East coast travel to Gloucester is a perfect for a relaxing weekend drive

If you are looking for a nice roadtrip for your East coast travel plans, make Gloucester, Ma. a destination.

Gloucester, Massachusetts is a great weekend East coast travel destination or a great place to visit if you are driving through that part of the country.

Earlier in my life I was afforded the opportunity to live in Massachusetts and thanks to my parents, I made several trips to the eastern coast of the state to see Gloucester. Maybe it was my fathers Coast Guard career that drew him to the water or maybe it was that combined with his love of fishing the rivers of Fremont, Oh. Either way, it has remained with me some 30 or 40 year’s later.

I recently took my family to Maine and made a point to drive through Gloucester. Pronounced Gla-ster, the small coastal community is a peaceful getaway. We stayed overnight at the only RV park in the area and then took or rig into town the following day.

We parked downtown close to Fisherman’s Wharf and then headed to the harbor for a nice relaxing few hours in the late spring. A chilly bite still came off the harbor but the sun was warm enough to not make us leave.

Gloucester is known to reality television fans of the show Wicked Tuna that follows several fisherman into the Atlantic as they fish for their livelihood and market catches. It was also brought to life in the motion picture, Perfect Storm which featured George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. That film is loosely based on the tragic loss of the Andrea Gail, a fishing vessel lost in 1991.

Along the rocky shore of Gloucester Harbor, the Fishermans Memorial stands facing the harbor hunched over his wheel while down the waterfront, the Fishermans Wives memorial stands in waiting for her loves return.

Gloucester sits to the northeast of Boston. It is between Manchester-by-the-Sea and Rockport. In the harbor you can see the Gloucester lighthouse and out further you can see Eastern Point light but you can’t get to is it now sits adjacent to a private community.

Dotted along the harbor are beach areas that you can take the kids to swim at and the food in the small community is really good and homemade. There are plenty of parks to check out and rocky coves to explore.

For a really cool drive, take Thatcher road to the northwest. The winding paved road takes you along the northern shores of Gloucester where the rocky landscape shines with the Atlantic behind it. Get out and take pictures of the blooming flowers among the rocks. Watch ahead as Thatcher Island will come into view along the drive.

Thatcher Island is home to the Twin lighthouses. Towering lights that sit on opposing sides of the island.

Gloucester remains relatively untouched. Like many coastal communities from Boston to northern Maine, Gloucester has stayed a fishing village. There are no tourist traps that call you, no lined harbor shopping centers. It’s a working community with a rich history that continues to remain itself despite the bustling world you left behind.