As thoughts turn to the approaching holiday season, if you’ve ever wondered about that first Thanksgiving, maybe a trip to historic New England is in order. Curiousity drove me to peruse the Travel Neighborhood shelves in the New England section where I found just the ticket.
The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America Southern New England covers Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.Beautiful color pictures along with historical anecdotes make this a fascinating book if you’re interested in seeing and learning about our country’s beginnings. I have family in Massachusetts and have visited the state many times, but I didn’t know that there is a neoclassical monument to mark the site on Plymouth Rock of the first Thanksgiving. Nearby there’s also an accurate, life-size replica of the Mayflower so you can get an idea of the conditions the travelers endured on their sixty-six day journey. Also in the book is information on other Massachusetts sites such as Boston, Lexington and Concord, Martha’s Vineyard along with great spots in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Fodor’s The Thirteen Colonies: Travel Historic America doesn’t have the pretty pictures but it is packed with a lot historical and travel information. It also gives instructions and details for several driving tours like the “Colonial America’s Superhighway” tour, a fourteen-day journey from Boston to Valley Forge and shorter 2 or 3 day trips in more localized areas such as the “Life Styles of the Rich and Revolutionary” tour — 3 days from Washington D.C. to St. Mary’s County. Then there’s the “Mel Gibson Slept Here” tour, inspired by the movie The Patriot, that covers southern Revolutionary War sights from Charleston to Yorktown.
I also found numerous guidebooks from Frommer’s, Rough Guides, Mobil Travel and others.One of the fun titles that jumped out at me was Play Hard Rest Easy New England; The Ultimate Active Getaway Guide.With this book you can find out where to hike, mountain bike, horseback ride or ski while you’re getting your dose of history.