Hi Tom,
I was pretty active with AYH in the late 1950s and up to about 1965.
One of the most popular AYH trips was a two week trip called the "New England Roundabout." It started with a train to Danbury, CT then a hilly ride to the Bantam Lake hostel. Then off to Sheffield, MA hostel, a cozy old farm house, except for the boys dorm, which I believe was an old chicken coup. The ride continued north into New Hampshire, across the top into Vermont, then down again to NYC, with a train from Pittsfield, MA (??). There were several variations of this ride. Great fun, and most of the teenagers did this ride with rented 3 speed English bikes.
Another popular trip was riding the length of Cape Cod, either from Buzzard's Bay north, or by ferry from Boston to Province Town and south, a week long trip. Yet another was the island hopping trip, which started in Boston, with a stop in Plymouth and on south to Haynnis, MA, then a ferry to Nantucket Island and the hostel located on the bare south coast in the middle of nowhere. A few days later, a ferry ride to Martha's Vineyard island and the West Tisbury hostel, located on the edge of a state forest and down the road from the airport.
A third trip was a start in Boston, staying at the Dorchester hostel (south Boston and very Irish), then off to stops in Marble Head and Gloucester, after that my memory goes blank.
A trip down memory lane,
Michael Allison
NYC