After a three-year, multi-million-dollar restoration at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, Mayflower II – a replica of the original Mayflower — will return home to Plymouth, MA, where it is a major exhibit of Plimoth Plantation, according to a press release from Plimoth Plantation. If weather conditions allow the ship is scheduled to pass through Cape…

At some point in the last five months most of us have heard a reference to “Decameron,” Giovanni Boccaccio’s book in which ten citizens of Florence, Italy, gathered outdoors for 14 days in  1348 during the Bubonic Plague to tell each other stories about the condition of their city-state and their changing world. Now, two…

You can almost feel the spirit of New Hampshire seeping into your skin at the Lower Falls Recreation Site on the Kancamagus Highway (Route 112), just a little bit west of the town of Conway. The Swift River drops as it travels on flat, naturally terraced platters of rocks, with a narrower channel down the…

Lincoln Woods State Park at 2 Manchester Print Works Road in Lincoln, Rhode Island is a lush, leafy, forested park with a delightful fresh-water beach. As a side note, the park also is home to the state’s single authentic covered bridge. Families enjoy picnicking, water sports, playing ball, and relaxing under the many shade trees…

Salt-water and ocean beaches? Fine! Here, we are celebrating the less-glam and gorgeous fresh-water lakes and ponds of New England, in this case, Breakheart Reservation at 177 Forest Street in Saugus, Massachusetts. Just 12 miles north of Boston, this state-run property hits all the needs for a day outdoors, including activities in the water and on…

Vermont offers plenty of biking for people of all ages and abilities. When your appetite begins to make itself known, fuel up at at satisfying Vermont diner. Here is a sampling of trails, but much more detail at our Vermont biking page. Northern Vermont Lamoille Valley Rail Trail crosses northern Vermont from the Connecticut River Valley…

If you find joy in summer, the outdoors, wonderful gardens, pre-Victorian mansions, walks in the woods, and divinely wacky sculpture, Highfield Hall & Gardens in Falmouth, on Cape Cod, is your best excursion this summer. Map. People familiar with the Gilded Age summer retreats built by business giants of the late 19th century in places…

The Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival is coming July 10-19, with easy access to in-garden and virtual events, like experts’ lectures and some special fun, like what plein air artists painting outdoors. The festival happens at private gardens in the towns of Centerville, Brewster, Falmouth, Sandwich, Marstons Mills, Barnstable, Eastham, and more. Visitors may pay $5 in…

Cape Cod’s famous beaches – from calmer waters on the Cape Cod Bay side to rougher waters on the Atlantic Ocean and Buzzards Bay side – are open and welcoming. Many have plenty of open space to allow for social distancing. Here is a sampling that touches on all parts of the Cape: Nauset Beach in…

What is a reverse parade? According to organizers in several Vermont towns, a reserve parade is when properties are decorated for the holiday and people drive past them to enjoy the views, i.e., the properties are the stationery floats and the passing people create the parade. Pretty fun, huh? Find more Independence Day celebrations and…