Hidden Gems & Oddities Itinerary
HIDDEN GEMS & ODDITIES: 14-Day Itinerary
Here’s where to get your hands on moon rocks and pirate treasure, take walking tours inspired by great horror writers, and otherwise ditch the “typical” vacation in favor of a journey into the quirky, bizarre, and utterly unique.
DAYS 1 & 2: MAINE
Learn more about visiting Maine
Lodging ideas: Harraseeket Inn (Freeport), Jordan Hotel (Newry), The Tarratine (Bangor)
A 10-foot Bigfoot statue guards the entrance to Portland’s International Cryptozoology Museum, a cornucopia of art and artifacts related to creatures like the Loch Ness Monster and Maine’s own Casco Bay Sea Serpent, Cassie. Hit Route 1 to see the world’s largest revolving globe, Eartha, in Yarmouth before continuing to Freeport’s Desert of Maine, whose 20 acres of sand dunes are New England’s very own Sahara Desert. A change in climes awaits at Bowdoin College’s Peary–MacMillan Arctic Museum; in nearby Bath, step inside a full-scale replica of a lighthouse lantern room at the Maine Maritime Museum.
On day two, drive north to Bangor to explore sites related to best-selling author Stephen King with SK Tours, including the 31-foot-tall Paul Bunyan statue featured in the novel It. Or trek west to Bethel, where you can actually hold pieces of the moon and Mars in your hands at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum.
DAYS 3-5: NEW HAMPSHIRE
Learn more about visiting New Hampshire
Lodging ideas: Aldworth Manor (Harrisville), Thayers Inn (Littleton)
Hear tales of ghosts, pirates, and shipwrecks during a cruise with Isles of Shoals Steamship Co. from Portsmouth to a cluster of small rocky islands including Smuttynose, made infamous by an 1873 double murder. In Salem, check out the mysterious rock formations of America’s Stonehenge, then venture into the White Mountains to see the “Betty and Barney Hill Incident” site, marking their reported 1961 UFO abduction. Two more “out-of-this-world” attractions: the Redstone Rocket, a Cold War–era missile in Warren, and the 112-foot-long Chutters candy counter in Littleton.
Head to southwest New Hampshire to visit the most authentic 19th-century mill town still in existence, Harrisville. Grab lunch at its circa-1838 general store or in the college town of Keene, where you might spot the “Parrish Shoes” mural from the movie Jumanji. Nearby Madame Sherri Forest, home to the eerie ruins of a grand summer estate, is a great place for a hike before continuing on to Vermont.
DAYS 6 & 7: VERMONT
Learn more about visiting Vermont
Lodging ideas: Firehouse Inn (Barre), Highland Lodge (Greensboro), Sterling Ridge Resort (Jeffersonville)
Enter Vermont via the Cornish-Windsor Bridge, the nation’s longest historic covered bridge, and stop into the tranquil Path of Life Sculpture Garden in Windsor. You can also cross the Brookfield Floating Bridge, one of only two in the U.S., on your way to “the granite capital of the world,” Barre. Tour the mammoth Rock of Ages quarry, visit the hand-carved masterpieces of Hope Cemetery, and look for the world’s longest granite zipper, a 74-foot-long sculpture in downtown Barre. Then it’s over to Waterbury for a stroll through the Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard before pushing on to Burlington, home of the tallest filing cabinet on earth and a favorite place to look for “Champ,” Lake Champlain’s own Loch Ness Monster.
Fill up day two with any of the Northeast Kingdom’s many hidden gems, such as Bread & Puppet Theater and the Museum of Everyday Life in Glover; the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum and Dog Mountain in St. Johnsbury; the Old Stone House Museum in Brownington; and Haskell Library and Opera House, which sits on the U.S.-Canadian border and lets visitors enjoy its books and performances in two countries. Finally, nature lovers won’t want to miss this region’s signature glacial lakes, such as the fjord-like Lake Willoughby and the U.S.-Canadian Lake Memphremagog (which, like Champlain, is said to harbor a sea monster, Memphre).
DAYS 8 & 9: CONNECTICUT
Learn more about visiting Connecticut
Lodging ideas: The Kent Collection–The Train Car (Kent), Winvian Farm–The Helicopter Room (Morris)
Immerse yourself in one man’s artistic vision at Woodbury’s Hogpen Hill Farms, whose landscape is filled with 100-plus sculptures by owner Edward Tufte (look for the vintage Airstream trailer poised on a catapult). In Waterbury, a 56-foot cross points the way to Holy Land, a former religious theme park that’s open for public strolling in the daytime. Or make tracks to Rocky Hill’s Dinosaur State Park to see more than 750 dinosaur footprints from the early Jurassic era.
On day two, delight your inner child at the PEZ Visitor Center, home of the world’s largest collection of PEZ candy memorabilia. It’s just outside New Haven, where you can fuel up at Louie’s Lunch, birthplace of the hamburger, before stopping into Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library: Its public exhibits include the Gutenberg Bible, one of only five copies in the U.S., and a Buddhist prayer scroll that’s over 1,200 years old. Lastly, take the historic Chester-Lyme Ferry to Gillette Castle State Park and marvel at its namesake fortress, a stone mansion built in 1914 and featuring such quirks as handcrafted locks (47 in all) and spy mirrors.
DAYS 10 & 11: RHODE ISLAND
Learn more about visiting Rhode Island
Lodging ideas: Jailhouse Inn (Newport), Rose Island Lighthouse (Newport)
Arriving in Providence, scan the skyline for the Art Deco–style Industrial Trust Tower, better known as the “Superman Building” for its resemblance to the fictional Daily Planet. Head to Brown University’s John Hay Library to see what’s on display in the public exhibit areas; its collection spans everything from Napoleon’s death mask to books bound in human skin and a trove of original writings by fantasy-horror legend H.P. Lovecraft. (For more on the famed Providence author, stop into the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences bookshop or take a self-guided spin on Lovecraft’s College Hill Walking Tour.)
Wander among whimsical living sculptures at Portsmouth’s Green Animals, the oldest topiary garden in the U.S., then let a lantern-toting guide lead you through Newport’s colonial-era neighborhoods on a Ghosts of Newport tour. Finally, on your way to Massachusetts, detour to Burrillville and the Old Arnold Estate, a.k.a. The Conjuring House, whose history of paranormal activity inspired the hit horror movie of the same name.
DAYS 12-14: MASSACHUSETTS
Learn more about visiting Massachusetts
Lodging ideas: Belfry Inn & Bistro (Sandwich), Lizzie Borden House (Fall River)
Delve into a legendary crime by booking a tour or staying overnight at the Lizzie Borden House, a museum/B&B in Fall River. Another one-of-a-kind B&B can be found on Cape Cod, where the Belfry Inn & Bistro lets you sleep amid the stained-glass windows of a 1901 church, or in a Victorian “Painted Lady” or a former church meetinghouse.
In Yarmouth Port, check out the Edward Gorey House, a museum devoted to the quirky, macabre artist and author, then head toward the North Shore (but do stop in Boston to walk through the Mapparium, a 30-foot-wide stained-glass globe, and see the astonishingly lifelike glass flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History). In Salem, get a fascinating peek into New England history at the Salem Witch Museum, focused on the notorious 1692 witch trials, and Real Pirates Salem, home to the world’s only authenticated pirate treasure.
Still have time to spare? Soak up medieval vibes at Gloucester’s Hammond Castle Museum, or road-trip to Webster for an unusual bragging right: visiting the place with the longest name in the U.S., Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.
Itinerary created in partnership with Yankee Publishing. DATTCO Coach & Tour is Discover New England’s transportation partner.
