Despite our frequent trips to the Boston area in the past, we never had a chance to enjoy and experience the fall foliage of New England. Finally this past October, Jessica and I decide to take a one-week trip there to see the foliage in the area. Our itinerary was to drive from Boston through New Hampshire into Canada and then back through Vermont to see the fall colors and visit some of the sites along the route. We generally had good luck with the weather during our trip and despite the rather hectic pace of our itinerary, we were still able to make some last minute detours and discovered some interesting gems.

It rained the night we arrived in Boston, which delayed our arrival by almost two hours. By the time we picked up our rental car, it was well past midnight. We had selected a hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for our first night, to make our departure in the morning easier. But when we tried to enter the hotel address on the GPS, it didn’t recognize it. We called the hotel, and the receptionist told us the hotel and street is reasonable new and gave us another address to use on the GPS which would take us close to the hotel.

The one good thing of driving after midnight in the rain on an unfamiliar road is that there were few cars on it. Another good thing is that traveling west to east, our bodily clock was only at 9PM, so we weren’t too tired.   It was almost 1:30AM when we arrived at our Portsmouth hotel. And of course, the first set of “keys” given to us didn’t work and we had to go back to the reception to get another set. By the time we settled and got ready for bed, it was past 2:30AM. Only that, and this is the bad part of traveling east, between our body clock and getting amped up on the drive, we weren’t that sleepy. We had to force ourselves to sleep.

The next morning, we somehow got up before 9AM and were on our way not much past 9:30AM.   Our destination point for the day was Lake Tilton, New Hampshire, a jumping off point into the White Mountains. But we decided to swing into southern Maine along the coast first to get a look of the Maine coast before cutting back inland into New Hampshire.   Just as we reached into Maine on Route 1, we saw a Premium outlet plaza. Of course, we had to pay a visit.   And with the lower state sales tax in Maine, it seemed to make sense to buy things there.   That was before we realized that New Hampshire has no state sales tax and would have been even a better choice. Anyways, we each picked up a few items before continuing onward on Route 1.

We made a stop at the Hartley Mason Reserve in York, which has a perch above the York Harbor beach that gave Jessica her first great view of the Atlantic Ocean. We then proceed northward and reached Kennebunkport around noon. As we drove into the town, we saw a long line of people outside a place called the Clam Shack, which we decided to check out as a possible lunch choice after parking the car.   As we waited in line, we heard various people saying so and so recommend them to check this place out for their lobster roll, their fried clams, etc. Therefore, we decided to try their lobster roll, fried clams and clam chowder. Those turned out to be great choices. The lobster roll was filled with succulent lobster meat and the fried clams were one of the best we have tasted. And eating on the picnic bench adds to the atmosphere. After finishing our meal, we walked around the town.   While there were lots of boutique shops in the area, we were most captivated by the local houses, churches and other buildings. They showcased a quintessential small town New England architecture. We walked around for about an hour before hitting the road to Lake Tilton.

The drive along the smaller back roads provided us a great view of the fall colors along the road. There was a blend of different colors among the trees, the contrasts which made the view particularly brilliantly colorful. We stopped at a few spots for pictures, and the drive of the approximate 70 miles between Kennebunkport and Lake Tilton took us almost 3 hours.

After checking into our hotel and dropping off our stuff, we went out and drove around area.   There are several lakes in the area, and Winnisquam Lake being the largest in the immediate area. The late afternoon sun made it difficult to take pictures from some spots, but we were able to get a few in before dusk while driving around the lakes. We then returned back to the hotel for a rest and for Jessica to send out pictures we had taken that day on Wechat.

For dinner, we went to a diner recommended by the hotel manager, Tilton Diner. It served your basic Americana comfort food.   Jessica tried a local grilled white fish while James had the meatloaf with mash potatoes. Jessica also ordered a side salad that was as large as some meal size salad. We were quite stuffed by the time we finished.

Early the next morning, we started our way toward the White Mountains. James had saw a ‘beach’ on the map by Lake Winnpeasukee in Guilford he thought would provide a good view of the big lake. However, after arriving to the lake area, we found that most of the ‘beach front’ areas were private properties, not really seeing any public area we can walk around.   After driving around for a while, we started to leave the area when we saw a commercial pier area and decided to take a look. The pier has ferry boats for sightseeing tours, but by October, the tours and excursions seems to be wounding down; the snack shop was closed and only a few of the shops and restaurants along the street seemed to be open for business.   One benefit of coming late in the season is there were few people, and we can get unobstructed pictures of the area easily.

To head to the White Mountains, James selected a town (North Conway) that seems to be on the edge of the mountains. The GPS put us on Route 25 and 16. Among the sites we saw along the route was a pasture with cows. Jessica got off the car to take some pictures. However, when the cows started to move toward her, she got back into the car in a hurry and we drove off in quickly.

