New England Impressions
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- Discussion of New England and impressions I got from my first time road tripping in the region. In this video I discuss the cities, small towns, national forests, food, culture and more.
Most of the images are mine from the road trip but a few (notably the aerial shots) are not mine.
Album Dispalyed: Pixies "Doolittle" (1989)
I’ve lived in New England all my life, and I’m surprised to learn that non new Englanders don’t eat ice cream like everyday on vacation.
Moved to the South and West since growing up in Connecticut. Just the huge ice cream section in the grocery stores is worth a visit back for lol.
omg wait, they don't?!?!?!!? i'm from ct and totally thought this was just a human thing, not an us thing LOL
We moved to Colorado and then Washington state from Ct, and have been completely bewildered by the lack of ice cream parlors
Wait what
Genuinely curious, is just sitting down at home alone and banging down a whole tub not ubiquitous either?
@@daughteroftheblackmadonna8936 I think it's because New England just has a lot of really good ice cream. Out west the only place that has even a bit of this culture are parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and this is mainly in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley and even then there aren't as many as there were 30 years ago. Dryer's is headquartered in Oakland and they used to have an ice cream parlor at their headquarters. They closed it down during the pandemic and never reopened it. Now when I visit home (I live in San Diego now) I can't find all the little ice cream parlors I used to. Gives me yet another reason to visit New England. I miss ice cream parlors.
Kyle - former New England resident here. I find your channel interesting because UNLIKE many other channels you were the first to say "I was wrong" about something. You are refreshingly honest and open. Good work !!!
Smart people learn from mistakes. Dumb people repeat them.
@@GB-ez6ge I am old and still married to the same woman. She will occasionally rip me a "new one" in ways that make me chuckle, to this day
After making some sort of bone-headed blunder I came to my senses and said "Well, THAT was dumb, but at least I learn from my mistakes."
She didn't miss a beat and said:
"If you had learned from EVERY mistake you've made over 50+ years of marriage you'd be a genius by now and you're not so I guess you haven't learned."
She walked away giggling.............*****sigh******
That's right
I feel ya as a southern, not geography king but other people are wrong about the south and think were stupid and backward so when someone admits they were wrong about us it's nice. Like the video where some Chinese guys went to the "most racist" town in the US (in Arkansas) and all the people were nice as hell
You have to see all of Cape Cod and the islands. Other places: Mystic, CT and Newport, RI.
As someone from New England, I can say, we’re not nice, but we’re kind. The “rudeness” comes from wanting to get to the point of the conversation. We are happy to talk and tell people what to see and do. We’re just not going to be fake friendly to people.
Too bad you missed Truro and Provincetown at the end of Cape Cod. It’s so great, and the topography is more like the desert. You’ll be surprised you’re still in Massachusetts.
17:55
It took me a while to get used to that when I first moved there but eventually found it very refreshing. No phoney BS.
also ex N.E. person. In a lot of this country the 'niceness' is just superficial boloney. Northeasterners just skip that part.
I think another reason is that your fun vacation is our Tuesday. While you're leisurely enjoying the sites we're trying to go about our lives. When I'm at a tourist spot I'll gladly talk to you, I'm on a mini vacation too, but when you're driving 15 mph under the speed limit because you're looking at trees and I'm trying to get to work I'm not going to be so charming.
"we’re not nice, but we’re kind" 100% accurate. We also might come off a little sarcastic too but it's all in good fun.
New England residents!!! Finally getting some attention. New England cities are the best cities, built a long time ago so most of them are very walkable and not uncomfortable to be in.
When I saw Boston last year for the first time, I was amazed how nice, clean, and safe it was. It was Philadelphia’s historical architecture without the seediness.
@@jag92949 was in Boston for the first time Sunday. Started at Quincy Market for chowder and then explored. I agree with your Philly comparison
B careful of the Massholes ; )
@@Zzus321 don’t worry about us Massholes. If we are pissed at you, then you likely did something to deserve it
@@ecurewitz Can you take them back???
What I really like about GK is that he sees the country as a whole and doesn't try to divide it up into the political categories of red and blue. He appreciates the diversity of the whole and claims ownership of all of it. We need more of this today!
There are no “red” or “blue” states. That is made up to devide us. Certainly some people are more conservative in rural areas but those are in ALL states.
@@Jessecwebb I guess you could say that, some examples would be Northern California being very conservative and the Mississippi Delta in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana area being Liberal. Hell, New Hampshire and Vermont have Republican governors somehow. But to be honest, I don’t think that the “red and blue state” mentality is what is dividing. I think it’s really just the different ideologies, which there really isn’t a solution for other than fixing the brainwashing of conservatives. (Sorry for the very political statement, just being honest)
@@jtd277 that one sided thinking you just displayed is the reason there is a divide
@@jtd277 You thinking conservatives are brainwashed is why nobody likes liberals. Stay in your blue pro antifa dump states and quit moving to ours.
@@JesusChrist2000BC First, i’m not a liberal, I’m a leftist. And second, Antifa doesn’t exist, just like any dog whistle the right uses, it’s made up to rile up conservatives.
