Ipswich can claim, and does, to have more first-period houses than any other town in America. The term covers buildings put up before 1725, in the cramped, steep-roofed, small-windowed style of the first English settlers, and a walk along the streets near the river brings you past dozens of them, dark with age and leaning a little with the centuries. The town was settled in 1633 and has been rebuilt, chewed up and left alone in about equal measure ever since, which is why so much of it survives.
The Ipswich River flows through the middle of town, over a stone-arched bridge that is among the oldest of its kind in the country, and then out through the marshes to the sea. Out on the coast lies Crane Beach, four miles of dune-backed sand that is one of the finest on the North Shore, with a great mansion on the hill above it that belonged to a plumbing-fixtures magnate. The dunes and the salt marsh behind are protected, and the piping plovers nest there, so the beach has seasonal restrictions. Ipswich is also known for its clams: the town claims the fried clam as a local speciality, though neighbouring Essex disputes the credit, and a plate of them on a picnic table, with tartar sauce and a sea breeze, is a fair way to settle the argument.
The roads around Ipswich are some of the best in the district for easy riding. Route 1A and Route 133 lead out through farmland, marsh and woodland, with long straight runs broken by bends over old stone bridges, and the coast road toward Essex winds through marshes and past creeks full of boats. The surface varies, and it can be bumpy and patched, but the traffic is mostly local outside the summer. On a fine weekend, Crane Beach pulls a long line of cars down the approach road, so plan your timing.
With about four thousand people, Ipswich has fuel, shops and a good number of restaurants, and Manchester-by-the-Sea, a larger place thirteen kilometres to the south, is a good alternative. Time your visit for the shoulder seasons, when the beach is open, the clam shacks are serving and the crowds are thin.