Driving Boston to Cooperstown, what to see?

[danecho283]

I am a SoCal kid, never been to Boston. I am flying in there Monday to go to Fenway and visit the hall of fame in Cooperstown. What is along the way that I must visit, guitar shops, wood mills, food I must eat, anything I would regret missing, please let me know, thanks.

 

[Brad Pittiful]

plymouth rock

harvard

cambridge

cape cod

eat chowdah

bunker hill

 

[Joefish]

Lobster Rolls

 

[KokoTele]

Honestly, there's not that much between the two that are really "must sees." Western MA and the Berkshires have some nice little towns that are very artsy, and you might find one of the clubs has a band playing that you'd like to see, but that would add a night to the trip.

There's a good guitar store about 20 minutes north of Albany that has a pretty good selection. Very little real interesting or vintage pieces anymore, though. The Guitar Center in Albany isn't bad, but I'm not sure I'd make a special stop for it.

 

[muchxs]

Put Boston in the rearview as quickly as possible.

Take I-93 up through New Hampshire. That will take you up through Franconia Notch. The real Old Man in the Mountain fell down a couple years ago but it's still pretty.

Follow I-93 until it joins with I-91 in Saint Johnsbury. Continue north until you get to Lyndonville. Follow Route 5 until it joins Route 5A in West Burke. Continue north on 5A until you get to Willoughby Lake.

There. You've seen it. Now get over to Burlington any way you can...

Down to Saint Johnsbury and across Route 2 is the quick way. You can drive to Burlington through the boonies. Feels like "You can't get there from here". Trust me, you can...

Take any of the Lake Champlain ferries, make your way over to I-87 south. You can drive down to I-88 west or take any of the more scenic routes through apple country.

But wait! There's more.

No trip Upstate is complete without a trip to Cayuga Lake. You've already seen Willoughby so Cayuga is solidly in the "why bother?" category. Here's "why bother?". Stop at Taughannock Falls towards the middle of the lake. That's "why bother?"

Stop at Bellwether Cider on your way to the falls. Pick up a couple bottles of their Lord Scudamore. No matter how much you buy you'll wish you bought more.

"muchxs"

Stop at Montezuma Winery on the north end of the lake. I'm savin' you some trouble here, you can stop at the various mostly overpriced and frequently over- rated wineries along the lake or you can beat feet to Montezuma. Ask for their Vin de Poire Reserve. They don't make it anymore but it kicked ass when they did! Buy one of their "consolation prize" bottles while you're there. Hint: You'll need to drive all the way to Gouldsboro, Maine to find something almost as good as Montezuma's Vin de Poire.

Don't ask me how I know.

If you thought this through you could fly outta Albany or Syracuse. Save a drive across I-90 back to Boston.

 

[NightBoss]

If you are taking muchxs' advice and going to Taughannock Falls (I would call it a significant side trip) then you need to stop in at Ithaca Guitar Works and Rumble Seat Music, both just off the commons in Ithaca. Lunch at Moosewood. Photo op at the base of Buttermilk Falls too.

Ithaca is gorges.

 

[muchxs]

If you are taking muchxs' advice and going to Taughannock Falls (I would call it a significant side trip) then you need to stop in at Ithaca Guitar Works and Rumble Seat Music, both just off the commons in Ithaca. Lunch at Moosewood. Photo op at the base of Buttermilk Falls too.

Ithaca is gorges.

It ain't exactly a straight shot up I-93, either. Kinda like "They had to find each other so they set out in opposite directions." Still, it avoids all the I-90 tolls. Pay a buck at Hooksett in New Hampshire and you're all set...

Or...

Head up I-95 and get off at Hampton Beach. Play a couple games of Skee Ball and ask 'em about their Whack-a-Mole. Haven't seen a Whack-a-Mole all the way up to the Quebec Riviera otherwise known as Old Orchard Beach. I suspect all the moles have been whacked into submission. Maybe they still have one at Fun Spot in Laconia?

Take a short trip up Route 1 on the way back to I-95 and grab a plate at Al's Seafood. It's right next to the Home Depot...

It takes a little fiddlin' to get back on I-95, if you have a GPS it will take you through Portsmouth and back on south of Kittery.

If you like to buy stuff stop at the Tanger Outlets in Kittery. Not part of the outlets, the Kittery Trading Post has a massive inventory of guns. Also not part of the outlets, Yummies up at the other end of the street has every kind of candy known to Man.

Buy stuff, get back on I-95. Stop at Old Orchard Beach if you want to see the longest continuous stretch of beach in Maine.

Continue north on I-95. Navigate to The Great Lost Bear in Portland. Find youself a seat at the back of the bar, order the hot wings.

The street that runs in front of The Great Lost Bear becomes Route 302. That will take you past Sebago, Long Pond, Highland Lake and eventually into the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

People pay good money to see this stuff.

If you missed Al's there's a little hole in the wall place at the junction of 302 and 117 in Bridgeton.

I could tip you off on some micro attractions along the way but there's plenty to see if I don't.

