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The Weekly

Notes from the coast,
written here.

Restaurants reopening, beaches worth the parking hassle, the shows worth a trip, the small things we'd only mention to a friend.

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A sloop under sail on open water
4 min readSpring

The First Week of May on Cape Ann

The season tips this week. Whale boats run again, the castle opens its doors, and the coast remembers how to be busy.

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Walking down Bearskin Neck on a quiet spring afternoon, Rockport
2 min readSpring

This Week on Cape Ann

Not a guide. Not an event calendar. Just a quick note on what the coast feels like in the third week of April 2026.

River herring running up the Essex River ladder
2 min readSpring

The Herring Run at Essex

Every April, a small river in Essex fills up with fish and the town turns out to watch. It is the oldest returning ritual on the North Shore, and most visitors have never heard of it.

Stone arches at Hammond Castle frame the Atlantic, Magnolia
2 min readSpring

The Gardens Are Waking Up

Cape Ann's public gardens and estate grounds open one after another through April. The first full week of the month is when it starts to be worth planning a day around them.

Cape Ann oysters on the half shell with lemon
3 min readDining

Spring Returns to the Table: Cape Ann's Dining Season Stirs Back to Life

Late March is when Cape Ann starts to turn over. Restaurant doors prop open, Main Street picks up, and the dining season activates.

Humpback whale tail surfaces alongside a Gloucester whale-watch boat
3 min readSpring

What to Do on Cape Ann This Spring

Spring on Cape Ann is short, but there's a lot packed into it this year. Stacked shows at The Cut, whale watches restarting, and the Cape Ann Museum's biggest exhibition in years.

Aerial view of Gloucester Harbor and the city neighborhoods
2 min readGloucester

St. Patrick's Weekend: The Half-Irish Side of Gloucester

Gloucester is famous for its Italian fishing families. It is also half-Irish. The weekend around St. Patrick's Day is the best time to see the other half.

The Man at the Wheel, Gloucester's fisherman memorial, against an evening sky
2 min readGloucester

A Day at the Fish Pier

Gloucester still lands fish. Not as much as it used to. Enough to make the pier one of the most honest places on the coast in any month.

Granite ledges at Rafe's Chasm under an early-spring sky
2 min readSpring

When the Ice Goes Out

There is a week in early March when the ice in the marshes finally breaks up and the first osprey comes back. The whole coast changes in three or four days.

Working trawlers tied up at the Gloucester fish pier
3 min readDining

The Winter Restaurants: Who Stays Open

Half the restaurants close for the season. The other half are the ones locals actually eat at. A field guide for late-winter visitors.

A family walking down Bearskin Neck in winter coats, Rockport
3 min readWinter

School Vacation Week Without a Lift Ticket

Most of New England goes north in February. Some of us go east. Here is how to spend a week on the coast with kids.

Eastern Point Lighthouse and breakwater at sunset, Gloucester
2 min readWinter

A Quieter Kind of Valentine's Weekend

Boston is a lovely city fifty-one weekends of the year. Valentine's is not one of them. Forty-five minutes north is a different proposition.

A Cape Ann lighthouse at dusk under a heavy sky
3 min readWinter

Storm Watching Is the Winter Sport of Cape Ann

Nor'easters come through the peninsula four or five times a winter. Here is where to watch them, and why you should.

A Cape Ann waterfront house with chimney and lit windows at golden hour
2 min readWinter

Where to Find a Fire on Cape Ann

A fireplace in late January is a small miracle. Here are the restaurants, bars, and corners worth driving for.

A schooner under sail on a quiet stretch of Gloucester Harbor
3 min readWinter

The Quiet Week: Cape Ann in Mid-January

The week after the last holiday light comes down is the quietest Cape Ann gets. Which is exactly the argument for coming now.

Motif No. 1 at Rockport harbor
3 min readRockport

A First-Timer's Guide to Rockport, MA: Bearskin Neck, Halibut Point & the Art Scene

Rockport is small enough to walk completely, beautiful enough to make you stop for photos every few minutes, and genuinely interesting in a way that has nothing to do with manufactured quaintness.

Good Harbor Beach with the sandbar exposed at low tide
3 min readGloucester

Gloucester Beaches: Good Harbor, Wingaersheek & What Nobody Tells You About Parking

America's oldest seaport has some of the best beaches on the Massachusetts coast. If you know how to plan your day, you'll spend it on the sand instead of circling the parking lot.

Annisquam Light at golden hour, Gloucester
4 min readCape Ann

Cape Ann vs. Cape Cod: How to Choose the Right Massachusetts Coast Trip

Massachusetts has two capes. Most people who haven't been to both assume Cape Cod is the obvious choice. Here's an honest comparison. The right answer depends entirely on your trip.

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