New England recommendations

Lergnom
Sun, 24 May 2009 18:00:13 +0000

Perhaps the first place I’d consider is Cape Ann is less overrun by tourists, though it certainly has tourist areas (like Bearskin Neck in Rockport). Not a lot of sand beaches, more rocks, but a lot of housing options, ranging from working class in Gloucester up to the some of the most expensive houses in the US in the pretentiously named Manchester-by-the-Sea. (An exception for a sandy beach is Crane’s Beach, which is beautiful - look up Trustees of the Reservation.) One advantage of Cape Ann over Cape Cod is that you have many restaurant choices, much easier access to culture and are much closer to Boston - which is connected by commuter rail. The towns are also much more historic, from Marblehead - birthplace of the American Navy - to Salem, which technically isn’t really on Cape Ann.

Other choices:

Portsmouth, NH area, indeed the entire 30 or so miles of seacoast from Newburyport, MA to Portsmouth. Nice little town with good restaurants and lots of history - you should visit Strawberry Banke - and only an hour or so from both Boston and Portland. Lots of housing choices. Lots of communities, from the honky tonk of Hampton Beach to the nature refuges near Newburyport - which, btw, is a beautiful town.

Portland, ME. A great little city. Has somewhat of a slacker vibe akin to the smaller Burlington, VT. Lots of restaurants, tons of them, easy day trips up and down the coast. Only 2 hours from Boston.

I picked these places because they’re near or on the ocean and are close to Boston with no Bourne Bridge delays and more to eat than clam shacks - though the best clam shacks are in Ipswich & Essex on Cape Ann - see The Clam Box, Woodman’s, etc. I excluded Bar Harbor because it’s a long way up. Kennebunkport is, IMHO, overrun with tourists in a small, even tiny area. It’s pretty along the coast and places like York, ME are nice without the congestion.

If you want inland, the question becomes near lake or not, because that is what drives property values. There are some nice small towns like Bethel in Maine, if you like to ski and hike.