I grew up in Newburyport, MA.. around 45 minutes north of Boston. The public schools there are awesome and the town is beautiful and right by the water. PM me if you have any questions!

Adirondacks

My mother knew a lady who worked there. The owner was a cheapskate who made his servers pay for sodas if they wanted to drink something on their shift and there was no staff meal so many of them went across the street to eat after work. Maybe it's changed management many years later but that is embarrassing policy for a profitable pricey restaurant to treat its workers.

Mountains = New Hampshire

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The ICA will be free Monday for Presidents Day. It is also free admission Thursday evenings during the year.

The MFA is free the first weekend every month if you have a Bank of America card. It is also free for everyone Wednesday afternoons after 4(or 5- check)

There are a number of free BOA card admission museums, but the list changes a lot- look up the current list with “Museums on Us”

The Worcester Art Museum is free the 1st Sunday each month, check on details it used to be BOA but I think it’s everyone now.

The Harvard Art Museum is free every Sunday for everyone. If you live in Cambridge it is free everyday, just show ID.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is free every Sunday morning before noon for Massachusetts residents with ID. This includes the Peabody Museum which is the other half of the same building. The Semitic Museum across the street from the Peabody is free, probably all the time as far as I can tell.

At Harvard you can also pop your head into their rare book collection at the Houghton which in in the Yard- there’s usually 1-2 small shows; one in the room far to the left and one at the gallery up one flight of stairs. There’s also a small but interesting collection of Scientific Instruments at the Science Building near Memorial Hall- check hours on that one it’s only open certain hours

The MIT museum is also free if you live in Cambridge, you have to pre register though and then confirm residency.

At MIT itself, there was a very small gallery in the “infinite corridor” building, or you could check out the Eero Saarinen chapel on campus- but they were restricted during Covid and I don’t think you can walk around as freely anymore.

The Rose Art Museum at Brandies is free for everyone. BC, Tufts & BU all have free galleries/collections as well. I’m not as familiar going outside the city but Smith, and Amherst have free museums as well as I remember. Williams Art Museum north of North Adams is also free I believe.

The Gardner used to have a number of free programs like BOA or on your birthday, but those have ended. I believe you still get a discount for wearing Red Sox gear, and the museum is free for life if your name is Isabella (you need to register with them to confirm it though)

For the Museum of Science and the Aquarium your best bet is a pass from your local library, and you can get one for any listed above that require admission although there’s sometimes a wait list.

If youre a college student (especially in the city) many of these will be free or discounted depending on your school.

Easiest way to make it straight is to put a peg into the ground and to tie string around it, then run a straight line to where you want the fence to run and pull it straight. That will tell you where to dig the holes, and you can do it again when filling the holes with posts in it to make sure they are completely level.

The Berkshires

Why 495 specifically? That's basically all the way around the outer edge of the metro region so you'd have to be more specific.

If you want to be close to a transit stop, Melrose/Malden is a pretty good spot. My family and I lived in that area for 10 years before moving further out. Lots happening here and the Orange Line is right there for those quick commutes into the big city.

I live just south of Lowell. It's pretty dynamite but it has a very sketchy vibe in many areas. That being said, it's a very popular arts and culture hub and has retained much of its history. It almost feels underdiscovered and underexplored.

In ma, maybe look at Franklin. You can get a nice one bedroom condo for rent for about 2200/month, close to both Foxboro for concerts and train to Boston. I might also suggest living in Providence. Better food and nightlife than any Boston suburb.

Boston Children's museum is $1 on sunday afternoons!!!

Everyone’s skin is going to bubble up and fall off now

My wife and I make a lot of money, six figures each. Thats literally it, thats the secret. My salary basically pays for daycare for the kids. Its crazy. I could literally buy a second home on the cape for the amount the daycare is.

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Grafton maybe

Drove out to Greenfield on the 2 (coming from Boston) the other day. Millers River and a few lakes/reservoirs along the way. Theres also a wildlife refuge out there by Amherst. Lots of small towns out that way. It’s over an hour drive from Boston to see any of that so might be too far for your question

Plymouth is also a good choice, but maybe live in one of the surrounding towns. Real Estate is expensive.

How can you afford that price?

Check out Worcester.....things are changing/growing fast.

Excellent suggestion. It’s interesting to consider going to a high school (Philips Academy) with works by Homer, Picasso, O’Keefe, et al on campus.

Addison Art Gallery in Andover is great and free

Check out Worcester

Maybe also consider Lowell.