Rockport, MA (Cape Ann)

I’m an explorer at heart, so living in such a history- and beauty-rich place as Massachusetts has been fabulous. But now that I only have five weeks (!) until we hit the road for our post-Air Force adventure in California, I’ve been trying to visit a few more places on my must-see list before we leave.

Last weekend my husband and I jogged around Cape Ann (part of our training for an upcoming half marathon) through Gloucester and Rockport. I loved the seaside views, the inviting and walkable main streets, and the beautiful homes. Unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of pictures because I didn't want to stop every three minutes (because running) and it was drizzling most of the time.

Gloucester, MA

Rockport beach access

Lobster traps on the roof are a thing on seafood restaurants around here…

On Sunday hubby and my youngest son took me to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod for Mother’s Day. So much fabulous ocean time in one weekend! And New England—parts of it anyway—is just so darn quaint. That’s one thing I’ll definitely miss.

Provincetown

Provincetown

Pilgrim monument in P-Town

Are you sensing a theme yet? Pier in P-Town.

Provincetown

At Herring Cove Beach

Cape Cod National Seashore

Another example of a nice downtown is Concord. On Tuesday, my writer friend Maura Troy came up from Connecticut for the day and we walked the town. Since I’ve already been to the Thoreau and Alcott homes and Walden Pond, we toured Old Manse (Ralph Waldo Emerson’s family home) and the Old North Bridge battle area where “the shot heard 'round the world” marked the first victory for the colonists on the opening day of the Revolutionary War. (The “shot heard 'round the world” was coined by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the Concord Hymn, a poem that’s engraved on the statue “Minute Man” at Old North Bridge, which was in his family’s backyard.)

Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife Sophia rented Old Manse for three years early in their marriage, and literally left their mark on the place. Sophia liked to record interesting moments by inscribing them into the glass window panes with her diamond wedding ring. Seems kind of rude to me—especially for a renter—but it's cool from a historical perspective. Hawthorne was inspired to write Mosses from an Old Manse here, which inspired the home's name.

Emerson's desk, which he often took outside to write

Hawthorne's desk facing the wall. It ratchets up and down to adjust the height and angle.

Sophia Hawthorne's writing on the window

Every family had to have their own fire buckets and respond to a neighbor's fire or risk a fine

Old North Bridge looking west across the Concord River, and the Battle of Concord monument

View across the Concord River from the backyard of Old Manse

Statue “Minute Man” by Daniel Chester French (sculptor of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in D.C.)

Up next before we move: Whale Watching! And a few other adventures.

Are there any places near where you live that you want to/really should visit? Make a plan to do it this summer!