1. Woodman’S
City: Essex, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (978) 768-6057
Address: 121 Main St.
Insider Pick:
Description: This is the “other” North Shore fried-clam shack. Don’t let the crowds deter you from stopping by Woodman’s, a local institution that claims to have invented fried clams in 1916. Woodman’s buzzed-about fried clams are locally sourced: sweet, briny morsels of crispy fried goodness. Accompany them with an Ipswich Ale and you will be happy—as a clam. Open year-round.
2. Essex Shipbuilding Museum
City: Essex, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (978) 768-7541
Address: 66 Main St.
Description: From the 1800s through the 1950s, Essex was a village of shipwrights. At one time most of Gloucester’s 2-mast wood fishing schooner fleet was “Essex built.” Inside the workshop, on the grounds of the former Story Shipyard, you can take classes in traditional wooden boat-building and watch the carpenter/volunteers work on restoration throughout the year. Open mid-May through October, Wed through Sun.
3. Essex River Cruises
City: Essex, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (978) 768-6981
Address: 35 Dodge St.
Description: If you are eco-minded, take a narrated cruise aboard the Essex River Queen, a covered pontoon boat. As it wends along the wildlife-rich coastal Essex River estuary, scan the skies for peregrine falcons and the banks for osprey nests. Cruises are offered daily May through Oct; check ahead to confirm departure time.