Kyle, here are some places you should consider visiting on your next New England trip:
- Narragansett, RI
- Newport, RI
- Falmouth, MA
- Chatham and Provincetown, MA (if you have time, kind of far out on the Cape)
- Gloucester and Rockport, MA
- Northampton and Amherst, MA (My home :) )
- Laconia, NH (Lake Winnipesaukee)
- Brattleboro, VT
* Next time in VT take Route 100 instead of Route 7, it's so iconic!!!!
I’d add Stowe VT…
And MAINE. You didn’t go to MAINE?!
@@TheGalwayjoyce
He said at the beginning of this video, he visited so much if Maine he had to make a separate video for it.
Lake Winnipesaukee is beautiful but absolutely go to Meredith instead of Laconia. Meredith is gorgeous and picturesque, but Laconia is not as nice and feels like an old, failed attempt to become a tourist attraction/ boardwalk area.
I've been all over this country. The rudest people I found were in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. They do not like white people there.
Just drove Route 100. You aren’t joking.
When it comes to lobster rolls, there are two versions.
1. The Maine lobster roll, which is basically lobster salad (cold).
2. The Connecticut lobster roll. Which is hot buttered lobster on a french style roll. Sadly, a lot of places serve it on a hot dog roll.
Some places will ask if you want the ME, or the CT. They might ask hot, or cold.
Cold is the only way
Lived in Maine for 30 years and never had trouble getting a "clear meat" lobster roll (Connecticut style).....quite common there.
I live in New Haven. When Italian people immigrated to the northeast, most of the Neapolitans (people from Naples) settled in Connecticut. It's a bit unknown that most pizza in America is Neapolitan style pizza, and New Haven boasts the best pizza in the U.S. particularly at Pepe's, Sally's and Modern. You can also get Sicilian pizza in the area. Sicilian pizza is more doughy.
To go to new haven and not get a tomato pie is only doing yourself a massive disservice. While I will not say it’s better than Trenton tomato pie (where I grew up) but it’s some damn fine pizza and surely both new haven and Trenton put pizza in the city to shame
Never liked Pepes tbh
@@sachemofboston3649 Pepe's used to be good, it was sold and now it sucks. Sally's is better.
it cant really be called Neapolitan pizza unless the place has the VPN official sanction from Italy [similar to the DOC designation for certain products]
And the Knights of Columbus began in New Haven and are headquartered there!
By concentrating on cities, you missed all the things that those who love those states really value -- the picture-book small towns with Colonial architecture, the beach towns of Cape Cod, etc. A friend once said of Connecticut that it was what he imagined heaven would be like. Growing up, I spent summers on the Connecticut short, near the Thimble Islands, and my heart is still there 60 years later. Not to detract from what you did see, but someone seeing this video gets little idea of the charm of the area.
The portions of the road trip in CT, RI, and MA I was solo so I focused on seeing places my wife wouldn't be interested in seeing, such as Hartford, and skipped places she'd really want to see. The parts in VT, NH, and ME we were together and did see more variety as well as hiking and visiting small towns. But we definitely didn't give the coastal areas as much attention as the mountains. It'll be the opposite next time.
@@GeographyKing It's been many years since I was in Connecticut, but I'd say the loveliest towns are not on the coast, but upstate, like Litchfield and Torrington and Bridgewater, or Stockbridge and towns in western Mass. Who knows if these are still as lovely as I remember, but the best of New England towns have strict preservation laws, and nearly every house, often clustered around a green, is a gem.
@@GeographyKing Take a Ferry from downtown Boston to Provincetown
I mean I feel like the city's of southern new England are a reall part to new England's charm, it might not be the rolling hills country but it's part of the culture and identity of those states, it's a big part of living in new england
I love that you finally came to New England, Kyle. One if the most interesting topics to me is regional accents. I’m from the North Shore of Mass and when my mother grew up here in the 60s and 70s she says she could tell what neighborhood people were from just by their accents. Unfortunately, a very small number of youth these days talk anything like our parents and grandparents. Anyways, next time you come here YOU HAVE TO COME IN THE FALL. I repeat, COME IN THE FALL. Go check out the Topsfield Fair, the oldest fair in the country, and go into Salem or something (though the actual witch stuff happened in Danvers). And check out the marshes around here, we have a ton of them, they’re wicked pretty. But if you come in the summer, go to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket . It’s one of the more beautiful places I know of
I’m from the North Shore too grew up in Peabody and Boxford so it warms my heart to see someone mention the Topsfield Fair.
Most people in my family have a Boston accent and I’m proud to inherit the accent from my father.
Kyle, i know you like to talk about Boston as a peninsula. I'd like to direct you to a book called "Mapping Boston". It's a collection of maps throughout Boston's history. Most people, including Bostonians, would be shocked to see just how little of current Boston existed in the 1600s. Its a phenomenal book!
It was actually built on a tombolo, an island connected to the mainland by a narrow beach. Much of the city is built on fill
@@ecurewitz Approximately 80% of Boston is fill aka reclamated land.
@@Fetch26291 actually, it's only about 1/6 of the city. Boston annexed many neighboring towns as well including Charlestown, Dorchester, Brighton, Roxbury and a few others
@@ecurewitz The 80% refers to what is actually 'Boston', not counting the rest of Suffolk County.
