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New England Foliagea photographer's guide by Philip Greenspun |
Covered Bridges |
Towns | |
Backroads |
Kancamagus Highway (and Franconia Notch) |
In Maine, they've got the ocean. In New Hampshire, they've got high
mountains covered in pine trees. Pine trees do not change color in the
winter time. It took me awhile to figure this out, but I'm pretty sure
that it is true. In Vermont, they've got lower mountains covered in
deciduous trees. Deciduous trees change color in the winter time.
Finally, pick up the state tourist board maps as you cross borders.
These are useful for pinpointing covered bridges and such. None of
these maps show the tiny little roads that you'll be on for the best
photography. If you have a really good sense of direction and don't
mind being mildly lost much of the time, then enjoy your rambling. If
you are overly analytical and want to know where you are, then pick up
the moby Delorme atlases for
Vermont,
New Hampshire,
and/or
Maine
.
You have to allow at least three or four days in each area. I'd say
that you could productively stay in Woodstock, Vermont for a whole week,
straying no farther than 50 miles from your hotel. The White Mountains
deserve at least three or four days. Franconia Notch, north of Lincoln,
tends to peak around October 1st so don't get there too late. If you
like the fading grand resort idea, stay at the Mt. Washington Hotel in
Bretton Woods, which gave its name to the system of exchange rates that
prevailed into the 1970s. It is a long 6-hour drive from Boston to
Acadia National Park in Maine. Allow a week for the Maine Coast and
Acadia or give up on the idea and come back another year.
My friend Bill grew up in Vermont and his favorite inn throughout the state is Ten Bends on the River (802-888-2827) in Hyde Park (NE of Burlington).
Here are some driving tours:
The motto on New Hampshire license plates, "Live Free or Die", is
reasonably photogenic, especially when one considers the motto's
history of litigation. A woman sued because she wanted her car
registered in New Hampshire but wanted a plate without the bellicose
motto. The courts told her that she was out of luck. Perhaps she's
moved to Boston where people save their bellicosity for the actual
driving...
Anyway, my favorite New Hampshire picture is the side-by-side State
Safety Rest Area and State Liquor Store. New Hampshire used to be one
of the few states where you could legally drink a beer in your car,
i.e., they had no "open container law". Anyway, you don't need
PhotoShop to create this absurd image. Just pull over at the first stop
off I-93N from Boston.
