You guys KILL me! I've been ROTFLMAO! Maybe y'all can arrange for your wives to go shopping during the day while YOU go visit lighthouses. Everyone could meet (or not) for dinner. Mark, if you use all 10, you're going to need a good divorce lawyer (and salt the jury with HL collectors).

All the suggestions have been excellent. The Newport Mansions give you a glimpse at life before personal income tax. (All voters should be required to make a pilgrimage there.) Portsmouth, NH is a VERY quaint old seacoast town. I'm seconding that recommendation. In Plymouth, I recommend dinner at Isaacs (EXTREMELY reasonable fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere...go there early or make reservations for 30-60 minutes before you want to eat) or the Lobster Hut for the best fried seafood around. Both of these are in Plymouth Harbor.
Boston may be worth some time, depending on what you're interested in seeing. If you're into history, the USS Constitution has GOT to be on your list. The Old State House was the original seat of the British gov't when we were a Colony. Most of the signers of our Constitution stood in this building. The Freedom Trail, Paul Revere's house, Old North Church.. Faneuil Hall - all good take-ins for anyone interested in history. Bunker Hill has a great monument and museum and is nearby. Your son is school age, right John? (I wasn't interested much in history when I was school aged, but I find it fascinating now.) If you DO spend some time in Boston, the North End has some very good italian restaurants. The Veal Saltimboca or "Chicken Special" (not on the menu, but always available) with a bottle of Corvo red at Florence's?... Bellisimo! (North Street).

Continuing with the history theme, Steve recommends Mystic Seaport and the bridge at Concord/Lexington (the shot heard 'round the world). It's a loverly area (museum too).

I'll edit this and post more later. Time to chat!!!

New England vacation tips continued.....
The Kittery, ME Outlet shopping can be overwhelming (the size, the crowds, the traffic) so try to arrange that you hit it during the week. Only total masochists should be there Columbus Day weekend. Our Columbus Day is Canada's Thanksgiving and is often Parents Weekend @ the colleges, so you can expect some problems finding on-the-fly accommodations in Northern New England. (We drove from Bennington VT to Albany NY to find a hotel room and ended up driving BACK to the Cape one Columbus Day weekend...) There's a great spot for a seafood luncheon on the left just before the bridge as you're heading north out of Kittery.

The other Maine shopping mecca, Freeport, is also a great place (especially LL Bean - open 24 hrs a day, 364 days a year).

Ogunquit, ME is a beautiful seacoast town/artist colony (expect crowds). Coastal Maine is gorgeous. The water is ALWAYS too cold in Maine for swimming (IMHO), so it won't make any difference in October anyway. We like Booth Bay too. The Black Orchid has great Italian food (dinner only).


[This message has been edited by Lorraine Healy.]