Come View Tuck Inn's New Web-Site!!

Following months of development, we are thrilled to unveil our new web site today. Although we had done preliminary work on the site in 2010, we had an intense winter of editing while redesigning and proofing the entire site over the last few months. The new site is comprised of roughly 200 pages of useful information for visitors & vacationers alike to The Tuck Inn B&B, or to Rockport MA, or throughout Cape Ann.

Some of the new features include the use of a "flash" presentation on several of the main pages in the site. We have updated our Cape Ann Visitors Directory Pages to include approximately 1,000 visitor related listings along with links. We have vastly expanded our Guest Comments Page, including approximately 300 out of an estimated 6,000 of our guest reviews. Then we've completely changed and updated our Recipes Page, and offer all of our favorite recipes for you to try (about 75 of them), along with an expanded Staff and a new Innkeepers "Bio" page. These and more have all been included in the new site!

Then with urgings from John Richards (our new website mastermind), our children and others, we will be making regular additions to our Blog. We now have a Facebook Page as well and incorporated computerized availability and reservation forms within the site.

Lastly, the photography has all been re-vamped and re-sized to give Clark Linehan's extraordinary artistry it's just due - wait until you see the new pictures!

So please, do yourself a favor and jump right into the site to spend some time reviewing it - because you're going to love what you'll find here!!

Thank You,
Liz & Scott Wood (owner/innkeepers)
John Richards (web-designer)

What to do on Cape Ann - Whale Watching

Perhaps the most popular attraction on Cape Ann is our whale-watching and the sight of one of these magnificent animals just feet from your boat is incredible!

My wife and I have gone several times and had a spectacular time with a dozen whales just a few yards from the boat, submerging and resurfacing near us, some with their calves and some breaching. A truly once in a lifetime experience that you must do when you get here.

There are 4 whale watch companies operating our of our neighboring town of Gloucester, 4 miles away. Each company has a naturalist on board to help you name and spot the whales, give a narrative about them and to answer your questions. The rates this year run $45 for adults, $38 - $40 for seniors, and $29 -$30 for children per person. Based on the time of year, they will run once or twice daily, 7 days a week, especially in the summer, weather permitting.

All 4 companies run good operations and we can't recommend one over the other, although I have been partial to Captain Bill's simply because "Jodie" has always been so pleasant to deal with. To learn more about them or to see their schedules, rates, or to make a reservation, please click on their sites below:

Captain Bill's Whale Watch @ www.captbillandsons.com
Cape Ann Whale Watch @ www.seethewhales.com
Seven Seas Whale Watch @ www.7seas-whalewatch.com
Yankee Fleet @ www.yankeefleet.com

If you choose to reserve with Captain Bill's, tell Jodie The Tuck Inn says "hello" and she may give you a slight discount!

The Tuck Inn, of course, is happy to accommodate you when you come to Cape Ann to see the whales and we'll always prepare an early breakfast for any guests taking an early morning trip. Come and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime trip, which is truly a humbling experience.

Breakfast at the Tuck Inn - Ooh, la, la!

The one thing that makes Rockport's Tuck Inn stand out from nearly any B&B that you'll ever visit is our home-baked buffet breakfast! Breakfast is truly an extraordinary event and unfolds thusly:

Scott typically begins his baking around 3:00 - 3:30 a.m. every day that we have guests. Depending upon the number of breakfast diners, he'll generally bake 5-8 items with everything made from "scratch"; no packaged goods or store-made stuff warmed up - all from the individual ingredients, to our oven to our dining room for you to savor and enjoy.

With an ever expanding repertoire of recipes for baked goods (currently about 75 of them), you'll seldom get the same item served over the course of your stay. For all the bakers or neophytes among you, all of our recipes are available online on our website, so feel free to print them out and take a stab at them yourself!

Liz enters the picture around 6:30 - 7:00 a.m. When she'll prepare either stewed rhubarb or applesauce from scratch as well to serve piping hot that day. Then she will prepare the huge fruit bowl, again all freshly cut that morning. We'll put on freshly brewed coffee as soon as our first guest comes in, usually around 7:00 a.m., but sometimes as early as 4:00 a.m. once the baking aromas begin wafting into your room.

After our prep work, Liz, often with the help of Wendy or Margie, will begin serving breakfast which lasts usually from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m., during which Scott will usually come to your table with the final baked good fresh out of the oven, before helping with serving. (Although often Scott will prepare a few items quite early for departing guests who need to catch an early flight or who are going fishing or whale-watching at some ungodly hour.)

