New England artisans craft beautiful (and durable) baby and toddler gear. 1. Designer Mary-Alice Dalton applies couture-quality details to her “Victoria Rose” dress ($145 and up) and coordinating “Shaped Brim” hat ($48). For more on Mary-Alice Dalton, see “Artisan Spotlight,” opposite. Children’s Couture, Belmont, NH. 603-524-8801; madcouture.com 2. “Natural ABC Blocks” ($98 for a set […]
cape cod
Magazine
Starving off the Land in Cape Cod
Figuring out first-hand food I always thought of myself as a city mouse, but it wasn’t until I left Manhattan for a very rural part of Cape Cod that I realized I didn’t know jack about mice. Three years ago my husband Kevin and I traded in our Upper West Side condo for two wooded […]
I always thought of myself as a city mouse, but it wasn’t until I left Manhattan for a very rural part of Cape Cod that I realized I didn’t know jack about mice. Three years ago my husband Kevin and I traded in our Upper West Side condo for two wooded lakeside acres and a […]
Massachusetts
Top 20 Massachusetts Events for 2011
MAY 6-7: STOCKBRIDGE, Annual Plant Sale. Thousands of annuals, perennials, herbs, rare and unusual plants, and trees and shrubs go on sale at Berkshire Botanical Gardens. Vendors offer potted herbs and vegetable starts, tropical plants, garden ornaments, furniture, compost, and more. 413-298-3926; berkshirebotanical.org MAY 10-15, JULY 12-17, SEPT. 6-11: BRIMFIELD, Brimfield Antique Show. Running more […]
Massachusetts
The Cape Cod Artisans Trails
The Shining Sea Trail beckons, no less so the Great Dunes Trail: seven trails in all, crisscrossing Cape Cod and the Islands, with artists and craftspeople in every medium scattered like beach glass. More than 200 destinations will tug at you, tempting you to wander into working studios and elegant galleries, some far off the […]
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Food Trail: Chowder
As long as there have been fishing and cooking, there has been chowder. In one form or another, over many centuries, coastal cooks have served up some variation of local seafood simmered in a thick liquid—a dish more stew than soup. On the northwest coast of France, 17th-century fishermen cooked their concoctions in large cauldrons […]
Magazine
Antiques: Folk Artist Peter Hunt
Lately I’ve taken to wearing a curious adornment: my husband’s high-school ID bracelet, given to him by an apple-cheeked girlfriend more than 30 years ago. Clunky and ill-fitting, it’s etched with the name MIKE and inscribed on the reverse LOVE, MURIEL. For all its adolescent awkwardness, I love the look and feel of it. “Why […]
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Best Lodging 2011
BEST B&B SUNSETS Centennial House, Northfield Spacious common areas in this 1811 mansion lead to a glassed sunporch overlooking a two-acre “back meadow.” Step out to the gazebo for sunset views over the valley. Five guestrooms combine comfort and Federal-era grace. Rates: from $117, including full breakfast. 94 Main St. 413-498-5921; thecentennialhouse.com BEST VICTORIAN STAY […]
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Best Attractions 2011
BEST MOVIE HOUSE Beacon Cinema, Pittsfield The city’s Kinnell-Kresge building is classic 1918, but inside, a new six-screen, all-digital theater features the Met Opera “Live in HD” as well as art films, sports broadcasts, and first-run movies in surround sound. Hot hits may appear on all screens at once–in 3D. A vintage escalator accesses the […]
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Best Restaurants 2011
BEST MEAL WITH A VIEW Bascom Lodge, Mt. Greylock Reservation The 1930s lodge atop the state’s tallest mountain is a hot new sunset-dining destination. Chef John Dudek’s three-course menu, which changes nightly, might include herbed white-bean soup, grilled beef, or gorgonzola walnut gnocchi. Wine is served, and you can spend the night in either a […]
Edie Vonnegut and her husband, John Squibb, combined art, practicality, and frugality to make the Cape Cod barn of her childhood into their own home.
Magazine
J. D. Salinger’s Last Supper
On any given Saturday night, just about anywhere in New England, volunteers put on a supper in a church hall or basement. It’s a fundraising ritual almost as old as the country, started by women’s auxiliary groups during the years after the Revolution, as towns and states gradually abandoned the practice of using levies to […]