Submitted by the_ok_seltzer t3_10yqz3q in massachusetts
I have a week in between jobs next week and would love to take advantage. I love animals and learning new things, and like nature, history, science, art, good food (prefer seafood and vegetarian), mental health...
I've been to Boston, Worcester, and Salem plenty of times. Cities are okay, but I prefer towns, especially small towns. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Forgot to say I've been to all those places too except Provincetown! Maybe I'll head there, even if everything is closed.
IMO this is like the perfect time to go to P-town. It might be pretty sleepy if not dead, but feeling like you have a resort town all to yourself is so serene.
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Everything won't be closed. Some stuff will but its still Ptown and I think you'll enjoy it.
How about New Bedford? Been there?
The Whaling Museum in New Bedford is wonderful!
The Whaling Museum is amazing and they are having the most incredible show of American landscape painters now. I'm heading down over Feb break myself. OP, if you go, be sure to hike Fort Taber park or do Allen's Pond in Dartmouth - both spectacular. Also, the Seamen's Bethel in New Bedford, which is right near the museum, and is mentioned extensively in Melville's Moby Dick.
No I haven't!
You’ll be nearly alone on a lot of the beaches on the cape. I love visiting this time of year
Portland. I’m sure it’s overstated but Portland is one of the best food/drink/nature/pet friendly city I’ve been to. In traveling up and down the east coast it’s easily one of my favorite cities
Portsmouth, NH is another great walkable coastal town north of Boston with a great food scene.
100%. It might be cold now but there also will be much less people than there is in the summer so you can really enjoy the restaurants taprooms etc
Super easy drive too from Boston. It's basically 95 the whole way and then when you get into Maine the speed limit goes up to 70.
Plymouth is nice. There are lots of restaurants and shops, plus museums. There is a lot of walking you can do as well. The rock is disappointing.
“Rock” is generous and “disappointing” is an understatement
Plymouth Minor Mineral Deposit
Plymouth Rock is a fraud.
ok but it is fun seeing the reactions of a bus load of tourists realize how disappointing it truly is en masse.
I mean, it is a rock. In Plymouth. The most famous one in the whole damn town.
I've lived in the area all my life and can't recall it ever being hyped up as something amazing to see (except maybe like a 2nd grade field trip or something).
If you're expecting a rock in a basement jail cell, that's what you get. If you're expecting a song and dance down Main St, you're gonna have a bad time.
If you're expecting to see a rock the Pilgrims "landed" upon... you'll be disappointed because it never happened.
Plymouth Rock was "discovered" 120 years after the Pilgrims arrived.
Most of Plymouth is a sham
https://thetrustees.org/events/ often has some interesting opportunities.
If you’re looking for a very underrated area that still has quite a bit going for it (even during the winter), I’d recommend checking out the Greenfield area.
Greenfield itself is a pretty small city, downtown has some nice shops and restaurants. By far the coolest thing there is Poet’s Seat Tower, a brick tower that overlooks the entire city and gives you some stellar views of the mountains and surrounding landscape. You can hike or drive up to it.
There are a bunch of small towns that surround this area, my favorite being Shelburne Falls (part of Shelburne and Buckland). This has the Bridge of Flowers (a pedestrian bridge covered in flowers and plants), the glacial potholes formed during the Ice Age, and a quaint little downtown area.
When you drive in from Eastern Mass, you’ll go across the French King Bridge which connects Gill and Erving…an absolutely stunning natural vista over the Connecticut River. I’d also recommend checking out Turners Falls briefly for some more scenic waterfall views. It’s a bit run-down, but I like the falls.
If you’re looking for something indoors, the Yankee Candle Co. Flagship Store in Deerfield is genuinely a really fun and interesting store to walk around and explore…it’s not just candles. There’s a section of the store that “snows” every couple minutes.
