English colonists followed, and by the early 19th century the area’s fishing and shipbuilding industries were flourishing.

(The light is said to be uniquely ethereal because of the granite’s reflective properties.)

Sometime before dawn, lightning scraped across the sky.

Photos of two museums in Massachusetts, one showing a mural=painted interior at the Peabody Essex, and one showing the campus of the Cape Ann Museum Green space

From left: Michael Lin’s mural Freeport No. 005 lines a staircase at the Peabody Essex Museum, in Salem; the new Cape Ann Museum Green campus in Gloucester.Fron left: Walter Silver/Courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum; Steve Rosenthal/Courtesy of CAM Green

Rain sheeted down over rolling waves and the wind whipped the inn’s flag against its pole.

I sat in bed, listening to the rushing and retreating of the surf.

Sunday

Even at 10 a.m., Rockport’s downtown was still waking up.

A plate with a lobster roll and french fries

A lobster roll and fries at Seaport Grille.Courtesy of Beauport Hospitality

In a curtained booth, co-owner Leanne Marrama fanned trios of tarot cards over a marble tabletop.

She related the cards, accurately, to changes in my career and a recent death in the family.

She drew again and announced, “You have a special connection to the North Shore.”

The Thomas Lannon schooner sailing of the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts

The Thomas E. Lannon schooner in Gloucester Harbor.Wangkun Jia/Alamy

Then, to the soundtrack of a clanging buoy bell, we devoured it all.

A version of this story first appeared in the July 2022 issue ofTravel + Leisureunder the headlineShore Thing.