If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that I love going on road trips. In the summer of 2018, after spending a week in Boston, we went on a beautiful drive across New England.
The inspiring images of fishing towns, beautiful Atlantic coast beaches, lobster rolls, and lovely old towns is exactly what we had in mind during our trip. Indeed, we were not disappointed. From Boston to Acadia and back to Cape Cod, we enjoyed every moment of our beautiful drive across New England. Here are the highlights.
Gloucester, Massachusetts
We took Highway 1 out of Boston and drove straight to Gloucester on Cape Ann. Since we had been to Salem before, we decided to skip it. However, if you’ve never been, it’s definitely a place to visit. The history of the Salem witch trials is fascinating.
Gloucester is a fishing town with a rich maritime heritage. Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial known as the Man at the Wheel sits along Stacy Blvd to honor those who perished at sea. Commemorative plaques with the names of over 500 lost seamen circle the monument. Among them are the names of the crew that perished on the Andrea Gail, the boat made famous by the movie ‘The Perfect Storm’ with George Clooney. We enjoyed visiting the town and had a good coffee and a couple of pastries at a coffee shop downtown.
Rockport, Massachusetts
Ten minutes after leaving Gloucester, we found ourselves in Rockport. Rockport is an artsy little town on Cape Ann definitely worth visiting. It has lovely beaches, charming buildings, and a lot of tourists. We greatly enjoyed our time here.
Portland, Maine
After spending an hour or so in Rockport, we took Interstate I-95 to Portland, ME. Portland is a vibrant city with a great waterfront. It’s fun to peak into the many galleries and boutique stores while here. The active port nicely blends with the city’s red brick architecture and is a throwback to its fishing roots. Portland is well known for its microbreweries, so trying out some of their IPAs was fun. We did, however, feel that beers from Portland, OR tasted better than those from Portland, ME. We may have been slightly biased, though, since we are not big fans of the sessions style.
Acadia National Park
From Portland, we headed towards Mount Desert Island to Acadia National Park. We camped in the park for 2 nights, which gave us enough time to slowly explore the park and the nearby Bar Harbor. The views from Cadillac Mountain over the forested islands dotting the water actually reminded us of the San Juan Islands in WA state. We had a great time in the park and really liked it a lot. You can read more about the park here.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
After spending a nice morning in Bar Harbor, we continued our beautiful drive across New England, this time, heading back south to Portsmouth, NH.
Portsmouth was settled in 1623 and is, in fact, one of the oldest American cities. It started as a fishing community and to this day continues to serve as a seaport. Market Street boast many historic red-brick buildings with charming architecture, lots of restaurants, cafes, and shops.
We stayed here overnight, and certainly enjoyed ourselves. It was fun to explore the attractive city and learnmore about its history.
Cape Cod, MA
Finally, we set off for our final destination before heading back to Boston – Cape Cod. Our fist stop was Nobska Point Lighthouse located at the southwester tip of Cape Cod across the sound from Martha’s Vineyard. The views of from here were lovely and we took our time relaxing and admiring the vistas.
Afterwards, we headed for Hyannis which became famous for the summer residence of the Kennedy family. There is a museum dedicated to President Kennedy and you can follow a self- guided Kennedy legacy tour through town.
Our next stop was in Chatham. Here, we visited a lovely lighthouse and enjoyed the views of the Atlantic waters. From there, we headed to our campground at the Nickerson State Park where we stayed for 3 nights.
We spent a large part of the next day exploring Cape Cod National Seashore. In a word, I loved it. The expansive white sand beaches were fantastic and the grassy dunes added a wild charm to the coastline. We swam, picnicked, and took walks in various spots along the National Seashore. Although we didn’t get to see any whales, we saw a lot of seals swimming and playing right by the shore. I must say that the beaches along Cape Cod National Seashore are among the most beautiful I have ever seen. They certainly overshadow many Hawaiian and Caribbean beaches.
Finally, on our last day on Cape Cod, we visited Provincetown. Surely, a fun town to visit, Provincetown has a quaint main street full of shops, bars, and restaurants. The town is also home to the Pilgrim Monument which commemorates the signing of the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor.
Final stops on our beautiful drive across New England
After spending a week on the road, it was time to head back to Boston. Driving back from Cape Cod, we stopped at Quincy to visit the Adams National Historic Park. It was our second visit here and I definitely recommend it. Both John Adams and John Quincy Adams were born in Quincy, so it’s a great place to learn more about the presidents. I would also recommend visiting Plymouth. Because we had been here before, we decided to skip it this time but if you haven’t been, it’s worth a stop.
