Recently, someone asked me about activities that are available out our house and here's a bit of what I wrote back:

Starting out on the micro level and moving to the macro level, we have a fairly large back yard for running and playing along with a separate area with a trampoline and a tree swing. There is a playhouse up in our woods for kids to explore and we have a firepit and a Solo Stove. Our home backs up to a small rock outcropping that our kids love to climb.

The town of Manchester by the Sea is a small former fishing village located between Gloucester and Beverly/Salem, MA. The town has several tennis courts and, of course, Singing Beach, a 1/2 mile wide crescent beach with plenty of space for people to spread out and enjoy themselves in the surf, play ball games, etc. There is a rule over the summer that you can not surf or use inflatables/boogie boards/etc until after 5pm but after that the beach is open for all activities and you can even get a fire permit from the station and have a cookout on the beach after 5pm.

There is a park in town for kids that has baseball, soccer and a couple of climbing structures and swings along with a gazebo. On Tuesday nights in the summer, there is a concert series where you can sit on the lawn and picnic with many others in the town and enjoy local bands and music. The park is located right on the harbor in Manchester, less than 1/4 mile from the beach and across the street from Captain Dusty’s, our locally owned ice cream stand.

We also have a really special place further along the harbor in Manchester for residents and guests only called Tuck’s Point. From there you can launch paddle boards, kayaks, etc and there is a rotunda that sits out over the water that kids LOVE to jump from at high tide. Tuck’s is also a great place for a picnic and there are often events held there in the community house.

Right in the center of town and at the start of our street, there is a 53 acre conservation area with some trails to explore, but the real gem is the network of trails that extend throughout the North Shore of Boston that are perfect for hiking and mountain biking. There are extensive maps and guides for those trails that can be found here: https://www.nemba.org/trails/massachusetts

Our neighboring towns all have plentiful activities and opportunities to be active. Gloucester is a major fishing port right next door where you can take a whale watch tour, visit one of their many world-class beaches, each with a different vibe, hit up a museum or charter a sailboat. Rockport is home to the famous Motif #1; a picturesque little, red fishing shack that is one of the most often painted buildings in America. There are boutiques and lobster roll and ice cream stands galore in Rockport and it is easily accessible by car or train from our home. I found a pretty thorough list of things to do in our immediate area here: https://addisonchoate.com/40-things-to-do-in-rockport-ma/

Moving out further from our enclave, we are about a 2.5 hour drive from the White Mountains in New Hampshire, home to Mount Washington; the tallest mountain in America east of the Mississippi River. There are abundant outdoor activities available including more intense hiking, rock water slides, tramways, flume gorges, zip lining, biking and more.

And, of course, we are a 30 minute train ride right into the heart of Boston where there are innumerable activities and events available all throughout the year and where you can catch a history tour; foodie tour; baseball game at Fenway Park and/or visit a museum, boat out to a harbor island, etc.