New England's Spectacular Fall Foliage 2013

October 13, 2013 Sunday

 We left Ft. Lauderdale on the morning of 10/13/13.  We had a short stopover in Charlotte, NC, before arriving in Boston, at approximately 4:30 pm.
    This was our first tour with Insight Vacations/Affordable Tours and we read terrific reviews that they really did a nice job with the Fall foliage in New England.
    We were staying at the Hilton Boston Downtown Faneuil Hall, which was close to everything we wanted to see, so we set out to explore a little on our own, before we met the other travelers in a few hours.

    Our first stop was at the famous Quincy Market.  It is widely known and they have everything you could want, from fish to nuts, to pizza.  Outside, a lot of people gathered while some entertainers were putting on a show.  We decided to have a bite to eat and had heard about the famous Durgin-Park Restaurant, so we stopped to have some of their famous pot roast.
    We then walked around the Quincy Market area, then headed back to the hotel to meet our new friends, taking the Tour, along with our Tour Director, Sheri Tousey.
     There were about 28 people on this tour.  Many were from Australia, but most were from California, Texas, and Seattle.  One couple was from Las Vegas.  We were the only ones from Florida.  Sheri gave us an overview of the trip, what we could expect, and we all gave a short resume about ourselves and our hometowns.

October 14, 2013 Monday

    We arose bright and early today and the weather was very nice.  We were going to take a bus tour of Boston, visiting some of the many locations along the famous, Freedom Trail.  Our bus driver was named Steve, and was a really nice guy.  The Insight bus was spacious, had WIFI, electrical outlets to charge our devices, a large bathroom, umbrellas if we needed them, and food and water.  The seats were comfortable, with plenty of legroom.  Here is a photo, of the Mercedes Benz built motorcoach.

     Our Driver, Steve, drove us around the city and then we walked along the Freedom Trail as a group.  Our first stop was Faneuil Hall.  This is often referred to as "the home of free speech" and the "Cradle of Liberty."  Built in 1741, it serves as an open forum and marketplace.  We then walked to Paul Revere's house, built around 1680.  It is the oldest remaining structure in downtown Boston.  Then we saw the Old North Church, the oldest church in the city of Boston, an active Episcopal church, and Boston's most historic site.

    As we ventured on, we came across a memorial, made up of Dog Tags, from those who sacrificed during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
     Our next stop was the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.  It is the final resting place of merchants, artisans, and craft people who lived in the North End.  One who is buried here, is Increase Mather, the man who hung the lanterns on the night of Paul Revere's midnight ride.

    
  We then headed to Stockbridge, MA, home of Norman Rockwell.  We visited his museum and the property where he worked.  It was a beautiful property.  He used to work above the Stockbridge General Store and we stopped to have lunch at the Red Lion Inn.

This was Norman Rockwell's studio.  It is very near the Linwood house, which now houses the administrative offices for the museum.

We then left the museum and  traveled through the Berkshires and headed to The Williams Inn,  in Williamstown, MA.  It was very quaint and the owners met the bus when we arrived.  They were very nice and very cordial.  The food was terrific.  Here is a pic of Carl and Marilyn Faulkner.  We stayed one night and the next morning Marilyn came on the bus with some home made cookies for our travel.

October 15, 2013 Tuesday

 Headed to Bennington, VT, where we stopped at the Apple Barn, where they make apple cider and everything else with apples you could imagine.

 
    

We traveled along some beautiful foliage on our way to Woodstock, Vermont.  We came into the town or Woodstock, with a beautiful covered bridge.  They built the bridges covered, so as to keep the supplies dry, when constructing it.

Our next stop was the Billings Farm and Museum, which is a working dairy farm with a farm museum.  Laurance S. Rockefeller applied his belief in conservation and sustainable land use here in Woodstock.

 We learned that there are many, many kinds of apples and here are a few of them. Our next stop was a photo stop at the famous Quechee Gorge, which was quite spectacular.

We continued our journey towards Stowe, Vermont, where we stayed at the Trapp Family Lodge, for 2 nights,  a most beautiful place that was settled in 1938 by the Trapp Family Singers.  The location is on a beautiful hillside, which resonates peace and spirituality.  Great Lodge for skiing in the Wintertime.

