Best Literary Stopover NAULAKHA, Dummerston Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book not in steamy India but in the sober kingdom of southern Vermont. His former home has been restored and is available to groups. 707 Kipling Road. 802-254-6868; landmarktrustusa.org Best Stargazing STELLAFANE CONVENTION, Springfield Quirky doesn’t begin to describe this annual convention of “amateur telescope […]
Best Rooms With a View ROSE FARM INN, Block Island If you can’t see the sea from your room, you can definitely see meadows and wildflowers, possibly the deer or pheasant that roam the 20 acres of this former farm. Bike rentals onsite. Rates: from $139 May 8-June 18, from $179 June 19-Sept. 7, including […]
Waterfront Surprise SEAMEN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE, Newport This 90-year-old institution for travelers offers public restrooms; the very welcoming Aloha Cafe, with homemade sandwiches and soups (large bowl under $5); and the captivating Chapel by the Sea, with frescoes of maritime-related saints and nautical motifs from floor to ceiling, font to altar. 18 Market Square. 401-847-4260; seamensinstitutenewport.org […]
Best FarmStay INN AT VALLEY FARMS, Walpole The 18th-century house on this glorious 105-acre organic farm is elegantly comfortable. Angus cattle graze on the hillside and free-range chickens “contribute” to the candlelit breakfasts. Rooms: from $175, including full breakfast. 633 Wentworth Road. 877-327-2855, 603-756-2855; innatvalleyfarms.com Best Reason to Rise & Shine WILDERNESS INN, North Woodstock […]
Best Oceanfront Spa CLIFF HOUSE, Ogunquit Next stop, Spain! Or so it appears when you gaze out the guestroom windows here. Roll out of bed and head to the indoor lap pool and outdoor infinity pool, or to a blueberry treatment at the spa. Shore Road. 207-361-1000; cliffhousemaine.com Best Family Resort SEBASCO HARBOR RESORT, Sebasco […]
Best Outdoor Eating MITCHELL’S ON THE RIVER, Rocky Hill There’s no denying the summery pleasure of cheap eats at a breezy seafood shack. A mere stone’s throw from the Connecticut River, this seasonal al fresco joint hosts a laid-back crowd, noshing on fried fish, burgers, and ice cream at picnic tables overlooking the historic Glastonbury/Rocky […]
Best Lake Views THE SACHEM FARMHOUSE BED & BREAKFAST, Warren This renovated 19th-century farmhouse on Lake Waramaug is big on historic ambience, right down to the four guestrooms named for ancestors who lived and worked here. You’ll want to embark on many excursions right outside the front door, such as a romantic picnic (they’ll supply […]
Best Heirloom Veggies URBAN OAKS, New Britain You may not expect to find an organic farm in the Hardware City, but that’s exactly what you get at Urban Oaks. The volunteer-run store is chock-full of heirloom and specialty produce, from ‘Thai Dragon’ peppers to ‘Red Kuri’ squash. 225 Oak St. 860-223-6200; blog.urbanoaks.org Best Women’s Boutique […]
In his typically smart and funny introduction to Bright Wings, former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins cheerfully admits the uselessness of poetry. “Of course, if the meaning of ‘useful’ is extended from how to assemble a piece of outdoor furniture to how to engage our verbal intelligence and uplift the human spirit,” he adds, “then […]
The most intriguing object in the Objects of Wonder: Four Centuries of Still Life from the Norton Museum of Art at the Portland Museum of Art (through June 6) is not a still life painting at all. It is a sculpture entitled “Grouper,” the skeleton of a fish rendered in linden wood by Fumio Yoshimura, […]
How New England Can Save the World: Part II in a series Part I: 2011 Biathalon World Cup: Aroostook County Part III: Hardwick and the New Frontier of Food Part IIII: A Bang for Your Buck in the Berkshires When Michael Wood-Lewis and his wife, Valerie, moved from Washington, D.C., to the south end of […]
SLIDE SHOW: Trustees of Reservations Will Garrison watches his “decorative” cows munch the green grass at the bottom of the hill. They don’t actually belong to him, or for that matter, to Naumkeag, the historic mansion (now a museum) in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, that he helps manage. More than 30 years ago, the Trustees of Reservations […]