After we arrived at North Conway, there weren’t any obvious signs of how to get into the park area (technically White Mountain is a National Forest, but will still the term park to describe it). Jessica decided to call the park office and inquire on where we can drive to get into the park. The park ranger on the phone asked us where we were heading that night and suggested two routes through the park that would take us toward our destination, Littleton, New Hampshire.   Before heading out, we stopped at a Starbucks for a quick bite. By the time we hit the road, it was almost 3 o’clock.

As we turned into Route 112 (one of the suggested road) toward the park, we saw a park office just off the road. We went in and were able to get some map and suggestions on the points of interest along the road. There were a number of points of interests and view spots along Route 112 (The Kancamagus Highway) through the park. The rangers helped us in figuring out the places we should target before dusk sets in, which we selected 4 to 5.   The ones we liked the best were probably the Albany Covered Bridge and the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, the latter has a wide viewing area with a few falls and rapids.

By the time we exited White Mountains and started northward on I-93, the sun was just beginning to set. The drive was uneventful until we got close to Littleton. The GPS had  initially directed us to the second Littleton exit, but the end point didn’t seem right. While lost, we saw a Co-op store and decided to grab some fruits and snacks. Then after resetting the GPS again, it had us heading back south toward the first Littleton exit. This time, we saw the hotel after getting off the freeway.

It was dark when we arrived at the hotel. Not wanting to venture too far, we decided to just walk down to the Applebee restaurant by the hotel. It was Friday night, and we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. After ordering, things seem to start ok, with the waitress delivering our drinks and appetizer fairly quickly. Then after finishing our appetizer, it seemed a long time had passed, and our entrée still hasn’t arrived.   After about 45 minutes or so after the appetizer, we finally got our waitress’s attention. When she checked on our order, apparently the entree order somehow didn’t get into the system to the kitchen. The manager came out and apologized and indicated our meal that night would be on the house.   We have to commend the restaurant for accepting the responsibility of the wayward order.

The next day, we began our drive to Montreal. We took the most direct route via I-93 and I-91 toward the Canadian border. The border check was quick and simple, and we continued northward on the same road, which is now Autoroute 55. We decided to check out Parc du Mont-Oxford, a national park to the east of Montreal and just a short detour.

It started to drizzle when we arrived in the park. However, Jessica still wants to go to kayaking on the lake near the park entrance when she found out one can be rented. So we got a kayak, and she paddled around for about 20 minutes on the lake by herself, in the drizzle and all.   After cleaning up, as we were leaving the area, a park ranger was setting up a display of beaver pelts and wolf fur, giving us a chance to feel the difference between the two skins, showing us that the beaver fur was water proof and the wolf wasn’t. The ranger gave a brief but interesting talk about the animals in the park. After the talk, we headed inside the park, toward another lake and trail that was suggested.

We can imagine this area during the summer season would be full of people, but only a few people were in the area walking around when we were there. The suggested trail was a short 3K loop, which took us through the trees to another lake before looping back.   We ran into a few deer during our walk.

After leaving the park, we started heading toward Montreal westward on Autoroute 10. It started to pour once we got on the freeway. James had thought of getting something to eat along the way, but didn’t see any place to eat off the freeway, not even a Tim Horton. When we got close to the city, the rain lessened a bit, but the traffic backed up to a stop and go. The main bridge to the city was closed and traffic was routed to alternate roads. We were following signs on the road and the GPS kept resetting. It took over an hour from the time we were less than 10 miles away from the city before we arrived at our hotel (Hilton) near the center of town.

We had thought of walking around the area to look for a restaurant for dinner. However, with the rain coming down hard again, we decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant.   It turned out to be a pretty good choice.   Jessica’s New York steak and James’ seafood risotto, along with the soup and salad, were all done very well, and the portion was just about right.

 

 

The next morning, after a full breakfast at the hotel (our first and only full breakfast on the trip), we headed to Parc Mount Royal atop the city to see the view and the trees. First stop was the promenade area that offers a picturesque view of the city and the St. Lawrence River. The promenade was a wide plaza that offers a wide angle view of the city and the river for miles.   After spending some time there, we start walking around the park. Jessica wanted to find a bright red maple leaf.   There were plenty of maple leafs, on the ground and on the trees, and quite a number of red ones. However, none was at the quality she wants to keep as a souvenir.   We walked around for about an hour before heading out to our next destination.

A stop on our way back to the US, we cross the river to take a look at Parc de Sainte Catherine. The park is a bit of an islet off the St. Lawrence that offers an area for recreation; including a beach that opens during the summer. We drove around the park area and walked around some of the area that was still open to enjoy the scenery before staring our drive back to Vermont.

We put in Burlington as the destination on the GPS and just let it guide us. The GPS took us south on Autoroute 15 and to the border crossing at New York. We drove down I-87 to around Plattsburgh, before taking a route through a small town that took us across Lake Champlain into Vermont on Route 2. Somewhere along Route 2 around South Hero, there was a causeway that offers a view of the lake and shores on both sides of the lake. We stopped briefly to take a few pictures before continuing on our way. Our destination for the day was White River Junction, which is near the border of New Hampshire and a few miles south of Hanover, home of Dartmouth College.

