got to take a tour of the HMS Victory, which was pretty cool.  But the Victory is in permanent dry dock, so seeing the constitution as it actually was 200 or so years ago would be fantastic.