@@Fetch26291 Most of Suffolk County is Boston, there is also Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop. All those other former towns are fully incorporated into Boston
Born and raised in Concord, New Hampshire. I live in Washington state now but love New England as a whole. The entire area feels like home. I loved going to. Pitchfork records as a kid
Yeah. I miss it sometimes too, being in North Carolina now. I miss the beautiful autumn with the leaves changing
I grew up in Concord too. I remember going into Pitchfork Records decades ago when I was a teenager!
I believe it's the same guy working there. He said he's been running it for almost 50 years.
You probably don’t miss the awful winters.
@@GeographyKing It would have been around 1975 to 1980 when I went in there. It was a very popular store on N. Main Street.
Us New Englanders are very direct and honest, but we are also very friendly and outgoing! Glad you saw that. Providence is definitely improving. We love our ice cream especially during the summer! Northwest Connecticut along the Appalachian Trail is definitely the highlight of the state (not the cities). Come back next time in the fall to see the foliage!
Connecticut is beautiful....your tour missed it all... you only showed the rich,or dumpy places.Our lovely state,has so many beaches,forests trails state parks,Historic homes,covered bridges,country farms. Come back in October in see the enchantingly charming of our flaming colors in our trees,our country fairs,apple orcards....
I grew up in Berlin. It seem a little rough but in reality it's a lot rough. Things went downhill when the papermill closed. It was always a tough town but at least there were good paying jobs back then. Still live in the area for the natural beauty and have some family and friends there.
I grew up in Lancaster, NH
Amazing how Groveton and Berlin went so downhill after the mills closed.
Very sad
New England is such a beautiful place. One day, I'd love to live there
Save your money!
@@__seeker__ True 👍 lol
I live in Amherst, MA. Thanks for giving Western Mass a shoutout!! The Pioneer Valley is a hidden gem, honestly.
Someone noticed western mass, thats rare, hell im from central mass and most people here forget about it
Newport RI is a must see when you go back. Also Lost River in NH is a fun spot. Ausable Chasm in NY just over the border from Vermont is cool. 😎
Oh ya the walk along the coast where all the mansions are is amazing
Love ausable chasm! Hope he goes next time
@Samuel Hudak Salem
I am from New England, born and raised, and your review was excellent Kyle. Thank you for taking the time to assess so many details. I felt a little choked up as you recounted some of your discoveries there because I have been living overseas for years now and have only had a small handful of opportunities to get back to my roots over the past few decades.
I'm glad you liked the video! I can see why you'd miss being back home.
One of the reasons I love New England so much is because no matter where you go in New England you feel like you are in one big state not 6 small ones. Everytime I leave the new England area I always feel out of place. Also next time you visit come up during the fall and you'll see some of the most gorgeous fall color you'll ever see
AGREE 👍
Connecticut feels nothing like Maine, each state has its own feel
“In this case, I was wrong.”
The words of a trustworthy man. One more reason I like GK. Only the weak and dishonest can’t admit mistakes.
It's not just you, people in Boston have a running joke that "the cows made the roads"
Yeah, he kept saying "peninsula," which refers to original Shawmut Peninsula before the city was filled in the marshland around it, in the 19th Century. At least he didn't say Beantown which would have most certainly angered locals lol.
The people who named the streets had a bit of fun. Downtown Milk St. turns into Water St., Summer St. turns into Winter St., etc.
I grew up in Eastern Ct and as kids we called the winding paved local roads paved cow paths.
That’s not even a joke it’s just true lol
Cows would probably do a better job tbh. They've used birds and single celled organisms to design roads and railways so I'd imagine you could use cows too 🗿
Despite my RUclips name, I’m from the Berlin NH area. Thank you for bringing attention to the area, it’s very sad. 2008 hit us hard and we lost most of our jobs. Montpellier VT is a cool town that was founded by my grandfather, Col Jacob Davis. Glad you joined New England!
I live in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, home of one of the best living museums in the country - Old Sturbridge Village. Good eating here, too. I grew up in the midwest and moved here in my late 20s. I have never regretted it. I appreciate you saying that New Englanders are friendly because that has been my impression in the close to 40 years I have lived here. I enjoyed this video. Thanks!
I had always heard the same about New Englanders being rude, etc. We visited Newport, RI this past June when my son was commissioned an officer in the US Navy. We spent several days there and found the same thing you did. The people were extremely warm and friendly. I don't know how they got such a bum rep.
One thing I've heard many times about us New Englanders is that "we're not nice, but we're kind."
We tend to eschew the strict etiquette that some other parts of the country deal with in social situations and say things openly and directly, which can come off as rude or off-putting to people, but that doesn't mean we're mean-spirited or something.
@@Khotetsu we're just....blunt. The difference between us and others is other states will be nice too your face, but call you an idiot behind your back....around here if youre being a idiot, we'll happily let you know, and then after some ball busting, we'll help you out lol
We did our family vacation this year to Boston, Mystic, CT, & Newport RI. What a fun, trip & everyone was so welcoming!
So glad you enjoyed it! New England is my home, and it's great :) Take care.
Western mass in the building! Nice seeing New England getting some love
👍🏼 The Beautiful Berkshires 💚✌🏼😎
Western mass is the best part of massachusetts - hopefully Kyle gets to see why that is someday!
Berkshires here too!
me too! woot woot!
Western Mass represent!
