New England Fall Road Trip

Sharing is caring!

       This trip was conceived since I was heading to Boston for a dietitian conference in October after traveling to the New England area two earlier times this year and the hubs was jealous. (Mostly because he is a beer guy and the New England area is known for their awesome IPAs). I went to Vermont as a member of the Cabot Fit Team and then again for Blog Brulee so he felt it was time we took a trip up north together and I was 100% in. We left after work on a Wednesday, drove about half way to Vermont and then stayed at a Ramada. We arrived in Vermont the next morning.

We started the day out by checking out Shelburne Farm… unfortunately it was raining so we didn’t stay very long and headed to a couple of breweries (Magic Hat and Fiddlehead) nearby. Afterwards we grabbed lunch at the Farmers Market in downtown Burlington and then wondered around Church Street, checked out another brewery (Zero Gravity) and eventually down to the waterfront.

The rain was picking up again so we went to one more brewery (Switchback) before heading west towards Stowe. Disclaimer: at the breweries we usually shared a flight- so the alcohol consumption was lower than it sounds (figured I should add this since we ended up going to a lot of breweries!)

On our way to Stowe we stopped at Prohibition Pig for a small dinner. I ended up getting the most delicious salad which was barely a salad at all-(taken from the menu) arugula, house gunaciale, fried green tomato strips, Bijou aged goat cheese, smoked paprika duck fat vinaigrette. But damn it was delicious! #everythinginmoderation

After dinner we made our way to the resort we were staying at for the night. Stoweflake was one of the nicest places I’ve stayed- huge room and bathroom, fireplace, and the resort was complete with all the awesome facilities. We checked out the outdoor hot tub first and had it to ourselves- amazing! Pat and I also explored the indoor pool, sauna, steam room, game room, and ordered room service (brownie sundae) to end the night.

The next morning I decided to check out the gym… it was by far the best hotel gym I’ve been to- TRX, erg, kettlebells and all the usual equipment. I did 30 min of a HIIT workout and then grabbed a shower before we started our day.

We headed down to the main street in Stowe for breakfast at a café and then explored the little town. Stowe has an awesome recreation path so we spent part of the morning walk on that enjoying the fal foliage since it hasn’t quite hit Philly yet. Afterwards we headed up the street to visit the infamous Alchemy brewery so Pat could stock up.

We were kind of all over the place for this day so then we headed to Cold Hollow Cider Mill for some apple cider donuts-yum! We also watched how they make the apple cider which looked like a pretty involved but interesting process. Next on the list was lunch since we already indulged in dessert… off to Doc’s Pond a highly recommended restaurant in the area, known for it’s fresh veggies. I had butternut squash soup and salad and pat had a sandwich… the food was good but the service kinda sucked. Oh well…. Off to the back roads of Vermont to drink some beer at Hil Farmstead brewery. Funny story- when leaving the brewery (which was in the middle of nowhere with no cell service) we were using our old school GPS and it took us down a road that said “Turn back, wrong way, IGNORE GPS!” I’ve never seen a sign like that so we took the warning and turned around. The rest of the drive was more back roads until we got to a highway in the mountains… we drove through New Hampshire and arrived in Portland in time for a late dinner.

Eventide Oyster Co was highly recommended by a couple of bloggers that had visited the area and OMG I couldn’t agree more. We waited over an hour on a Friday night but it was so worth it. Their brown butter lobster roll is by far one of the best things I’ve ever had in my life and I’ve eaten a lot of good food. Pat and I both loved it and immediately ordered a second one to share and we also had the lobster stew and of course more oysters- which were also fantastic. Such a great meal to kick off our time in Portland.

The next day we got up early to watch the sunrise at the Portland Head Light lighthouse just a few minutes away from our Airbnb. AMAZING! I’ve never seen such a beautiful sunrise and it was cool knowing we were some of the first people to see the sunrise in the country that day. Totally work the early wake up call. After the sun was up we headed to another lighthouse nearby where you walked over the water on large rocks to get to it. This lighthouse wasn’t anything special but the walk over the rocks was pretty cool and the views were still great.

After our busy lighthouse hopping morning we headed back to the Airbnb to shower and get ready for the day and then off to brunch. We split a wild blueberry and lemon curd French toast and lobster benedict. Next we headed up north about 15 minutes for a little shopping expedition. Pat and I ventured to the infamous L.L. flagship store which was huge and then hit up the local outlets nearby. Definitely didn’t plan on doing a lot of shopping but the deals couldn’t be beat for some fun outdoor gear.

Next on the agenda was visiting Maine Brewing Company while we were in Freeport. Post flight sharing we headed back to Portland to wonder around. We made the tourist stops downtown: Holy Donuts, Cabot Annex, and Stonewall Kitchen to some sampling. It was such a beautiful fall day we then headed to a brewery with an ourdoor area- Bissel Brothers. This was actually our favorite brewery from the trip- such delicious beers and a really cool space.

The sample held us over for awhile until a sunset dinner at the Lobster Shack right on the water. Pat had the traditional lobster roll and I went with the lobster bisque (which was basically heavy cream with pieces of lobster). The food wasn’t anything spectatcular but the views sure were… we were completely impressed and blown away by how much we loved Portland. Sad to say goodbye but we had one final stop: Boston!

We arrived in the evening and went to bed early since I was up by 6am for FNCE! Check out my full recap here. Pat wandered around the city and found a local Eagles bar to watch some Sunday NFL football while I was at my conference. The next day we set off to explore Boston. I thought doing the Freedom Trail would be the best way to see the city (and big bonus- it was free!). We started at Boston Commons and followed the trail from each landmark.

      At Paul Revere’s house we decided to explore the inside since the ticket fee was inexpensive. You weren’t allowed to take pictures and the tour probably only last about 15-20 minutes but I thought it was really cool. We were also able to explore the inside of the Old North Church. (We also stopped at one of the oldest bars and sampled oysters, clamps, and shrimp because every tour needs snacks).

Finally we made are away across the bridge to Charlestown for the end of the trail at Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution. We had fun playing in the museum like little kids on the interactive games before catching an uber for lunch.

One of the highly recommended restaurant stops was Row 34, not far from the convention center. Pat started out by ordering clam chowder and after having a bite of his I knew I needed my own. Then he sampled a dozen oysters and I tried a ceviche. He insisted on trying their butterscotch pudding which was really delicious as well. Definitely recommend this place but be aware that it isn’t cheap!

Last stop on our trip was on our way home at a brewery just outside of Boston. Trillium Brewery was probably our second favorite brewery on the trip and the workers were so nice so I was glad we stopped. I guess technically we did have one more quick stop after that on our trip- Pat had come across an infamous steamed burger place based in Connecticut that appeared on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Since I’m such a great wife 😉 I agreed to stop and the burgers were actually really good but didn’t taste super different to me but Pat loved them so I was glad we made the stop for him.

That concludes our New England road trip and I must say I really enjoyed myself. Road tripping is so fun when you have great company and gorgeous mountain and water views. We will definitely had to plan another trip to Maine in the future since that was our favorite spot. If you’re planning a trip feel free to reach out and ask me any questions! And you should because we loved it!