What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's New England

In 2004, the Big Dig, Boston's massive highway-construction job (now in its 16th year) turned for home. The $14.6 billion Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel project (its formal name) moved from tunnel and bridge construction to demolition of the elevated expressway. The parks, surface roads, and buildings that will replace the hideous green structure will be in the works when you visit. Boston's MBTA (tel. 617/222-3200; www.mbta.com) transit authority raised fares on all of its train, bus, and ferry lines in 2004.

Significantly, in 2004 Massachusetts enacted a smoking ban in all state workplaces, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs.

Changes were afoot in Boston's hotel mix, as well. The Irish brand Jurys Doyle has opened its first U.S. property outside Washington, D.C., the Jurys Hotel Boston, 350 Stuart St. (tel. 866/JD-HOTELS; www.jurysdoyle.com). Kimpton Boutique Hotels opened the posh Onyx Hotel, 155 Portland St. (tel. 866/660-6699; www.onyxhotel.com), near Boston's North Station.

Tours of storied Fenway Park, 4 Yawkey Way (tel. 617-226-6666; www.redsox.com), are now available year-round. The Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum, (tel. 617/338-1773; www.bostonteapartyship.com) closed after a fire in 2001 but was set to reopen in 2004; if you wish to visit, call ahead to ensure it's open. Dreams of Freedom, a museum of immigration not far from the Freedom Trail, has closed.

In 2004, James Levine replaced Seiji Ozawa as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (tel. 617/266-1492 or 617/CONCERT for program information; www.bso.org). Finally, a decrepit Theater District landmark was transformed into the Opera House, 539 Washington St. (tel. 617/880-2400), which reopened in 2004 with a splashy production of The Lion King.

Side Trips From Boston

Salem's Peabody Essex Museum, East India Sq. (tel. 800/745-4054 or 978/745-9500; www.pem.org), has attracted international attention with its new wing, which incorporates an 18th-century home imported from China and reassembled in America.

Cape Cod

Major renovation work on the Salt Pond Visitors' Center (tel. 508/255-3421) in Eastham is expected to be completed by the fall of 2004. The visitor center will be closed during the renovation, but visitors will still be able to walk the trails and obtain maps at a temporary visitor booth. If you're traveling onward to Provincetown, visit the Province Lands Visitors Center (tel. 508/487-1256), with similar displays and programs.

Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket

For those going to Martha's Vineyard, check out the new fast ferry from Rhode Island to Oak Bluffs that makes the trip in 90 minutes and avoids Cape Cod traffic jams. Vineyard Fast Ferry Company (tel. 401/295-4040; www.vineyardfastferry.com) runs this seasonal high-speed catamaran, called Millennium, which leaves from Quonset Point in North Kingston. The round-trip cost is $48 for adults and $36 for children.

Another new option for Vineyard vacationers is a high-speed ferry from New Bedford to the island. For schedule and fare details, contact the Steamship Authority (tel. 508/477-8600; www.steamshipauthority.com).

The Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street, Nantucket (tel. 508/228-1894), one of the region's top attractions, is undergoing a major renovation which should be completed by fall of 2004. Some exhibits will be displayed at the Friends Meeting House, an 1838 historic property at 7 Fair Street, during the renovation. For details, call tel. 508/228-1894.

A new Nantucket inn, The Veranda House at 3 Step Lane (tel. 508/228-0695; www.theverandahouse.com), is a superb renovation of a historic building. The owners have remade this 20-room inn into a stylish version of a classic guesthouse. The inn is located in a quiet neighborhood, a short walk from the center of town. After a fire destroyed the 200-year old Tisbury Inn in Vineyard Haven in 2001, the fate of the property was uncertain. But it reopened last year as the Mansion House Inn, 9 Main Street, Vineyard Haven (tel. 800/332-4112 or 508/693-2200), a luxury 32-room inn. The three-story building is once again a community hub, with a restaurant, health club, and shops.

Central & Western Massachusetts

Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble St. (tel. 413/637-1199) has completed its move to a new complex closer to Lenox center. With two new theaters, it has expanded its season, now running from May to December. In Northampton, the Smith College Museum of Art, Elm St. & Bedford Terrace (tel. 413/585-2760; www.smith.edu/artmuseum) has completed a three-year renovation and expansion, enhancing its reputation as one of New England's finest college museums.

