I Know Just the Place | Inside Yankee

There’s a little of the concierge in many of us who live in New England. We like to think we know what makes our region special. You can see this pleasant tendency when visitors pop into our office here in Dublin. Usually they’re on vacation. Their numbers pick up in summer and when the leaves outside glow red, orange, and yellow. They’ll browse a bit in our little gift shop and reception area, where Linda Clukay has been greeting callers and drop-ins for nearly 30 years. Before they go on their way, they may ask about a good place for breakfast (Nonie’s or Audrey’s), or lunch (Dublin General Store or Harrisville General Store), or a cozy inn or B&B (Little River B&B, Hancock Inn, or Monadnock Inn), or a favorite trail to climb the famous mountain that rises over the lake just around the bend. Or simply the prettiest drive to where they’re heading next. They want to know what we know.Everyone knows that feeling of quiet satisfaction when you can say, “I know just the place.” Sharing local knowledge with strangers simply feels good. 

In some ways I think Yankee has taken our reader’s arm and gently pointed the way since our first issue in September 1935. But each year our special travel-guide edition (“Best of New England,” p. 89) doesn’t wait to be asked. We know you’re here. Maybe you’re a first-time visitor to New England; maybe you’ve lived here for years. No matter. There are places to see, foods to taste, experiences and adventures down some country road that we want you to know about. 

We keep our own personal lists of favorite spots and swirl them around with the places readers tell us about—usually in the form of a letter, a phone call, or an email that says, “I can’t believe you haven’t written about our special town and especially this unbelievable little eatery with the best lobster roll [or ice cream or pizza] I’ve ever had. Ever.” And we have help: contributors with both a deep sense of place and the sensibility and judgment to know what’s truly special. What they recommend matters to us, because we trust what they see. They’re both writers and travelers: Kim Knox Beckius (Rhode Island and Connecticut), Annie Graves (New Hampshire), Patricia Harris and David Lyon (Massachusetts), Hilary Nangle (Maine), Bill and Kay Scheller (Vermont), and Yankee’s food editor, Amy Traverso (Boston dining and “Top 10 Dishes Worth Traveling For This Summer”). We listen when they say, “I know just the place.” I think you’ll be rewarded when you come along.

Mel Allen, Editor
editor@YankeeMagazine.com