R.I. & CT. where to stay

rleslie · #1 05-17-2004

My wife & I will be looking at Whitby/Brewers in Maine, R.I. and Connecticut the 2nd week of June. We want to make a vacation out of the trip and would like suggestions on what town to stay in. We have never been to New England and enjoy small quaint towns with lots of history, water & boats.

We will be flying in/out of Boston. The boats are in Yarmouth, West Southport, Mystic and somewhere on the R.I. coast.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Tom3 · #2 05-17-2004

Mystic is very nice and you can go to the seaport which you really should do if your in the area and have the time.

Stonington is pretty and quieter than Mystic.

I don''t know RI that well except for Newport which is a very nice town.

Maine is a big state (relative to RI and CT) so where to stay depends on how far Down East you will be going. Camden has a very nice combination of houses and boats but you may not be comeing that far up.

If you take your journey from CT to Maine in stages stop at Marblehead or Newburyport in Mass.

hamiam · #3 05-17-2004

Not at all familiar with Maine but I can help with Cape Cod, RI, and CT. Starting with the Cape; if you REALLY want to make a vacation out of this trip I HIGHLY recommend venturing out to Nantucket. Its a ~ 20 min flight on a small plane out of Hyannis or a 1 hour hyrdofoil ride. Nantucket is, by far and away, our favorite place in the world. (A strong statement I know.) Anyway, its filled with boats, a whaling and seafareing history, and, literally hundreds of antique homes. If you are unwilling or unable to travel to Nantucket, my favorite place on the cape is Chatham. It is a quaint town at the elbow of the Cape. In RI, you have several choices. As a sailor who keeps in boat in Newport I am, of course, partial to chosing Newport as a place to stay. It is very much a small (very small?) city and as such you will find throngs of people on your average weekend. That being said, you can stay in the Point Section or on Ocean Drive and escape from the crowds and still enjoy this deep water port with its good restaurants and must see places such as the Museum of Yachting and International Yacht Resortation School (iyrs.org). RI is such a small state that no matter where you stay you will be quite close to wherever you need to be. Some other suggestions in RI would be Bristol; a quiant town that has, among other things. the Herreshoff Museum. For CT, I would strongly second the recommendation of Mystic. Another town very rich in nautical heritage with the Seaport Museum etc.

spartinaSC · #4 05-18-2004

i agree with hamiam Newport is a great place,lots to see and do.We sail out of Bristol which has everything but if your looking for a small New England town that screams quaint try Wickford RI also flying out of TF green in Warwick is great.I strongly recommend it.

rleslie · #5 05-18-2004

Thanks so much for the info. It has been extremely helpful and we are really looking forward to seeing that area for the first time!!! From looking at the map, I think we will stay in RI.

Thanks Again!!

maestro · #6 05-18-2004

On my list would be Watch Hill RI. nice town (with one of the nations oldest merry-go-rounds in town)