Issues → December 2006 → Travel →

Four Winter Outings in New England

Mystic, Camden, White Mountains, Cape Cod

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Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT

On a cold winter Saturday, I did something you can do at only one place on earth -- climb aboard the last surviving wooden whaling ship. The 1841 square-rigged Charles W. Morgan has long been Mystic Seaport's prime attraction, but nearly everyone who tramps along the deck or explores the dark recesses below does so in summer.

"We get 80 percent of our visitors in three months," laments our guide. "We have to fight the stereotype that we're just an outdoor museum."

Make no mistake: Mystic Seaport deserves its warm-weather devotees. Its 17 acres hug the shore of the Mystic River, and you can happily linger for hours, basking in the sun, strolling from one maritime treasure to another, letting today's world slide away as you get a feel for the seafaring life from centuries past.

The seaport experience in winter is more intimate, more personal. You may go home more moved and more impressed than ever. On this day, there are only some 50 others sharing the exhibits with me. With few distractions, I notice things I might well have missed -- Captain Wendell's doll bed, for instance, part of the indoor Voyages: Stories of America and the Sea exhibit.

In 1863, George Blunt Wendell, 32-year-old master of the clipper ship Galatea, over the course of a long sea voyage painstakingly carved this doll bed for his young daughter. When he finally reached New York, his home shore, he carried it off the ship, not knowing his daughter had died a month earlier. In that one object, in those few words that describe the bed, I feel the weight of his grief and the unbearable silences that all seafaring men endured in those years past.

In the Black Hands, Blue Seas exhibit (through March 2007) that honors the role of black Americans in maritime history from the early days of sailing and whaling through the 20th century, a young woman from the seaport sings the sea chanteys that were once sung by apprehensive whalers to calm themselves as they rowed toward the whales. We are an audience of three, and it feels like a private concert. I stay at the seaport until winter's twilight, and as I walk back to town, I can see the Charles W. Morgan rocking ever so gently, the songs of its long-dead sailors still in my ears.-- Mel Allen

Mystic Seaport -- The Museum of America and the Sea, 75 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic, CT. Tickets: $17.50. 888-973-2767, 860-572-0711. mysticseaport.org

Mystic Pizza

Nearly 20 years after the eponymous movie, the most famous pizza parlor in New England is still a family favorite, with prices ranging from $5.65 to $18.00. [DETAILS]

Whaler's Inn

The comfortable main building, built circa 1865, is in the heart of town and within easy walking distance from the seaport. Rates: $99-$249, including continental breakfast. [DETAILS]

White Mountain National Forest, Pinkham Notch, NH

When you pay attention to the ground in winter, and if you are being guided by someone who can read a winter ground as easily as a book, these questions emerge: Is that track from a walker, hopper, bounder, or waddler? Are those teeth marks on the trees? On the day I join the Curious Naturalists animal tracking and snowshoe workshop with the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), we have perfect conditions for tracking -- a fresh thin layer of snow over a hard-packed surface.

Over nearly five hours, we follow numerous animal prints and see every track pattern but the waddlers. Squirrel, fox, deer, fisher, marten, ermine, shrew, and mouse tracks are abundant. We track a moose, finding its scat and some hairs left behind in its tracks, as well as a snowshoe hare. Once we flush out a grouse. Finally, the sun sinks down in the sky and the temperatures drop. It is time to head back to where we started, the AMC's visitors' center.

Afterward, we make our own tracks to the luxury of The White Mountain Hotel and Resort in North Conway, where we will spend the night. We treat ourselves to dinner in The Ledges Dining Room and to a soak in the outdoor hot tub. Weary after a long day in the woods, we fall asleep with full bellies and thoughts of the creatures making their way through the woods, leaving their stories for others to find tomorrow. -- Kathryn LoConte

Appalachian Mountain Club, Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, Rte. 16, Pinkham's Grant, NH. Rates: one- to two-day workshops free and fee-based; call or visit Web site for more information. 603-466-2727. outdoors.org

Appalachian Mountain Club

Join the Curious Naturalists animal tracking and snowshoe workshop with the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Rates: one- to two-day workshops free and fee-based; call or visit web site for more information. [DETAILS]

White Mountain Hotel and Resort

The hotel has 80 rooms and 13 suites available from $89 to $269 (full breakfast included midweek November to mid-June). The Ledges Dining Room is locally known for its Sunday brunch buffet ($15.95). Dinner entrées: $19-$29. [DETAILS]

Moat Mountain Smoke House and Brewing Co.

