Don’t miss the next two weekends of free outdoor and cultural activities in Essex County as part of the 2009 Trails and Sails experience. Visit their extensive website to plan your itinerary. You might want to consider the Cox Reservation Walk in Essex or the Guide’s Favorite’s at Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House in Gloucester. Perhaps you’d like to climb aboard a Yankee Whale Watch in Gloucester or a pontoon boat to go Cruising the Essex River. Join the Ipswich Maritime Walking Tour to stroll the Historic South Green and the shores of the Ipswich River. Visit the Italian and Rose formal gardens at Maudslay State Park as part of the Newburyport Tour + Tea in Formal Gardens. Partake in a Chestnut Street Stroll among its sea captain houses or Lunch Hour at the Gedney House c. 1665 in Salem. Check the Trails and Sails website for dates and times. Enjoy some of New England’s treasures north of Boston. 

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast