New England: How Late is Too Late?

It’s too late they said. The leaves have peaked they said. You’ll miss the leaves the last week in October. Wait until next year to see the Fall foliage.  Well meaning advice and probably true most years, but not 2021. So happy we decided to go even though it was ‘too late’!

Massachusetts 

We flew into Boston early on the 25th of October, grabbed a rental car and were so excited to still see colorful red, orange and yellow leaves. Apparently, this year, the Fall foliage was peaking later than usual. Awesome!!

This was the first chance we had to get to New England due to our schedules. We had decided, if the leaves weren’t still pretty, we would just do other things. We were happy to explore some states we hadn’t been to before anyway. 

Starting in Boston 

Boston is not a new place for us, but it was sort of a centrally located homebase. We wanted to explore all 6 New England States and do as much leaf peeping, as the end of the season allowed. After a quick lunch at 110 Grill close to our hotel, which was technically in Woburn, MA, we hit the road. 

Connecticut 

Connecticut was our 1st destination. Still thinking we might be a little late for New England Fall Foliage this year, we headed south with the hope that those had peaked later, and we would be able to catch some color.  

Wow! We noticed Boston and all the way down through Massachusetts towards Connecticut, was gorgeous. The highways, although major, were mostly lined with trees/woods instead of buildings and businesses.  We admired the beautiful colors mile after mile! I just kept taking pictures and video as we drove.  

Rhode Island 

Our next destination was  Rhode Island.  It was just as pretty. I loved all of the colors. We don’t have a Fall showing like this in East Texas! Even the green on the trees, mixed in with the changing leaves, enhanced the spectacular display. 

New Hampshire

Time to head a little North for our next destination, New Hampshire.  The drive was again beautiful with colorful foliage popping on both sides of the road. 

Nashua

We visited a couple of small towns including Nashua with a beautiful cemetery. The old, Edgewood Cemetery covered an area larger than a few blocks and was full of gorgeous autumn trees. 

Derry

Another town we visited was Derry NH.  Here we stopped in the charming little downtown area and found something that tends to catch my eye, a mural. This mural depicted a timeline of progress and lots of cute dogs at the bottom. 

New London

One of the funnest towns we happened up on in New Hampshire, was New London. What a treat! The businesses there must have had a Halloween character contest because we found the cutest costume displays along Main Street. 

Another thing I noticed, traveling through the New England states, was the ‘Christmas Trees’. I just love seeing the beautiful evergreen varieties, especially in the mountains, as we travel. They never get old to me. Catching them covered in snow is the best. They are naturally ready for the next holiday season!

We decided to head back to Boston on a different route to take in even more autumn hues. The foliage really was beautiful around Boston, I’m guessing because of all the nearby water. 

Nor’easter Coming

One thing we didn’t realize, as we planned this last minute trip, was that New England was expecting its first Nor’easter of the season. Today.  Time to get back to Boston, get some food and hunker down safely In our hotel room for the night. 

Thankfully, we did not experience any issues or damage from the up to 75 mph wind gusts overnight. Also thankfully, we did not see any signs of flooding in the areas where we were traveling.  Other than cutting one day short to head to the hotel early and some rain, our trip was not affected by the storm. I even thought the wind would blow the beautiful remaining leaves off of the trees, but that wasn’t the case either. Here is the same tree in our hotel parking lot before and after the storm. 

Vermont 

Even with the peaked Fall Foliage here, Vermont was gorgeous. This is definitely one place I would love to return to earlier in the season. The mountains were more golden and muted, but still a beautiful Fall display. I look forward to seeing the mountains covered in vibrant red, orange and yellows one day! 

Stowe, VT

Since we were in Stowe a little late in the season, the streets were not crowded at all. We easily sauntered down the sidewalks, popping into uncrowded stores. We were not planning on a lot of shopping since we travel light and try to do backpacking trips as much as possible. I’m not sure if that’s a downside that we don’t have luggage space to shop. Maybe it’s an upside that we spend more time exploring rather than shopping. We did see some cool things in some shops tho, including this old ski lift.  And actually, my only purchase was chocolate! 

We found this chocolate shop, Laughing Moon Chocolates, with a ‘Welcome to Stowe’  mural on the side and had to visit. They make delicious truffles, fudge and other chocolate creations. Perfect for the remainder of our New England road trip. 

When driving through Stowe, know that there is much more to this town than just Main Street. Turn on Mountain Rd and and you will get to so many inns and restaurants. We walked a little ways up Mountain Rd, over Giles W Dewey Memorial Bridge. It was pretty chilly so we turned around at Stowe Inn, across from Brenda B Interiors. Look how inviting even the exterior is here!

