The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands six miles from shore in Portsmouth Harbor. A wonderful day-trip is to take the M/V “Thomas Laighton” to Star Island for a sun-splashed sea-spray picnic. Daily mid-June to Sept. $25, ages 6-12 $15. Isles of Shoals Steamship Company, 315 Market St., Portsmouth. 800-441-4620, 603-431-5500; islesofshoals.com
A guide to New Hampshire’s best ocean beaches.
Connecticut Hammonasset Beach State Park Boasting 900 acres, Hammonasset is two miles of sandy beach with mild ocean temperatures (we’ve enjoyed the sea there well into September) and a light surf, perfect for swimming, hiking, and surfcasting. More than 550 well-maintained campsites make for an inexpensive beach vacation when the big resort hotels are overflowing. […]
The New Hampshire seacoast is the Lichtenstein of New England–a small, generally overlooked principality much beloved by the few who know it, and given little thought by the rest of us. That’s ripe for change. In an era when the long weekend has replaced the two-week vacation (itself a replacement of the months-long summer sojourn […]
Twenty-eight miles long, barely four miles across at their widest point, the three bridge-linked Lake Champlain islands and one peninsula of Grand Isle County offer spectacular water’s-edge views of the Green Mountains and Adirondacks. Summer sojourners looking to enjoy Lake Champlain often head for Milton, Vermont’s Sandbar State Park, with its broad beach, safe shallow […]
Ashley Manor, Barnstable, MA Behind a removable bookshelf, a secret ladder connects the first and second floors of this Cape Cod home. Originally a refuge for Tories during the Revolution, it served a more patriotic cause before the Civil War. 3660 Main St. 888-535-2246, 508-362-8044 ashleymanor.net Samuel Fitch House, Westford, MA This home contains a […]
Connecticut Mark Twain House & Museum. Although a son of Missouri, Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) made his home in Hartford’s beautiful West End. The 90-minute tour of his Louis Tiffany-designed house will introduce visitors to Twain as a loving father, a hapless businessman, and a consummate jokester (he named his cats Famine, Pestilence, Satan, […]
This is an historical old church that was recently restored. It is on the green in historical East Poultney, VT.
Connecticut Kent. The first dilemma when visiting Kent is whether to look up to the Berkshire Hills or down at the sparkling Housatonic River. Take in both views: Hike a stretch of the Appalachian Trail, which crosses Route 341 about a mile west of downtown. Kent has attracted throngs of artists, resulting in art shows […]
We’ve all experienced the euphoria that washes over you at the beginning of a vacation to somewhere new — a little town or village tucked away in a sweet corner of the region. You pick up the real estate digests stacked at store entrances; you linger in front of the fliers posted in agency windows. […]
Gripping the wild mane of a galloping, whirling carousel horse is a memory we all share from childhood. Prized by admirers of Americana, these nostalgic mounts have been snatched up by private collectors, making complete sets almost impossible to find. But this spring, Vermont’s Shelburne Museum is pulling out of its eclectic collection a trolley-park […]
York Beach in southern Maine is more honky-tonk than exclusive coastal resort, so chef Lydia Shire’s exciting new eatery, Blue Sky, is turning heads — not just for its sleek, sexy design but also for the inspired plates coming out of the kitchen. A well-known kitchen maverick, Lydia has been wowing diners since the 1980s […]
