Un itinéraire de voyage le long de villages côtiers entre baies et anses rocheuses, entrecoupés d’estuaires fluviaux, lagunes et marées, plages de sable et ports naturels. Un parcours au plus près de l’Océan, entre la nature plongée dans quatre cents ans d’histoire, dans l’estuaire au nord de Boston, entre palourdes, cormorans, marées et “art country”.
Breathtaking Views Overlooking the Atlantic
Along the road leading north from the capital of Massachusetts, in the United States, there are breathtaking views overlooking the Atlantic, for Rudyard Kipling the coast of the Captains Courageous. The heritage of this region is made up of history, culture, and economy.
Salem, known worldwide as the only witch hunt location of the 1600s in America and, in the 1800s, the first American port to establish commercial relations with China.
Gloucester, the first fishing port established in America and the protagonist of the Maximus Poems by the great American poet Charles Olson, as well as the setting of a true story, narrated in 1997 by Sebastian Junger in the book The Perfect Storm, later adapted into a film in 2000.
Beverly, hometown of the writer John Updike, and Manchester-by-the-Sea, which became a namesake dramatic film by Kenneth Lonergan, awarding Casey Affleck the Oscar for Best Actor. This eastern coast, a few miles north of Boston, was one of the first vacation destinations for wealthy American families, visited by princes and presidents.
Essex
Among the twenty coastal villages, Essex – 53 km from Boston – with its almost four hundred years of history is a world of its own, full of charm, nature, centuries-old traditions, suitable for those seeking the magic of slowness and the heartbeat of tradition off the tourist routes. It lies among the brackish lagoons surrounding the Essex River, which flows into the sea in the Essex Bay along with the nearby Castle Neck River and several streams, Walker Creek, Hardys Creek, and Soginese Creek, forming a splendid estuary. The mainland rests upon the water; a couple of small hills characterize the landscape. Here, where the town meets the river, is the Essex River Cultural District, geographically sensitive and compact, winding among ancient cemeteries, historic shipyards and marinas, small restaurants, and antique shops.
Shipbuilding Museum
From its shoreline, views open onto the shipyard Burnham’s Shipyard, the Essex Historical Society, and the Shipbuilding Museum, which houses an important collection of maritime antiques, the backbone of Essex’s rich history. Then the view stretches over the Essex River with its brackish lagoon boundaries, beyond the horizon towards Hog Island and the vast Crane Beach. Small parks dot the streets with benches designed for relaxing and enjoying the views. It is a dynamic and active fabric between river history inviting exploration and hands-on discovery of this so jealously preserved heritage.
Essex Shipbuilding Museum
The shipbuilding tradition is still alive: the Essex Shipbuilding Museum tells the extraordinary story of a small New England village that built more wooden two-masted fishing schooners than any other place in the world. The museum is located in the old Essex Central School House from 1835, adjacent to land reserved in 1668 for a shipyard, an integral part of the village’s historical character. There are over 7,000 rare artifacts, photographs, tools, documents, models, including the schooner Evelina M. Goulart. Many objects were found in attics, basements, and sheds of Essex.
Essex starts with clams and clam fishing: a real industry. This mix of brackish water between river and ocean is one of the most fertile grounds for clams. The industrial revolution did not bring any ease to fishing: if you want good clams you have to get your hands in the mud and work with a rake! There still isn’t a clean and easy version that can be advertised and packaged.
Fried or Steamed Clams
Essex has made fresh catch its hallmark, and it is no coincidence that its fried clams were invented right here in 1916 by Woodman’s. One of the best fried clam dishes with a view of the lagoon and birdwatching is at J.T. Farnham’s. Fried or steamed, each place serves them according to its own recipe. The annual Essex ClamFest in October celebrates their fame by combining art and crafts, music and entertainment, finishing the festival with the Clam Chowder Tasting, where local restaurateurs compete to crown the best clam soup in Cape Ann.
America’s Antique Capital
Essex is also considered America’s Antique Capital with over thirty antique shops within a 2 km radius: it is a paradise for collectors and interior decorators; art, furniture, and accessories find space in old buildings, close to each other. Many of these are within walking distance from places to eat: you browse one or two shops, then refresh yourself with a sip of local beer and a snack. Ripple, Shea’s Riverside, Riversbend, and C.K. Pearl all have outdoor seating overlooking the Essex River. The view of the water and lagoons is unmatched: fantastic panoramas mark a meal of fresh fish, shellfish, and an eclectic mix of New England dishes, with the ebb and flow of tides awaiting a spectacular sunset. These places reconnect us with nature and the many bird species that frequent the brackish lagoons.
