This trip is not what I planned! More than nine months in advance, I planned and made reservations for a nine-day hut-to-hut hike in the White Mountains. I was going to spend all Winter preparing and staying (getting) in shape so I could fly over the ridge line and enjoy the views. But the best laid plans…. by late Spring, it became apparent that neither my friend nor I was in good enough shape for the planned hike.
So we revised our plan to do a New England Road trip with a bit of hiking thrown in. Well actually, we were going to do a hike in every state, but we started to fill up our itinerary with a little more eating and a little less hiking. Regardless, this revised plan was exciting for me, because I would be able to visit my last five states, finally bringing me to 50. Or would it??? Upon deeper reflection, and after talking to my mom, it turns out I haven’t been to Arkansas.
So, it wasn’t a hiking trip. And I wasn’t going to visit every state in the Union (yet). But we both still had leave from work and turned it into an epic road trip.
I give you this preamble to let you know – not every trip is what you planned. That is ok. Not every trip is a bucket list. That is ok. But every experience is valuable. And if you are flexible with a good attitude – every trip is special.
We had a wonderful time.
One last caveat before I share the details – I’ll share in the order we traveled but I don’t recommend this exact itinerary. Because I wanted to preserve two of our hikes and two of our original accommodations, we did A LOT more driving than was necessary. It added to the memories, but logistically just doesn’t make sense. You can see a map of our route below!
Pizza, New Haven, CT: After a long drive from Washington DC, our first stop was lunch in New Haven. New Haven is known for its pizza and we tried one of the more famous, Modern Apizza. With strong Italian roots their history goes back to 1934. I am hesitant to call it the best pizza I’ve ever had, but I can’t think of any that I liked more. Pizza in Buenos Aires and the Mooses Tooth in Anchorage Alaska are the only contenders I can think of. We tried both the meat pizza with their house made sausage and the tomato pie. Both were outstanding. Get there early, by the time we left there was a line down the block waiting for a table.
Pez Factory, Orange, CT: Just minutes from downtown New Haven is the Pez Factory and visitors center. While invented in Austria as an alternative to smoking the first US factory was in 1973. While not a destination in itself, this is a fun quirky (free) stop. The visitors center has Pez dispensers from over the decades and is a fun look at American pop culture. They also have a array of dispensers for sale which make fun gifts.
AMC Highland Center, NH: The Highland Center is run by the Appalachian Mountain Club which was founded in 1876 and is a non-profit dedicated to protecting the mountains, forests, waters and trails of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. I really wanted to stay here, and it is one of the two reasons that our road trip was so circuitous. While it is an expensive for a bunk bed and shared bath, the scenery is breathtaking, and the lodge is comfortable with warm and filling meals included. And I am always willing to spend more if I know the funds are going to a good cause, in this case to protect our environment. I thought it was worth the money and the drive, and it would have been heaven on earth if coming off the Appalachian Trail. The Center books up fast and I made our reservations when they opened in the early fall.
AMC has a second lodge about an hour away, Joe Dodge Lodge in Pickham Gap NH. While also very nice, especially if coming off the trail, I would recommend the Highland Center.
Mizpah Spring Hike, NH: The trailhead starts right at the parking lot of the AMC Highland Center. While the White Mountains are notorious as the most difficult of the Appalachian Trail, I would consider this 4.7 mile out and back hike as moderate. At the top, you will be treated to beautiful views and the Mizpah Spring Hut where you can buy lunch. Prices were reasonable with a bowl of soup for $4. You can also use the bathroom and refill your water bottle. My original plan was to hike hut to hut across the White Mountains and to stay here. I wish I had, it was a beautiful hut and very picturesque. But it just didn’t make sense after such a short hike.
Mount Washington Resort, NH: This is a spectacular hotel and maybe one of the most beautiful I’ve ever stayed in. This turn of the century hotel exudes old world charm. I especially loved a drink on the veranda overlooking the White Mountains. I had dinner in the 1902 dining room. The food was good, they had a wide menu, and the room was gorgeous. Shout out to the parker house rolls and the blueberry brulee which was outstanding. Unfortunately, rooms start at $550 a night, but before you assume I won the lottery, they actually have some very reasonable special rates. This was a great reminder that while 3rd party sites are great for research, ALWAYS check the hotel website to see if you can get a better deal. In this case I saved 77%!
Ben and Jerry’s Tour, VT: While I enjoy ice-cream, I am not obsessed, and I’ve actually only had Ben and Jerry’s a few times. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this tour. It was fun, short, and well done with a couple of samples. My friend and I agreed this was one of our favorite single activities of the week. Advance tickets are recommended, and we were there 1 hour start to finish.