Go for the beer, stay for the barbecue and wood-fired pizzas. Entrées: $7.95-$23.50. [DETAILS]

Jack R. Williams Toboggan Chute, Camden, ME

"It'll be over in nine seconds," says Stuart Young, operator at the toboggan chute. It's a statement that brings little comfort as our toboggan is tipped from a horizontal loading position onto the near vertical starting pitch of a 400-foot wooden toboggan run. The rumble of the sled sounds like a freight train, yet above the crescendo can be heard screams of surprise and delight. The chute is the only one of its kind remaining in New England and is host to the annual U.S. National Toboggan Championships.

We tuck in our elbows, lean back, and hold on tight. This is definitely different from just swooshing down that backyard slope. First built in 1936 and restored in 1960 and 1990, the track has a vertical drop of 70 feet. The wooden sled shimmies against the side boards as it gains momentum -- up to 45 mph. The toboggan is momentarily suspended in air at the end before gliding out onto ice-covered Hosmer Pond, sometimes even sliding all the way across. The toboggan slows until we gain traction with our feet to stand up on the ice. Beaming grins. Bright eyes. In a moment, we are trudging up the hill for a second run. -- Katrina Yeager

Jack R. Williams Toboggan Chute, Camden Snow Bowl -- Parks & Recreation, 20 Hosmer Pond Rd., Camden, ME. Tickets: $2 per ride. 207-236-3438. camdensnowbowl.com

Cappy's Chowder House

A great place for a hearty meal and a beer. Entrées: $6.95-$17.95. [DETAILS]

Camden Hartstone Inn

For something fancier, treat yourself to a five-course, fixed-price meal ($45) at the Hartstone Inn, a Victorian home that also offers plush accommodations. Rates: $100-$265, including full breakfast and afternoon tea. [DETAILS]

Samoset Resort

Families may prefer staying at the full-service Samoset Resort. Rates: $129-$619. [DETAILS]

Cape Codder Resort & Spa, Hyannis, MA

It is 17 degrees outside, with a north wind snapping at anything that moves. The windchill makes it feel like zero. No worry. Here, the kids belly up to 2-foot waves, whip down an 80-foot waterslide, and dash under cascading falls. No, we are not at Disney World or in Maui -- we are tucked inside the Cape Codder Resort & Spa, where warm water trumps winter every time.

Consider the 8,400-square-foot wave pool, an indoor theme park with two waterslides, waterfalls, a Jacuzzi that seats 24, and two saunas. Do as most families do: Grown-ups take turns watching the kids poolside. The off-duty parent hits the spa for a massage, facial, manicure, or body wrap. If Dad can't shed type A mode, there is a state-of-the-art exercise room for him.

Though the Cape Codder Resort does a brisk wedding and conference business, kids remain a top priority here. One of the saunas is even kept at a safe temperature for little ones. Owner Debra Catania says, "We got tired of policing the sauna ... and children are just innately curious, so we set aside one sauna for them." There is also a game room, where laughter drowns out the sounds of air hockey and pinball.

There are two restaurants on-site: Families with young children tend to eat at the Hearth 'n Kettle, which serves homemade breads, seafood, pasta, and hearty meat dishes. Since our daughter is a teen, we opt for more sophisticated dining in the intimate Mediterranean-style Grand Cru Wine Bar & Grill. Dad's favorite is the Kobe beef cheeseburger, mine the Cru crab cakes. Our daughter's favorite is the baked-to-order warm cookies with hazelnut gelato -- a delight second only to the wave pool. -- Polly Bannister

Cape Codder Resort & Spa, 1225 Iyanough Rd., Hyannis, MA. Rates: $99-$199. Hearth 'n Kettle entrées: $9.99- $17.99. Grand Cru entrées: $12-$27. 888-297-2200, 508-771-3000. capecodderresort.com

John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum

The museum features photographs, video, and oral histories that chronicle the 35th U.S. president's life on Cape Cod. [DETAILS]

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