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| White Horse Tavern in Rhode Island, serving drinks since 1673 |
It all started at a dive bar in Scottsdale Arizona, with a simple question during a simple happy hour, what is the oldest bar in the United States? Many years ago the answer may have required a lengthy exploration into public records and history, but now with google a simple answer came, White Horse Tavern in Newport Rhode Island. I had never heard of it even though I grew up on the east coast not far from it. It has been opened and serving drinks since 1673, before the United States even was the United States. And with that, I knew that I would have to go and visit the smallest state in the United States. I grew up very close to Rhode Island as mentioned, but took travel for granted and never made it there. So now as an adult it was time to redeem that lost chance and visit, but since I am trying to go to all 50 states, I decided to make it more than a simple quick trip, rather than just see White Horse Tavern in Rhode Island, why not do a whole tour of New England for all the states I was missing.
And so began the research, before doing any things on a computer I first talk to friends and people I know to see who has been there and what they can recommend, since I grew up in New York this was considerably easier than a lot of international trips I've done. My friends pointed me in the right direction, and after that I hit the research on the travel forums, google maps, etc. The total driving time and plan was do to Rhode Island, a quick stop in Boston to revisit Cheers (last time I was there I was 10 years old and couldn't have a beer), New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, in roughly 10 hours of driving. But of course that's just door to door for hotels. I don't know our overall driving time but I know we clocked in over 1,000 miles on our rental car!
White Horse Tavern was the inspiration for the trip, and sort of the main event, we decided to start there. I actually made reservations for both nights in Rhode Island in case our flight was delayed or something happened. Luckily we made it there the first night, and I cancelled the 2nd for a lucky person who needed it. We sat up stairs in the restaurant area of the 300+ year old tavern on the slanted wooden floors at a nice small table. The food was amazing, and of course so were the drinks. Visions of 3 centuries of travelers, settlers, fishermen, farmers, Brits, Americans, and drunks, flashed through my head. After dinner, we were about to walk out and explore downtown but the bar downstairs had a few extra stools open, and we took a seat and sat down for whiskey on the rocks. The mission was of course to be in the bar and experience it, but the unspoken mission was also to sit at the actual bar and have a drink, not just the restaurant (which for argument sake who knows how many places the actual bar has been in 348 years, but for now it's downstairs in a small room) . The actual bar only has 5 or 6 stools, so it was a lucky moment for us. It would have been a great experience anyway, but the bar made it a little more special. I raised the glass and toasted to the historical place, though it was only the first night of a 9 day road trip, the trip had already become timeless.
The journey would take us from the oldest bar in the USA to famous bars, almost the Canadian border, forests, beaches, parks, and more. Sleeping in everything from a motel 6, a historic hotel, a school bus, and a beach front cottage. A lot of great memories jammed into one small corner of the country. So if you are thinking about going to New England, here's my tips and experiences from our journey state by state that we visited:
Newport, Rhode Island
- Newport vs Providence is going to come up, of course because of White Horse Tavern my vote is Newport but also its very tourist friendly and a lot of other things to do.
- IT isn't cheap! Book well ahead, there's not much in the lines of Airbnb at the time of writing this, so we went with Motel 6 for almost $200 a night. The area and hotel were fine, a little outside of the main downtown but Uber to and from was no issue.
- Cliff Walk! Well worth it, we started a little before the Breakers Mansion (also worth it), and ended at the beach. Parking was simple and free.
- Scooter convertibles! I didn't know about this and didn't do it, but had I known we certainly would have, you'll probably want to do Ocean Drive for sightseeing and beach time, but rather do it in you car, you can rent mini convertibles from Scooter World! This is exactly what it sounds like, they looked super fun, and we will definitely rent them next place that we can! I was definitely jealous seeing people cruise by while we were in a rented Toyota Camry.
Breakers Mansion - Downtown is seaming with night life, pick your poison there's a bit of everything.
- And of course, White Horse Tavern
Boston, Massachusetts
- Me and my girlfriend had both been to Boston fairly recently, and I had gone a few times when I lived in NYC for business, so there was only one stop planned here:
- We got there early and also sat at the bar rather than a table, like White Horse bar seating was limited, so more luck for us, and it probably didn't hurt we were there when it opened. Delicious clam chowder and chili, and unlike when I went in the 90s as a kid, BEER!!!
Hampton Beach, NH
- This trip was during July, a great weather break from the 120+ we had in Phoenix and also a great chance to hit some beach time. We thought New Hampshire would be great for this.
- There were plenty of cheap Airbnb options on the beach, but in light of the historical aspect of this trip we found Lamies Old Salt, built in 1740 and hosted President Eisenhower back in the day!
- Dinner there was also highly recommended and did not disappoint.
- Lamies was also in the older part of the beach city, which was nice to go to a random bar, one of which was The 401 Tavern, and find out it was built also over 300 years ago!
- The beach of course was great, easy parking, and unknowns to us till we got there, mini casinos. We are not big gamblers but threw some money in the slots for fun.
