Cruise the Kanc
The Kancamagus Highway is a 26.5 mile scenic drive that runs through the White Mountain National Forest from Conway to Lincoln, New Hampshire. This drive is beautiful year-round, and is a particular draw during foliage season. In the summer, there are places to swim in the Swift River with natural water slides and pools. There is a small fee for parking along the Kanc, but all the money goes back into the maintenance of it. A particular favorite destination of mine is Sabbaday Falls. It’s a bit past Bear Notch Road on the left coming from Conway. A small hike in is rewarded with an incredible blue green pool and a beautiful small and accessible waterfall. Pack a lunch and picnic at any of the stops along the way. The whole drive, which climbs to just this side of a mile above sea level before descending back into Lincoln, takes a hour or so with no stops.
Be sure to bring a camera. There’s no end of photo ops.
Photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik
Boston Travels: Enjoying Quincy Market
There is enough budget wise stuff to do in and around here to fill a day. Boutique window shopping, street performers, amazing food (or pack a lunch), and room for kids to leap and hop are just some of the attractions. Planning a trip to include Quincy Market (Faneuil Hall Marketplace)? Make it on a Saturday, bring shopping bags and include a trip to the nearby Farmer’s Market. There are good deals all day, but visiting at the end of the day is best for two reasons — you’re not toting fresh produce all day AND the vendors are more willing to deal, because they don’t want to tote that produce back home.
Also, the Freedom Trail passes by Quincy Market and the remarkably moving Holocaust Memorial is right there as well.
Photo credit: fuzzcat
Maine Wildlife Park
There is no one who comes to visit Maine for a week, a weekend or a summer that doesn’t aspire to see, at least, a moose. The intrepid wildlife seeker can find an alternative to driving the highways and byways in the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray, Maine. Open from April to Veteran’s Day, the park is a self-sufficient facility under the auspices of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (IF&W).
Entrance fees are between $5-$7.00, but your money will be well spent as it goes back to the maintenance of the Park. Many of the animals at the Park were brought there because they were injured or orphaned or have become human dependent and cannot survive on their own in the wild.
A big ‘must see’ at the Park is the Dry Mills Fish Hatchery which raises thousands of Brook Trout annually.
Bring stuff to barbecue, pack a picnic lunch, or purchase lunch from the snack shack. Stop in at the Visitor’s Center or visit the Nature Store. Walk the tree trail or animal trail to learn more about the flora and fauna native to Maine. To locals, especially those with children, visits to this park are part and parcel of summer in Maine. Visitors to Maine should include it on their travel agenda, too.
The Museum of Art in Portland, Maine
This is a gem of a museum. It is the oldest art museum in Maine and is home to over 17,000 objects d’art. Found on the corner of High and Free Streets, and visible from Congress St., the PMA is conveniently located for access on a walking tour of Portland.
In addition to rotating special exhibitions and originals by several Maine artists (Winslow Homer and Andrew and N.C. Wyeth, to name three), the museum offers art from the American Neo Classical, French Impressionism, American Impressionism, Post Impressionism, Surrealism, Modernism, and Cubism schools, and Glass and Ceramics as well.
The museum offers lectures, movies, a gift shop, Sunday morning Jazz breakfasts, classes and workshops.
My favorite thing about PMA, however, is that is accessible financially to everyone. While admission during the week and on weekends is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and id’d students, and $6 for those 6-17, Friday night… EVERY Friday night… from 5-9 p.m. is FREE! Absolutely. And includes the current special exhibit.
Photo credit: Cliff1066
Concord Coach Lines – Affordable and comfortable
When it comes to traveling to Boston from Maine or New Hampshire, one option stands head and shoulders above the others, in my humble opinion. That option is the highway coaches run by Concord Coach Lines.
Concord’s routes all end at either South Station or Logan Airport. The price is reasonable — $25.00 same-day round trip ticket through 3/31/10 — and the amenities are stellar. Some buses have power outlets in the seats, some have WiFi. Some offer water and a snack at the beginning of the trip. All have complimentary headsets for watching a movie or listening to one of four types of music. I have found these coaches always to be clean and comfortable, non-smoking, and equipped with bathroom.
Another point of note is that these coaches run on time! Portland, Maine, to walking around Boston in two hours. That is not going to happen with any other means of transport.
Boston, Mass, is not an easy city to navigate by car if one is not familiar with it. My suggestion? Make the most of your day by taking a Concord Trailways bus and walk it when you get there.
The Magic Lantern – Bridgton, Maine
The old-fashioned charm of a roomy, plush home town movie theatre with hundreds of seats is the stuff of nostalgia for a lot of people. Those theatres often have been restored and used for different purposes or have been replaced with sterile, non-descript multiplexes that are synonymous with cinema to at least one or two generations of movie goers.