Bingham Falls, Trapp Family Lodge, and Waterbury, VT: There is a lot to do around the area of Ben and Jerry’s. Bingham Falls is a short, easy, and picturesque hike. You don’t need hiking boots and if you wear your swimsuits you can swim in the river and play in the small falls. The Trapp Family Lodge was established in the 1950s by the von Trapp family on whom the musical The Sound of Music is based. The Austrian style lodge is nestled in the mountains of Vermont with a brewery and lots of outdoor activities to keep you busy. Finally, Waterbury is a cute town filled with country stores and places to eat.
Norwich Inn, VT: This charming inn was built in 1797 and has an exceptional friendly staff. It has a bar with outdoor seating and a front porch with rocking chairs. The front desk clerk told me the hotel was the inspiration for the 1980s TV show Newhart. Of note, the hotel sits on the Appalachian Trail and is half the cost of anything you will find ten minutes away in Hanover CT. We walked across the river to Hanover for dinner at Molly’s which had fantastic dinner rolls and a good dinner menu.
Dan & Whit’s General Store, Norwich VT: If they don’t have it, you don’t need it. This store is one of a kind and has a little bit of everything. Hot sauce, socks, ice chains, cheese, wine, stationary … I could go on and on.
Grave of Mercy Brown (suspected Vampire), Exeter RI: Mercy died in 1892 after her mother and sister. They were both exhumed to see if they were vampires, and it was determined they weren’t. However, Mercy’s body was miraculously well preserved so it was determined she was a vampire and then cut Mercy’s heart, burned it, and then had Edwin drink the ashes. You can read more here in Atlas Obscura.
Newport, RI: Newport was a disappointment. It was overrun with people and very touristy. We stayed at the Ocean Cliff Hotel which has a beautiful view of the water and the sunset. And we had a fantastic lunch at Belle.
Cambridge, MA: Don’t ask why, but we “swung by” Cambridge for just a quick stop. I wouldn’t mention it, except we had a late lunch at the Luna Café. This was one of the best meals of the year thus far. The grilled biscuit and avocado toast were delicious, but the real star of the show was the French toast (and I don’t even like French toast).
Portland, OR: I’d like to return to both Portland and Maine to spend more time. Our first stop was the International Cryptozoology Museum. Cryptozoology is the study of hidden or unknown animals. I am not a hard-core believer, but I do believe in continuous exploration and discovery. The logic that “discovery” of the giant panda, mountain gorilla and okapi are all relatively recent resonates with me. It would sadden me to think we know everything there is to know about the world. To that end, this is a great stop. And if you are a big foot believer this is the place for you. The Portland Lighthouse is just what I imagined Maine to look like. It was picture perfect. In Portland we stayed at the Black Elephant Hostel. This small quite clean hostel is a located right downtown, has lots of public spaces, a kitchen, several bathrooms on each floor. I would definitely recommend it. Becky’s Diner was superb. I was on a blueberry splurge and had their blueberry mimosa, blueberry pancakes and berry parfait. Perfect!
Giant Telephone, Woodstock ME: A picture is worth a thousand words.
Lake of the Clouds Hike and Hut, NH: This is second reason for the crazy itinerary. I really wanted to do this hike and stay in the mountain hut. However, reservations book up fast and by the time we changed our plans it was too late to change the dates. This hike was hard. I thought I was up to it after Mizpah Spring and just a few months ago I was hiking in Chile. The first mile took me 30 minutes, the second mile took me 45 minutes and the third mile took me 2 hours and 45 minutes. It was steep, it was wet, and I got lost in the fog at least twice. It might be the most difficult physical thing I have done. And while I am not an athlete, I am not a hiking novice. But I am so glad I did it and that I got to stay at the hut. The huts offer a hearty dinner and breakfast, and it was a unique and special experience.
Mount Washington, NH Cog Railway: To get to the top of Mount Washington you can hike, drive or take the Cog Railway. The railway is the fastest and most scenic option. We bought tickets in advance, but I was surprised to see lots of room on our train in the middle of summer.
Stops South: We headed south to get home and stopped at Rek-lis Brew in Bethlehem NH, Chapman’s General Store in Farlee VT and the Bromley Inn in Bromley VT. None of them deserve much attention here. Our final stop was Jim Thorpe PA. For those like me that are not sports fans, Jim Thorpe is considered one of the most versatile athletes. He won two Olympic gold medals and played professional football, baseball and basketball. But that’s not why we went. We went to visit the Old Jail Museum where you can see the handprint left by one of the four falsely accused and hung Molly Maguires. While in town we ate at both Molly Maguires and Broadway. Broadway was the better of the two but nothing to travel for. The town is cute and used as a gateway for biking and other outdoor sports.
As I said up front, I wouldn’t encourage anyone to duplicate this trip. But I do hope it inspires you to take a road trip, to maybe pick one or two of these activities next time you are in New England, but most of all, to make the best of things even when they don’t go as planned. You can still have a wonderful trip!
Life Kinetic Travel Research 