Just about any destination you head to in Boston takes you past the Boston Public Library on Copley Square. Don’t zip by–leave time to poke inside one of the city’s greatest structures. You just might find a day of enlightenment. The building itself is a grand bit of architecture and artwork, with structural references to […]
In Portsmouth, NH, the Press Room bar’s simple wooden tables are crowded with young and old, unified only by the bulging journals they keep close at hand and the rapt attention they pay to the poet behind the mic. She whispers a few instructions to the bandleader, he signals his group, and they cobble together […]
From Armenian and Italian to Polish and Portuguese, New England is home to a variety of cultural neighborhoods. POLISH, Broad Street, New Britain, CT Within just a few blocks, you can eat lunch, shop for groceries, buy a loaf of bread, consult a lawyer, get a haircut, and do your banking, all in Polish. A […]
Food is such a great entryway to any country or ethnic group that I sometimes joke about saving the airfare and simply strolling the streets of a local Guatemalan neighborhood for baked goods in the morning. Or wandering through Asian markets for an afternoon vacation and lunch. Ethnic enclaves all over New England are teeming […]
Great art requires talent and tenacity, but also time and space: time to learn and perfect, and to pass on knowledge; space to bloom and grow, think and rethink. At the turn of the 20th century, a talented and well-trained silversmith named Arthur J. Stone opened a workshop in South Gardner, Massachusetts. Nestled among rolling […]
Lindsay Mac is proof that when you have a song in your heart, you just can’t help but sing it. Trained as a cellist from an early age, she turned her back on the conservatories to walk the path of the singer-songwriter. But where most would trade in their classical instrument for a six-string, Lindsay […]
This May, an extraordinary traveling art exhibit will begin its six-month celebration of Lake Champlain, the lake that Samuel de Champlain first explored 400 years ago. The exhibit–39 pieces of art, most of them paintings–was created by contemporary artists living and working in Vermont. I had the good fortune of seeing the collection come together […]
This wedding story is for anyone getting married. It begins decades ago with two teenage high school student-athletes.
Yankee classic from June 2001 The faint scent of sheep manure drifts up into this otherwise spotless kitchen in Northborough, Massachusetts. Pulling on well-worn brown duck coveralls, Mark Fidrych is on his way to the barn, where one of his ewes is about to give birth. On the island counter, beside a bottle of Gatorade, […]
For a taste of something new, visit these summer ethnic food festivals in New England. Call ahead or check Web sites for the latest information on schedules and possible admission fees. La Kermesse Franco-Americaine St. Louis Field, jct. West & Prospect Sts. Biddeford, ME 207-282-2894, 207-468-3921 www.lakermessefestival.com The largest Franco-American festival in New England highlights […]
Yankee Classic from January/February 2005 It is early evening, and in the basement of Saint Joseph the Worker Roman Catholic Church on Maquan Street in Hanson, Massachusetts, a small group of people sits around a table, discussing their cancers. Phyllis, a fragile-looking woman in her forties, is a newcomer to the group. Her lymphoma has […]
Portsmouth is the artsy black sheep of New Hampshire. A tiny seaside enclave dotted with galleries and cafes, it doesn’t really fit the rugged alpine character of the rest of the Granite State. Both hip and historic, it’s an ideal getaway spot for anyone in search of a low-key weekend to indulge his or her […]