There was no particular reason to stay in White River Junction other than it was in Vermont and close to various other options we can take the following day.   By the time we arrived, the sun was just about to set.   Before checking into our hotel, we drove around the town to find if there is somewhere we can go for dinner. However, there wasn’t much available. The few restaurants in town all seemed to be closed on Sunday.   At the hotel, they did offer some options in nearby towns we can try.   One option was to go to Hanover, and the other option is to West Lebanon, which is just one exit to the east on I-89 in New Hampshire.   We settled on an Italian restaurant called Lui Lui in West Lebanon. This was a typical Italian family restaurant. Jessica chose the lobster ravioli while James selected a mushroom linguini dish, with calamari as the appetizer along with one side salad to share. The portions of all dishes were large. Neither one of us were able to finish everything. Well stuffed, we head back to the hotel and crashed.

The next morning, we decided to go to the Green Mountains. The drive took us through some interesting farmland and towns. On the GPS, we selected ‘Green Mountain National Forrest, and it took us……right to the park office in a town nearby the park. The bright side of this stop is that we got some suggestions and a park map.   Given we only plan to spend half a day there we settled on some nearby options near the edge of the northern park. (There is actually two separate parts of the Green Mountain National Forest, a northern and southern portion. We were in between the two parks.) The people in the office also recommended a restaurant, called The Mountain Top Inn, near Chittenden Reservoir in the park that we could try.

The drive to the park took us through many small roads. We followed the GPS, but the spot it indicated where the inn was looked to be a private house. We got out of the car to check, but no one seemed to be around. We drove back down the road to another big building, but that also wasn’t the restaurant. We finally decided to just drive forward. After about another mile or so, we finally saw the restaurant. The main building of Mountain Top Inn is a lodge like structure. The restaurant is located at the back of the main building, with a terrace facing the reservoir and mountains and a large grass lawn just pass beyond the terrace. There were several open tables available on the terrace, and we chose one right in the middle. Before we got a chance to order, Jessica was already busy taking pictures and videos of the area.   The menu was basic, but the food was done much better than we expected. We ordered soup, salad, wings, cheese fries and a patty melt.   It was hard to tell whether we enjoyed the meal as much as due to the quality of the food or just the setting. But we came away feeling very glad we came.

After the meal, we looked for a way to drive down to the reservoir area. Selecting something on the GPS trying to get somewhere close, it led us to an area through a narrow one lane unpaved road, where we saw a sign of a trail entrance. We parked the car outside of the entrance and walked to see if we can find anything of interest. The trail was lined with trees on both sides. On one side, we could see some water, but not able to really get through the thick bushes. The trail was quiet and we seemed to be only ones on it. After about a mile, we ended up in a small lot in front of a compound with a gate that seemed to be closed. Could be a campsite. On one edge of the lot, there is an opening leading down to the reservoir. Jessica climbed down the rocks to get a closer look as well as to take some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Returning from our trail walk, we started our way toward our destination for the evening, Manchester, New Hampshire. We were going back the same route we had taken from White River Junction to Green Mountains. But as we got near White River Junction, we saw an area off the road where there were lots of people gathered and taking pictures that we didn’t recall seeing on our way out. We doubled back to one of the lots and to take a look. The place is called Quechee Gorge, which has a natural river gorge cuts through this part of the landscape.   There was a plaza that had the typical shops and snack booths. Probably not the best place to get maple syrup, but we picked up a small bottle, along with some snacks. Figuring this was the last chance to get Vermont Maple Syrup in Vermont.

The rest of our drive was uneventful. We did make a detour to Nashua, which had the closest Apple Store in the area. Jessica had cracked the screen of her iPad during the trip. We thought getting a new one in New Hampshire would saves us some money. We have heard a new model may be coming out soon, but figured the price would be similar. And needed a replacement quickly as well. (Epilogue, as in turned out, Apple priced its 128G iPad Air 2 $100 less than the original iPad Air, so we end up not saving anything.)

The next day, before heading back to Boston for our flight home, we visited a friend who lived in Boxboro, just north of Boston. Driving around Boxboro, what intrigued us was that the roads in this ‘suburb’ were very different than the ones in the Bay Area. Here there is much more of a country road feel than a city road, with houses set back a hundred plus feet from the road and driveways that are really lanes you can drive on and not just a one car length concrete slab. The scene is closer what James remembers in the outlying areas of Huntsville, Alabama where he once had lived.

After a lunch at our friend’s house, we head to the airport for our trip home.   All in all, this New England Fall Foliage trip turned out as well as it can be expected. We may have a stretched itinerary, but it gave us a chance to see many different places and things that we may not been able to catch on a shorter route.