Along the Essex River
There are various ways to explore the Essex River: for example, glide on the water on a kayak tour led by an expert local guide who also points out the locations of the many Hollywood movies shot here. You can paddleboard through the estuary mosaic, through salt marsh meadows, tidal coves, and the estuaries of the Great Marsh. ERBA is an organization experienced in guided kayak river tours suitable for all skill levels. Explore the protected waters of the Essex River watershed and the northern Massachusetts coast, offering great environmental diversity with miles of estuaries, islets, wildlife, beaches, and dunes. You can swim or spot a hawk, heron, or egret. In these waters, bass is a favored catch on local fishing charters.
Alternatively, you can opt for a good hour and a half narrated boat trip, passing farms, lagoon farms, and historic shipyards. You see lobsters, clams, and fish being caught. You discover islands, barrier beaches, sand dunes, winding rivers, and wildlife. The Essex River Cruises & Charters’ regularly conducts various narrated excursions seven days a week, from May until the end of October within the tidal estuary in a protected bay.
Fall Foliage
Among the various excursions, the autumn ones Fall Foliage Cider & Donut Cruises approach Hog Island to admire the magnificent red fir forest. You can see the changing color of the foliage in bright yellows and oranges, while sipping hot cider and apple donuts from Russell Orchard in Ipswich. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate the spectacular fall foliage of New England. In this seemingly silent nature, there is exceptional wildlife activity. Egrets are very common birds, a type of smaller heron with dark legs that stay in freshwater and saltwater lagoons to find fish food, as well as the osprey, often called the sea and river hawk. The swan, a large and graceful creature with a wide wingspan; the blue heron that helps control the insect population and can also swim deeply.
And the cormorant often perched on the coast with wide Batman-like wings open to dry feathers that are so little oily and make them light for diving to fish. There are also seals – harbor seal – that spend half their time on shore and the other half in water. The natural reserve Stavros Reservation protects over 20 hectares of saltwater marshlands in Essex, of which Whites Hill is a coastal promontory offering an uninterrupted view of Crane Beach, the Crane Wildlife Refuge, and Halibut Point. The top of Whites Hill is an excellent place to observe herons and raptors in the vast salt marsh, especially with a telescope. Many herons use Essex marshes to feed during their journey to and from their nesting colonies on distant islands. The hill also attracts migrating songbirds.
Colonial Farm: Cogswell’s Grant
A beautiful colonial-era farm is the Cogswell’s Grant estate, still a functioning farm and historic house museum today, as well as the summer residence of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little, important collectors of American decorative arts in the mid-20th century. Cogswell’s Grant is a 66-acre coastal farm located along the shores of the Essex River, just two miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Being one of the largest remaining landholdings in the town of Essex, originating as a 17th-century land grant, and with landscape features on the property dating to each of its periods of ownership, it is an extremely significant historic agricultural landscape.
This house became perfect for the Littles’ vast collection of “country art” while also offering an idyllic retreat surrounded by the countryside where the couple could relax and entertain guests. Studying and restoring the interior finishes of the house was an important part of the restoration process. The woodwork and finishes had all been painted white by the end of the 19th century, and there were Victorian-era wallpapers throughout the house.
Over the years, Cogswell’s Grant became a special retreat for the Littles and their three children, Jack, Warren, and Selina. Their life on the farm was documented with a series of scrapbooks containing photos and notes of farm activities and gatherings, favorite animals, special events, and antique cars collected by Jack. It was also a center for study and research, as the Littles had a wide circle of friends, fellow collectors, dealers, and scholars with whom they enthusiastically shared their collections and exchanged information.
Cogswell’s Grant was more than just a summer home for the Little family and a splendid historic setting for their ever-growing collections; it was also a family farm, managed year-round by caretakers who produced food for the Littles’ consumption. Cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens were raised, milk and eggs sold. Vegetables and fruit came from a large garden behind the house, then preserved to provide the Little family with farm products year-round. The caretakers made deliveries of preserves, frozen meats, and fresh eggs throughout the winter to the Littles’ home in Brookline, Massachusetts, and the Littles proudly told guests at their table that everything was produced on their Essex farm.
In 1998 Cogswell’s Grant opened to the public and became the only place in the United States where such an important and pioneering collection of American folk art could be seen in the domestic setting for which it was assembled. The items are arranged as they were during the Littles’ domestic life in a comfortable and natural way, as in the original house. Cogswell’s Grant is still a farm, honoring nearly four centuries of that tradition, and keeping alive an important part of the Little family’s life. Since the property opened to the public, collectors, scholars, and decorative arts enthusiasts have flocked to the museum, enjoying the rarity and quality of the collection and beginning a new chapter for the house, experiencing firsthand the Little passion for collecting and sharing their collections.
©Thema Nuovi Mondi