A grand Art Deco cinema in Great Barrington, the Mahaiwe, Main St. & Taconic Ave. (tel. 413/528-3595) is being transformed into a year-round performing arts center. One of its first tenants was the Berkshire Opera Company.

The largest town in the southern Berkshires, Great Barrington also continues to underscore its desirability as a dining mecca with the opening of several new restaurants, including the snappy bistro Pearl's, 47 Railroad St. (tel. 413/528-7767), the giddily eclectic Helsinki Tea Company, 284 Main St. (tel. 413/528-3394), and contemporary Italian Verdura, 44-47 Railroad St. (tel. 413/528-8969).

Connecticut

To the surprise of many, Westport's ultra-luxurious Inn at National Hall, 2 Post Rd. (tel. 203/221-1351) appears to be on its last legs, as evidenced by a closed dining room and reduced staff.

In April 2003, the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, 258 Main St. (tel. 203/438-4519; www.aldrichart.org) in Ridgefield closed to begin massive renovation to the existing building and construction of large new galleries. Its mission has been changed from the exhibition of 20th Century painters and sculptors to the showcasing of works less than 5 years old.

After remaining shuttered for over two years, the Toll Gate Hill Inn, 571 Torrington Rd. (tel. 860/567-1233; www.tollgatehill.com) in Litchfield has re-opened. The restaurant, in the 1745 tavern, has already become a dining destination.

Kent, home to a prominent prep school of the same, is roiled in controversy over the recent federal recognition of the local Schaghticoke tribe. While the tiny Indian nation hasn't decided what it will do with that status, many townspeople worry that a casino is in their near future. The Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme St. (tel. 860/434-5542; www.flogris.org) in Old Lyme is famed as the turn-of-the-last-century residence of painters who became known the American Impressionists. Construction of a large new gallery behind the original house has now been completed.

One of Mystic's favorite lodging places, the Inn at Mystic, Rtes 1 and 27 (tel. 860/536-9604; www.innatmystic.com) has completed a major overhaul of its honored restaurant, Flood Tide. Also in Mystic, the once-musty Whaler's Inn, 20 E. Main St. (tel. 860/536-1506; www.whalersinnmystic.com) has new owners, who have added rooms and rehabilitated old ones in the five structures that comprise the inn.

Smoking is now banned in public places throughout the state, including bars and restaurants.

Rhode Island

Providence's dining scene continues to bloom. New owners of The Gatehouse, 4 Richmond Square (tel. 401/521-9229), having updated the menu and redecorated the entire property, opened the riotously popular Mill's Tavern, 101 N. Main St. (tel. 401/272-3331), attracting a good-looking crowd of young and middle-aged professionals. A block away is the artsy XO Café, 125 N. Main St. (tel. 401/273-9090), where the menu urges, "Life is short, order dessert first".

A fading resort hotel at the north end of Newport's famed Cliff Walk has been infused with copious amounts of money and planning to become the deluxe Chanler, 117 Memorial Blvd. (tel. 401/847-1300; www.thechanler.com). A boutique hotel with only 20 units and every reasonable service and facility, it leaped to the front of the line of local hostelries.

Rhode Island hasn't legislated against smoking -- yet -- leaving the decision to restaurateurs and innkeepers. In practice, this means smokers often find themselves confined to bars and porches.

Vermont

The Vermont Historical Society Museum, 109 State St. (tel. 802/828-2291; www.vermonthistory.org) near the Vermont State House in Montpelier has reopened after extensive renovation and expansion. In June 2004, the Vermont Raptor Center, 1781 Quechee Main St. (tel. 802/457-2779; www.ohwy.com/vt/v/vtraptct.htm) reopened in Quechee, a few miles away from its former home on a Woodstock hillside.

The American Museum of Fly Fishing (tel. 802/362-3300; www.amff.com) in Manchester had closed at press time. It is scheduled to reopen at a location near the famous Orvis store (which stocks a wide variety of fishing equipment), perhaps in 2004.

