As Yankee’s editor, I typically start each morning by turning on my computer and seeing what emails have arrived from our readers. Lately, something new has been cropping up in this correspondence: comments about Weekends with Yankee, the national public television show in which our knowledge of New England’s special places and its unique people takes center stage. The comments all express the same thing, and many come from viewers who love the region but who live far away. They say the show brings them home.
Cohosts Richard Wiese and Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso, on location in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for Weekends with Yankee, the public television series spotlighting the best of New England. Weekends with Yankee is produced by WGBH and Yankee. Season 3 premieres this April. (Photo: Mark Fleming)
That was the inspiration from the start — to showcase our stories of New England in a visually exciting half-hour show. Season 3 of Weekends with Yankee debuts this April, and I think the pull toward home will be stronger than ever. We go rafting with one of the first Maine Guides to take adventurers down the thundering Kennebec River. We find puffins in one episode, and in another we go behind the scenes at the famous artists’ colony where Thornton Wilder wrote Our Town, the classic drama of family and community. We meet artisans and a beekeeper, and our food editor, Amy Traverso, continues to explore the flavors of the six states we call home and to spotlight its tastemakers (including Connecticut resident Jacques Pépin and Massachusetts food writer Alana Chernila).
Behind the scenes with Weekends with Yankee at Murray’s Toggery Shop on Nantucket. Season 3 premieres on public television this spring. (Photo: Mark Fleming) In season 3, Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso hosts a seaside farm-to-table dinner at Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts. (Photo: Mark Fleming)
The new season celebrates everything from award-winning artisans to the great outdoors as it cycles through the vibrant palette of New England’s changing seasons: summer on the seacoast, fall at the best orchards and cider farms, winter at the longest ice-skating trail in the country.
We invite you to come along on our latest journey and share in the wonderful destinations, foods, and events that are showcased in season 3. And as always, please do let us know what you like about the show — and which adventures you’d like to see us take on next.
Series funding for Weekends with Yankee is provided by State of New Hampshire Division of Travel & Tourism, Emerald Waterways, Maine Office of Tourism, and Vermont Country Store.
