Boston day trips by the sea, north and south
 

Right, so that means trips from Boston, not photos of Boston itself (although I do have a few of them in here). I very rarely escape Boston/Brookline/Cambridge/Somerville to all the nice towns in the vicinity, but thanks to visits from family members I've managed to hit a few places along the New England coast. Most of these are from last week, but some are older.

Might as well start in Plymouth, Mass., where the Pilgrims landed in 1620, blah blah blah. Much celebration of "freedom" or something, with reference to what I assume were not exactly tolerant people. Here, the National Monument to the Forefathers. It's kind of huge.
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And there's (a piece of) Plymouth Rock, the traditional landing site. I'm not sure if it's totally made up.
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It's housed in this thing, which dates to 1920 or something.
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A super thin peninsula lies across the harbor. Don't know if it's natural or not, but there are a few houses on it.
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Mayflower replica, of course
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A few from the main street in town
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But the South Shore holds less interest. Maybe I just need to visit more to love it. Let's head north for now, though.

Salem is best known for events 320 years ago, and boy does this town try to capitalize on those witch trials. Besides that, though, it's an attractive enough town, although a cousin who used to live in one of its crummier neighborhoods could say how it's not all good. Must be that Lynn influence.

Anyway, kinda nice pedestrianized street downtown.
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Now part of the Peabody Essex Museum, I think.
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Witch Museum, of course. There are a few such sites.
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Old burying ground, as is common in New England towns.
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At the memorial to the witch trials and executions, someone still mourns the victims.
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Over in the harbor, a little lighthouse
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This has something to do with the House of The Seven Gables
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From Salem we can head out on Cape Ann, where lies Gloucester, the big fishing town.
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And also Rockport, home to the oft-painted and photographed shack known as Motif Number One.
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And many lobster traps
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On another day, we can go up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I don't know why, but I kind of love this town.

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And we could cross the border to Maine. Cape Neddick (a.k.a. Nubble) Light is just damn picturesque.
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Then on to Ogunquit. This is Perkins Cove, a nice section within the town.
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This is a footbridge, and from what I could tell it appears to be a self-service drawbridge. Is that correct? Sounds mildly crazy. I didn't have the nerve to press the button.
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From here you can walk along Marginal Way, a nice path along the coast. Here are a few shots from that walk.
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Wavy but breezy
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Yeah, in Maine the surfers appear even when it's pretty damn cold.
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Two randoms north of Boston. First, a couple of pooches at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire in winter.
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And an interesting sign around Newburyport, Massachusetts. This is an anti-nuclear sign on the only road to Plum Island, and it warns that evacuation of the island is not feasible when the nuclear power plant in nearby Seabrook, New Hampshire melts down.
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And now I should return to Boston with a handful of photos. First, here's a turkey that seems at ease wandering up and down my street in Cambridge.
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During an 18 mile walk through Boston the other day, my sister and I picked up cannoli from Modern Pastry in the North End. They say tourists go to Mike's and locals go to Modern, but it's been too long since I had Mike's to make a proper comparison.
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A moonrise over the Hancock buildings last week
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Reconstruction of the Boston Tea Party Museum, which burned down a couple of times.
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From the Fall, Boston Common
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A couple from who knows when. Summer or something.
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Looking across Pleasure Bay, South Boston
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Again
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Finally, a few from January, during pretty much the only time it snowed this winter.
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That'll do. Thanks for looking!

Kick ass, thanks always for the "not Boston" New England shots!

The South Shore generally has less appeal I think because it's not as built up as the North Shore is. The Irish Riviera has its charm spots though, you should check out Humarock in Marshfield, especially if you dug Ryder Way in Plymouth (that really thin neck in the harbor). Nantasket Beach and World's End in Hull also have a lot of stuff going on, good photo ops too.

And I think everyone who's ever been to Portsmouth loves the place - it's the perfect New England seaside urban village. It's like Portland's Old Port, only easier to get to from Boston.

Love the turkey shot too, there's a whole "herd" that lives in the woods my parents' property in Foxboro shares with neighbors. They're like how dinosaurs must have been, it's always fun to the videos my parents send me of "our dinosaur herd" grazing in the yard.

Now I need to drink some Greene tea.

Great shots! I have some family that lives in Maine, and Bob's Clam Hut in Kittery, ME is a regular stop off for us on the way - I'll definitely incorporate a tour of Portsmouth next time!

Wonderful shots of my favourite states in the USA.

Thanks for your pictures, I like very much them. I love New England. Those towns in Maine are wonderful.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!:tup:

Beautiful photos! I especially love the coastal shots. :tup:

New England rules.

Great pictures! Plymouth is an underrated town outside of Plymouth Rock. There's a lot of history in the everyday areas. While I knew about many of these locations, it was nice to see some others that could be worth seeing in person at some time.

Thanks, guys! And Shawn, thanks for the South Shore tips; I'll look forward to heading down that way again. I've been to some of these points north a few times now, but in my three and a half years of living in Cambridge that drive to Plymouth (and we did kind of take the scenic route, i.e. not Route 3) was pretty much the first time I went to the South Shore apart from maybe a couple of childhood trips before I lived in the area. Not sure if that's just some bias of convenience due to living on this side of the Charles or if the North Shore simply is more alluring, but either way it would be good to do more exploration.

awesome stuff. The North Shore blows away the South Shore but of course I'm a little biased:haha:

Such a beautiful part of the US.

Some interesting, and lesser known historical tidbits about MA:

1) The Mayflower initially anchored in Provincetown, not Plymouth.

2) Witches were hunted in present-day Danvers, not Salem.

:cheers::cheers::cheers: