Travel in the Northeast: 3 quick getaways
Lake George: The Fort William Henry Hotel, on a hill overlooking the lake, is one of the area's better-known lodgings. Credit: Carl Heilman
Late-summer getaways recall that old Sinatra standard "September Song."
Though summer days may be dwindling to a precious few, you can still have a blast squeezing in a quick vacation before the leaves turn to gold.
With little preparation other than a full gas tank and a few hundred dollars, there's ample time in the weeks ahead to spend those waning summer days wisely -- on a beach, on a lake cruise or on a local history tour. Instead of buying school supplies, you could be cracking open a lobster on the New Hampshire seacoast, touring a classy and classic New Jersey seaside resort replete with Victorian homes or breathing in Adirondack air as you soar high above -- or cruise around -- one of New York's most scenic lake communities.
While you enjoy summer's valedictory pleasures, you may feel a touch of wistfulness with the scent of autumn air creeping in -- but that's part of the appeal this special time of year.
Here are three travel-worthy destinations, just a few hours' drive from Long Island, where you can while away those last precious days of summer sunshine.
Wedged into New Hampshire's 18-mile oceanfront along the rushing Piscataqua River, Portsmouth is the Granite State's only working seaport. It's also a little gem of a vacation spot, with a small but busy, modernized downtown (just off I-95) chock-full of cozy restaurants, independent retailers and lively pubs. History buffs will note that Portsmouth is one of the nation's oldest cities. It was settled in 1623, was a hotbed of the American Revolution and includes historic sites dating to that era. Across the border: Kittery, Maine, outlets.
About 50 miles north of Albany, just off New York State Route 87 (The Northway), Lake George is a major Adirondack playland. The 32-mile-long lake, surrounded by mountains, is dotted with islands that are visited by the local fleet. The major tourism center is the Village of Lake George at the southern end of the lake, where you'll find waterfront restaurants with elevated decks, dozens of souvenir shops and arcades, plus Million Dollar Beach, a life-guarded strand with bathhouses and food concessions.
It's on the shore and it's Jersey, but you probably won't find Snooki or The Situation hanging around this 21/2-square-mile island enclave on the Garden State's southernmost tip. "It's not the Jersey Shore you've heard about," says Doreen Talley of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May. The big attractions in this year-round resort community are the 2.3 miles of white sand beaches on the Atlantic Ocean, and the historic district's Victorian houses. Fill out your visit with a nature walk or a lighthouse tour.
