Stay
The Boston Harbor Hotel has completed an exquisite renovation of 230 newly designed guest rooms and suites. They are designed combining patterns, textures and colors that are inspired by the natural beauty of Boston’s waterfront.http. http://www.bhh.com/about-en.html
Glamour and camping are combined at the new Sandy Pines Campground in Kennebunkport. Sandy Pines is located in a forest grove less than a mile from Goose Rocks Beach. There will be 320 sites, each one outfitted with a picnic table, fire pit, electricity, cable, water and sewage. You can choose a basic tent site or one that’s ready to accommodate a large RV. There’s even an onsite lobster pound, as well as a general store, farm stand and ice cream cart. www.sandypinescamping.com
The Higgins Beach Inn, a historic beachfront hotel in Scarborough, has been bought by The Migis Hotel Group. The three-story colonial revival structure, which dates from 1897, lies between Prouts Neck and Crescent Beach State Park. The 23 newly designed rooms will have a modern feel with stylish furnishings. www.higginsbeachinn.com
Trapp Family Lodge, North America’s first cross-country skiing center, is turning 50. They will celebrate with events including a celebration at the Bierhall, a ski with the von Trapps and a specialty brew by von Trapp Brewing. www.trappfamily.com
Widely considered one of the world’s best hotels, The Ocean House in Rhode Island has now opened itsSecret Garden, a lounge that will feature Veuve Clicquot champagnes, and recently completed a multi-million-dollar guest-room renovation. www.oceanhouseri.com
Experience luxury at the Delmar West Hartford, Connecticut’s newest boutique hotel, offering full-service spa treatments, fine dining, and even complimentary bicycle rentals. www.delamar.com/west-hartford
Ground-breaking has begun for the new Glen House Hotel in Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire. Half a century since the last Glen House stood on this site, the family-owned Mount Washington Summit Road Company intends to have the fifth iteration of the 68-room hotel open by May 2018. www.greatglentrails.com
The 1800s Pickering House Inn in Waldoboro, New Hampshire, will undergo a complete renovation. The inn will have 10 guest rooms and private meeting rooms, and is minutes from the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. It is set to open in 2018. www.pickeringhousewolfeboro.com
Play
New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Cog Railway has opened a free Base Station Museum experience with interactive exhibits and simulators and is now offering one-way tickets for hikers who want to hike Mount Washington one way and take the train the other way. They are also expanding their free annual event offerings to include a Steampunk Festival and a Handcrafted Festival. www.thecog.com
Polar Caves Park in Rumney, New Hampshire, is a climber’s dream offering the 172-foot Polar Ascent and the all-natural granite Polar Wall. The Polar Ascent is a fully guided, safe and fun way to experience climbing. The Polar Wall is a natural granite wall with five designated climbing routes using both natural and manmade foot and hand holds. www.polarcaves.com
Vermont’s Jay Peak Resort is adding reels and rappelling to its list of activities this year. The resort will open a new 142-seat movie theater and Clip ‘n Climb climbing facility in the 15,000-square foot Clips and Reels recreation center. www.jaypeakresort.com
Okemo Mountain Resort introduced lift-served mountain biking last summer and the Evolution Bike Park at Okemo will operate again with a fleet of new Scott bikes and plans for trail expansion to take place. At Okemo’s Adventure Zone, located at Jackson Gore, Vermont, the newest additions are two bouncy castles and the Coleman Brook Mining Company, where kids can use a screen tray and water flowing through a sluice to reveal sparkling gems, minerals and fossils. www.okemo.com
The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum is the only museum to honor the life and work of Springfield, Massachusetts, native, Theodor Seuss Geisel. The museum features interactive experiences for children, with a strong focus on promoting literacy, artwork, memorabilia and furniture. www.springfieldmuseums.org
Sports tours in a sports state
Fenway Park Tours – “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” is uniquely nestled in the city of Boston. See the home of Red Sox legends, visit Pesky’s Pole and sit atop the world famous Green Monster on a one-hour walking tour.
Patriot Place Tours – The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon is an exciting, innovative and interactive, modern museum experience for all ages. The Kraft family long considered the best way to honor the greatest Patriots of all time while simultaneously preserving Patriots history.
Hoop Hall at Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame – Located on the picturesque banks of the Connecticut River, the new museum is a fitting shrine to the game invented more than a century ago. The landmark structure is one of the world’s most distinctive monuments punctuating the Springfield skyline. Hundreds of interactive exhibits share the spotlight with skills challenges, live clinics, and shooting contests, as well as enough basketball history to impress the world’s most avid sports fans.
