I REALIZE THAT some travelers think of Rhode Island as a tangle of highway blocking easy access to somewhere else. I say give them a map and bid them Godspeed. I know this small and unruly state, and I can tell you for a fact that it affords more opportunities for easy enjoyment than any […]
THERE’S A PERFECTLY good reason why Nathan (“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”) Hale came from northeastern Connecticut. Settled a generation after the rest of New England’s colonizing along the coastline and the Connecticut River Valley, this area became home to many ex-Massachusetts families looking for more […]
Welcome to the June 2008 edition of “Jud’s New England Journal,” the rather curious monthly musings of Judson Hale, editor-in-chief of Yankee Magazine published since 1935 in Dublin, New Hampshire. Anyone Ever See a Sailing Ship on Fire? We love taking the Point Judith Ferry (Galilee, Rhode Island) out to Block Island, and so do […]
New Britain Museum of American Art is an easily overlooked jewel in the crown of New England culture. I confess I had never been to New Britain, Connecticut, let alone to the New Britain Museum of American Art before stopping by last week on my way to a soccer tournament. New Britain on a Sunday […]
Excerpt from Yankee Magazine May 1983 On Memorial Day in Fairfield, Connecticut, when the parade and the speeches are over, Michael Daly drives along Long Island Sound and later heads north to towns where nobody knows him, and he does not come home until dark. “He really mourns,” his wife Maggie says. “Everybody else is […]
Connecticut Ten Mile Hill, Kent. In the Litchfield Hills, the Appalachian Trail weaves through deep forests. Start at Bull’s Bridge Falls. From here, the trail rises above the water before descending to Ten Mile Gorge, where the Housatonic and Ten Mile rivers merge. From here, switchbacks climb steadily to the crest of Ten Mile Hill, […]
Connecticut Hammonasset Beach State Park Boasting 900 acres, Hammonasset is two miles of sandy beach with mild ocean temperatures (we’ve enjoyed the sea there well into September) and a light surf, perfect for swimming, hiking, and surfcasting. More than 550 well-maintained campsites make for an inexpensive beach vacation when the big resort hotels are overflowing. […]
Looking for the perfect way to spend a summer day with your family? Here are our picks for the best New England waterways. Connecticut Farmington River. There’s no better way for a family to spend a summer day than floating down the Farmington together on bright-yellow inner tubes. Although the river flows for more than […]
Connecticut Mark Twain House & Museum. Although a son of Missouri, Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) made his home in Hartford’s beautiful West End. The 90-minute tour of his Louis Tiffany-designed house will introduce visitors to Twain as a loving father, a hapless businessman, and a consummate jokester (he named his cats Famine, Pestilence, Satan, […]
Connecticut Kent. The first dilemma when visiting Kent is whether to look up to the Berkshire Hills or down at the sparkling Housatonic River. Take in both views: Hike a stretch of the Appalachian Trail, which crosses Route 341 about a mile west of downtown. Kent has attracted throngs of artists, resulting in art shows […]
We’ve all experienced the euphoria that washes over you at the beginning of a vacation to somewhere new — a little town or village tucked away in a sweet corner of the region. You pick up the real estate digests stacked at store entrances; you linger in front of the fliers posted in agency windows. […]
In addition to sources named here, most New England college and university Africana studies departments offer online resource lists and links to other Web sites. For museums, historic sites, tours, and similar venues, remember to call ahead to confirm schedules and hours of operation. Connecticut Prudence Crandall Museum 1 South Canterbury Road Canterbury, CT 860-546-7800 […]
