East Coast Quaint towns

[CapeCodTenor]

Are you looking to visit, or move? You might want to try Cape Cod. Lot's of small towns there. One, the one I live in, is Barnstable. This is a town made up of 7 small villages (pulled together for the schools, police and fire dept's, but each seperate when it comes to voting on issues relating to each villiage), each with there own little main street. Some of the villages have Christmas strolls where businesses will open up in the evening and offer cookies, hot cider and some will hire musicians, my wife plays the harp and is usually hired by a shoe store for one of these stolls. The villages of Barnstabe are:
West Barnstable
Barnstabe
Marstons Mills
Centerville
Hyannis (where the Kennedy compound is)
Cotuit
Osterville

And this is just one Town on Cape Cod...there are many more.

ETA: Take a look at www.capecod.com

 

[mtemm]

Peterborough,NH

Peterborough is very cute, but definitely not near the ocean. Its near a lake, though.

 

[mtemm]

YES! The Loaf and Ladle is definitely still there. I have to admit that I've never been, downtown is so busy these days that it's impossible to find parking. During the summer we could probably just walk downtown though. My DH used to spend a lot of time there when he went to Phillips, and you do still see the kids streaming in and out of there.

I moved to NH from southern CA when I was in college and remember reading A Separate Peace again after driving by Phillips Exeter because now I knew where it took place. lol.

You have to go to the Loaf and Ladle sometime...its a great lunch spot. So many cute little places in Exeter.

 

[goofy!]

.....

 

[NHDisneyKid]

mtmmm, A Separate Peace and also A Prayer for Owen Meany (which was also adapted, loosely, into the movie Simon Birch). I live in such a literate town, I love it! I love the Academy, even though I didn't go there, I always loved the setting and the buildings. My DH finished school there in 1991 and it has changed SOOO much, it's huge! They have some nice donors, like John Knowles and John Irving!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

You can tell I've lived in NH all my life when I read this thred, and all I can think is: Portsmouth is a city!

If you don't want to be too close to the coast, try Sandwich, Sanbornton, Franconia, or Bethlehem NH. Littleton and St Johnsbury VT are great, but they are larger towns.

Jen

 

[mtemm]

mtmmm, A Separate Peace and also A Prayer for Owen Meany (which was also adapted, loosely, into the movie Simon Birch). I live in such a literate town, I love it! I love the Academy, even though I didn't go there, I always loved the setting and the buildings. My DH finished school there in 1991 and it has changed SOOO much, it's huge! They have some nice donors, like John Knowles and John Irving!

It is beautiful, isn't it? My parents lived right near Philips Andover and I ended up having my wedding on the campus, even though I didn't attend the school. It was a very pretty new england fall wedding, couldn't beat the setting!

 

[disneymcgraw]

Chatham, Mass. is a fun, cute town and we love to spend a day there every summer.

 

[tiggerlover]

Another great little town that is right near the one I posted on the first page is Sugarloaf, New York, this is a tiny little hamlet and oh so quaint. It is basically a crafters village and it is so nice there.

http://www.sugarloafnychamber.com/index.html

 

[SamRoc]

New Jersey has some beautiful coastal towns, from Cape May in the south up through Spring Lake. Lots of historic seaside homes.

 

[monarchsfan16]

You can tell I've lived in NH all my life when I read this thred, and all I can think is: Portsmouth is a city

LOL that's exactly what I was thinking. Portsmouth makes my town look nonexistent. Definitely a city.
Loads of quaint towns throughout NH though, but housing prices are if that's what you're looking for. If you're looking to visit; NH is an awesome place to vacation, and quite affordable. We have mountains, lakes, ocean, beaches, rivers, waterfalls, small amusement parks, what more could you want?

 

[JayCT]

Most of New England has towns that are quaint with village greens and white steepled churches. That is why I love it here. There is so much history, but many take it for granted. New England is expensive in general, particularly as you get closer to New York or Boston. I love the lower Connecticut River Valley. Towns like East Haddam (with the wonderful Goodspeed Opera House), Essex, and Chester are beautiful. Jay

 

[LadyBears]

Westport, MA (Westport River & Horseneck Beach)
South Dartmouth, MA
Little Compton, RI
Newport, RI

These places & other surrounding towns are great - right on the water, but less than 3 hours to the mountains for skiing, 45 minutes (ish) to Providence & maybe 1-1/2 hrs to Boston. Some places are a lot more expensive than others though.

We get a touch of all weather, but nothing usually tooo extreme.

Also, if you are into celebrities, these are the kinds of places that you never know who you will run into. I know Billy Joel, Tom Cruise, several soap stars (sorry, I don't remember all the names), & quite a few others do or have had places here that they use to get away from the hustle & bustle of their careers. You don't see them all the time though.

 

[jan/cape]

Gosh Ladybears, I live very close ,,,,I live in Marion, MA. I love hearing the fog horn at night!!! Mattaposett has a very nice village. I think I may like Mattapoisett better.
Geraldo Rivera's ex-wife grew up here and they owned a HUGE home here as well. We would see him quite often. He would take his daughters skating at Tabor Academy's rink.
Dom Demagio also summers here. James Spader grew up here, but I have only seen him a few times. His family still lives here.

 

[Dana49]

The Vermont town of Dorset is a beautiful and quaint little New England town. It's definitely worth a visit. aw:

http://www.dorsetvt.com/

 

[swilphil]

Cape May is a very pretty seaside town. It does get very touristy in the summer, but we were there in early June and it wasn't bad. I like it much better than some of the other NJ shore towns because it has lots of historic homes and B&B's instead of all the motels.

 

[Lynn CC]

I guess I would have to vote for Chatham Ma, here on Cape Cod. I live in Dennis, but spend a lot of time in Chatham. Truro, and Wellfleet are very quaint too, but a little bit farther away from the heart of Hyannis.

 

[Mermaid02]

Camden Maine. It's really pretty there- touristy in the summer though.

 

[LadyBears]

Gosh Ladybears, I live very close ,,,,I live in Marion, MA. I love hearing the fog horn at night!!! Mattaposett has a very nice village. I think I may like Mattapoisett better.
Geraldo Rivera's ex-wife grew up here and they owned a HUGE home here as well. We would see him quite often. He would take his daughters skating at Tabor Academy's rink.
Dom Demagio also summers here. James Spader grew up here, but I have only seen him a few times. His family still lives here.

I never realized that! Thanks for more local trivia!

 

[loisg1]

Mystic, CT