This past weekend, we took a brief break from some epic spring cleaning to check out The Garden Conservancy‘s first Open Days event of the year in the Los Angeles area.

Held all over the United States each year between March and November, Open Days allow you to snoop around other people’s backyards and/or find landscaping inspiration while simultaneously raising money to provide and preserve garden spaces across the country. It’s a fun, romantic and altruistic outing, whether you’re traveling in a different city or simply exploring your own. Traditionally a mapped route of six private homes in one area that open their outdoor spaces to the public for one day, Open Days provide a unique opportunity to experience a neighborhood through its plantings, design, architecture and history. The volunteers who work these special events can generally answer questions about the people who own the homes involved, tales of the buildings and homes that surround it, why certain design decisions were made, what to call that purple flower over there, and stuff you’ll probably only think to ask once you’re surrounded by absolute floral magnificence.

Open Days gardens range from homey affairs to sprawling estate layouts, English country to low-water plantings, and it’s fascinating to see how truly gifted gardeners incorporate fountains, pools, waterfalls, patios, sculpture, lighting and a myriad artistic details into their designs. For garden and travel lovers like us, it’s also just plain exciting when we discover exotic plants we’ve never seen before.

These are some glimpses of this past Sunday’s Open Days event in Pasadena, California. Be sure to check out the entire Open Days schedule to see where you might catch some cool gardens in your area — or on your next vacation.

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Open Days are held around the U.S. between March and November,
on Saturdays and Sundays between (generally) 9am and 5pm.
No reservations are necessary, and all tours require self-driving.
Each Open Days event provides a starting point address where you can pick up a map of the day’s gardens.
Tickets can be purchased online in advance, or in person at any stop along an Open Days route.
Ticket prices: 6 for $25 US for non-members, or 6 for $15 US for Garden Conservancy members.

Travels With Two

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut

I’ve had New England on the brain lately, missing my East Coast childhood trips to see cousins, family friends and historic sites.

Aside from a wedding near Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport, we’ve never traveled to the region together. It’s long been on our to-go list, under the vague heading of autumn leaves, pumpkins and scenic drives.

But why wait until Fall? When I heard that the Mark Twain House & Museum (a well-loved stop along one of those trips from my youth) designed a 6-day itinerary that takes you from one literary landmark to another, I just had to share. It sounds like a wonderful way to get out of the office and inspire yourself to do some traveling…and some reading.

Day 1: NYC to West Hills, New York

West Hills, New York is a 45-minute drive from New York City, but in case the prospect of driving in the city doesn’t thrill you, consider taking a train from New York City’s Penn Station to Huntington, New York (the closest station to West Hills) and renting a car there. However you choose to get there, here are directions to your first stop.

Walt Whitman Birthplace & Interpretive Center. Walt Whitman was born at this farmhouse in West Hills, New York in 1819. Newly restored, the home is a New York State Historic Site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Interpretive Center exhibits: 130 Whitman portraits, original letters, manuscripts, artifacts, recordings of his voice on tape and more. On the site you can find guided tours, an audio-visual show, the museum shop and bookstore, and a picnic area, allowing you to make a big ol’ day of it.

Walt Whitman's Birthplace, West Hills, New York

Day 2: Hartford, Connecticut

Mark Twain House & Museum. This is the birthplace of Mark Twain’s most famous characters, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. From the infamous billiard room where Twain did all his writing (and cigar smoking), to unique exhibits, educational programs and community events, Twain’s Hartford home is a unique destination for readers and history buffs of all ages. Don’t miss a chance to loll together on the round velvet settee — it’s very Showboat meets New England high society.

Harriet Beecher Stowe House. Mark Twain’s famous next door neighbor and the author of the best-selling anti-slavery book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe believed (quite correctly) that her words could make a difference. The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center connects Stowe’s issues to the contemporary face of race relations, class and gender issues, economic justice and education equality. A Gothic Revival home built in 1871, the house includes Victorian-style gardens, the Katharine Seymour Day House (a grand mansion adjacent to the Stowe House) and a visitor center with changing exhibitions and a museum store.

Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Hartford, Connecticut

Day 3: Lenox and Pittsfield, Massachusetts

The Mount Estate & Gardens.  The Mount is both a historic site and a center for culture inspired by the passions of Edith Wharton (one of my all-time favorite writers). Best known for The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence, Wharton described the lives of New York’s upper class (and the disappearance of their world in the early 20th century) with both humor and empathy. This gorgeous property includes three acres of formal gardens designed by Wharton, who, in addition to being deeply fabulous, also happened to be an authority on European landscape design. The Mount is a stunning reflection of Wharton’s love of the literary arts, interior design and decoration, garden and landscape design.

The Mount Estate and Gardens in Lenox, Massachusetts - photo by Kevin Sprague

Herman Melville’s Arrowhead. Arrowhead is a National Historic Landmark located in western Massachusetts. Melville purchased this historic farmhouse in 1850, and it remained the home of Herman’s large, chaotic family for more than 13 years. Herman found refuge in the second-floor library, where he wrote his most famous novel, Moby Dick, three additional novels and many short stories.

Day 4: Amherst, MA and Concord, Massachusetts

Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and the Evergreens. The Homestead, where poet Emily Dickinson was born and lived most of her life, and The Evergreens, home of the poet’s brother and his family, share three absolutely beautiful acres of the original Dickinson property in the center of Amherst, Massachusetts. The Museum offers guided tours of the houses as well as a self-guided audio tour of the outdoor grounds.

Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts

The Wayside: Home to Hawthorne and the Alcott Family. The only home owned by Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, and Twice-Told Tales, The Wayside is now a historic landmark. Before Hawthorne lived here, the house belonged to the Alcott family, who had named it Hillside. Here, Louisa May Alcott and her sisters lived much of the childhood described in Little Women.

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. Just minutes from Wayside, this circa-1690 house was a later home to the Alcott family; this is where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set her classic novel, Little Women, in 1868.

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts

Authors Ridge at Sleepy Hollow. Perched on the uppermost glacial hill in the cemetery, Authors Ridge features the graves of Henry Thoreau (1862), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1864), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1882), Louisa May Alcott (1888) and her father, Bronson Alcott (1888). This popular spot proves that the company you keep does in fact matter, even after you’re gone.

Day 5: Concord, Massachusetts

Ralph Waldo Emerson House. Though open to the public, the Emerson House is still furnished with the writer’s memorabilia and keepsakes. Here, Emerson lived most of his adult life, wrote his famous essays “The American Scholar” and “Self Reliance,” and died in 1882.

Walden Pond. Set on 400 acres, Walden Pond – where Henry David Thoreau lived from 1845 to 1847 – is a State Reservation and National Historic Site. Thoreau’s experience here inspired his book Walden, credited with helping to inspire awareness of and a deeper respect for nature. Today, visitors can enjoy hiking, meandering, swimming and guided tours.

Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts

Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters. This National Historic Site preserves the home of Henry W. Longfellow, one of the world’s foremost poets. By the by, the house also served as headquarters for General George Washington during the Siege of Boston (July 1775 – April 1776). In addition to its rich history, the site offers unique opportunities to explore 19th century literature and arts. (Oh, and it’s very, very pretty.)

Day 6: Boston, Massachusetts

Boston by Foot. Take a walking tour of the homes and haunts of Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Alcott, Longfellow, Henry James, Charles Dickens and more. (1 ½ hours, $12 US per adult)

Boston...by foot

And by all means, take us with you.

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See also
TWT Travel Binder: New York
TWT Travel Binder: Connecticut
TWT Travel Binder: Massachusetts

Travels With Two

Continued from
Cape Cod: Jay & Tony’s Provincetown

Hens Cove, Patuisset Island

The last few years, Jay and Tony’s Cape Cod headquarters has been Patuisset Island, in a cottage that’s been in Tony’s family for sixty years; for those of us less fortunate, we can rest assured there are plenty of places to rent and stay in the area.

From the island, Jay and Tony easily take day trips to small towns and villages across the Cape, where New England’s charm seems to simultaneously evolve and stay unchanged.  Neat trick.

Patuisset Island is an hour-and-a-half drive from either Boston’s Logan or Providence’s Green airports. The island lies beside Pocasset in eastern Bourne, bordered on the east by a beach and by cranberry bogs on the west.  (And truly, you had us at “cranberry bogs.”)

From this heavenly corner of Massachusetts, Jay and Tony’s favorite day-trip haunts are Falmouth, Sandwich, Mashpee and Chatham.

Falmouth is one of the closest towns to Patuisset Island, a 20-minute drive. Main Street runs right through Falmouth with several blocks of shops and cafes.

