You may not think of Martha’s Vineyard as a winter getaway, but you should. In early February, my wife, Grace, and I escaped the New Hampshire winter for a weekend in Edgartown, Massachusetts. It wasn’t the kind of island retreat most often thought of when the snow flies. But it suited us just fine. The […]
Massachusetts
A Perfect Weekend In (Greater) Boston
Can you get the full Boston experience in one weekend? Probably not. But that’s okay. It just means you’ll have to make a return visit.
Boston Tea Party Chest | Local Treasure
A simple chest that once held dolls, clothes, and kittens helps tell the story of the Boston Tea Party and a nation’s birth.
Ship’s Cabin | The Most Unusual Room in New England
On the top floor of the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts, is a once-secret room soaked in the legacy of the sea and the ships’ captains who sailed into history. [slideshow post_id=”554455″] On Columbus Day weekend 2013 my friend John Wigglesworth meets me in downtown Salem, Massachusetts, outside the historic Hawthorne Hotel. He’s taking me […]
Interview with Stacy Schiff, Author of The Witches
Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer whose latest book, The Witches, examines the many mysteries and misconceptions about the Salem Witch Trials. I caught up with Stacy at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to learn a bit more about the challenges and surprises she encountered during the four-and-a-half-year process of compiling and […]
A visit to the “Brooklyn of the Berkshires” town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, including a stay at Hotel on North and afternoon at Hancock Shaker Village.
The Witches | History of the Salem Witch Trials
We’ve all heard the story of the Salem witch trials. When two young girls became ill and began throwing themselves about in fits of madness, they were diagnosed as having been bewitched. One accusation sparked another, neighbor turned on neighbor, and family bonds quickly unraveled, culminating in the unjust execution of 19 people who had […]
Beacon Hill | New England’s Gifts
Useful stuff from 80 years of Yankee: May 1979 One must walk, not ride, to really savor the character of Beacon Hill. One of the finest times to complete a tour is at dusk—along narrow, cobbled Acorn Street perhaps, or Branch, softly illuminated by gaslamps below, while overhead the building tops are still caught in […]
Durgin–Park | New England’s Gifts
At Boston’s Durgin–Park, you take a seat in the restaurant’s original North Market location (today part of Faneuil Hall Marketplace) and enjoy the same kind of meal—pot roast, baked beans, Indian pudding—that diners did when the place first opened in 1827. You may even experience the same sometimes-bawdy, often-sarcastic service that has made Durgin–Park a […]
Charmed by Chatham | A Picturesque Cape Cod Town
As the end of August approaches, many of us are hopping into the car to enjoy one of the final weekends of summer. Seeking rest and relaxation, trips are motivated by the hopes of capturing those satisfying moments of a quintessential New England summer: time by the ocean, breathing in salt air, and feasting on […]
Mary Rowlandson | The Legend of Redemption Rock
On May 2, 1676, almost exactly 100 years before America declared its own independence, another kind of liberty was won. On that day, the freedom of one woman who had spent three months on a heart-wrenching, harrowing journey in Native American captivity, was finally returned to her. Her name was Mary Rowlandson, and today, we refer to this fateful […]
Boston Harbor Islands | National Recreation Area
Unlike most National Parks and despite its proximity to the city, a visit to the Boston Harbor Islands can still feel like a secret escape.