Looking forward to the Maine video. As a retirednaval officer, my favorite place in Connecticut is Mystic Seaport north of New London. And when you told that you have now visited all 48 contigous states madw me feel a little better about still missing 7. My next trip (cancelled in 2020 and 2021) should have changed that, so now I'm hoping for 2022.
Just an FYI from a former New Englander. Faneuil Hall is pronounced. "Fan-you-ull" Hall.
*fen
I'm from NH, I say "fan-yull"
Fan-Yull. i two syllable it. I didn’t notice him messing up accents too much. Newbury hit my ears wrong but I can forgive him for that
He did great, Faneuil Hall is not an easy one, (Newburyport jumped out as well). He probably drove through Worchester and was like.... yea.... not even gonna try this town.
@@joelpage894 Worcester is for locals only lol
Maine and Vermont are amazing
How about New Hampshire?
Providence has really made a huge turn around in the past few years! Its becoming one of my favorite small cities in the country. And for sure some of the best italian food in the country!
This sounds like a really cool trip. You're absolutely right about Boston being a lot of fun to walk. As a Mainer in exile, I'm excited for the next!
I've lived in New England for 40 years and love my region. For such a quick visit, I think you did a good job of capturing the feel of the area. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit and saw what we New Englanders love about our home.
As someone from New England (I left when I was four but went back every summer for a few years), the things I remember most were how good the beaches, seafood, ice cream, and square pizza were. Oh yeah and Boston is easily one of my favorite cities in the country.
If i were to settle in the US i think i’d choose Vermont, I’ve always admired the very natural small town vibe of the state ❤️ from Indonesia
I hope you like winters, because we get a lot of that up here.
Eurodoc I love winter but reality is I can’t stand it 😂 The best I could handle was 0 degrees in Denmark but once it hit -1 i’m out (not sure what the numbers are in F haha sorry)
Glad to see you visited New England. I'm happy you found Pitchfork records, great shop that's been around forever. Berlin is really rough but at one time it was a booming little city before the papermills closed down.
Great video! Having lived in the Western U.S. most of my life, I love seeing these quaint historic and walkable towns. Looking forward to your Maine video.
On another note, if you get back to CT, definitely check out the hills in the NW. Cornwall area. Feels a lot more New Englandy than the parts of the state you were in
Close to The Beautiful Berkshires 💚 🤣✌🏼
@Corey W Very true.
For your trip next year, I recommend the Flume Gorge hike in Franconia Notch, near Lincoln, NH, do more hikes along the Kankamagus Highway (give it a 2nd chance), and walk around Jordan Pond and Sieur de Mont trails in Acadia Nat'l Park. Looking forward to your Maine video to compare your experience to ours. After visiting several harbors (Bar Harbor, Boothbay, Kennebunkport), I'm glad we stayed in Camden. It was quaint, charming, relatively quiet even in July, and beautiful, especially the view from Mount Battie. Also recommend the Cabbage Island Clambake out of Bootbay Harbor (a bit touristy but worth it), and lobster and lighthouse boat tours are quite informative. I agree with you, was disappointed with the lobster roll (cold and too much mayo) and pricey.
I just hiked the Flume Gorge for the first time last week. Absolutely worth it.
As a retired social studies teacher, I love these videos from "foot geographers" who go there and then "school us" on their experience. As a woman, I am jealous that walking about alone in big city areas is possible for you. I rarely walk alone in my own small-city downtown, and never do so when it is dark.
Great video, Kyle! For your next New England trip, please consider visiting Northampton. It's a beautiful city in Western Massachusetts. Lots of great restaurants, a cool downtown, crazy looking houses, very walkable.
👍🏼 Then drive over to Shelburne Falls to the wacky yet beautiful "Bridge of Flowers!" 😎✌🏼
Don't forget the music scene...
Agreed, and then hop up to Brattleboro and Keene!
You ought to give Cape Cod and the south shore, MA area a chance. Awesome beaches and harbors, great food, wonderful people!
Source: I am a south shore resident with family on cape cod
Pahk the cah in bah habah is the most New England thing you could hear just by chance! You should definitely check out Wingaersheek Beach in Gloucester Mass next time it’s very quiet and a perfect place to take a long walk
I was there a couple weeks ago. It is a beautiful beach. The sand bar is really cool. Good Harbor in Gloucester is also an incredible beach.
Also he might hear that antiquated fisherman accent in Gloucester. My friends dad has it and it sounds wild. Can’t imagine there’s much of that running around anymore
Made it a point to detour to Gloucester during a NE vacation in '08, of course inspired by "Perfect Storm" with the picture of the Fisherman Memorial.
There was a guy who drove the T on the red line with a perfect “Pahk the cah in Harvahd yahd” accent.
@@MrRyanKaminski that is sad
Wow king this ruled. We’re not unfriendly just a little bit different. I found this really respectful. And of course, It’s educational!
As a mainer, I am super excited for the Maine episode!
Thanks for checking out my area. I moved to North Carolina but I lived in maine for the first 22 years of my life. I can’t wait to see the maine video. Also, I would recommend that you come to New England in the first 2 weeks of October. The weather is alright, but you have the beautiful leaves changing with half the tourists. Visit Mt Katahdin in the 2nd week of October. It’s mind blowing how beautiful and remote it is.
