BOSTON TO CAPE ANN
After touring the city's historic attractions, join Bostonians enjoying summer evenings outdoors at world-class classical, jazz and pop concerts, and celebrate Harborfest, the weekend before the city's spectacular July 4 Independence Day festivities. Then take off for Cape Ann, known for its sandy beaches, fishing villages, whale watching and lobster shacks.
First stop on Route 1A/127 is Marblehead, the self-proclaimed ‘Yachting Capital of the World', where posh vessels in the harbour complement the carefully preserved Colonial-era houses ashore.
Next comes Salem, best known for its infamous 1692 witch trials, but also boasting a rich maritime heritage and grand merchant mansions along Chestnut Street.
Farther on is charming residential Manchester-by-the Sea, gateway to the famous Singing Beach, where the sand is so fine under foot that it squeaks rather than sings.
Next comes Gloucester, 400 years old this year and America's oldest seaport. Enjoy clam chowder, fried clams and lobster rolls at Seven Seas Wharf's Gloucester House; go whale-watching; head across Gloucester Harbor to visit the Rocky Neck art colony; and stay at the Blue Shutters Beachside Inn (blueshuttersbeachside.com) high above Good Harbor Beach, with Long Beach just around the corner.
At the very tip of Cape Ann, camera-friendly Rockport boasts a romantic harbour and Motif #1, an old red fishing shack; there's great steamed mussels and lobster rolls at the Lobster Pool near Halibut Point State Park; and, with its granite rocks, Front Beach has echoes of Cornwall and an atmospheric place to stay, The Emerson Inn (theemersoninn.com). meetboston.com, northofboston.org, capeannvacations.com
Drop by the elegant hilltop State Capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson, the outstanding Virginia Museum of
Fine Arts and, if interested in the American Civil, the James Riverside Civil War Museum. Then drive or stroll through some of the city's charming neighbourhoods such as the Fan District and Church Hill, where Daniel Day Lewis stayed while filming 2012's Oscar-winning Lincoln.
For more Lincoln – and Civil War – associations en route to Virginia Beach, 105 miles to the south-east, head down Route 85 to Petersburg, which Lincoln visited in 1865 and where the historic main street and various buildings were featured in the film. Inspiring another film – 2003's Cold Mountain – was the Battle of the Crater, which site you can visit, as well as Blandford Church, built in 1735, reputedly haunted and featuring 15 exquisite Tiffany windows.
Continue to Norfolk, where a narrated boat tour takes you past America's largest naval base. Then visit both the Nauticus Museum/Battleship Wisconsin (maritime discovery centre) and the Chrysler Museum of Art, particularly known for its outstanding glass collection, before continuing 17 miles to Virginia Beach, which says the Guinness Book of World Records, is ‘the world's longest pleasure beach'.
Along its 38 miles of sandy strand are a three-mile concrete boardwalk, outdoor restaurants, concert venues, an aquarium, and a gigantic bronze statue dedicated to
King Neptune. And, of course, there are some great hotels, including the ocean-front's hilltop Historic Cavalier Hotel & Beach Club (cavalierresortvb.com). visitrichmondva.com, visitvirginiabeach.com
Book-ended by the charming cities of Pensacola and Panama City, north-west Florida's ‘Panhandle' coastline, which overlooks the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is fringed with gorgeous, whitesand beaches and appealing resorts.
Pensacola, which traces its history back centuries to the days of Spanish exploration and colonisation, offers a historic village, a lively downtown and aerial flight formation demonstrations by the Blue Angeles based at the Naval Air Station, and in Panama City make sure to take a spectacular sunset cruise on the Paradise
Adventures catamaran and then dine at Captain Anderson's Restaurant and Waterfront Market, where the mouth-watering seafood couldn't be any fresher.
The scenery along the 100-mile coastal Highways 98 and 399 linking the two cities varies from the 100 per cent natural beaches of Gulf Islands National Seashore to the man-made seaside delights of Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Miramar Beach and Panama City Beach, all of which offer excellent dolphin-watch cruises, fishing charters, snorkelling tours and jet-ski rentals, and where the perfect base is Destin's Henderson Beach Resort, which combines Southern charm with modern luxury (hendersonbeachresort.com). visitpensacola.com, visitpanamacitybeach.com, destinfwb.com