MGM Springfield (Massachusetts) will open in 2018. This integrated resort casino for a 250-room hotel with world-class amenities includes a spa, pool and roof deck. Additionally, there will be approximately 55,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space which will accommodate 15 shops and restaurants. www.mgmspringfield.com
Mystic Seaport’s restoration of the Sabino, the oldest wooden, coal-fired steamboat in regular operation in the U.S., has been completed and trips are once again taking place along the Mystic River.www.mysticseaport.org
Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut has just opened a new zipline for those who want to take a break from the action indoors. Also added to the casino are two new restaurants: Sugar Factory American Brasserie and Caputo Trattoria. www.foxwoods.com
A Connecticut icon for more than 45 years, the Essex Steam Train & Riverboat allows you meander through the unspoiled New England countryside aboard the vintage steam train on your way to Deep River Landing and your connection with the Becky Thatcher riverboat. Visitors can also enjoy the air-conditioned comfort of the 1920s Pullman dining cars and a three-course meal on the Lunch Train before taking the riverboat cruise up the Connecticut River past renowned landmarks such as Gillette Castle and the Goodspeed Opera House. www.essexsteamtrain.com
TimberStone Adventures Inc. in East Stoneham, Maine, is set on 50+ acres bordering the White Mountain National Forest and currently offers two fully functional treehouse lodges and one primitive aerie. New in 2018, visitors can hike to their own private mountaintop castle with panoramic views, while their gear is towed up a 300’ cable bridge, or enjoy the wooded 18-hole public disc golf course.www.timberstoneadventures.com
Appalachian Mountain Club’s newest destination in their Maine wilderness lodges network has recently opened. Medawisla is the ideal spot for exploring the famed 100-Mile Wilderness with opportunities for hiking, paddling, fly fishing, canoe camping, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, steps away from private cabins. www.outdoors.org.
Rhode Island’s waters are a diver’s paradise with more shipwrecks per square mile than any other state with more than 2,000 shipwrecks to explore. There are full-service dive shops throughout the state and guided excursions for all enthusiasts from novices to advanced divers. Rhode Island also offers blue and mako shark expeditions that deliver some of the most intense and unforgettable open-water shark encounters you can find anywhere in the world. www.visitrhodeisland.com
Beneath the Breakers explores the underground tunnel, boiler room and basement of The Breakers, Newport’s grandest mansion. Learn how domestic technology evolved through the Gilded Age and into the 20th century. www.newportmansions.org
Dine & Drink
Smuttynose Brewing Company has been recognized for the 11th year in a row as one of the Best Breweries in the World by RateBeer. The total count for different breweries of all sizes and ambiances in New Hampshire is somewhere above 80 now. This list includes large factory experiences such as Smuttynose and Anheuser Busch to those that are literally on farms with donkeys and ducks. Breweries in New Hampshire are as much a cultural experience as they are culinary. www.nhbeer.org, www.smuttynose.com
Seven Birches Winery & Tasting Room opened in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Take a “Meet the Winemakers” tour and sample red wine aging in one of their oak barrels, chat with the winemaker and taste some delicious New Hampshire wines. Located in the new RiverWalk Resort. www.sevenbirches.com
In Maine, the tide of new restaurant openings across the state shows no sign of abating. Recent openings include: LB Kitchen and Izakaya Minato in Portland; Neighborhood and Ondine Oyster in Belfast; Pearl & Spat Oyster Cellar in Kennebunk; El Jefe Taco Bar in Freeport; and North 43 Bistro in South Portland, Maine’s newest marina restaurant. Also, the popular Roma in Portland has reopened.www.visitmaine.com
Vermont sees a surge of new restaurants opening throughout the state. Foodies, unite! Vermont has twenty-two new restaurants awaiting your arrival. From Burlington to Stowe, Montpelier to Manchester, there’s a new spot for everyone. One of the most recent opening is Mangalitsa in Woodstock. www.vermontvacation.com
Rhode Island’s foodie culture is well known, but it’s difficult to choose from such an embarrassment of riches like Nick’s on Broadway in Providence, headed by James Beard Nominated Chef in 2016, Derek Wagner. Or Birch, also in Providence and headed by James Beard Nominated Chef 2017, Benjamin Sukle. There’s also Wine Spectator 2016 Best of Award of Excellence winner, Castle Hill in Newport, and Wine Spectator 2016 Best of Award of Excellence winner, Restaurant 1879 at the Atlantic Inn on Block Island. www.visitrhodeisland.com/where-to-eat/
Quay is Providence’s (Rhode Island) newest outdoor dining destination on the river walk at historic Waterplace Park offering a coastal Mediterranean small plates restaurant and a cocktail lounge in downtown Providence
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Issued by the Discover New England Australia / New Zealand Press Office.
Discover New England represents the six American states of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont to promote international visitation.
For more information and/or high resolution images please contact: Corey Marshall at Canuckiwi on +64 21 555 463 or email corey@canuckiwi.com