Excited about this video and the upcoming one on Maine. We’ll be going next month for about a week or so. We do plan on going to Acadia National Park.
Me too!
New Englanders like their ice cream huh? Sounds like my kind of people! It sounds like a great part of the country, I'd love to check it out sometime!
Ice cream and Dunks iced coffee year round! Even when it’s below zero! We’ll still complain about the cold though!
@@jessicafreitag5111 we complain about everything. And then claim we are a hardy bunch, lol.
@@jessicafreitag5111 Haha, that's some real commitment! Greetings from WA state!
@@derbagger22 we are hardy even if we do complain. Other people would just leave
Ice cream is absolutely a year 'round thing. Some of the best ice cream places are open "off season" in the coastal/touristy places, so if you can travel in September you can get the best of both worlds- the beaches are emptier, but the water is still warm, and a significant number of great restaurants are open (including ice cream🍦)!😁
Had our honeymoon in New England. Love this area! Yes, Boston really is a confusing network of roads. It's very European in its layout. You gotta get to Nantucket.
When we were catching the bus in Boston, I was trying to get directions. But this guy's accent was so thick I was having a hard time. He could tell I wasn't getting him. Then just grabbed my shoulder and pointed to where we needed to go.
Bit late to say this particularly if you've visited New England a second time last year but... I say New England is the best region of the country. It's smaller than many states but still has lots of regions. Add up the beauty of the mountains, trees, lakes, rivers and seacoast, the Fall foliage, the small, old, quaint towns, the history and more... New England comes out on top. Pound for pound, square mile for square mile compare it to any other state or region. And we New Englanders really love it. Granted people from all places love their home but it seems double here. When New Englanders retire they'll head for Florida, spend a couple years there, tire of it, and move back to New England. I don't like Winter with it's snow and ice but the other 7 months are great. (That's the way I see it: 5 bad months, 7 great months.) I live in New Hampshire and when I mention places I want to vacation at the top of the list is other New England states, particularly Vermont and Maine. People laugh when I say that.
My advice for what to see on your next trip:
Mount Washington
Flume Gorge and the Lincoln area. (Yes, you mentioned the Kanc and was disappointed in it. It's still listed as a top road in America.)
New London and the Lake Sunapee area.
Meredith and the Lake Wini area. (Meredith is considered the best town in New Hampshire.)
Moosehead Lake
Just about anywhere in Vermont.
Thanks for the recommendations!
Another banger of a video. New England is a very interesting place and Boston is a place I'd love to visit! Have a good day and keep up the great content!
I have to say you are spot on about New Englanders, I’m a life long Western Massachusetts resident and we are fiercely proud of living in New England. It’s true well eat ice cream when it’s 0° & snowing - it’s a staple! If you decide to come back to New England, I highly recommend you come visit Western Mass (there is so much more between Worcester and the Berkshires than even most Mass residents expect). Though don’t get us going on long conversations… You’ll never leave!
Hey just a disclaimer for Kyle / any other traveler, when doing anything in a woodsy area in the Northeast, make sure you wear long pants and regularly check yourself for ticks! My girlfriend recently developed Lyme disease from a tick, and I would not wish that upon anyone, not to mention the many other tick borne diseases. Lyme disease is trending upwards massively, and is especially likely in the summer.
I feel like this was a very accurate representation of New England. I got the opportunity to live in Boston for a year last year and it was truly amazing. But you were spot on about how kind people are up there. Coming from the South, I was surprised at just how nice people were up there. I felt like they were a little more closed in to the degree that you could avoid conversation if you wanted, unlike the South, but if you talked someone they were genuinely friendly. The Northeast really doesn't deserve the reputation of being rude or mean.
CT’er here! Couple points for your future planning-
You got Boston roads right. My sister’s lived there ten years and I still get turned around with all the roundabouts. Many of those roads follow original trails from farming centuries ago. Make sure you walk down Newbury Street if you haven’t. Sounds like you hit parts of the Freedom Trail there which is great. Next time around you could hit the town of Lexington to see one of the first town greens minutemen assembled at. But it’s not a must. The Wayside Inn in Sudbury is a marvel of American history
In RI: you gotta hit Newport. I describe it as the cultural capital of preppy New England. Yachts, history, money - take a sail boat tour or at least drive to the massive estates like The Breakers (that’s the famous Vanderbilt one). You can walk along the sea cliffs behind the mansions on a path called Cliff Walk
Lobster rolls: I recommend Connecticut style, which is a toasted bun with hot melted butter. Cold with mayo and chives is Maine style. Many places outside of CT won’t make it CT style.
Connecticut (my turf) - Mystic is basically Newport’s quaint little sister.
Bridgeport is a great example of decaying post-industrial New England with abandoned factories, struggling to reinvent itself. South Norwalk’s historic district is an example of a place that has made that transformation successfully.
You were right about northwest CT as well. It’s beautiful. Kent is a nice little town up there. Kent Falls are a popular spot, you can kinda see them from the road. Fun fact: a piece of the Appalachian Trail goes through Connecticut in that area.
