Concord
Literary lovers always find their way to Author’s Ridge at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, gravesite of Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts. Tour Minuteman National Historical Park-spanning Lexington, Concord, and Lincoln-to soak up some 1775 spirit. Stand on North Bridge, listen closely, and you may hear echoes of the “shot heard ’round the world.”
Middleboro/Plymouth
Set your time machine for “Plymouth Colony, 17th century,” and enter the world of Plimoth Plantation, where costumed interpreters take on the character of actual Pilgrims and perform the chores of everyday life in 1627. (They’re happy to chat, and will look at you with bemusement if you mention, say, the Internet or MTV!) Also on the grounds is the Wampanoag Homesite, providing a glimpse into another fascinating culture. See the famous rock (mostly buried underground now), tour the Mayflower II, a replica of the famous ship, and take a whale watch cruise out of Plymouth Harbor.
Webster/Sturbridge
Parades, musket shoots, children’s games on the green-these are among the scenes awaiting guests at Old Sturbridge Village, a living history museum that recreates life in a rural New England town, circa the 1830s. Daily activities change with the seasons: spring brings sheep-shearing, autumn means a turkey shoot.