302 joins up with I-93 north of the notch. You might want to backtrack a couple miles, see the notch then do the trip to Vermont.

Buy some cheddar while you're there.

There are dozens of "touristy" routes across Vermont. The quick ways are Route 2 to the north, Route 4 or I-89 towards the middle of the state.

 

[eastside]

If you are taking muchxs' advice and going to Taughannock Falls (I would call it a significant side trip) then you need to stop in at Ithaca Guitar Works and Rumble Seat Music, both just off the commons in Ithaca. Lunch at Moosewood. Photo op at the base of Buttermilk Falls too.

Ithaca is gorges.

+1 this

 

[DrumBob]

If you are taking muchxs' advice and going to Taughannock Falls (I would call it a significant side trip) then you need to stop in at Ithaca Guitar Works and Rumble Seat Music, both just off the commons in Ithaca. Lunch at Moosewood. Photo op at the base of Buttermilk Falls too.

Ithaca is gorges.

Gorges? I didn't know there were gorges in Ithaca, NY.

 

[NightBoss]

 

[boris bubbanov]

Skip the Horehound hard candy.

Ickh!

This is a cool thread. For a kid who lived a lot of years around Lowell and around Buffalo, I know precious little about some of the areas halfway between. I need to take some notes here, now that I have a base in Fairfax County, VA and can trip up this way much more readily than in years past.

Keep it coming!

 

[Jack FFR1846]

As you leave Fenway, make your way over to Guitar Center. Check out the guitars in the premium room and ask Larry (vintage mgr) what cool old strats you might try out.

Maybe wait till the next day and make your way up through Cambridge and Arlington on Massachusetts Ave into Lexington. Find Music Emporium. They're not much into strats but will have Collings to try and some of the best acoustics anywhere. Looking for a nice little $200,000 parlor guitar.....they'll have some for you to look over. I always find that their (my budget) acoustics are nice as well. Taylor 12 strings and Martin 6's.

 

[Boyd]

If you are taking muchxs' advice and going to Taughannock Falls (I would call it a significant side trip)

I lived in Sterling, near Lake Ontario in Central New York for many years. The whole Finger Lakes region is beautiful in the summer, all of the State Parks have plenty of sights to see.

If you *really* want to extend the significant side trip, check out the House of Guitars in Rochester: http://houseofguitars.com/

I'm sure it's been over 20 years since I was there, but just looking on their site now brings back a lot of memories. Too bad I never get back there myself. Their TV commercials, starring the owner, from the 70's and 80's are forever etched in my brain.

 

[muchxs]

This is a cool thread. For a kid who lived a lot of years around Lowell and around Buffalo, I know precious little about some of the areas halfway between. I need to take some notes here, now that I have a base in Fairfax County, VA and can trip up this way much more readily than in years past.

Keep it coming!

NoVa up to Binghamton gets you into the thick of things without havin' to trudge across Massachusetts. Massachusetts is best done on motorcycle in little loops if you got lotsa time...

Or you could drive across Mass and head straight for Lebanon Valley. Don't have to go through there from NoVa, anyway. The tragedy of Massachusetts is they have exactly one short track left and it kinda sucks...

There's a rollercoaster where the other track used to be...

On the other hand Pennsylvania and New York have legendary 1/2 mile dirt tracks strung like beads all the way up PA 15 and I-81. You'll never make it from Virginia to Cooperstown on a Friday or Saturday. Too much good racin' in between.

 

[NightBoss]

cripes- if this is gonna turn into a discussion about dirt tracks i'm outta here- i get homesick for Northern PA/Central NY enough without someone mentioning Lebanon Valley....

 

[muchxs]

cripes- if this is gonna turn into a discussion about dirt tracks i'm outta here- i get homesick for Northern PA/Central NY enough without someone mentioning Lebanon Valley....

Yuppers. Cayuga Lake winery tours durin' the day then drive up to Rolling Wheels that night.

Or head down to Biglersville PA, pick up some Pennsylvania peaches then head to Williams Grove.

Wait! I got it!

Williams Grove on September 28th and 29th then head up to Rolling Wheels on the 30th.

 

[MatTele]

No visit to Cooperstown would be complete without a visit to Brewery Ommegang...

Sent from my Telecaster through my AC15

 

[Coop47]

Don't know if you want to hit two HOF's in the same trip, but the Basketball Hall of Fame is in Springfield, MA. The Museum of Fine Arts and Berklee College of Music are also in the Fenway area of town if you feel like taking a walk around.

 

[TeleDrifter]

Bad timing 4U. An autumn drive would be a colorful feast 4 the eyes. Next time....

 

[boris bubbanov]

Bad timing 4U. An autumn drive would be a colorful feast 4 the eyes. Next time....

Too many people venture out ONLY during the season change. I think a lot of the countryside up North of the Mason Dixon is pretty neat during the growing season, also. All the different colors of short needled conifers, those cool dark red maples and other trees, flowering shrubs, mature crops. You forget how cool all that is until you're away from it for awhile.