Gloucester
Heritage District · Gloucester, Massachusetts
America's oldest working seaport, settled in 1623 on the seaward side of Cape Ann, and still a commercial fishing town rather than a preserved one — the boats go out, the auction runs, and the harbour smells of it. Its memorial to the fishermen lost at sea, a bronze man at a ship's wheel put up in 1925, carries the names of more than five thousand of them. The Andrea Gail, the boat in The Perfect Storm, sailed from this harbour.
Stacy Boulevard and Main Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 01930, United States
A working city, always open. The Man at the Wheel, Stacy Boulevard and the memorial plaques are free and open at all hours. The Cape Ann Museum, Rocky Neck galleries and whale-watch operators keep their own seasonal hours, with whale watching roughly April to October. Beach parking is charged in season and fills by mid-morning on hot days. St. Peter's Fiesta is in late June.