July 4th travel advice

GraftonInn-flagGraftonmainstreet (1)

The Grafton Inn offers up a good old fashioned Summer Carnival on July 3rd.

As we approach the “unofficial” start of the summer vacation season, we’re looking forward to parades, fireworks and guests arriving for July 4th weekend.  According to The Today Show, 36 million people are expected to drive to their July 4th vacation destination this year.  That’s a record breaker, probably because gas prices are the lowest they’ve been in 11 years.  We’re bracing ourselves for grumpy guests arriving after hours of traffic jams, and promise within an hour to get our guests into vacation “ahhhhh” vacation mode at our 12 distinctive inns.  After all, if your New England romantic getaway is to be filled with fireworks, you’ll want to be relaxed!

To help avoid some of the pitfalls of holiday traffic woes, we wanted to share some advice from Waze.com, Google’s community based travel and navigation app.  According to this hot new app offering directions and detours around traffic back ups, the ideal time to travel to your getaway in DINE country will be Friday, July 1 before 7:00am and Saturday, July 2nd before 11am.  And no matter what state you’re in, the worst time to be on the road to your July 4th vacation is between 3:00 to 8:00pm on Thursday or Friday.  So plan accordingly.

Because we know you want to savor your July 4th three-day weekend, we suggest turning it into a mini-vacation and extending it to Tuesday.  Waze.com tells us no matter what state you’re in the worst time to be traveling home on this July 4th weekend will be between 6:00-10:00pm, and if you’re going in and out of Boston, make that worst-time 7:00 to 10:00pm.  Why not relax for another day, enjoy the fireworks in DINE country, and enjoy one more of those scrumptious breakfasts at your DINE inn the next day.

One last piece of advice from Waze.com, according to The Today Show – while we want you to start that three-or-four day weekend as soon as possible, don’t be in too much of a hurry.  Police forces are expected to be increased by more than 25-percent over the July 4th weekend, so take it easy on your way to DINE country.

While many of our inns are filling up quickly for July 4th weekend, there’s still the chance to get in on a last minute getaway.  Be sure to call your favorite DINE inn soon to book your red, white and blue weekend.  Here’s to the “unofficial” start to summer.

Learn more about the 12 Distinctive Inns of New England by clicking below on links that will take you directly to each of their websites where your relaxing romantic getaway can begin..  In Massachusetts:  Harbor Light Inn in Marblehead, Gateways Inn & Restaurant in Lenox, Deerfield Inn in Historic Deerfield and Captain’s House Inn in Chatham on Cape Cod.

Deerfield Ted at Deerfield Inn

Look for Deerfield Ted offering a red, white and blue welcome to Deerfield Inn.

In Vermont:  Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford & Grafton Inn in Grafton

In Maine:  Captain Jefferds Inn in Kennebunkport & Camden Maine Stay Inn in Camden

In New Hampshire:  Manor on Golden Pond in Holderness & Chesterfield Inn in West Chesterfield

In Rhode Island: Cliffside Inn in Newport

In Connecticut: Inn at Harbor Hill Marina in Niantic.