If we told you that in 1629 this place became the first town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, would you be able to name it? How about if we said that it was the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne and that he wrote his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, here? Still not sure? We could […]
massachusetts
User-Submitted Photos
Dear Yankee
Quabbin Memories It’s always of interest to me to find a story about Quabbin (“Secret Places,” March/April). We lived by the common in Greenwich, Massachusetts (one of the towns drowned by the creation of the reservoir), and I attended school in our two-room schoolhouse. There wasn’t a dry eye the night of the last graduation […]
Magazine
Cape Cod Love Letter
We are Cape people. Every year, for about the past 20, we’ve returned for a week to a shabby cabin with a galley kitchen, lousy TV reception, and a deck with the proverbial “distant water view” of Wellfleet Harbor. Like the bobolinks that return each year from South America to their favorite New England hayfield, […]
Lynne Cox’s strange and wonderful relationship with the coldest waters on the planet began as a youngster turning blue on the coastal beaches of Maine and New Hampshire. She went on to set world records for duration and distance in a variety of exotic cold-water settings, first as a teen crossing the English Channel, and […]
New England
New England Retreats: Seeking the Silence
In the Absence of Words I arrived at Gonzaga: Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, Massachusetts, at low tide and sunset. Behind the large house, a Jesuit-run spiritual center since 1958, kelp beds were aglow with the day’s last light. Inside, the ocean smells gave way to those of dinner: pork, potatoes, and corn on […]
Magazine
Lazy Susan
Swiftly share condiments and side dishes with this 14-inch-diameter turntable ($89). Marcia LaRocque-Levy hand paints a beautiful majolica tile, and her husband, David, adds a cherry (pictured) or milk-paint-finish wood frame. Eight tile designs (including pinwheel, pictured here) are available from Levy LaRocque in Easthampton, Massachusetts. 413-527-5040. levylarocque.com
Main Dishes
Cranberry Recipes
Cranberries have a storied New England history: Native Americans are said to have combined dried cranberries, meat, and fat to make pemmican, a practically nonperishable (and not so tasty) wintertime staple. Revolutionary War veteran Henry Hall began cultivating cranberries in the Cape Cod town of Dennis in 1816. Today, Massachusetts is known as the premier […]
Magazine
Why the Pilgrims Still Matter
A conversation with Mayflower author Nathaniel Philbrick about why the Pilgrims still matter in today’s world. Why We Should Care About the Pilgrims The Pilgrims were America’s first illegal immigrants. Their patent did not apply that far north, and yet they said, “We’re going to go our way and the heck with you guys.” We […]
In July 2002, having spent an idyllic week’s vacation on one of the Elizabeth Islands off Cape Cod, I came home to New Hampshire. The island — a glorious, wild place marked by ancient beech forests, kettle ponds, and open grasslands — is also crawling with ticks, which at the time seemed only a minor […]
Last month, we wondered why Henry Wadsworth Longfellow omitted the name of Paul Revere’s horse in his famous poem that begins, “Listen my children and you shall hear / Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.” After all, every horse has a name. Well, now it turns out that’s not the only reason New Englanders […]
Today
Bike Tours
New England has a lot to offer outdoor enthusiasts, and bike trails are near the top of the list. From quiet country roads to old railroad beds, the region is ripe for those wanting to get out of the car and explore the land by bike. To provide with you some of the best rides […]
Cooking Advice
Yankee Kitchen
No matter how hard I try to remember, it seems that every year I forget to defrost my Thanksgiving turkey and end up in a panic the night before. Any suggestions for a quick defrost? S.F., New York, NY First and foremost, if you can, buy a locally raised fresh turkey. That being said, I […]