Islands: having been to Block Island and Nantucket, I’d say they’re cool, but not necessary. Both are a logistical pain to get to if you’re trying to optimize your time. If I had to pick, I’d say Nantucket is better in terms of food and night life, though quite pricey
A note on ice cream: Living in the DC-to-Boston megalopolis, consuming any “pure” product that doesn’t seem to have gone through an elaborate supply chain is highly appealing. That’s part of why we’ll go nuts over ice cream that’s in a rural place, or cheese in Vermont, or any apple orchard between Labor Day and Halloween. That reminds me: peak leaf peeping is mid-to-late October (hot cider and beautiful drives abound)
Make sure you get ⛽ gasoline before or after you visit Mystic! Shockingly high prices! 😕
Thank you for all of that great info! I've definitely been enlightened in the comments about CT vs ME lobster rolls. During the time of the trip along the coastal areas I was solo so I decided to skip the spots my wife would like to see and focused on places she wouldn't care about seeing, such as Hartford or New Haven. The parts where we were together were in ME, NH, and VT. So this trip was more about cities and mountains but our next trip up there will focus on the coast.
@@GeographyKing Awesome! I'm sure you'll have a great time. Thanks for the fun, conversational videos -- keep it up!
Only ever been to Boston, and I gotta say; never have I been on the a train system where everyone heard Neil Diamond’s sweet Caroline song and they all started to sing it. I thought it was just in certain movies but I had the chance to be in the train while it was enroute to Fenway.
New England Represent! So glad you finally are exploring our awesome region!
I grew up in NE and my family is still there and there is a charm to the region. It is called 'New" 'England' because it is modeled off of England. It looks and feels like England. Small countryside towns with a town common and the white church are all over the place. For the most part it is safe, clean, but can also be boring at times. New Englanders are a different breed. We all think we are smarter and better than everyone else in the country because we are. Ha! See I told we think that way. ;-) The place is different. If you are supposed to be at a meeting at 2 pm and you are not there at 1:55 pm, you're late! Education is in our blood. Higher Ed is everywhere in every state. World class schools are behind every tree in that region. The entire region pulls for the Boston sports teams. Southern CT tends to pull for NYC teams, but we deal with it. One downfall of New Englanders is that we are too smart for our own good and tend to be very uptight. New Englanders live to work and Southerners live to play. I'd rather live in the south these days, which I do, but NE has it's charms like I said. Not a bad place to grow up.
I've lived in New England my whole life. Born in Stamford and raised in southwestern CT, then moved to Boston after high school. One of the things that really surprised me when I moved was the difference in accents as well. Being from southwest CT I was obviously a lot closer to New York, and my dad grew up in New Jersey and lived in New York for a bit so my accent was lightly influenced by a New York accent. However, when I moved to Boston I was surprised to run into at least 3 other New England accents during my first year in the city. I also want to touch on the Ice Cream comments you made and I can safely say yes we do love our ice cream, a friend of mine from college who grew up in the south was astonished when my friends and I would eat icecream frequently, especially in the middle of the winter
I'm relocating to NE this fall!! What a pleasant surprise. Plus helped me get some ideas for those first road trips. Thank you!!
👍🏼 Sounds like a great trip, and hope you get to spend more time in The Beautiful Berkshires 💚 next trip! 😎✌🏼
Can confirm we don’t refer to it as a peninsula. When you do your longer road trip next year you need to make sure you drive up the Essex coastal scenic byway in the north shore of Boston. No where near as scenic as the west coast or Maine but it brings you through some great historic towns such as Lynn, Marblehead, Salem, Gloucester, rockport. You would love stopping in all of them and walking the streets of each town they’re all beautiful.
Let's not skip Topsfield! 😉✌🏼
I’m so glad you addressed the misconception about northeastern being rude or mean. I think people from here are just more honest and open. In general we’re not the type of people who will put on a fake smile- so sometimes we might have a straight face and it might come across as rude, but at the same time you know that if we’re smiling is because we’re actually happy lol. Just an over generalization of course but
I'm just dropping a comment to commend the Pixies reference.
Also, appreciate you sharing your knowledge.
It's educational.
I'm just dropping a comment to commend you for noticing the Pixies reference. And here's the last five
It's educational
It's educational
It's educational
It's educational
I live in central mass so I’m super exited lol
Very informative video!
I live in the Portland, OR area, and have always been fascinated with New England--almost everything with it. I lived in Syracuse, NY briefly a few yrs ago ( for only 2 yrs before my job transferred me back to OR, ) and I was able to make a trip to Boston, as well as Portsmouth, NH ( different trips ) and a drive across CT as well.
Before visiting the region, for 40 yrs, I had heard that New Englanders were rude, standoffish, and unpleasant to talk to, and from my experience during these 3 trips, I found it to be completely opposite. They were very open--especially in discussing the history of their town, extremely friendly, and I fell in love with the quaintness of much of the area.
I haven't visited VT, RI or ME yet, but they are on places to see, next visit I make out to that region. So far, Portsmouth, NH was my favorite, and if it weren't so expensive to live there, I would have moved there, straight from Syracuse. My question to others out there who reside in the region: what are some towns/cities/villages that resemble Portsmouth?
Great video. Excited for the Maine episode!
HOWDEY its Yaron, having his eyes light up when you showed pictures of your trip to Manchester and walking around the streets that I walk around everyday down on Elm St. I hope you enjoyed Manch-Vegas !!! ( I wish I could of gotten your autograph)
good one yaron, seeing him in manch was a nice surprise !