I have fond memories in this area as a kid so I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you haven’t. There’s a lot more I’m leaving out, mostly outdoor hiking and stuff. I’d even say just take the whole Mohawk Trail down to North Adams if you want a full experience, lots to do down there too.
Great ideas. Lovely area with lots to explore.
OP, there’s a rail trail in Turner’s Falls that will give you some cool post-industrial and waterfall views. Awesome French King Bridge views on E Mineral Rd. Keep heading south to the Montague Book Mill - really cool used bookstore by a waterfall. Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area is a really interesting and unique landscape.
Woods hole Oceanographic museum has a great aquarium with a touch tank, and sea otters outside. Beebe Woods is a nice little hike.
The aquarium is run by NOAA and there is a seal outside.
Oh yeah, it's otters at New England Aquarium.
Yeah, I was just at the Woods Hole one on Tuesday. One of the seals recently died so only one lonely harbor seal in the pool at the moment. I did get a nice hand exfoliation from the shrimp in the touch tank lol.
If youre up for a (lovely) drive, North Conway/White Mountains area of NH. I was up there two weekends ago and it was BEAUTIFUL.
The Eagle Festival is next week and Salisbury and Newburyport are nice places to visit and walk the town or beaches https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/joppa-flats/programs-classes-activities/go-birding/the-merrimack-river-eagle-festival
Go out west to the Berkshires!
We've had the last month off work and done a bunch of day hikes through different parts of the surrounding Boston. Basically we drive to a train station and take the train out a ways and walk back to the car. So far we did Cambridge, downtown to brookline, Newton to Watertown, Needham to Southie, Framingham to Wellesley. We do a lot of shopping and eating along the way.
Don’t listen to any of these fools. Go to the Southcoast of mass. Go to New Bedford and Fairhaven for the best seafood around, Dartmouth for some nature trails like the Lloyd reserve and horseneck beach for some nice ocean views.
Parker River NWR/Salisbury Point near Newburyport and Halibut Point on Cape Anne are good spots to see really cool birds that migrate down from the arctic for winter (birds of prey, sea ducks etc.). They can be crowded on weekends but are always empty during the week.
Portsmouth, NH? Strawberry Banke museum is fun.
Hudson ma is a nice little town to hang out in and the surrounding area. The main st is super walkable with tons of shops and places to eat. There is also the rail trail which is nice to walk. There is also Gates Pond nearby which is nice to spend time outside around.
If you haven’t been to Tower Hill in Boylston, definitely make a trip there. The best time is spring/summer, but its also much busier so i find walking around there is really relaxing around this time of year. The reservoir is also nice to explore. You can always pop over to Clinton after for some good eats on High st as well. They also have some cool little places to poke around in.
If you’re up for a little drive, Turners Falls is also a gem. Go to Five eyed fox for some brunch or dinner. The women that own it used to work at Armsby and do only locally sourced food. They have a great coffee bar and cocktails if you’re into that. Right around the corner is Loots found and made which is a thrifty store with tons of items from the old mills and companies from the area. When i went, one of the women working was able to tell me tons of stories of the antiques inside. They also have a few other cool stores. Then you can drive up the road to Greenfield where there are thrift/antique stores everywhere, or go to the Montague Book mill. Its in an old mill building with a book store, cafe and music shop.
Purgatory Chasm in Sutton is a cool place to walk around if you have a nice day.
Go skiing
Local libraries have free or discounted passes to museums, aquarium, state parks, etc. Might be worth checking out.
Have you been to the Berkshires?
I like Gloucester. Town that has so much to give.
Be aware that it is also public school vacation week that week so everyone with kids in public schools is also taking the week off. Plan your activity choices accordingly.
Newport ri
Horseneck beach is kinda nice and often overlooked. Westport and the part of Dartmouth near there are quaint and pretty. Lots of fields and old farmhouses. It's cool to drive out on the causeway to Gooseberry Island and go for a walk. There's probably not much else to do in the area though. Mirasol's Cafe and New York Bagel are good and not too far away. You could even drive over to New Bedford and hit up the Whaling Museum after. There is a good Burger Joint and good Mexican restaurant nearby and lots of good Portuguese restaurants, you could go and get some Shrimp Mozambique.