To complement the baked goods, fruit compotes and fruit platters, we also include our home-made granola (again from scratch), a variety of cereals, yogurts, preserves, honey, and a never ending cup of coffee, tea, cocoa or juices.

Our extensive breakfast is a culinary feast and, although we may take exception to being pigeon-holed as serving a simple continental breakfast, that's how we are categorized withing the town. Consequently, our victualer's license restricts us from serving egg dishes, bacon, or pancakes and the like. That being said though, rest assured that you will not leave our breakfast table hungry!

A growing concern from our guests are an increase in food sensitivities and allergies for which we can happily accommodate you. We have a handful of gluten-free recipes along with some prepared without milk and we can even prepare vegan baked goods, so please remind us when you arrive, should you have any food restrictions.

We go through an enormous amount of food each day and to insure that we never run out, we bake and prepare every breakfast in abundance and usually have quite a bit left over each morning. Guests often inquire about what happens to the remainder, which we don't re-serve? Any excess after breakfast usually becomes our parting gift to you before you start your day, so don't forget your "to-go bag" folks!!!

Inns of Rockport

If we can't serve you, someone else can! That's our intent at The Tuck Inn and the other inns of Rockport. In our town, we have a very close-knit organization of 25 inns, including B&B's, apartments, cottages, hotels, and motels as well. Collectively, we represent about 350 rooms for lodging and we should be able to handle anyone's accommodation request, from small, intimate B&B's to larger complexes with full dining, handling wedding venues or medium size meetings.

As every innkeeper has discovered, there are often times that we are unable to fill a reservation request, and we work with each other and are happy to refer you to another inn. So if The Tuck Inn is full, please view The Inns of Rockport site, because, most likely, one of our other member inns should be able to accommodate your lodging needs.

Our group site, where all our members are listed is: www.innsofrockport.com. Please feel free to explore your other options for lodging in Rockport, MA, but wherever you stay, come enjoy our little village on Cape Ann and stay at one of our inns.

Easy Day Trips From Rockport

Rockport is located on the tip of Cape Ann (Massachusetts' other Cape) and is just 35 miles north of Boston. Some of the day trips that we suggest to our guests are as follows:

Gloucester: drive to Gloucester to whale-watch, visit the Cape ann Historical Museum, walk along the boulevard and visit the famous Gloucester Fisherman's Statue.

Essex: Drive to Essex (20 minutes away) to go antique shopping at over 40 shops.

Ipswich: Drive to Ipswich (30 minutes away) and visit the Crane Estate, or go to Crane's Beach with 8 miles of coastline and sand dunes to explore. You can also visit the Audubon sanctuary for some glorious walking or great bird watching. A point of interest is that Ipswich has more 1600's homes than any other town in America!

Salem: Drive or take the train (25 minutes) and visit the House of Seven Gables and the Peabody- Essex Museum, and the Phillips House.

Boston: Drive or take the train to Boston (1 hour) and visit the museums, take the Boston Harbor water taxi, visit the Public Gardens or take in a baseball game.

Drive to Rowley for Todd Farms Flea Market on Sundays with over 200 dealers. Go to Newburyport to bird watch along the sand dunes of Plum Island and Parker River Estuary, and Maudley's State Park.

You can also visit the Lexington and Concord area in just over an hour if you're a history buff. You can also visit the famous Walden Pond, where you can re-walk Thoreau's famous paths. While there, pop over to the Wayside Inn in Sudbury for a memorable meal. Pilgrim Plantation, the Mayflower and the famous Plymouth Rock are about a 90 minute drive away. In Quincy, John Adams' homestead can be visited in a little over an hour as can the J.F.K Library as well.

Then there is always the shopping lure of the outlet stores in Kittery, Maine, about 90 minutes away as well. We've also had guests that have driven to Cape Cod, the Sturbridge area in Western Massachusetts and some of the scenic towns in Maine a bit farther up the coast all for a day (though they're all a bit farther than I'd undertake, about 2 - 2 1/2 hours away).

You'll find that there really is a multitude of readily accessible historic, scenic or interesting things to do within a short drive from Rockport. We suggest the you consider making The Tuck Inn your home base while visiting the area, as you can still return later in the day and relax in our quiet little village before more exploring during your holidays.