Great video. I'm a NJ guy living in Newbury, right down the road from Newburyport. And to get the pronunciation right, the emphasis is on "New" not "bury." The drive up 1A really is fantastic, as is Portsmouth. I also work in Stratham, which is next to Exeter. And Exeter is a great town, lots of small shops worth visiting. And YES, so many ice cream shops everywhere!!!
What u doing up there?
Glad you enjoyed New England! There are two unique times to visit, other than summer. Early Fall our deciduous trees change colors - leaf peepers from all over the US descend here just for the colors and to enjoy our delicious apples and hard cider. The second time is late February. Heavy snow, high winds, miserable driving, roads and schools closed but a great time to visit as there aren’t any tourists! No long lines at the ice cream stores! And you get to enjoy Maple Snow: take an ice cream cone, dip it in freshly fallen snow and top with maple syrup!
The Kancamagus is for driving. They have many spots to pull over for scenery and hiking.
It’s also best in peak foliage season
I've been waiting for a channel like this for some time.
Hey Geo King, glad to see you visited New England! Definitely make sure to spend a lot of time in the White Mountains on your trip next year, they’re beautiful! Keep on rolling out those videos!
loved the appreciation, accurate new england descriptions/experience n seeing so many places i’ve been in your photos
i now get to walk the streets of manchester everyday knowing geography king has walked here
I’m happy you didn’t stop in Springfield haha it’s pretty rough and there’s not a whole lot going on, outside of that western Mass is beautiful just very small
(From Chesterfield/Southampton)
Thanks for visiting New England! Great video. Two thumbs up! 👍 👍
Great job Geo King! Born and bred in NE and you nailed some of the best spots (would have bounced over CT but just my opinion). In Central NH you took the Kank (which is nice), but if you had stayed on 93 you would have gone through Franconia Notch and gotten a great view of the White Mountains, then head over to Mount Washington and take the Auto Road to the top (or the Cog Railroad if you have good life insurance) for a great NH feel. Also, LOVE your comment about the people of NE, I feel like too often tourists come in with a preconceived mindset and have an attitude themselves (which does NOT go over well in Mass or NH), but the approach you took was perfect.
Thank you! Most of the road trip was northern New England but even so we missed a lot. We only did hiking in ME and VT but I would've definitely loved to hike in the White Mountains.
The cog railroad is neat if you can find a clear day at the top of Mount Washington
Being from CT and having lived in Northern New Hampshire I agree 👍
I also lived in Boston and loved it. But New Hampshire is the best.
I am from Lowell and Moxie is my heritage! If you ever make your way back to New England, feel free to take a stop! We have a national historic park downtown, it's beautifully walkable, has a great food scene, and is super diverse.
Oh! Also, there’s a great record shop in Rochester, NH called Skele-Tone Records. It’s right on a Main street surrounded by lots of restaurants and other shops!
I grew up in Gardner Massachusetts. I loved this video!
Love New England! Vermont my favorite state. Check out Killington VT next time…wow! Beautiful 4 season mountain resort with a wicked awesome downhill bike park. Been going to Vermont my whole life, skied/snowboarded Killington, Jay, Sugarbush, Stowe. Town of Stowe….wow beautiful!!!
Boston, ya gotta go to Union Oyster House…best dang clam chowda you’ll ever have! Go to a Sox game at Fenway Pahk, just don’t pahk ya cah dere…lol!! Glad you had a great time! I myself can’t wait to go back soon!!!
Don't forget Smugglers Notch, Appalachian Gap, and Route 100. Also, The Adirondacks have some awesome drives right across the border. From Lake George through Keene Valley to Wilmington is a great trip!
I prefer Stowe to Killington because it has a small town center and more to do year round but it is more expensive. I live in Burlington but have keep my doctor in Stowe- while she is a good doctor it's mostly an excuse to visit Piecasso which has the best pizza ever!
I'm a lifelong New Englander (except a couple of years in Oregon), it's the best place in the US!! Love it here: Never leaving again :)
It's true about the ice cream. Wed stand in line on a Windy zero degree evening to get ice cream at JP Licks, in Boston, then go out for coffee. It's a completely different experience eating it when it's cold. Also the line is shorter.
So glad you enjoyed your time here!
Boston is impossible to drive a car in. Two one-way streets we gave up and drive out. A great city to walk.
My experience: make one wrong turn, you have to circle the city to get back where you were before the mistake.
It’s not impossible you just have to have some balls and be cool calm and collective all at the same time. I take my lifted f150 to TD Garden or Fenway occasionally. It’s the price of parking that’s the real killer 🤷♂️
Visited new england for the first time last week too!!
For the whole ice cream thing, I can confirm being a new Englander that we do looooove our ice cream XD after sports games everyone goes out for ice cream, while on vacation you will more than likely get ice cream, the grocery stores have tooooons of ice cream in them and there’s ice cream stands practically everywhere, especially in the popular vacation spots
Same. There aren't a lot of foods I make a fuss about, but ice cream is one of those things that, even during a blizzard, I need.
I lived in New England my whole life except for a year and a half I lived in NYC, I was surprised by the utter lack of ice cream parlors there. I had no idea it was more of a New England thing
He wasn’t wrong about the cold thing though. Weird random first hot day in April and the ice cream place is packed
Ha. You nailed it when describing Montpelier and the Vermont state capitol building.
