Hobby shops driving south to Boston

[AcadiaRockets]

Like the title says. I am driving south from Downeast Maine to Boston this weekend.
I literally have never been in a rocket carrying hobby shop (Hobby Lobby does not count).
Are there any shops between my point A and B?
I wish to gaze upon a wall of rockets, run my fingers through endless engine possibilities. etc.
Being in a rural area I can't even begin to entertain a bigger engine purchase with out calculating Hazmat shipping.
Thanks for any guidance.

 

[pathtouch]

Off I-95 exit 53 is Ray & Robins in Falmouth. They have an okay selection of Estes kits and motors. I’m nearby and I still order most my stuff online unfortunately. I always make sure to buy at least one thing there to keep supporting them though. They really focus on remote control cars, planes, and helicopters. Rockets share the aisle with doll hiuses
No high power stuff unfortunately.

 

[KennB]

Not on the direct route from Maine to Boston but not too far west in Massachusetts (considering how far you would have driven so far), these two get a lot of chatter amongst the CMASS crowd:

The Hobby Emporium

Spare Time Shop

 

[KennB]

There are also a couple of stores of the Hobby Town chain in the area:

Turn 4 Hobby Town, West Boylston, MA

Hobby Town, Londonderry, NH

Pratt Hobby Shop is close to I-95 but has a pretty small selection of Estes model and motors.

 

[dr wogz]

What exactly are you looking forward to seeing?

• A wall of LPR? Other than Estes / Quest?
• A wall of MPR? and related Aerotech Singled Use motors (24mm & 29mm)?
• A wall of HPR? with a few that straddle the MPR / HPR range? (and HPR motors; either single use or reloads, in the 29 - 38mm range?)

Top-end MPR & HPR rockets & motors are getting into a niche market, and I doubt any 'brick & mortar' hobby shops these days will be hosting a wall dedicated to it. Maybe a kit or two from LOC or Aerotech (MPR), but I feel that would be about it. And motors to suit these kits only.

I've often thought the same thing, and this is coming from a guy in the large city of Montreal. And only in Montreal did I have a shop that had a wall of MPR & HPR rockets (A few LOC & pretty much the whole Aerotech line + "Hobby line" motors) No where else did I find 'a selection' to browse thru. Even from Toronto, Kingston, Orlando and Boston, the results were the same, if they had anything other than Estes.. One or two kits, and usually dusty..

Remember as well, that AP motors require added regulation to store & sell.. So not everyone is willing to carry them.

Plan the drive out to an event, and support the local vendors at said event. Those you can thumb thru their offerings of kits & motors & such (Tim's [Wildman] trailer is "pornography"!! )
URRG in NY in late June
MDRA in Maryland
And we get Mike from MAC Performance up to our field in July (upper VT) - but he doesn't 'bring the store' with him..


FYI:
Motors are best purchased for the year: one shot. This means only one HAZMAT fee & one shipping fee, amortized over the dozen or 2 dozen motors.. But you will need to put out $200, $500, $750 on this one-time order.. A high initial expense, but it does work out to be cheaper over the year.. (A lot of us take advantage of Tim's [Wildman] club & his 'Black Friday' sale)

 

[AcadiaRockets]

What exactly are you looking forward to seeing?

• A wall of LPR? Other than Estes / Quest?
• A wall of MPR? and related Aerotech Singled Use motors (24mm & 29mm)?
• A wall of HPR? with a few that straddle the MPR / HPR range? (and HPR motors; either single use or reloads, in the 29 - 38mm range?)

Top-end MPR & HPR rockets & motors are getting into a niche market, and I doubt any 'brick & mortar' hobby shops these days will be hosting a wall dedicated to it. Maybe a kit or two from LOC or Aerotech (MPR), but I feel that would be about it. And motors to suit these kits only.

I've often thought the same thing, and this is coming from a guy in the large city of Montreal. And only in Montreal did I have a shop that had a wall of MPR & HPR rockets (A few LOC & pretty much the whole Aerotech line + "Hobby line" motors) No where else did I find 'a selection' to browse thru. Even from Toronto, Kingston, Orlando and Boston, the results were the same, if they had anything other than Estes.. One or two kits, and usually dusty..

Remember as well, that AP motors require added regulation to store & sell.. So not everyone is willing to carry them.

Plan the drive out to an event, and support the local vendors at said event. Those you can thumb thru their offerings of kits & motors & such (Tim's [Wildman] trailer is "pornography"!! )
URRG in NY in late June
MDRA in Maryland
And we get Mike from MAC Performance up to our field in July (upper VT) - but he doesn't 'bring the store' with him..


FYI:
Motors are best purchased for the year: one shot. This means only one HAZMAT fee & one shipping fee, amortized over the dozen or 2 dozen motors.. But you will need to put out $200, $500, $750 on this one-time order.. A high initial expense, but it does work out to be cheaper over the year.. (A lot of us take advantage of Tim's [Wildman] club & his 'Black Friday' sale)

Thanks, I have realistic expectations. I was just hoping to see rocket anything on this trip along the way. I don't have time to go WAY out of my way but a couple of the shops mentioned above could be visited if for no other reason to support some small hobby shops which I feel is important in of itself.
I am comfortably in MPR heading to HPR. I dropped a cool 1K with Tim at the black friday /wed sale. (feel better Tim) I would LOVE to see Wildman's trailer! (Ya gotta know from my original post that is EXACTLY what I want to see someday (insert drooling here)
I am green enough though to want to see a selection of mpr/hpr stuff but I know I won't see that unless I do a dedicated trip to a big national launch. Also I am trying get a group order in with some of our club to offset some Hazmat stuff too.
I appreciate everyone's suggestions for this mini trip for what it is. Thanks!

 

[pathtouch]

Thanks, I have realistic expectations. I was just hoping to see rocket anything on this trip along the way. I don't have time to go WAY out of my way but a couple of the shops mentioned above could be visited if for no other reason to support some small hobby shops which I feel is important in of itself.
I am comfortably in MPR heading to HPR. I dropped a cool 1K with Tim at the black friday /wed sale. (feel better Tim) I would LOVE to see Wildman's trailer! (Ya gotta know from my original post that is EXACTLY what I want to see someday (insert drooling here)
I am green enough though to want to see a selection of mpr/hpr stuff but I know I won't see that unless I do a dedicated trip to a big national launch. Also I am trying get a group order in with some of our club to offset some Hazmat stuff too.
I appreciate everyone's suggestions for this mini trip for what it is. Thanks!

I’ll be visiting MDI in May, let me know when if you guys are buying any HPR motors and I’d love to join a group buy and help you split Hazmat fees.

 

[dr wogz]

Our club does this too; a group / club order. We all order, then it all goes to one address. Again, even cheaper on the shipping & HAZMAT! Just remember, it's 1 HAZAMT per box.. and a box typically tops out at about 75lbs..

Stop in at a 'California Pizza Kitchen' when in Boston. We always try to hit a 'CPK' when we drive thru the US..

And Mikes Pastries !!! Killer Cannolies!!

https://www.cpk.com/https://www.mikespastry.com/

 

[pathtouch]

Mike’s Lobster tails are also one of my favorite pastries!

Another thought, if you are thinking of going dual deploy anytime soon, Kittery Trading Post has FFFFG Goex black powder in stock so you could stop there and grab some on the way home. Don’t drive into Mass with it, I’m sure it would break some laws if it’s not locked up. I think ammunition is supposed to be in a locked container driving into that state.