Their favorite restaurant here is La Cucina Sul Mare, one of the best Italian ristorantes they’ve sampled anywhere in the U.S. Chef/owner Mark Ciflone’s signature dishes are fresh, homemade northern Italian classics, and the service is excellent. Jay and Tony warn that though it’s always a busy place, La Cucina Sul Mare doesn’t take reservations; you have to just wing it by putting your name on the list and killing some time in neighboring shops and bars.

While in town, Jay and Tony will often rent bikes from Corner Cycle and take daily rides around the visiting old villages with Native American names (e.g., Scraggy Neck, Wing’s Neck, Tahanto Beach, Megansett, etc.).

Also in Falmouth, they recommend staying or eating at The Coonamessett Inn. Built in 1796, it offers six period rooms, meticulously landscaped grounds, and an exceptional restaurant with traditional New England fare.

Tony and Jay at the Dan'l Webster Inn, Sandwich

In nearby Sandwich, they frequently visit the Dan’l Webster Inn, which has a cozy dining room and yet again, traditional New England cuisine.  They recommend:  Strolling the seaside boardwalk, poking into antique stores and galleries; checking out Hoxie House, the oldest home on Cape Cod; making an afternoon visit the Sandwich Glass Museum (for the best light, making the glass seem to glow); or treating yourselves to the all-year respite of the Heritage Gardens.

While family-run establishments are generally king on the Cape, there are a few exceptions. The Mashpee Commons is a fairly new open-air mall designed to look like a small New England village. Along with The Gap, a Starbucks, a Banana Republic, a Williams-Sonoma and lots of small, independent specialty shops, you’ll find Siena, which specializes in Tuscan cooking and boasts a hand-picked wine list.

Terrace at the Chart Room, Cataumet

The closest restaurant to Patuisset Island, the Chart Room, is about two miles away in Cataumet.  Set on Red Brook Harbor next to the Kingman Yacht Center, locals have been parking their boats and dining here on fresh seafood for almost fifty years; it hasn’t been remodeled in all that time, and even though Jay and Tony love the place, they, um, try not to use the facilities. The look here is marine rustic, the scene very casual and it’s always crowded. Reservations will ensure you’re on the list, but you’ll still have to wait.

So, Jay and Tony try to arrive early to snag Adirondack chairs on the gravel terrace overlooking the harbor, a perfect spot to have a cocktail and enjoy a postcard-perfect sunset. On weekend nights there’s live music (usually a trio of piano, bass and singer performing standards), which only adds to the relaxed, old-fashioned neighborhood charm.

Jay looks forward to the Room’s clam chowder for months before he arrives, and he’s been known to wax poetic on their lobster roll (a Cape Cod classic of fresh lobster salad on a Portuguese bread roll). Tony recommends the award-winning gazpacho when tomatoes are in season, or the “Chicken Parm” special.  Thursday through Saturday, the enormous prime rib here is one of the best cuts in New England.

<All photos courtesy of Jay Werner>

◊ What are your favorite adventures on Cape Cod? ◊

Travels With Two

Tony (L) and Jay (R) on Cape Cod

Our friends Jay and Tony have been together about 14 years, and in that time have traveled around the world with each other. But the place they keep returning to, year after year, is Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

With Fall temps in the mid-70s during vivid-blue sunny days, the high 40s on clear, starry nights, and changing autumn leaves on the way, this just might be the perfect time to escape there for a last-minute weekend of your own.

Jay says that Cape Cod is such a part of their travel routine, he’s actually lost track of how many times they’ve been there since he and Tony met (at Mardi Gras in New Orleans) in 1995. They both have a rounded sense of America, as Jay spent most of his life in the Midwest, Tony in the Deep South, and now they live in Los Angeles; but for them, nothing compares to the soft, gauzy light, pastel-watercolor palette, friendly people, rough-shingle architecture and sea-fresh cuisine of the Cape.

Provincetown Harbor

Their first few trips to Cape Cod were to Provincetown, on the furthermost tip of Cape Cod, for anywhere from four to seven days.

Downtown Ptown

Provincetown, or as it’s more colloquially known, “Ptown,” is known for being both an artists’ and a gay/gay-friendly community. Ptown is very casual by nature and you could spend days just wandering through the art galleries, curio shops and clothing stores.  Jay and Tony especially love digging through the entire Marine Specialties store, which boasts a vast, quirky inventory of everything from old American Airlines china to army issue surplus supplies.