Head west young man! Rt. 2 is a beautiful drive through Shelburne Falls and into North Adams, Maybe bang a Louie and head down to Pittsfield via Mt. Greylock. Alternatively grab a friend, put on the tunes and drive up the coast. Stay in Maine for a night.
Go to the Lee/Lenox area. Visit the Norman Rockwell Museum. Check out Herman Melville’s Arrowhead house. Hit up Barrington Brewery. Canoe Meadows and Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuaries are wonderful. The Berkshire Botanical Garden is great. Really enjoyed the Berkshire museum, it has a mummy!!! Ozzie’s Glass Gallery on Rt 102 in Lee is a super cool place to visit but the hours vary. Shire Breu-Hous is another brewery to visit.
I wanted to check out the Ice Glen in Stockbridge but I was with my mom who can’t climb over rocks and stuff anymore. https://housatonicheritage.org/places/lauras-tower-trail-ice-glen-trail-stockbridge-mass/#:~:text=600'%20vertical%20ascent-,ICE%20GLEN%20TRAIL,the%20tallest%20pine%20in%20Massachusetts.
For local history, you can go to Stockbridge and imagine you’re living in Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant”.
Northampton area is beautiful and great to visit
Get out to the beach if it’s warm any of those days. We live in Worcester but took a day trip to Horseneck Beach with our kids last month and it was so pleasant, it felt kinda like those old pics from the early 1900’s with bundled up walkers and scattered beach combers. They have an amazing dune walkway that lets you wander and cut through to the water here and there. My son threw a million rocks, we collected a million seashells for my daughter to paint, and I even found a 3.5 foot piece of driftwood that I’m turning into wall art. There’s just something about sea air and waves on a seasonally warm day, I tell ya.
Id suggest plymouth i grew up around there and they have a bunch of nature walks and historical things tho most attraction type things arent doing much right now and the jetti is gonna be quite cold and dangerous.
I say this to say though you cant do any of plymouth right now id put it on a bucket list for the future
Don't make any plans. Get up everyday and let the day come to you. I would recommend decompressing over the weekend and getting your me time in (sleep, eat, drink, TV, etc.) . Also set some time aside over the weekend to get any errands done, that way they don't interfere with your time off.
Let the days come to you, don't spend all your time sleeping or staying at home. From what I see the weather next week is supposed to be very nice . Hit the North Shore . Rockport, GLoucester, Salem, Beverly..etc. Also, I highly recommend downtown Melrose and downtown Wakefield. Good food, nice locally owned shops.
Maybe take a drive to the Cape and enjoy the offseason. Maybe stay a night somewhere
Whatever you do..enjoy it and try to make the most of it.
There is half a state west of Worcester :)
The hilltowns of WMA are nice. Each one still has its independent spirit. It's what Cape Cod was 50 years ago
Thanks everyone for the answers!!
This time of year you can see lots of great wildlife at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Snowy owls are commonly seen there. Keep your distance but it’s a beautiful place to walk around.
I’d go skiing for the week.
How about Lexington and Concord? Lots to do and see there if you haven't been yet.
Burlington VT. College town on Lake Champlain. I promise you’ll love it. Plus the surrounding towns.
I mean all these are great answers but the correct approach is to go to Miami. It’s February in New England and you have a week off. Why do you think we’ve all allowed Florida to stick around for this long?
dabba722 t1_j7z22h5 wrote
Newburyport and Rockport are nice to walk through. I love looking at house architecture so Newburyport really appeals to me.
You could drive to Provincetown although a lot of it will be closed there are still restaurants open and beautiful seashore ( dress really warmly).
You could drive out to North Adams and visit the Museum of Contemporary Art. It is an experience. Its an amazing place.