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Welcome to Visit New England - Massachusetts - North of Boston/Merrimack Valley

Great Things to Do in North of Boston/Merrimack Valley

Massachusetts - North of Boston/Merrimack Valley
Seaside beauty, enclaves of art and history tucked just minutes outside Boston

North of Boston, a region comprising legendary names like Salem, Gloucester, Marblehead, Lowell, and Cape Ann, offers an astonishing variety of pleasures, from yachting to whale watching, fine art to Colonial history. In this region, just a few minutes’ drive from Boston, visitors can find fascination tours and excellent dining, with an emphasis on New England seafood.

One of the region’s most recognizable names is Salem, home to the notorious witch trials of 1692. Several museums tell the stories in theatrical detail, and many excellent tour operators explore the places where people were accused of witchcraft and where their troubled ghosts are said to linger. Salem is also home to the Peabody Essex Museum , considered a gem among American art museums, particularly following a recent major expansion. The Peabody Essex is one of the nation’s major museums for Asian art, maritime history and art, and New England culture. People who love Early American literature can visit the places around Salem where the author Nathaniel Hawthorne lived and wrote his classics “The Scarlet Letter” and “House of the Seven Gables.”

Gloucester, on Cape Ann, which is close to the summer whale feeding grounds of Stellwagen Bank, boasts many whale watching trips, including some captains who guarantee sightings of the magnificent marine mammals. Gloucester’s waterfront needs little description because it is familiar from “The Perfect Storm,” the 2000 movie that described the loss of the Gloucester fishing vessel Andrea Gail in 1991. Also, try to get to the Stone Zoo in Stoneham.

Marblehead, just 17 miles north of Boston, has arguably the most majestic and beautiful harbor on the Eastern seaboard. Founded as a fishing and maritime community, the beauty of the town attracted summer visitors and yachting enthusiasts in the late 1800s; Marblehead is now known as the Yachting Capital of America, and regattas and yacht races proliferate here.

Rockport, lovely Rockport, is surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean and on all sides by beautiful vistas and the artists who love to paint them. This art colony boasts many studios and galleries. The town’s signature image is Motif #1, a picturesque building on Bradley Wharf that has been painted and photographed by artists for generations. Other attractions are Halibut Point State Park, the Paper House, and the Old Castle.

An early chapter of the industrial history of America is on display in the towns of Lawrence and Lowell, where water-powered textile mills proliferated beginning in the early 1800s, with much of the work done by young women from farming communities of the region. Lowell National Historical Park and various other historic museums preserve and interpret the history of the American Industrial Revolution in Lowell with displays that include historic cotton textile mills, canals, operating gatehouses, and worker housing.

Newburyport is a small coastal city in the region that is laid out on the elevated bank of the Merrimack River, just inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Houses from Colonial times extend from the bank of the river uphill to High Street. Many of these houses have widow’s walks on the roofs and beautiful, old flower gardens. A major event in Newburyport is the annual Yankee Homecoming, held for one week in midsummer.

Great Things to Do in North of Boston/Merrimack Valley

“The Guardsman” – Stockbridge
Now through July 31, 2010
Circus Smirkus – Wilbraham, MA
July 30, 2010 to July 31, 2010
Comedian Chelsea Handler -- Hyannis
July 31, 2010
Paquito D'Rivera and Synchronicity – Rockport
July 31, 2010
Black Sea Salsa -- Hingham, MA
July 31, 2010
Aretha Franklin and her Orchestra -- Cohasset
August 1, 2010
Chamber music and dinner at the Clark – Williamstown, MA
August 3, 2010
Tanglewood on Parade -- Lenox, MA
August 3, 2010
Talking Hands Theatre Puppet Show -- Springfield, MA
August 3, 2010
George Thorogood and The Destroyers -- Cohasset
August 5, 2010
"Snow White" with Kaleidoscope Children’s Theatre -- Cohasset, MA
August 5, 2010
Lisa Lampenelli -- Hyannis, MA
August 5, 2010
Gloucester Sidewalk Days -- Gloucester, MA
August 5, 2010 to August 7, 2010
Suzanne Vega and Patty Larkin at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 6, 2010
School of Rock Presents: Live Aid Remade -- Arlington, MA
August 6, 2010
Ronan Tynan -- Hyannis
August 6, 2010
Kiddie Rock Concert: Princess Katie & Racer Steve -- Amherst, MA
August 7, 2010
Herbie Hancock at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 7, 2010
Bharata Natyam with Jaan R. Freeman -- Arlington, MA
August 7, 2010
Crane Beach Sandblast -- Ipswich, MA
August 7, 2010
Onset Blues Festival -- Onset, MA