In Ptown, most visitors stay in historic inns, and there are dozens to choose from.  Jay and Tony’s choice for several years was the Anchor Inn Beach House, the only inn on the water side of narrow Commercial Street (one of two main streets, running east-west through town).

A three-story former captain’s home from the 19th century, the Anchor Inn has a large covered front porch with about a dozen wooden rocking chairs. You could spend most of your day on this porch:  Steal away with fresh baked breads and pastries from the morning buffet, spend an afternoon watching the foot traffic parade on by, or unwind after an evening of drinking, dining and dancing.

Jay and Tony especially loved the Anchor when their favorite innkeeper, Bea, was still there; however, the inn has changed hands, and after a disappointing stay there in 2008, they worry it may never again be as homey a place to stay. Tripadvisor’s reviews seem mixed.

A fabulous garden in Provincetown

Ptown boasts metric tons of cafes, restaurants and diners. Some of Jay and Tony’s favorites are:

• Cafe Heaven (for breakfast)
• The Lobster Pot (for casual lunches on the seaside terrace)
• Sal’s Place (fine dining, for special occasions)
• Pepe’s Wharf (for casual dinners)
• Tip for Tops’n (Portuguese diner)
• Front Street
• Napi’s (open every day, including holidays)
• Ciro & Sal’s (Northern Italian cuisine)
• Bubala’s By the Bay
• Bayside Betsy’s
• Post Office Café & Cabaret

All this said, they feel no trip to Ptown is complete without a visit to Spiritus Pizza. A landmark on the Cape for over 30 years, Spiritus sells great New York pizza by the slice. When area bars close at 1am, hundreds of people congregate out front here to scarf hot pizza and talk into the wee hours of the morning.

In case you choose to visit all of the eateries above, know that you can easily burn off calories and sightsee at the same time: Rent bikes at Ptown Bikes and ride the paths through the Province Lands and over to Race Point Beach. Continue around to Herring Cove, head out to the very tip of Cape Cod, and back around to the west end of Commercial Street and the heart of Ptown.

<All photos courtesy of Jay Werner>

Continued in
Cape Cod: Jay & Tony’s Favorite Day Trips

Travels With Two

Here are some resources to help you plan your own “travels with two” to Massachusetts.

TWT posts
on Massachusetts

Massachusetts Guides
Massachusetts State Tourism Guide
Concierge.com
Frommers
Fodors
Yankee Magazine

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BOSTON
Guides
Time Out Boston
National Geographic Traveler
Conde Nast Traveller
Travel + Leisure
Yankee Magazine
Articles
NGT: Historic Places Rated: Boston
Conde Nast Traveller: The Best B&Bs in 7 Cities: Boston
Travel + Leisure: Boston After Dark
Travel + Leisure: 10 Coziest U.S. Day Spas: Emerge Day Spa, Boston
Travel + Leisure: 10 Great Places to Spend Christmas: Boston
Budget Travel: Eat Like a Local: Boston
Budget Travel: Secret Hotels of Boston
Travel + Leisure: Great Summer Getaways: Boston’s North End
New York Magazine: Weekend Escape: Discover Boston’s Designer Neighborhood

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NANTUCKET
Guides
Conde Nast Traveller
Travel + Leisure
Islands Magazine
Articles
Travel + Leisure: Chef Couples: Sfoglia in Nantucket
Islands Magazine: Sailing Off Nantucket

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MARTHA’S VINEYARD
Guides
Conde Nast Traveller
Islands Magazine
Articles
Conde Nast Traveller: America’s Best Beaches
Yankee Magazine: Martha’s Vineyard Weekend

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CAPE COD
Guides
Samantha Brown
Yankee Magazine
Articles
Budget Travel: Cape Cod Uncrowded
Yankee Magazine: Sandwich, MA Weekend
Travel + Leisure: Best U.S. Seaside Inns

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THE BERKSHIRES
Articles
Travel + Leisure: The Berkshires’ Best Art Museums
Yankee Magazine: A Recommended Drive: Old King’s Highway

Boston Public Gardens by Rick Harris

Rockport, MA by Steve Masiello

Have a Massachusetts tip, story, or blog post you’d like to share?

Travels With Two