5 MA Road Trips: The Paper House; Seuss Museum; Whale Watching; More

MASSACHUSETTS — Road trippers who want to venture outside of Boston, the birthplace of the American Revolution and a city chock-full of heritage sites and museums, have plenty of options within Massachusetts’ 10,565 square miles.

Here are five road trips worth considering:

A House Made Of Newspaper

The Paper House in Rockport was built as a hobby project and summer home for Ellis F. Stenman, a mechanical engineer who designed the machines that make paper clips, and this wife, Esther.

The framing, flooring and roof are of wood like any other house. Stenman originally planned to use the newspaper as insulation, but ultimately used pressed newspaper for the walls and many of the furnishings inside, including an upright piano and desk and chair.

Rockport is located on Cape Ann, which includes Gloucester, Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Ipswich.

Gloucester, in particular, is a great place for whale watching, which begins in early May and ends sometime in early November.

The riverside town of Essex is filled with antique, vintage, pottery and fine art stores. Ipswich with its lush, wooded trails, roadside farms and vast recreational opportunities, is a great place to enjoy life at a slower pace or see nesting sits for the piping plover, a threatened shorebird. Manchester-by-the-Sea is known for exceptional dining, shopping, beaches, parks and waterfront recreation.

For more on the area, visit Cape Ann Vacations.

Visit The Home Of Dr. Seuss

The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield honors noted children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel, who gave the world such whimsical stories as “Green Eggs and Ham.” The sculpture garden includes other life-sized bronze statues created by sculptor Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, Geisel’s stepdaughter.

A gallery devoted to the creation of the sculpture garden is found on the second floor of The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, which opened 15 years after the sculpture garden was installed.

The museum offers interactive play stations, including a giant marble maze; The Seuss Bakery; Whoville, featuring a ball wall and light wall; and a Lorax recycle game.

History In A Beautiful Seaside Town

A weekend trip to the coastal town of Beverly includes something for everyone, from a day at one of the town’s multiple, beaches and parks to a musical at the North Shore Music Theatre, whose shows this summer include “Frozen,” “Beauty and The Beast, Jr.” and “Tootsie.” The Cabot is another performing arts venue worth a visit. So are the town’s art galleries.

Beverly was settled in 1626 and was originally part of Salem and the Naumkeag Territory. As the birthplace of the armed schooner Hannah, the first ship commissioned for the U.S. military, Beverly calls itself the “Birthplace of America’s Navy.”

The town also bills itself also as the “Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution” as the site of the first cotton mill in America (1787).

Built in 1781 during the Revolutionary War, the Georgian-style John Cabot House, serves as a visitor center. The Hospital Point Light Station and the John Balch House also offer a look at early colonial life.

Explore The Mohawk Trail

Reserve a couple of days to properly explore the Mohawk Trail, a 63-ile trip from Williamstown to Orange. New England’s oldest scenic byway, it features panoramic vistas from the Berkshires, including from a dramatic hairpin turn around Clarksburg.

Other highlights include Natural Bridge State Park in North Adams, the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, and the panoramic vistas of the Connecticut River from French King Bridge in Millers Falls.

The byway is scenic at any time of year, but especially so in the fall, when the foliage is at its most brilliant.

This Road Trip Is LGBTQ+ Friendly

Provincetown, or P-Town as it’s known, sits on the edge of the continent about 60 miles out to sea. Reasons to visit include its beautiful beaches and welcoming restaurants, art galleries, shopping and charming and luxurious guesthouses and boutique inns.

“A favorite LGBTQ+ destination, Provincetown celebrates individuality and freedom of expression,” according to the city’s tourism website. “It also has a rich creative history as the oldest continuous art colony in the country.”

The attractions change with the season, including Carnival in August, Women’s Week in October and First Light at year’s end.

More Massachusetts Road Trips

• The Most American Road Trip Ever
• Conjure Up Salem’s Witchy Past
• Beyond The Lizzie Borden Legacy
• Live In The Present
• Skip The Beach For The Massachusetts Berkshires

Going out of state? Check out these Patch Road Trips.