Road trip help

[NYGman]

Help... TL;DR road trip plans shot, need help with a destination in the NE (Vermont, Maine, NH, RI, even upstate NY). Hoping local knowledge may find us an out of the way place to disconnect and unwind for a bit, must be kid friendly. History a plus, baseball++ (and Cooperstown is on the list for on the way there)

Now for the background...
So I had planned an amazing road trip to Mt. Rushmore from NY with stops in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minneapolis, Deadwood, Nashville, Gettysburg, Baltimore, and home, only to be Scuttled by bad timing and Sturgis Bike Rally going on the weekend I was to be in Deadwood. While I have no qualms about bikers, wife isn't going for it. Fine, change of plan, southern route to New Orleans and Texas, all mapped out, now COVID is up in every state along the way, and Louisiana has a very low vaccinated rate, and unfortunately my two boys are too young to get a vaccine. Wife isn't thrilled about that option now due to rates going up and Delta spread.

Now it looks like the NE is our only option, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, RI. Upstate NY is also an option but would prefer an out of state destination, feels more vacation like. I Would also have said Massachusetts, but she just said it isn't looking great there either, so removing that from my list. I am stuck with 2 weeks off coming up soon, and want to go somewhere. Can be a few places, off the beaten path, and North East from me. Anyone have and ideas, other than Cope Cod, Boston, which was where I was heading until this morning, damn news articles.

There must be some interesting, fun, peaceful, entertaining places to go. Just looking for some suggestions.

[JamesVincent]

If you're going to Cooperstown anyway you have to visit:
https://www.ommegang.com/

[NYGman]

If you're going to Cooperstown anyway you have to visit:
https://www.ommegang.com/

Tours and tastings are temporarily suspended

everything conspires against me.

[wserra]

Just a wonderful place for young kids, in a gorgeous area (NE Vermont) with lots to do outdoors: the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, VT. We went there nearly every year when our kids were between 5 and 12 or so years old. Really can't recommend too highly. Only caveat: we haven't been there in many years. Looks the same from site.

[Burnaby49]

Why not do your originally planned trip but just skip Deadwood?

[JamesVincent]

If you're going to Cooperstown anyway you have to visit:
https://www.ommegang.com/

Tours and tastings are temporarily suspended

everything conspires against me.

Saw that but the cafe and offices are still open, just limited hours. Sucks that the tours are closed though, it's a gorgeous place.

[LaVidaRoja]

If you REALLY want to get away from EVERYTHING, try Nicatocious (SP?)
Lodge and Camps just outside Burlington, Maine. On a big lake (2nd largest in state) canoeing, fishing, a few beaches within walking distance of lodge. AFAIK, up to 3 meals per day may be included. Otherwise, cabins have kitchens, etc. PEACE is the name of the game.

[Pottapaug1938]

Try the Waterbury-Stowe corridor. Ben & Jerry's is there, as well as the Trapp Family Lodge, the Cold Hollow Cider press, and (my personal favorite) The Alchemist Brewery in Stowe. The Prohibition Pig, in Waterbury, is a great restaurant.

[NYGman]

Thanks for all the suggestions, quite helpful. Think I may have also got Massachusetts back, but will see.

As to why not just cut out Deadwood, the whole wild west, Badlands, Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore was the highlight, and several days of the trip, and we still want to do it, so postponing that for another route seemed better than cutting out the highlight, and actually we tried to adjust the route to include New Orleans as highlight, but then existing route took to long, so scrapped it and planned new southern trip instead. Honestly some of the stops on the Wild West road trip would also be problematic now for Covid rates, so while the rally was the original reason, the new reason applies to both, making the NE the best option this year. Although one of my boys is trying to come up with new inventive ways to get the vaccine early. He is now on a hunt for an unvaccinated 12yr old, he can pretend to be.

[Pottapaug1938]

If Massachusetts is in, Plimoth Patuxet is well worth a trip (but avoid Plymouth Rock! It's bound to be disappointing), as is Old Sturbridge Village. The Freedom Trail is also worthwhile. Salem is also fun to explore.

In the western part of the state, we have the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield; we have the Quabbin Reservoir between there and Worcester, created as Boston's water supply by flooding four towns and parts of several others. Parts of the ghost towns are still above water, and fun to explore (especially Dana, in the northeast, which contains the pond from whence I get my handle here). In fact, if my schedule works, I could give you a guided tour of one of the parts of the towns.

Mt. Greylock and Mt. Wachusett are worth a visit; and if you're into craft beer, Tree House in Monson, Wormtown in Worcester, and Trillium in Canton (my son is a manager there) are excellent.

Avoid Cape Cod at all costs, unless you love sitting in traffic jams.

[JohnPCapitalist]

Other random ideas, based on your mention of smaller kids. Thus, I'm leaving out art galleries and historic stuff in Western MA...

• Catamount ski area has a zip line in the summer. I've done that one and enjoyed it as an out-of-shape late 50's geezer. They're right on the border of NY and MA.
• If you're going to Cooperstown NY, you could check out the nearby Howe Caverns.
• White water rafting in the Berkshires on the Deerfield River at Zoar Outdoor (town = Charlemont). It's Class II water and they allow ages 7+, so it's relatively easy. I have done Class III/IV with no experience in Idaho and survived OK, so Class II is pretty easy. Zoar Outdoor also has a zip line course.

[Pottapaug1938]

If you are going after the beginning of September, the New England Base Camp, in Milton, is a great place to visit on Saturday. We run a great outdoor program -- and I run the axe yard, where you are taught which tool to use for which job and then how to use it safely; and if you're into camping, there are tent sites and cabins. You can also try the ropes course, the outdoor cooking area, the BB and archery ranges, the indoor pool, and much more.

Boston is not far away, so you can use it as a place to stay while you visit.

[Number Six]

I'd recommend the critical locations historically such as Salem, MA and the Herman Melville homestead in Pittsfield. In Vermont I'd recommend Ethan Allen themed places around Burlington, VT. I'm not sure what to recommend in NH, I've hike the A/T there and all the 4000 foot mountains; NH seems to have been a magnet for hardcore anti government people. Maine is always beautiful in the summer, I worked and travelled widely there.