A wonderful location to explore the History of Quincy and see lots of documents and photos that are…read morearchived here! You can find out about deceased relatives and where they lived and so much more! The Staff always ready to assist and direct your information to the appropriate location

Cute museum holding a lot of Quincey's (Boston) history. Cool original building from the 1800's…read more If you have an extra 30 min - 1 hour, this is a great stop to soak up some local history. It was free which is nice as well. No one there but me when I visited. The women working there was so pleasant and helpful. Thank you for the great hospitality

I unexpectedly moved to Lowell from Brighton last year, and it's been a great move. The city and…read moreUMASS Lowell have thrown a lot of money at development, and you can feel the change in the city from 5-10 years ago. Most of the old mills downtown have been developed into apartments and/or artist studio spaces, with one more set to be finished by 2017, and the city has put a lot of effort into making downtown a place where people can happily live. These are some of the things new to the city in the past 5 years: -Mill No. 5 - A mill space that has been developed into several store fronts, including: -Sutra Studio (Yoga) -Coffee and Cotton (Coffee Shop) -Luna Theater (Independent Theater) -Mill City Grows - Local Farmer's Market organization. -Run a weekly Farmer's Market in Mill No. 5 that's open year-round -Run a summer Farmer's Market by the City Hall -Works specifically with SNAP and WIC beneficiaries -Lowell Food and Wine Festival - Run by Mill City Grows over a full weekend. Included: -Food Truck Madness: 15+ Food Trucks in Jack Kerouac Park -Tacos and Tequila -Sips N' Sweets -Grand Tasting Event: 30+ Food and Alcohol vendors, seriously a blast. -Counting House Lofts - Finished in 2015 For anyone who's even a mild foodie, there are a ton of options: -Blue Taleh - Japanese and Thai. Great sport for spicy food. -El Potro - Mexican, with al fresco dining and a mariachi band in warm weather. -Athenian Corner - A Greek staple in the area for 40-ish years. Live music and bellydancing. -Fuse - Locally sourced food with a menu that changes weekly. Just learned they have Sunday brunch (12-3), so that's on my to do list. -Cobblestones - Local fancy-pants American standard fare, with some special things like fish-tacos and vegetarian chili. Some other things that make living here enjoyable: -The Riverwalk is absolutely beautiful, and super quiet and peaceful. -Lowell Folk Festival - A weekend of food, music, international textiles, etc. A summer highlight. -Lowell Summer Music Series - Open air concert series. -Lots of live music in the bar scene. -A very multicultural city. Lowell is the third most racially diverse city in MA, however unlike Boston it is more integrated. One of my big complaints in Brighton was that I was only surround by other young, white professionals, and young, white and east asian students. There was very little racial or socio-economic diversity. In my building I have met other tenants who are African, Latino, Cambodian, African-American, Chinese, White, etc. and instead of just young-professionals there are retirees, students, families, singles, etc. I appreciate being surrounded by people who are different from me, which makes Lowell a particularly nice fit. Chris M. has an out-dated vision of a Lowell that is overrun with crime and drugs. There is crime, but it's primarily in-fighting, so they only thing to be really worried about is getting in a drunken fight, which can happen anywhere. I've had someone try to sell me weed, but that has also happened on Boston Common, sooooo say "No thank you" and keep walking. Yes, there as been a rise in heroin use, but that is most certainly not unique to Lowell. I'm not sure if I would raise kids in Lowell because the school system has some struggles, but sans children this is most definitely a good place to live, and will only be getting better.

Wow this city is underrated. I love this place. Makes me feel at home. The people are all sober and…read morewelcoming. I LOVE LOWELL. Tacos Lupitas is a must hit on the beautiful north side of Lowell. Umass Lowell has a beautiful must masterpiece called fax hall. Legend has it fox hall took 1000 years to build. I love Lowell and I love life. Great place for a family vacation. The blue shamrock and gemstones is another must see family friendly restaurant with the best burgers and steak tips around. Only bad part of Lowell is when you aren't in the great city.

Adventure, an Essex-built schooner designated a National Historic Landmark nearly a decade ago, is…read morea New England treasure and a throwback to simpler times and the Gloucester fishing industry's golden era. She was conceived and built as a knockabout (to wit, sans bowsprit) fishing schooner in 1926. Always a little quick for her purpose, her propeller and screw were removed and all 121' of her were refitted as a windjammer. In 1989, she was donated to the City of Gloucester with the expressed intention of standing as a testament to the city's fishing legacy and as a living memorial to fishermen lost at sea. Nowadays, the Adventure is berthed at a non-public dock adjacent to Gloucester's new cruise terminal. Its location is far from ideal and a major downgrade from its previous home at the Heritage Center on Harbor Loop (note that the listed address is incorrect). Even so, the restoration effort (led, by and large, by a devoted crew of volunteers) has been remarkable and even from docked and viewed from afar she's a gorgeous and powerful visage.

Enjoyed a nice walk across the rocks, beautiful view…read more Parking is free and nice to watch the boats going bye Nice looking at the homes literally on the water

Lovely place to stop and grab some photos of the coastline and lighthouse. History buffs can read…read morethe plaque telling the story of the sisters but just know the cottage attached to the lighthouse is privately owned - if you need to pee, there are two Porta Potties by the entrance. Lots of parking when we came on a beautiful, not too hot Saturday afternoon. I really didn't see much of a beach area but loved the rocks feeding out into the water. With small kids, the rocks may be a little challenging but they're pretty flat and easy to walk on otherwise.