August 7, 2010
Massachusetts Marketplace Festival -- Wellesley, MA
August 7, 2010
The Beach Boys -- Hyannis
August 7, 2010
The Beach Boys -- Cohasset, MA
August 8, 2010
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble -- Lenox
August 8, 2010
Circus Smirkus – Revere, MA
August 8, 2010 to August 9, 2010
Herbie Hancock – Lenox, MA
August 9, 2010
Taste of Park Plaza – Boston, MA
August 10, 2010
Peter Frampton -- Hyannis, MA
August 10, 2010
Gabriel Iglesias -- Hyannis
August 11, 2010
"Goldilocks and The Three Bears" with Kaleidoscope Children’s Theatre -- Cohasset, MA
August 12, 2010
Entrain! – Sandwich, MA
August 12, 2010
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 13, 2010
Provincetown Jazz Festival -- Provincetown, MA
August 13, 2010 to August 14, 2010
Hookers Ball -- Chatham, MA
August 14, 2010
Hookers Ball -- Chatham, MA
August 14, 2010
Adega Coop De Borba Wine Tasting -- Attleboro, MA
August 14, 2010
Tony Bennett -- Cohasset, MA
August 14, 2010
Jonathan Edwards and Aztec Two-Step at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 14, 2010
Film Night at Tanglewood – Lenox
August 14, 2010
Gloucester Waterfront Festival -- Gloucester, MA
August 14, 2010 to August 15, 2010
Iron Bridge Dinner -- Shelburne Falls, MA
August 15, 2010
Little Red Riding Hood..The Musical -- Saugus, MA
August 15, 2010
Boston's Children's Festival -- Boston, MA
August 17, 2010
Walker Bros. Circus -- Pepperell, MA
August 17, 2010
Grand Illumination at the Tabernacle -- Martha’s Vineyard, MA
August 18, 2010
"Jack and The Beanstalk" with Kaleidoscope Children’s Theatre -- Cohasset, MA
August 19, 2010
The B-52s at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 20, 2010
Fireworks at Ocean Park By The Sea -- Martha’s Vineyard, MA
August 20, 2010
Comedian Lewis Black -- Cohasset
August 21, 2010
CraftFest -- Cotuit
August 21, 2010 to August 22, 2010
James Montgomery Blues Band at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 21, 2010
Sandcastle and Sculpture Day -- Nantucket, MA
August 21, 2010
All-Chopin concert -- Lenox
August 24, 2010 to August 26, 2010
Marcia Ball at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 27, 2010
Natalie MacMaster at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 28, 2010
Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night” at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
August 29, 2010
Summer Chef Series -- North Andover, MA
August 30, 2010
Summer Chef Series -- North Andover, MA
August 30, 2010
Crosby, Stills, & Nash – Lenox
September 1, 2010
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 3, 2010
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 4, 2010
Robert Randolph and the Family Band at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 10, 2010
Banjo and Fiddle Contests at the Lowell Summer Music Series – Lowell, MA
September 11, 2010
Dave Matthews Tribute Band -- Salisbury
September 16, 2010
Halfway to St Patrick’s Day Irish Music Weekend -- Salisbury
September 17, 2010 to September 19, 2010
The Magic of Storytime with Cinderella and Snow White -- Saugus, MA
September 19, 2010
North American Sea Glass Festival -- Hyannis, MA
October 9, 2010 to October 10, 2010
Wellfleet OysterFest -- Wellfleet, MA
October 16, 2010 to October 17, 2010
Click here for a full list of events.

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