Okay, gang, Spring has officially arrived. We all know it takes its sweet time here in New England. But when the weather does finally warm and the last ice is melted, where are your favorite places to wander about and catch glimpses of new life? Where do you like to spy early daffodils and carpets of tulips? See birds building nests? Hear choruses of spring peepers? Smell garden or farm soil being turned to warm in the lengthening days? Finally walk without being totally bundled up in scarves, boots, and ear warmers? Dish about your favorite early spring outing.
Jessie: I love to head for Old Orchard Beach. As soon as I possibly can stand it I peel off my shoes and socks and roll up my pant cuffs in order to walk barefooted along the sand. There is something so wonderful about feeling the sand between your toes after a long, cold winter!
Liz: The beach – any beach! Like Jessie, I feel completely at home with my toes in the sand, and I look so forward to the first visit each year when it’s warm enough to peel off some layers. This really is my happy place.
Edith: I head out to my garden and watch my garlic come up. Not much of an outing, I know, but it’s a marvel every spring to see the crop I planted in the fall pop its green shoots through the hay mulch and start to reach skyward. Getting the rest of the garden ready for planting is a treat, too. We also like to take walks on streets where there are lots of bulbs blooming.
Barb: For the last several years, spring has meant the ritual of opening our house in Maine. Checking out which restaurants and businesses survived the winter, what new places are popping up. Putting out the porch furniture, inspecting the basement and attic for signs of winter “guests.” That’s spring for me.
Sherry: When I lived in Massachusetts I always loved to drive up to Rockport, Massachusetts. It’s an old historic town with lots of shops and stunning scenery! I’ll let the pictures below speak for themselves!
Julie: Chalk up another beach goer as soon as I can get there. I also LOVE walking through the Public Gardens in Boston, and watching the morph from winter to spring. As Edith said, it comes late here in New England, but it is greatly cherished by us all.
Readers: What are your favorite spring outings, wherever you live?
I love to see swaths of daffodils in bloom – thank you, Lady Bird Johnson for the spring legacy that enhances life here in the greater Washington, D.C. area. I also have to go find cherry blossoms to admire! I grew up next to an orchard in Pennsylvania, and tramping through the orchard when the trees were in blossom was just a wonder. The street I lived on in England was lined with cherry trees – the walk home from the bus stop was magical. I’ve also had the great pleasure of enjoying “sakura” in Japan – it is just astonishing how many blossoming cherry trees there are everywhere!
Sakura in Japan – I have, too, Vida! Right down to the picnic under the trees. What a delight. A friend in a neighboring town here has a whole hillside of naturalized daffodils. Such a treat when they are in full bloom.
I spent a weekend on Bass Rocks earlier this month (Gloucester’s Eastern Point), my favorite place in New England. In any season.
Sounds delightful, Kate.
A trip to Salisbury Beach and up Rte 1 was always a March trip. Still do it when in MA.
That’s a fun drive! And so pretty through Hampton and Rye.
It’s funny so many of you have talked about the beach. For the last several years, spring has come to mean a Ultimate Frisbee beach league. Unfortunately, that seems to be one of the few times I make it to the beach any more, in fact.
Another thing that spring means to me is the LA Times Festival of Books. I’ve been going for over 15 years every spring, and I look forward to it each year.
And yes, I do enjoy the warmer weather, which we haven’t been having this week. After a week and a half in the upper 80’s, we are back down to low 60’s and rain. (Yes, to us, that is winter.)
I remember growing up it only rained in the winter, Mark. Have fun at the LA TImes festival!
Anywhere outside without a jacket. Flip flops are a plus.
Yes!
Walk around my neighborhood, which though urban, has small, well-tended gardens in front most houses, and admire the spring flowers. I have some myself, poking up through the snow, a mystery as I did not get to planting bulbs last fall. I can’t wait to see what they are! Whatever they are- tulips, daffodils, crocuses – they will be a sight to cheer the heart.
Agree! Those first spring flowers are such a treat, Triss.