This weekend, I had a little time away from Philly as I was in a good friend of mine’s wedding up in Manchester, Vermont. It’s a cool thing to be in someone’s special day, but I also got the unique opportunity to road trip through the entirety of New England in a single day. Let me tell you, New England is pretty dope. There are trees, and mooses, and good beer, and cheap liquor. There are some fun cities, but there are also some not some fun ones. And like every region of countries there are good states, and there are bad states. Here are my power rankings of the states that I drove through as I traversed Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
6.) Rhode Island
Sorry to all 7 people who live in Rhode Island, but your state comes in at the bottom of the New England power rankings. Providence was actually pretty cool, it’s on the water and Narragansett Brewery is there, which is one of my favorites in the area. There’s just not all that much else going on. It took me less time to drive across Rhode Island than it does for me to go 5 exits on I76 sometimes. I guess the biggest draw of RI is… nope, I’ve got nothing.
5.) Connecticut
Connecticut is mainly ahead of Rhode Island because it’s a bigger Rhode Island. Everyone I saw in Connecticut looked they had just fallen out of a J.Crew ad, which was interesting. I stopped by New Haven, which is chill, and they actually have multiple cities unlike Rhode Island, but it feels like all the rich people from New York who don’t want to move to North Jersey move to CT when they’re tired of city life. The whole state is kind of a boujee suburb of NYC.
4.) New Hampshire
New Hampshire’s state motto is “Live Free Or Die” and they certainly live free up there. The coolest thing about my time in NH was the state liquor stores every 10 miles with shelves full of tax-free alcohol. That’s awesome. It’s got much better nature/outdoor activities than Connecticut or Rhode Island, but it just feels a little less put together than its neighbors to the East and West. Kinda like the Alabama of New England. That being said, bigger and cooler than RI and CT.
3.) Massachusetts
Ok, so I do not like the people of Massachusetts, mainly for sports related reasons. They’ve had it too good for too long and I love to watch them lose and complain in their accents that “Tahm Brady was bettah at footbahh”. That being said, Boston is a cool city right on the water, and if you can get over the sports hate, there are some cool cities in Mass with a lot of history. I can’t put it any higher on principle, but definitely can see myself visiting again and seeing some of the smaller towns.
2.) Maine
Maine was such a cool state to drive through. It legitimately felt like I was in Canada, which makes sense since it’s further North than some points in Canada. The scenery was beautiful, Portland is a delightful little city, the local beers were good, it was just a nice place to visit. I don’t think I could ever live in Maine; even the big cities aren’t all that big, but I can see why people who love the outdoors would. Only downside was that there were a bunch of signs on the highway saying “Moose Crossing”. I was terrified I was going to run into some meese but luckily I made it out unscathed.
1.) Vermont
The Green Mountain State. No doubt why that’s the state nickname. Vermont is strikingly beautiful, but in a different way than Maine. Where Maine is woodsy with lakes, the elevation changes in VT are amazing. The skiing in the winter is amazing from what I’ve heard, and also they’re home to Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream which is an immediate boost in my book. The wedding I was in was on a small lake at the foot of a mountain and it was incredible. If you’re heading to New England and want to really experience the best of it, Vermont is my number 1 state to visit.