The grounds are very beautiful and here are some pictures.  The colors were just popping and looked amazing. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring and it is a fantastic place to stay in Stowe, VT.

October 16, 2013 Wednesday

We left the Lodge early in the morning, after a nice buffet breakfast, and headed towards the Cold Hollow Apple Cider Mill, where we tasted various ciders.

We then headed to the famous Ben and Jerry's headquarters, where these two young guys started their business.  We went into the facility and watched how the conveyor belts moved the product along.  At the end of our tour, we got to taste some of the ice cream.  Starting an ice cream business in cold Vermont was a risk, but it all worked out and they give a lot back to the community.

We then set off for the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, in Montpellier, VT.  We learned from the owner how they make the mayle syrup and enjoyed a Vermont tradition, called "sugar on snow,"  whereby you twirl some maple syrup over some ice.  We also saw a short video, which was enlightening.  We also stopped at the Montpelier State House.  Here are some photos.

We next visited the Cabot Creamery, in Cabot,Vermont, to nibble on the "World's Best Cheddar."

We saw how cheese was made and at the end of the tour, about 20 different cheeses were available to taste.

We left Vermont and came into New Hampshire, stopping in Littleton, NH.  We had some lunch and walked around the city.  Chutters Candy Store boasted the the World's Longest Candy Counter.

As our motorcoach left Littleton, we saw more beautiful scenery as we headed toward New Hampshire's famous White Mountains and Franconia Notch State Park.  A Notch is a narrow pass between two mountain ranges.

Our next venture was to ride the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, which offers panoramic vistas over New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont,New York, and Canada on a clear day.  Each tram holds 80 people.

Great skiing here in the Winter.  Many times Black Bears can be spotted as the tram is going up the mountain.

Beautiful Vista

Top of Cannon Mountain

We have had magnificent weather along this trip.  It rained the week before we started and we were so fortunate that the sun was shining and the weather was in the 60's.  After we came down from the tramway ride, we headed towards the famous Kancamagus scenic Byway to see some of the most beautiful and blazing colors to this point.  Here are some pics.

We arrived at the beautiful White Mountain Hotel and Resort in North Conway, NH where we stayed for 2 nights.

October 17, 2013 Thursday

October 18, 2013 Friday

We started off bright and early, with more beautiful foliage to be seen.

Our journey took us to Crawford Notch.  Along the way, we stopped at Historical Site, Willey House.  A family perished when a mudslide came roaring down the mountain.  Thinking their house would be destroyed, they left the house to escape and all died.  The house was not damaged due to a large boulder above it, which deflected the mud on two sides, thus saving the house.

We then went to beautiful Mt. Washington and stopped at the famous hotel.  Mt. Washington is the tallest in the northeast at approx. 6,288 ft.  The hotel is used by skiers in the Winter. The World Bank was established at Mt. Washington Hotel, in Lake Bretton.  Started as The lake Bretton Agreement, with 44 countries and 700 delegates. 

Late in the afternoon, we took some more photos around the hotel and the golf course.

October 19, 2013 Saturday

We left the beautiful White Mountain Hotel and Resort early Friday morning, heading to Maine.  We took a beautiful ride along the coast (Ocean Drive), passing the beautiful Bush compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.  Then we went into town and had some lunch and met a couple of beautiful Bichons.

We then had a short stop at Cape Neddick, Maine, looking at the Lighthouse, which was constructed in 1879.  The second picture, shows a large mansion, individually owned, but looks more like a hotel.

We arrived at Portsmouth,NH later in the afternoon.  We stayed at the Sheraton Harborside Portsmouth.

We had a nice dinner that evening, as evidenced by "Mr. Lobsta."

October 20, 2013 Sunday

We left Portsmouth early morning and headed to Rockport, Maine.  Here are a few pictures

We then stopped in Salem MA.  It was a Sunday, so it was crowded and we did not get a chance to go into the Witch's Museum.

Washington 

This was the last stop on the tour.  The motorcoach took the majority of travelers to the airport, but some of us stayed extra days in Boston. Here are some more pictures from the Boston Public Gardens.  Our New England Fall Foliage Tour 2013 was truly a terrific experience.

Boston Public Gardens