No visit to the Boston area would be complete without a stop in Cambridge, and Harvard Square makes a good starting point. The building anchoring the three-street intersection in this shopping, dining and public performance space houses the third-floor offices…

Higher Learning and Headstones in Cambridge

Getting to Know the Adams Family in Quincy
We set off on another rainy and chilly day to the town of Quincy via Boston’s T system to check out Adams National Historical Park and take the trolley tour of homes connected to the Adams political family. John Adams…

Lexington & Concord’s Battle Road
We spent a full day at Minute Man National Historical Park in Lexington and Concord. One of the highlights here is the Battle Road Trail, where much of the fighting took place on April 19, 1775, between British soldiers and…

On the Freedom Trail in Boston
We started our exploration of Boston National Historical Park at Faneuil Hall, the “cradle of liberty,” which was built in 1742 as an open-air marketplace on the first floor and a meeting space for town government and public debate on…

Trying to Cope in Cape Cod
We made Nickerson State Park our base for exploring Cape Cod National Seashore. Thank goodness we had booked a yurt for our camping trip instead of toughing it out in the tent, because it rained heavily for several hours upon…

Whaling and Sailing in Massachusetts
I wasn’t that keen to learn about whaling, which seems like such a cruel practice. But New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park was a nearby national park site in southern Massachusetts, and we had a cold, drizzly day, so why…

Off to a Lovely Start in New England
Connecticut has only one national park — Weir Farm National Historic Site — and it is the only park that celebrates painting. The 60-acre park sits on a lovely portion of the land once owed by American impressionist painter Julian…

You Win Some, You Lose Some in New Jersey
We had two northeast New Jersey historical parks on our agenda, with one being a bit of a letdown and the other rather enlightening. First we stopped at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, where the Passaic River drops 77…

The Big Apple of My Eye
Traveling on a budget has often meant staying out in the suburbs and taking public transit into cities. As we pulled in to our hotel in Jamaica, in the borough of Queens, we were concerned about walking through the graffiti-splashed…

Gateway to the Big Apple
Did you know that you can camp and kayak at a National Park site in New York City? We spent a few days at Gateway National Recreation Area in Brooklyn doing just that. Gateway, however, is not at all what…




