In the Blue

I have always wanted to go to New England and have a classical American road trip. The fall colors, the maple syrup, all the great history and outdoor activities drew me into the trip. But, where do I swim? And how do I maximize a road trip like that for swimming? It took a lot of work and planning, but what came to be is The Great New England Road Trip (plus New York) – Swimmer’s Edition!

What is the Swimmer’s Edition? Great question, it’s a road-trip that combines the best in New England, outdoors nature, high peaks, hiking, good eating, popular tourist spots with the lesser known, AND swimming locations in each state along the route. No longer do you have to sacrifice swimming for land activities. You (and your significant other) can do both and have a great time!

New England is great because you can hit a lot of great swim spots if you do your research. The research piece is hard though and I couldn’t find a Swimmer’s Edition anywhere. So here it is, a base plan for your New England Swimcation Road Trip, complete with lodging, our favorite places to eat, an expense list (because that is of course important to know what to splurge on and what to be more frugal on), and why some of these particular spots were chosen. Hopefully you are able to use this base itinerary as-is or to help you can create your own, customizing to what you, your significant other, and/or family wants to do. What you don’t have to give up is the water because after all, water is life and life should be joyous.

Pack your bags, get in the car, grab your suit, cap, and goggles… we’re on a road trip!

How did you decide on timing?

This was the easier part of planning and was simple. We wanted to see the classic fall colors, the best in the county, so we chose middle October. We weren’t too concerned with peak because the peak varies by region, depending if you are on the coast, interior land, how far North or South you are. It was perfect timing!

Where did you fly into?

We were originally going to fly into Portland, ME and out of Boston, MA, but we had a companion fare airline ticket and the restrictions prohibited fly in/out through different airports. We ended up choosing Boston because it was the cheapest from Seattle and had most availability for car rentals. Car rental for return to same airport is also cheaper than flying in/out of different airports, so this helped keep our budget lower as well.

What about lodging, there seem like a lot of options?

Yes, there are and because of the time of year, it was more expensive than we had initially planned on. This did affect our budget, but not by much. We also booked early, around August, which saved about 25-35% on average of hotel costs. These costs increased significantly the month prior to travel. We also chose a mix of chain hotels along with smaller bed and breakfast lodging, kept it simple on some and upgraded our rooms on other reservations. We wanted a little bit of everything, wanted to earn some hotel points along the way, experience some small boutique hotels, and were really happy with our accommodations overall. Zero complaints!

How did you determine the route?

This is a great question! We each made a list of things we absolutely wanted to do and then built the trip around our must-haves. After that, we calculated mileage and time compared to our overall time available for vacation. We always pack too much in, so after we figured out how much mileage/time we had to cut, we each took turns taking something off our list so that the other could make what was most important to them work. It was all about compromise and in the end, we had a very robust and diverse set of activities.

Did you follow a schedule or roam free?

We did a combination of both. For the swimming, which was important to me, we had to stick to some sort of a schedule to make the swim locations on time and before dark. I never like swimming in a new location in the dark – no way! What we did to make it a little looser of a plan is we baked free time into the schedule so that whatever came up came up. We also planned a few hours buffer each day to make side stops if we saw something interesting, like the maple syrup farm, and pre-planned the least important activities so that if we got really behind on schedule, we already had a plan of what we felt comfortable skipping. It allowed us to have flexibility and roam free within a planned schedule to hit all our faves and swim spots on time.

How much does a trip like this cost?

All-in, it was about $3500 for the week and a half. This included airline tickets, airport parking, car rental, fuel, tolls, park admission fees, lodging, food, activity fees, and most of our joint souvenirs. We cut costs in some areas and splurged in others like indulging in a nice dinner after or a hotel upgrade after a long day of driving. This enabled us to be more frugal in other areas, like tolls. For tolls, as an example (and plan for a lot) we ordered an EZ-Pass ahead of time and learned how to add rental cars to the pass. This allowed us to pay for tolls at-cost instead of having the tolls run through the rental agency. It saved us over 50% in toll fees and we can use the EZ-Pass again on future travel. We could have made the trip a lot cheaper (contemplated camping – but wet hair in a tent in the fall is not always a good idea), but it could have also been a lot more expensive. The joy of road travel is the cost is up to you. Whether camping and groceries for the week or high-end boutique hotels and Maine lobster every night, you can make a trip that suits any budget.

Okay, now let me see your itinerary!

And yes, it’s a spreadsheet (total nerd stuff I know)….

