My comments were meant all in good fun—here in MA there is a friendly rivalry between the Inside Rt 95/93 folks and the rest of the state to the west—no malice intended!!
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I can vouch for this - people in the Boston metro area - do not believe that the rest of the state exists!
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I’m coincidentally on Cape Cod right now visiting family. It’s really lovely, lots of quaint villages and rustic beaches. We’ve been to Martha’s Vineyard a few times and have talked about Nantucket (a much longer ferry ride), but I’m not a big fan of all the parking/ferry logistics.
I would recommend renting a bike and taking a ride on one of the many bike trails. One example- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zmwIJ2oWNM0
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And H & I are on our way to Central MA! Staying tonight in Northampton so will have dinner there and spend part of the day tomorrow wandering around before meeting D & her family at an Airbnb nearby so we can babysit GS while they go to a couple of concerts. Haven’t been in that area since we took D to visit Smith in 2008. She now lives in the Boston area, so we visit at least once a year (always a road trip!) and try to visit other places in the area - Cape Cod once (loved it but traffic was so bad) and Berkshires a couple of times. Always enjoy our trips to MA!
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I live in Central Mass, which I’d define as Worcester County. The Berkshires aren’t in Central Mass. Northampton and Amherst are in Hamden County and part of the Pioneer Valley.
Places to see: Old Sturbridge Village, Fruitlands Museum, New England Botanic Garden, Worcester Art Museum, EcoTarium (science/nature museum). Lots of hiking trails: Purgatory Chasm, Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Quabbin Reservoir, and Mt. Wachusetts (there’s also a ski area there).
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My S22 at WPI, and I’ll just echo the thumbs up for Old Sturbridge Village, Worcester Art Museum, and Purgatory Chasm - all of which we’ve done either while visiting him or en route and thoroughly enjoyed. (I’ll admit being very surprised by how much I enjoyed the Worcester Art Museum, I did not have particularly high expectations and it was lovely.)
Thank you for giving us a few more things to check out this year - we’re going to be there for a good period of time with out of town family in the Spring for graduation, so this may give us some extra things to do with the younger nieces and nephews who will definitely not want to do all the other stuff. 
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What’s nice about the Worcester Art Museum is that it is manageable—you can see lots of neat stuff without feeling completely worn out at the end, rushing to finish and not appreciating the art as a result.
Megamuseums often have amazing stuff, but you have to pick and choose what you want to see. Example, when we visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, we had decided beforehand what we wanted to see, and spent lots of time in those galleries.
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Those are great areas but I’m less familiar with them. If given a 4th spot, I’d suggest the Berkshires.
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Arizona. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West
Grand Canyon, North and South Rims
Michigan (where I live)
Mackinac Island, Grand Hotel
Frederick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids
All the others already mentioned
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Maine (it’s really hard to pick just three places):
Bar Harbor / Acadia National Park
Camden
Mount Bigelow / Flagstaff Lake (you won’t find this listed anywhere, probably, but it gives you a good idea of how pretty the rest of the state is, not just the coast - often we don’t see any people at all when we go to a secluded beach on Flagstaff)
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I would add Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. We went on a full-day tour with a Navajo guide. Wow. I think that was my favorite place and we drove all over the state.
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Connecticut -
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Lower Connecticut River Valley (below Middletown), named by the Nature Conservancy as one of the 50 Last Great Places on Earth. Best experienced by water - anything from a canoe or kayak to a cruise boat. Attractions include the Goodspeed Opera House, featuring revivals of American musicals; Gillette’s Castle, century old reproduction of a Rhine River castle overlooking the river; The Kate, a concert hall in Old Saybrook; Florence Griswold art museum in Old Lyme; historic villages of Essex and Chester, both with great restaurants, and quieter villages of East Haddam and Middle Haddam.
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Stonington Borough - a mini Newport except that it’s not a tourist trap but a living, breathing community of old sea captains homes. A peninsula surrounded by water. An active fishing fleet. A light house that is now a museum. Nice restaurants.
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Noank - East of New London, a hidden gem that screams New England coastal village, all on a quaint little peninsula of older homes, populated by retirees and fishermen. Three delightful seafood restaurants on the water: Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough, Costello’s Clam Shack next door, and Harings Noank.
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Fun suggestions. All new places to me. (Grew up in NY, visited family in CT near Danbury. Attend annual family reunions on the pretty Housatonic River near Sandy Hook.)
Best Lobster Roll I have ever had - very cool place - been several times. Nearby is The Book Barn - the greatest used book store ever - totally worth a visit.
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If you’re ever in the area try Lobster Landing in Clinton. The best IMO.
This summer, Connecticut Magazine ranked the state’s best lobster rolls. Abbott’s was a finalist, but Lobster Landing finished ahead of it as the runner up in the contest to Monroe Social, this year’s champion. 
That of course means nothing. 
It’s all personal taste. And I have to say that I’d never vote for a restaurant in Monroe or any other inland location for “best lobster roll”. Lobster has to be eaten by the water to be fully appreciated IMO. 
And both Lobster Landing and Abbott’s are right on the water. The lobster practically crawled out of the lobster pot in which it was caught in the Sound and onto your plate.
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