I cannot believe this place can run in such a rude manner. We have been calling and emailing this…read morehistorical place about some lost AirPods. They have not responded at all. We've searched for them and then got yelled at because we brought a lot of people to search for them. I found out anyone can simply reset them. I am very disgusted because they least they could do is email me or call me and say they have or have not seen them. They will not respond. I am starting to wonder if they found them and choosing to keep them. I do not know!

I got married here, so of course I am going to be somewhat biased about the place…read more As a wedding venue, it was perfect for a smallish wedding of about 90 guests. The grounds were fantastic for everyone to wander around, the foliage and landscaping actually made the need for us to spend half our budget on flowers unnecessary, and the interior was equally gorgeous, with hard wood everything, a grand staircase/foyer that was excellent for dancing and toasts and lots of rooms for a dessert buffet and a large dining area. It is however a historic estate, which means that there are limitations in terms of vendors you can use and decorations (eg, no lit candles indoors) however since we had a late summer wedding, we pretty much stayed outside the entire time so these weren't huge concerns. The event coordinator is -terrifying- but she knows what she is doing. She's very gruff, all business, but really, you're not there to make friends with her, so just smile and nod and everything will go ok. The price wasn't bad for the event, and there is a discount for Waltham residents (which we were not. boo)

If you are looking for lovely, coastal vibes, Bearskin Neck is that place. It's got cute, whimsical…read moreshops and beautiful vistas. It is small and you do not need much time here. It's good for browsing and relaxing outside, but I probably wouldn't eat here or spend more than a few hours. I recommend arriving early so you can park on nearby streets and then heading somewhere good for lunch. But it's definitely worth a visit.

Beautiful village by the sea in Rockport, MA (and main tourist attraction). Fishermen settled on…read morethis peninsula in the 1600's, and it became a fishing village and commercial docking area in the 1700's. In the 1800's during the Industrial Revolution, it supplied a large amount of granite. This peninsula juts out into Rockport Harbor (you can walk all the way out, over the rocks, and take pictures at the end). The street is filled with locally-owned boutique clothing, jewelry, and souvenir shops, restaurants, and photogenic spots (see Motif 1). I love that you can still visualize all the history of Bearskin Neck, see so much beautiful artwork and coastal treasures, and try fresh-caught seafood. Parking is close to impossible on the weekend (as is driving down the street, which IS allowed, but filled with pedestrians); but there is a nearby parking lot that provides a shuttle service to and from here. The area is very dog friendly; they are allowed inside most shops, and there is plenty of water available! Makes for a really fun (and photogenic) day of walking around!!

Visit the Battle of Bunker Hill Museum, which is directly across the street from The Bunker Hill…read moreMonument. It's a smaller museum, which is nice to be able to learn about the history of this battle during the American Revolutionary War within 30 minutes. It's worth visiting and getting a restroom break before exploring the other spots like the USS Constitution ship and the museum and the Paul Revere midnight landing sight.

PROS: This museum was free and the staff was nice. They were clean inside and everything was…read moreorganized CONS: They lacked inventory cause they only had less than 20 items on display. Meanwhile a good amount of those items were replicas. Scarce street parking as well OVERALL: I like the fact that it was free and it did have some cool stuff but it's lacking a lot in order to be considered an interesting museum to see

Before the Big Dig and the Rose Kennedy Greenway came to be, Boston was scarred by the above ground…read moreelevated Expressway through town. After spending billions, they stuffed I-93 underground and the city is more beautiful for it. This girder remains as a reminder of what used to be here. In structural engineering, a "bent" refers to a transverse rigid frame - essentially a cross-sectional slice of a bridge or elevated roadway that includes columns and beams arranged to support vertical and lateral loads. The number "38" designates its position in the sequence of bents along the expressway. Each bent was numbered for construction and maintenance purposes, much like mile markers or grid references. The column has a marker posted on it for posterity. It reads, "The elevated John F. Fitzgerald Expressway was one of the Commonwealth's most ambitious and controversial urban redevelopment projects. Built by the Massachusetts Department of Public Works between 1951 and 1959, its downtown Boston route stretched from Dewey Square to North Station and allowed the growing crowds of suburban commuters to bypass the city's narrow streets. Twenty thousand citizens were displaced and hundreds of buildings were demolished to build the six-lane skyway. Nevertheless, planners hoped that it would alleviate congestion and simplify interurban travel. "Over the next 31 years, the Expressway's daily capacity grew from approximately 75,000 vehicles in 1969 to nearly 200,000 vehicles in 1990. Pollution and traffic jams became a regular part of the city's skyline, while the Waterfront and North End languished in the shadow, grease and grime of Boston's "other Green Monster". Between 1990 and 2007, the Central Artery / Tunnel Project redirected I-93 into a modern network of downtown tunnels. It also demolished the dilapidated Fitzgerald Expressway, restored the city's surface roads, and created the Rose Kennedy Greenway. "This structural column, known as "Bent 38", still rests on its original foundations and is the only piece of the elevated highway that was left undisturbed by construction. It remains as a memorial to the Expressway and to the impact that the health of our transportation systems have upon the life of the community. It also symbolizes the labor of scores of men and women who work to improve our infrastructure everyday." There are pictures of the old Expressway. It's worth checking out. Or just enjoy the peaceful green that exists here today. [Review 1116 of 2025 - 1261 in Massachusetts - 24669 overall]