After Touring New England...

[hooverphonics]

hello all, just wondering if you could give me your thoughts on Londonderry? I am a New Yorker, single, 30s, trying to return to New England... I would like to live outside a city, with room for my dogs, but I dont want to be too far off the grid. (I grew up west of Boston and lived, briefly as a child, in southern NH.) I am also looking at Burlington and Portland, but have to go wherever I get a job (which is nowhere yet!). Thanks so much.

[WannaComeHome]

Well, you're in luck! We have a few regulars who live in and around Londonderry who can help answer all your questions. Except that they are at the moment without power due to the ice storm.

You might want to post a new thread so that it catches their eyes when they do eventually get back online, though.

[notdancingqueen]

Sunbrite, I've not checked out B&B's lately but one idea is to stay in something like a Marriott Residence Inn - they often take pets and you can cook a few meals to save $....or at least have a refrigerator and microwave for your use (breakfast, whatever.)

If you are concerned about driving there is a Marriott Residence Inn in Woburn MA and you can literally walk from it to the Anderson-Woburn train station. You can train to Boston and take Amtrak up to the NH seacoast and Portland.

Driving time, it takes about 4.5-5 hours from Crandford NJ to Concord NH; 4 to Boston; 2.5 to Hartford.

Careful if you stay IN Boston -- parking will kill you ($20-30/day).

To give you some drive time ideas within NE...from the Sunapee NH area it takes me 1.5+ hours to Burlington VT, 1.5 to Boston, 1.5 to Portsmouth, 2 to Portland ME, 1.5 to the Notches, 3-3.5 to Hartford, 2.15-2.5 to Providence.

As far as rudeness - I am originally from Long Island so my rude-o-meter is calibrated somewhat differently, perhaps, but we've lived here for 6 months and vacationed in New England for 30 years and there is no rudeness to be found (imho). There are always exceptions to the rule but I found the NY metro area much ruder than here -- 30 years ago and today, and in every way (driving, directions, as a pedestrian, customer service, etc.)

I think if I were you I'd skip the western half of MA and all of VT and concentrate on Mystic CT, a quick stop in Providence or Newport RI (Kingston is a college town, iirc), 2 days in the greater boston area, and then on to the Seacost area of NH and drive the ME coast up to portland (about 45 mins from portsmouth NH to portland ME but lots to see in between...Ogunquit, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, etc. Stop in Wells ME on Rt 1 at The Maine Diner. In Portsmouth try Popovers or The Friendly Toast. For more restaurant recs try chowhound.com or yelp.com. Just be specific as to what you are looking for (ex: regional food, love seafood, no Italian, 2 adventurous-eater adults, no kids, and no more than $x for lunch and $y for dinner, driving there from Boston to Portland.)

Good luck - Jackie

[Sunbrite]

Thanks Grimstuff and NJTONH for the feedback- I went ahead and printed all the info and this will come in handy! We're currently on our trip and are nearing Boston. Won't be able to check back too much on the net, but thank you again everyone for your suggestions, I'll let you know how the trip goes! Thanks again.