Yankeetowns

06/25/2026

On June 16, 2026, we took the Cross Sound Ferry from New London, Connecticut to Orient Point, Long Island, New York. The objective was a day trip to the U.S. Open golf tournament.

The distance from the Boston area to New London is similar as to Hyannis assuming no traffic. We left at 5:00 AM.

The big advantage is that the car ferry is 1 hour 20 minutes compared to 2:30 to Nantucket with reservations easier to obtain and a cost of $100 each way much lower than going to Nantucket.

The pictures were taken with a cell phone camera.

The 1801 New London Harbor Lighthouse starts our photos, and near the end of the trip, the 1899 Orient Point Light appears.

The port at Orient Point appears and we took one last picture looking back with the Connecticut coast visible on the clear day.

To go to the U.S. Open, one has to drive close to an hour to an abandoned runway at the Calverton Airfield just west of Riverhead, NY. A bus gets us to the Open in a 45 minute ride in traffic It took about 5 1/2 hours door-to-door to get to Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, NY.

The Stanford White clubhouse (1892) is a historic structure, considered the oldest clubhouse in America. A highlight was seeing 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama hit a drive on the practice round, where cell phone photography was permitted. The sand trap was on the third hole.

On the way back to the ferry, we were searching for wineries using GPS. We saw a fruit store. By luck, we were brought to Love Lane in Mattituck, NY where pictures like in prior Yankeetowns posts were taken of buildings in a historic village.

We found two good wineries, Macari Vineyards (picture of vineyard) and Rose Hill Vineyards, which had a great bread spread.

Returning to New London, across the Thames river in Groton, we saw the General Dynamics Electric Boat factory known for submarines and a second photo having the "EB" logo.

The Groton Bank Historic District appears to be a great gateway to New England. In the photo is the Groton Monument for the massacre at Fort Griswold in 1781. Benedict Arnold led the British side at that time. This area is worth a closer visit.

05/05/2026

May 4, 2026 was a nice day to take a walk in the Ashland, MA historic district.

The 1882 Greenwood Block is adjacent to the 1904 Library, which has a cannon in the right side of the photograph. It was founded by a grant from Andrew Carnegie.

Ashland's parking lot has no meters, and there is a clock on the sign because the town was known for electric clock manufacturing for most of the 20th century, until Telechron closed in 1992.

Montenegro Square was named after Ben Montenegro, a former DPW director for the town. Front Street is a relaxing place to walk having many older buildings preserved.

The Town Hall is across the street from the Federated Church which dates from the 1830's.

Two photos are presented of the James Jackson House.

The 1928 firehouse was converted to a brewery.

H.H. Richardson, who designed many railroad stations in the 19th century is credited with Ashland's old station which is no longer in use for train travel.

Stone's Public House is located in the 1834 Railroad House built so close to the mainline Boston-Albany tracks.

The Ashland Historical Society is located in the Ocean House now overlooking Mill Pond Park.

The Mill Pond has a stone waterfall.

The "Leaving Ashland Downtown Historic District" sign offered an opportunity for one last picture.

03/30/2026

On Sunday March 29 we stopped at Nantasket Beach. Paragon Park (1905-1984) has been reduced to the Carousel building, and a museum from the former train station. There is a candy store, ice cream shop, and restaurant nearby.

When Paragon Park opened, it was beautiful having ornate buildings. In its history there were many fires, and the Blizzard of 1978 caused significant flooding damage. The cost of operating the park increased, and then came the real estate boom of the mid-1980's.

One fact is that the roller coaster was moved to Maryland where it operated until November 2, 2025 when 6 Flags America closed.

Condominiums continue to be built in the area today where Paragon Park operated.

02/07/2026

On February 5, we visited the Veterans Memorial Auditorium to see a concert. It is one of the few places once can see the names and seals of all the towns in one place, in a ceiling mural. Robert Haun was the artist who completed the murals in 1949.

Rhode Island, of course, is the smallest US state by land area that has the fewest municipalities.

The auditorium known as the VETS was originally opened in 1951 and restored in 1990. The seating capacity is about 2,000. The project started much earlier in 1928 by the Masons, who constructed a Masonic Lodge next door. They used the architect Osgood & Osgood, known at the time for designing Masonic buildings. The Lodge is now the Renaissance Downtown Providence Hotel. The RI state capital is nearby.

01/26/2026

We stopped by the Shutesbury Community Church at the Town Common. We noticed the new elevator and we could not duplicate one of our favorite winter photos from nine years earlier.

01/15/2026

01/15/2026

The Bear's Den park was toured. There is a gorge for a brook, the Middle branch of the Swift River before entering the Quabbin Reservoir. There is the ruins of an old grist mill. The rock outcroppings can be up to 40 feet tall. The park is located at Nielsen road in the northern reaches of New Salem. It is not far from Route 2 below Orange and Athol.

A short walk but slick and dangerous for people who hike infrequently, the Bear's Den provides the chance to experience the some of the best scenery one can find. Per Wikipedia, the park was acquired by the Trustees in 1968.

01/10/2026

On Saturday January 4, 2026, we visited North Orange, MA. The Royalston Road is unpaved, and it is a nice 20 MPH drive through the pines in midwinter.

North Orange was the town common for Orange which is now Goddard Park. Per the history of the Community Church online, the town center was moved to the Millers River in 1810. Thus we have a scene that appears way back in time.

Yankeetowns has previous posts on Orange, including a post in 2018 that had the Schlitz mural used in Hulu's "Castle Rock." See our own Schlitz light from a grandparent of ours.

01/10/2026

Royalston, MA is one of the closest towns to Boston where there is a true rural feel. The town is a few miles from the New Hampshire border.

The Town Hall was completed in 1867. It is an Italianate, Mansard-style building.

The Congregational church is dated from 1851.

The Library was acquired by the town in 1946 after being constructed by a private owner in 1911.

Royalston is a town to find winter, which has been a disappearing season in recent years.

A place for contemplation is Doane's Falls Reservation, located on Doane Hill Road off Athol Road.