We headed back to get in our warm vehicle to continue our adventure. Still in Stowe on Mountain Rd, we stopped for lunch at Idletyme Brewing Company. For some reason, we have very good luck with Brewery restaurants and this was no exception! I ordered the fish and chips which was delish and similar to what I had experienced in Ireland.  Bud, as he typically does, found a delicious salad on the menu. 

Driving around, taking in more of beautiful Vermont, and repeatedly vowing to return, we  were glad that we decided to make this last minute, end of season trip. I’ve realized that ‘passed peak’ doesn’t mean all bare trees. Sure the leaves are less vibrant, less full, less reds. There are even some dead looking trees without a leaf left on them, but what we did see was amazing and way more Fall-ish than what we will see in East Texas at peak. The mountains and roadsides may have had more gold, but the reds and oranges were still popping out with some of the tree varieties. 

Maine

Maine is another state that we had not visited and have vowed to return to.  Because of time restraints, we didn’t follow the coast from Boston and go through all those little coastal towns. We had decided to go to Bar Harbor, so we basically just took the quickest route and enjoyed God’s incredible creation on the way. I’m really thinking since He orchestrates this spectacular Fall show every year without fail, maybe New England should be an annual trip for us! Anyone else agree?!

Bar Harbor, MA

Bar Harbor was a great choice for having limited time in Maine. We enjoyed the shops and our lobster lunch at recommended Geddy’s. Bud had lobster and I had a lobster roll. Both delicious. We were lucky enough to be seated by the window and had an ocean and park view that made our lunch experience glorious. 

After walking around by the ocean and a little shopping, we headed back to our homebase Boston. Part of the route was slightly different than arriving so we were able to see just a little bit more of this fabulous state ,which completed our exploration of all six New England states. 

Last Day in Boston

Bunratty Tavern

When we were in Ireland, we passed Bunratty Castle multiple times from our hotel headed to other castles and sights. We never stopped at it, but back in Boston we got our Bunratty experience. Haha There is an Irish Pub called Butatty Tavern and we decided it was the perfect spot for dinner on our last nite. The food was good, but the atmosphere was the best part. It was a really fun and lively place for dinner, just a drink and watching sports or joining in on musical bingo. It definitely had the Irish pub feel and Guinness offerings (although I had water in a Guinness glass-haha). 

The Old North Church

We had a late flight on our last day, so we stuck around Boston and checked out some historical sites we had not seen before. We went to The Old North Church that is famous for the “one if by land, and two if by sea” lantern signal. When two lanterns shown briefly from the steeple of the church, Paul Revere started his famous midnight ride, warning of the British coming by sea to Lexington and Concord, which was the beginning of the American Revolution. 

Copp’s Hill Burying Ground

Nearby is Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, one of Boston’s oldest cemeteries, established in 1659. It sits up much higher than the street and is fenced off, but there are steps you can use to get to it if the gate is unlocked. Robert Newman, who placed the lanterns in the steeple at The Old North Church, is one of the many notable buried here. 

Bunker Hill Monument 

Even though you can see the Bunker Hill Monument for a ways away, we decided to look up the address and make our way to it and drive the block around it. This is also a cool neighborhood to live in. 

Boston Beaches

So obviously Boston is a famous harbor, but I was really curious about any beaches here. After a little research, we discovered there are several including Carson Beach, which we visited. 

Carson Beach

Carson Beach is a sandy beach across from Moakly Park. We walked out on the boardwalk and took in the views. There were very few other people around. Beach weather was also passed peak!

Moakly Park

The green space on the other side of the beach parking lot includes Sanders Stadium, Moakly Park and Moakly Tennis Courts.  The park was also pretty quiet with just some geese and a dog being walked that had absolutely no interest in the geese.  I’m afraid that would not have been the case with our Trit. 

Turns out there are several other Boston Harbor area beaches such as Pleasure Beach, Malibu Beach, Revere Beach and others. Most of these also have parks near them and Pleasure Beach additionally has Murphy Memorial Skating Rink across the road. 

Boston Tunnels

One last observation worth noting is the many tunnels. With all of the Boston inland waterways, you’ll be routed over many bridges and through many tunnels.  Just makes the trip more interesting. 

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our quick, Fall leaf-peeping trip throughout New England. Yes, we do want to come back earlier in the season and narrow our concentration to just a couple of states, but we are thankful for the overview of this Fall phenomenon that we were able to experience.  I’m happy to know that, if we are running late again, the stunning Fall foliage doesn’t just immediately disappear as soon as it peaks! 

So, if you get the chance to go, even at the ‘worst time’ in the season, it might not be too late! Perhaps it’s still more beautiful than what you would be seeing at home. You also get to explore with less traffic and fewer crowds. Enjoy!