Jeffersonville, VT
- To really feel the small towns of Vermont and New England we tried not to stay in big cities, we housed ourselves here in Vermont in an Airbnb, but to spice things up it was a renovated school bus! I've stayed in a lot of unique accommodations but this fully renovated school bus turned glamping was fantastic for our two nights here.
- On your way in make sure you check out the art/sculpture Vermontasaurus!
- Ski lifts in the summer for the view, or of course in the winter I imagine they make for amazing skiing!
- The Vermont granite quarry was recommended on a whim, and we almost skipped it due to rain, but it ended up being a magnificent look into the world of granite, my backyard bar top will never be the same again.
- Burlington is of course worth a day trip, great restaurants, Church St, and a nice pier looking at NY state, but I'd say a day is more than enough, the real beauty of Vermont was the nature.
- Waterfalls! We did Glenn Moss and Bingham for a swim, but saw many more, and there are plenty!
- The real joy in Vermont was honestly though the road itself. The freeways there aren't so great, but that's okay, because you drive through so many beautiful towns, old towns, small towns, history, you'll see waterfalls, bridges, old barns, beautiful forests, rivers, etc. We did a lot of driving there but not one moment was boring, the road was beautiful and we drove slow when we could to really breathe it all in.
Lincolnville, ME
- This was another bout of sheer luck, I wanted to do something special to make up for staying in a Motel 6 (which turned out fine anyway) for my girlfriend, and sort of just browsed Airbnb by map looking for affordable ocean front places in Maine. Again we wanted to avoid the big city, and knew we'd be flying out of Portland ME at the end anyway, so we'd have a chance to see it. I lowered the price filter to under $120 and a little town called Lincolnville in the north popped up. It was a place called Beach Cottage Inn, and after a few reviews, I decided the place was going to be our final stay for our New England adventure, and it did not disappoint.
- Lincolnville itself became more than a base, we really enjoyed walking around the small water front, checking out the few shops, talking to locals, swimming in the surprisingly warm water (Acadia National Park beach was bone chilling cold!), eating fresh lobster, drinking wine on the ocean, and having our last meal at the Whale's Tooth Pub which was built in 1777 and right next to our cottage inn.
- Camden was right down the road, a decent amount bigger, we spent some time on the water front, had dinner there one night, and just enjoyed the vibe walking around learning about the town.
- Of course you will be going to Acadia National Park, my advice here is to not get on the tour bus, parking is a little difficult in some spots, but if you don't mind some walking we really enjoyed driving ourselves around rather than being at the whim of the bus.
- Portland was a great final stop. We left Lincolnville early to give it almost a full day, one last New England Clam chowder, a stop at one of the light houses, a stop in Cheese Louise, a restaurant that only serves grilled cheese! I wasn't hungry but forced myself to enjoy it. The old historic part of town was nice even with the rain, and had we been there longer I'm sure a night out here is great.
- Leaving Portland Airport there was a final option to buy a live lobster to bring home... I'm failing the readers here to say we didn't do it... I have no idea how that works with your carry on? Or checked bag? But they do sell them in the terminal!
General New England Road Trip Tips
- We got lucky a lot during this trip, it rains a lot any time of year there and we had rain, but never had to change day plans for it, we definitely had to go to the beach earlier or chill at a lunch spot longer with rain, so just expect it, it's part of New England, have rain plans.
- New England is OLD. I always thought where I grew up in NYC was a historical part of the country, but the 150 year old tenements in NYC would be new buildings in some parts of New England, enjoy the history, and take your time, some buildings that are over 300 years old won't advertise it blatantly but when you walk slow or talk to the locals you learn more of the history.
- Fall is the most popular time and summer when we went is second, we had little to no issue with crowds or traffic. A few spots in Acadia national park but otherwise it was very smooth sailing, this historical part of USA is still not totally main stream for summer visitors so enjoy it while you can!
- As mentioned I'd recommend the small towns more than anything else, if you are from a small town maybe you can mix it up with a night in Boston or Portland, but I feel like staying in the little cottages, inns, and school bus made for a much better feeling of the region.
- Pack something warm if you are going in summer. We left 120 degree Phoenix and for the most part had nice summer weather but some mornings or evenings especially if you are going to go boating a warm sweater will help!
- Take random stops in the towns. I live in the west coast where you jump on the freeway and won't see a town the whole way city to city, New England roads will force you to drive thru towns. We made too many stops to mention for coffee or a snack in old historical towns that I'll probably never be able to point out on a map, but made for great stops rather than a random gas station on the I-10 freeway.
- Don't wait for the perfect time, do it when you can. I lived next to New England for 25 years and besides Boston for work and Connecticut for family I never really made it there. I always said I will one day. I've talked about this many times on this travel blog. One perfect day may never come. Be spontaneous and do it when you can, even if you can't see everything. Any part of this road trip would have made for a special memory had we not been able to do the whole thing. Travel today while you can because you never know, especially in Covid times, when you will never be able to again.
What is the oldest bar in the United States? The White Horse Tavern is forever etched now in my memory, along with the last sip of whiskey there. That simple question made for one of the best road trips I could have ever imagined. Eternally grateful!
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| Random street in Maine |
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