Between this beautiful stretch of weather and the gardens blooming all around us, my thoughts are turning to springtime pleasures and rhubarb and strawberry season, and then, because of the flowers, to decidedly feminine treats like afternoon tea. And we’re blessed to have many delightful tea rooms in New England. I’ve learned to stop saying […]
gardens
New Hampshire
Top 20 New Hampshire Events for 2011
MAY 13-15: PETERBOROUGH, The Thing in the Spring. Celebrate music, art, and community downtown. Don’t miss the live concerts and “Affordable Arts Fair,” featuring local wares and crafts, including paintings, prints, textiles, sculptures, and more. thethinginthespring.com MAY 14-15: CONTOOCOOK, New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival. At Hopkinton State Fairgrounds: vendors, workshops, fleece and fiber shows, […]
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 […]
Connecticut
Top 20 Connecticut Events for 2011
April 30-May 1: MERIDEN, Meriden Daffodil Festival. Celebrate the blooming of the 600,000 daffodils in Hubbard Park. Enjoy the parade, a juried crafts fair, food prepared by local nonprofit organizations, a business expo, and a spectacular fireworks display. 203-630-4259; daffodilfest.com May 6-7: FARMINGTON, Hill-Stead May Market. All the crafts and plants you need to start […]
Connecticut
The Connecticut Antiques Trail
You’re bound to find treasure when you hunt along the Connecticut Antiques Trail. Antiques hunter Polly Bannister describes her own experience. The broad, mile-long Main Street of Woodbury, Connecticut, is lined with remarkable historic homes built since the town’s settlement in 1673, each more beautifully restored than the next. It seems that nearly every house […]
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 […]
Magazine
Lunch with a Legend: Judith Jones
Yankee spends a day with editorial icon Judith Jones, one of Vermont’s most accomplished summer residents. For anyone who writes, especially anyone who writes cookbooks, meeting Judith Jones–the longtime editor of John Updike and Anne Tyler, the visionary who famously turned Julia Child and Mastering the Art of French Cooking into household names, and an […]
Connecticut
Connecticut’s Best Local Secrets 2011
BEST ART ON A HILL Sculpture Barn, New Fairfield Dynamic in feeling, diverse in media, this atelier’s contemporary works reside in natural spaces both inside and out. The changing exhibit gallery was once owned by Louise Nevelson’s son. 3 Milltown Road. 203-746-6101; sculpturebarn.com BEST PEACEFUL RETREAT St. Edmund’s retreat, Enders Island, Mystic This retreat house […]
Connecticut
Connecticut’s Best Attractions 2011
BEST BALINESE IMPORTS Agabhumi: The Best of Bali, Westport Filled with beautiful, diverse jewelry, handbags, scarves, and sandals, all fashioned far away, but a good fit here. The prices will keep you coming back for seconds. 165 Post Road East. 203-557-0188; agabhumi.com BEST GARDEN & PICNIC PARK Wickham Park, Manchester Gardens inspired by England, Italy, […]
Connecticut
Connecticut’s Best Lodging 2011
BEST IMPRESSIONIST SUNSETS Bee & Thistle Inn & Spa,Old Lyme All nine guestrooms in this Colonial mansion are as graceful as the works of the American Impressionists who once painted beside its backyard river. There’s also a convivial restaurant and a rare petanque court for French lawn bowling. Rates: from $170. 100 Lyme St. 800-622-4946, […]
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Best Lodging 2011
BEST COTTAGE RENTAL Kagels Cottages, Narragansett Early-20th-century waterfront cottages nest by a salt pond. Steeped in 63 acres of farmland and views of the Ram Island bird sanctuary, it’s clear why this has been a family business since the 1920s, hosting five generations of families: There’s no reason to leave. Rates: from $1,100 per week. […]
BEST PLACE TO ACCESSORIZE Dannah, Kennebunkport Dannah dazzles, with jewelry, handbags, hair ornaments, hats, and scarves, as well as lotions, potions, and other fanciful finds filling the small shop. 123 Ocean Ave. 207-967-8640; dannahkennebunkport.com BEST TIME TRAVEL Willowbrook Museum Village, Newfield Explore 25 National Register of Historic Places buildings assembled in a 19th-century country-village setting. […]