I live in CT! For your next road trip I would definitely check out the northwest portion of the state. It is beautiful and has great hiking!
Between the record at the beginning and 8:25, I'm glad you were able to reference one of New England's greatest exports 👍🏻
Next time, you've got to try the deep fried clams at one of the small local "clam shacks" - my favs being The Clam Box in Ipswich MA and Bob Lobster in Plum Island MA.
👍🏼 Absolutely! 😋
Wait! Clam strips aren't universal? I didn't know they were a regional thing. I thought everyone knew what clam strips are.
Red Wing Diner in Walpole, MA also good for fried clams. They have both whole belly fried clams and clam strips.
Thank you Kyle for sweeping through New England. I became a Texas transplant to New England about 40 years ago basically only Connecticut and Rhode Island so I wish you had more time to really spend in Rhode Island to see Newport to maybe take the Block Island ferry to Block Island to go see the north east ledge lighthouse on block island to see the beautiful coastline of south county and to Misquamicut beach the town of Westerly Rhode Island. I am glad that you enjoyed your trip. I have not hardly stepped into the state of Maine, and all the time I’ve been here only across the border from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the kid remain to some factory outlet type of shot, shops, or clothes, shops or something so I got to go past Kittery Maine, and really see the wonderful state of Maine one day.
I'm looking forward to the Maine video! I just took a trip to Acadia np myself last weekend, so the coincidence is a little uncanny but I'm definitely looking forward to hearing your thoughts
Lake Winnapissakie in New Hampshire is a huge destination for people living in New England. Stowe, VT is an awesome place, as well as The Red Arrow Diner in Manchester (there are other locations in southern NH) also visit Derry, NH (it’s not pretty, but has lots of history). Peterborough, NH is an awesome
Town at the base of MT Monadnock. As you were mentioning the opioid crisis, Rochester, NH is one of the large hotspots with the highest crime rate in NH. In Maine, visiting the Kittery Trading Post is a MUST- right off of I-95(it’s like a bass pro shops) Next door to that is Bob’s Clam Hut, with excellent seafood. There is also a restaurant called Duck Fat in Portland with amazing food (all 3 of these places have been featured on Diners Drive ins and Dives). New Hampshire is very well known for diners, so visit those. If you get the chance visit Laconia, NH during Bike Week- it’s a blast. In can’t say much about MA, or CT or RI, but there are so many more awesome places to visit in northern New England.
Also a visit to Martha’s Vineyard is is a must.
I'm so glad you made it to Vermont! I love it there so much. I believe it to be the friendliest state there is. I live in Pensacola and I agree with you that it's an untrue stereotype that people are rude there. If you're ever in Pensacola, I'd love to buy you a beer!
Born and raised in RI and living in Boston now, so I'm super excited you got to visit and seemed to enjoy your time here!! I love just walking around Boston and admiring the unique architecture. I've been here for about 5 years now but can still easily spend hours just wondering about. Definitely easy to get lost in (literally and figuratively)!
Hopefully on your next trip you guys can see more of southern RI. I may be a bit biased, but I think the Rhode Island coast is one of the best! Newport is a classic must, I really love Brenton Point, Ocean Drive, and Cliff Walk. Jamestown, Narragansett, and Westerly are also personal favorites, with some great beaches and cool light houses. Also, you must give Dels lemonade a try!
I can’t believe you skipped the best places to eat in New Haven: Pepe’s & Sally’s pizza parlors, where New Haven style pizza was invented, and Louis’ Lunch, where they INVENTED the HAMBURGER!
Great review! Entering New England through Greenwich, Stamford, New Haven, then Hartford and not turning around was quite a forgiving thing to do. But you captured the region pretty well. As far as the New Englander prickliness everyone talks about, I believe it comes from the diversity of deep rural folks living between once thriving ‘modern’ cites. You’re never more than a day’s drive to downtown New York or a night out in Boston. A generation or so ago, it was sport to pick on the lost metro characters looking for the way back to ‘civilization.’ The humor was legendary (see Bert & I) . Nowadays, those NE cities are burned out hulks of what they once were and city folk seeped out from the urban centers, to the suburbs, and now infiltrated the rural woods, now grown in from the agrarian culture old New England was known for. The remains is humor that shades that sarcastic wit that told someone you can’t get there from here.
I absolutely agree with your take on Boston's streets. When I visited I was so confused and annoyed by the layout of everything.
Everyone hates them - either you find them confusing, you're daunted by aggressive drivers, or you get used those problems and you grow to hate the traffic. You're much better off using Uber/Lyft, public transit, or walking.
It's a good thing Boston is such a great city for walking, because it's lousy for driving. The public transportation system is also good, at least by American standards. I always take the train into Boston instead of driving whenever I can, although this covid year changed the cost-benefit analysis of that.
Native New Hampshire resident here.
Great job on capturing many New England aspects in a short period of time. Outstanding job! Bravo!!!
I read many years ago that people in the US each lots of ice cream = an order of magnitude (10 times) on average more than anyone else in the world AND that New Englanders eat an order of magnitude more than your average US resident. I believe it's true and your journey here confirms it.