Day 1	Travel: Depart Seattle –> Fly to Boston –> Drive to Bar Harbor, ME Accommodation: Days Inn Bar Harbor ($170/night – complimentary upgrade to living room suite), just outside of town is best to avoid traffic getting to National Park, cheaper accommodation, can get points Mileage: 285 miles, Time: 4.5hrs Activities – Eat at Becky’s Diner in Portland, ME – Arrive Bar Harbor at 10:30pm, check into hotel
Day 2	Travel: Full day at Bar Harbor Park Expenses: Annual Park Pass: $80 Mileage: N/A, Time: N/A Activities – Exploration day, look at trails – Swim at Sand Beach (ME swim state) – Trails hiked: Great Head Trail
Day 3	Travel: Full day at Bar Harbor Mileage: N/A, Time: N/A Activities – Exploration day – Trails hiked: Wild Gardens of Acadia, Jessup Path, Hemlock Path, Homans Path – Nice dinner in down, explore Bar Island Land Bridge, walk Shore Path
Day 4	Travel: Depart Bar Harbor at 10am, Arrive Echo Lake, NH around 3pm Park Expenses: $8 Accommodation: Golden Apple Inn (upgrade to fireplace and hot tub room – $226.77) Mileage: 215 miles, Time: 4.25hrs Activities – Driving stop at Jillson’s Farm for maple syrup – Echo Lake swim (NH swim state) – Get dinner and stay in North Conway
Day 5	Travel: Depart Echo Lake at 9am, Arrive Mount Washington, NH at 10am Mount Washington Expenses: $65/vehicle Mileage: 30 miles, Time: 1hr (plus drive to summit) Activities – Breakfast pastries at Glen Ledge Corner Store (amazing pastries) – Car climb to Mount Washington summit and hike trails at summit
Day 5	Travel: Depart Mt. Washington 12pm, Arrive Lake St. Catherine State Park, VT 5pm Park Expenses: $10 Mileage: 196 miles, Time: 4.25hrs Activities – Driving stop at Quechee Covered Bridge and glass shops – Swim at Lake St. Catherine (VT swim state)
Day 5	Travel: Depart Lake St. Catherine at 6pm, Arrive Schuylerville, NY at 7pm Accommodation: Dovegate Inn ($133.75 – upgrade to room with fireplace) Mileage: 50 miles, Time: 1hr Activities – Dinner at Inn (most amazing food I’ve ever had with rotating menu) – Evening walk to Schuyler House along the Empire State Trail
Day 6	Travel: Depart Schuylerville at 8:00am, Arrive Saratoga National Historical Park and Battlefield 9:00am (get breakfast) Park Expenses: N/A – Already have national park pass Mileage: 9 miles, Time: 0.25hrs Activities – Breakfast at Kickstart Cafe (get the breakfast burrito) – Battlefield audio tour, visitor center and museum
Day 6	Travel: Depart Saratoga at 1pm, Arrive Rocky Neck State Park, CT 4:30pm Park Expenses: $15/vehicle Mileage: 186 miles, Time: 3hrs Activities – Swim at Rocky Neck State Park (CT swim state)
Day 6	Travel: Depart Rocky Neck at 6pm, Drive to Newport, RI Accommodation: Wyndham Newport Hotel ($185.38) Mileage: 81 miles, Time: 1.5hrs Activities – Dinner and movie night – Optional walk on beach
Day 7	Travel: Depart Newport at 10am, Arrive Boston, MA in evening (no plan) Mileage: 137 miles, Time: 2.5hrs Activities – Swim at Second Beach in morning (RI swim state) – Explore and hike Sachuest Point Wildlife Refuge and neighboring beaches – Scenic route trip to Old Stone Church via West Boylston (adds 1hr to trip) – Evening beach walk on Revere Beach
Day 8	Travel: Full day in Boston Accommodation: Springhill Suites Revere Beach ($341.25/night, plus $15/day for on-site parking), on metrorail line MetroRail Expenses: $15 Park Expenses: $40 Mileage: N/A, Time: N/A Activities – Morning swim at Nahant Beach (MA swim state), evening dip at Revere – Boston exploration day, Freedom Trail and USS Constitution – Dinner at Italian restaurant (pick one on street we walk by on Freedom Trail)
Day 9	Travel: Depart for airport at 4am and return to Seattle Rental Car Cost: $225.17 with Avis, tolls budgeted at $80, EZ-Pass $20 Mileage: N/A, Time: N/A

Hopefully this gives you some ideas for a Great New England Road Trip and Swimcation of your own or the creation of another road trip. You can also find more info on what I thought of the each swim location by taking a look at my Swimcationing the 50 States swim list. As always, lots of swim love and if you have any questions, please reach out, and enjoy your trip!