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NEW ENGLAND LEAF PEEPING TOUR - trip report
While living in Manhattan we rented a car in October and took a tour of New England to see the dramatic Fall tree colors. This is referred to as "leaf peeping". There is serious science devoted to it, with online maps showing when and where to see the colors. Armed with this information we plotted our route and took off. Come on along!
Kennebunkport. We start our trip with a visit to Kennebunkport Maine, which is a tiny picturesque town on the Maine coast. We stayed at the Breakwater Inn on the Kennebunk river. A nice town to bicycle around in. That's President Bush's compound just outside town (bottom right).
Camden, Maine. Next we went up to Camden, an even more picturesque Maine coast town. We stayed at the Camden Inn, an archetypal New England Inn.
Snow Village Inn, New Hampshire. We left the coast to go inland and begin seeing the real fall colors (i.e. to peep at leaves). We stayed in a mountain inn (Snow Village) on the edge of the White Mountain National forest. From the inn we see the White Mountain Forest and have colored trees outside our door. And the surrounding area had beautiful wooded walks.
White Mountain National Forest. We toured the White Mountain National Park in New Hampshire, and were treated to amazing vistas of trees in peak color, punctuated by deep green firs.
Omni Mount Washington Resort. We stopped in at this elegant resort with magnificent views of the mountains and colorful Fall trees of the National Park.
Covered Bridges. We also saw lots of covered bridges on our tour. Here are a few.
Woodstock New Hampshire. Next we visited Woodstock, not the famous one, but the one in New Hampshire. The stately Woodstock Inn is a great hotel, and the town had some really flaming trees.
Stockbridge Massachusetts. Then visited Lenox and the nearby Stockbridge which we found to be the loveliest area we visited. Stockbridge is the home of Norman Rockwell and it has changed little from his painting of the town (detail on left). Stockbridge’s Red Lion Inn is historic. We dined in the beautiful old dining room and drank in the quaint old bar.
Norman Rockwell. We visited the Rockwell museum on his estate grounds which are beautiful. Scores of his paintings are on display in the museum, along with pictures of him at work. Here he is imitating Jackson Pollock for a cute picture juxtaposing his realism against the abstract art of the day. And his studio is open to visit.
Lenox. Nearby Lenox was the home of the writer Edith Wharton, who hosted the literary giants of her day at her gorgeous estate called The Mount.
Blantyne Resort, Lenox. We stopped for a visit and some Champagne at Blantyne, an incredibly classy resort in Lenox.
OMI Outdoor Art. On our way home we stopped in Ghent, NY at OMI, an artist community created by Frances Greenberger who gives promising but starving artists a place to live and work on his nickel. He also has 160 beautiful acres with quirky outdoor art here and there.
Hudson and Beacon. On our way home we strolled around Hudson and had lunch, then stayed at the Roundhouse in Beacon, both archetypal pretty Hudson River Valley towns. The lovely Roundhouse restaurant is perched over the river through town.