Two of the Connecticut River Valley's most interesting eateries closed in 2003. The African restaurant Karibu Tulé in White River Junction and the French La Poule à Dents in Norwich each bid their fans adieu.

Middlebury's Swift House Inn, 25 Stewart Lane (tel. 802/388-9925; www.swifthouseinn.com), has been purchased by owners who bring a new spirit to the place (as well as renovations and a reopened dining room). Expect the experience here to get better and better.

New Hampshire

The biggest news here was the collapse of the Old Man of the Mountains in Franconia Notch during a 2003 storm. There are no plans at present to reconstruct the famous rock profile, long identified with New Hampshire.

On New Castle Island just outside Portsmouth, the resort Wentworth by the Sea, P.O. Box 860, Wentworth Rd. (tel. 866/240-6313), has reopened after being boarded up for years, and it's now the classiest lodging on the New Hampshire coast. There are more than 160 rooms, with 17 additional luxury units to come in 2004; there's also a full-service spa, two pools, and a wonderful dining room.

In Manchester, the Currier Gallery of Art has renamed itself the Currier Museum of Art, 201 Myrtle Way (tel. 603/669-6144; www.currier.org), crafted a new logo, and made a series of other changes as well to raise its profile and improve its facilities.

In the lakes region, Meredith's sprawling, classy Inn at Mills Falls, 312 Daniel Webster Hwy. (tel. 800/622-6455; www.millfalls.com), is expanding-again. The new Church Landing facility opens in 2004 with 58 luxury rooms and suites in Adirondack style, fitted into a converted church right on the lakeshore. The facility will also incorporate a conference center and upscale health club. Finally, the White Mountains' Bretton WoodsResort, Route 302, Bretton Woods (tel. 800/314-1752; www.brettonwoods.com), has added Olympic medalist Bode Miller to its ski facility's staff, tapping Miller to be director of skiing. A new section of runs at the resort known as Rosebrook features "Bode's Run," an expert trail partly designed by Miller.

Maine

On the southern coast of Maine, Peter and Kate Morency have renovated and updated the former Seascapes fine-dining restaurant in Cape Porpoise; it's now known as the Pier 77 Restaurant, 77 Pier Rd. (tel. 207/967-8500), but still serves a continental menu.

In 2003, Kennebunk's esteemed White Barn Inn, 37 Beach Ave. (tel. 207/967-2321; www.whitebarninn.com), acquired a handful of cottages on the tidal Kennebunk River, a bit down the road from the main inn, and will shortly be developing a wharf on that site to encourage boating interests. The cottages are cozy, nicely equipped with modern kitchens and bathrooms, and will continue to see future upgrades. The inn's restaurant was recently selected as one of America's top inn restaurants by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.

Two major hotels cut their ribbons in Portland's Old Port section in 2003. The luxury Portland Harbor Hotel, 468 Fore St. (tel. 888/798-9090; www.theportlandharborhotel.com), based around a central garden and in the heart of the neighborhood's dining and nightlife, offers top-of-the-line accommodations and services. And the Hilton chain unveiled a new waterfront Hilton Garden Inn, 65 Commercial St. (tel. 207/780-0780; www.hilton.com), across from the city's ferry dock. There's hotel news in Bar Harbor, too. Converted from a family-style motel into luxury waterside accommodations, the Harborside Hotel & Marina, 55 West St. (tel. 800/328-5033), features whale-watching, a lobster restaurant, and stunning ocean views from the dining room and many of the luxury rooms.

The popular Bar Harbor B&B Sunset on West, however, has been sold and is now a private residence.

Also in Bar Harbor, the Abbe Museum -- Maine's largest Native American museum -- has created a new year-round annex (tel. 207/288-3519; www.abbemuseum.org) at 26 Mt. Desert St., in the heart of downtown, greatly adding to its exhibit space and accessibility. The original museum location, inside Acadia National Park, also remains open from May to October.

Just inland in Bangor, the former Phenix Inn has changed ownership, name, and phone number and is now the Charles Inn, 20 Broad St. (tel. 207/992-2820). It's still your best bet for a downtown hotel in the city.

The Saddleback (tel. 207/864-5761; www.vrbo.com/27691) ski resort in Rangeley has new owners, too; snowmaking is up, and even better, ticket prices are down.