On Route 302 in Bridgton, Maine, the best of both worlds exists in the Magic Lantern theatre. The original Magic Lantern, where Steven King’s “Carrie” premiered in 1976, was leveled in 2006, rebuilt and reopened in 2008. It contains 3 theatres. Each theatre includes a small balcony only accessible to adults age 21 and older. There is ample parking behind the theatre.
There is also a cinema pub on the premises, making dinner and a movie virtually seamless. Sometimes in the same room! Movies are always first-run, and the price of admission is unbelievable. Adults pay $6.50. Children, seniors and matinees are $5.00.
If you find yourself in Bridgton, Maine, with time to spare, consider a movie at the Magic Lantern. It’s an experience you’ll remember at a price you can’t forget.
Unexpected Travel Uses for S Hooks
As much as I love using caribiners, sometimes they just don’t cut it. Either there’s no hook inside the bathroom door or shower stall, or the pole that you could otherwise clip it to in order keep your bag off the ground is too wide to accommodate your caribiner at all. While these issues don’t arise that much during luxury cruises or resort-style getaways, they sure come up during long term independent or adventure travel where going light and low budget is critical. Two ways to use s-hooks to your full advantage? Read more
Eco-Travel Hack: A New Use for Earth Friendly Dog Poop Bags
When reading Beth Whitman’s book on traveling to India, one particular tip popped out at me. For locations where the restroom’s infrastructure won’t handle toilet tissue being flushed down it, or if there isn’t a restroom at all other than the nearest privacy-providing bush, you will need to bring your own tie-up tote bag to secure your waste paper in. (And of course, you’ll need to have your own toilet tissue supply most of the time too.) Receptacles to toss your toilet paper into will often be overflowing or nonexistent. Tossing it into a bag you can tie up and tote back to your hotel for proper disposal is apparently key.
But what about those of us who are trying to support the reduced use of plastic bags? Well, in addition to regular trash bags, Perf Go Green has a product for roll out doggy doo bags as well. The come in a conveniently sized box with a dispenser slot. All of their bags break down into bio mass in anaerobic land fill environments with absolutely no toxic fume production. Love that! So if you are running into the “tote your own toilet paper” problem in India or other developing country, pick up some Perf Go Green dog poop bags. Problem solved.
Photo Credit: Perf Go Green
Sally’s: My Source for Backpack Sized Beauty Items
That’s right. I said it. Even when I go on adventure travel destinations, there are still a few basic items I need from the beauty supply store. Not only does the Sally’s chain come in handy for regular savings on overall health and beauty items, but it has a few goodies that fit my needs for reduced sized items while on the road. All of them are in the seventy-five cent to five dollar range. Curious to know what my top picks are? Read on.
Stainless steel, universal makeup pencil sharpener.
The diameter of these circular wonders is slightly less than a United States quarter. The depth is somewhere in the half-inch neighborhood. Not only do the plastic ones tend to crack and break after getting tossed around from one third world farm truck to another, the maximum number of eye and lip liner pencil sizes they can address is usually two. These little beauties (normally available near the cash register) have openings to fit all four sizes these types of cosmetics tend to come in.
Miniature travel tin of hair pins.
You’d be surprised what bobby pins can come in handy for on the road. Emergency zipper pull, impromptu paper clip, holding together curtain edges in an otherwise privacy barren hostel room, chip bag clip, page marker in a book, clothespin for thinner hand washed items, securing a head scarf when viewing certain religious sites, and of course creating hairstyles on the fly without a ton of bulk accessories. Think super model style poofy bang twists, French twist with a local flower tucked in for a night on the town or a partial braid down the top half of your head.
Miniature emery boards and four-way buffers.
These are the ones of the 3 ½ to 4 inch variety, and help keep ridges smoothed, bare nails buffed and ragged edges filed. They come with no packaging and are well under a buck each.
Neutral tone lip liner pencils.
If Walgreens isn’t having one of their three for a buck cosmetic pencil sales, you can pick these up affordably at Sallies as well. They can be used not just to line your lips, but to color them in and use with your finger to smooth on as cheek blusher.
High grade tweezers.
Eyebrows, chin hairs or the occasional splinter all need to be dealt with on the road. Get the strongest pair you can find and tuck them in your backpack.
Cuticle pusher.
I like the stainless steel variety with one flat edge and one pointed edge. They are great for getting debris from under your nails.
Miniature nail brushes.
These are great for getting your finger and toe nails clean in the shower, and also for doing some hand washing of socks and such while waiting for your hair to condition.
Baby sized nail clippers.
They still get the job done for grownups and take up minimal space in your toiletry kit. Hang nails happen. Be able to nip them in the bud when you are far away from a pharmacy.
For quicker trips, this list will get you a long way. If you are going longer, you’ll want to snag cuticle trimmers as well. This is my list of faves to pick up cheap for the road. What are your top picks for personal care necessities? Do you have a favorite place to get them affordably?
Photo Credit: Kate
