Still Time to Enjoy a Great Beach Day & Tonight's Downtown Block Party

If you're a regular visitor to this Blue Shutters blog and you're looking to do a last-minute getaway, you're in luck -- we just had a cancelations for this weekend. We have a room open tonite and tomorrow -- right now, these are the last weekend openings for quite some time (except for a few single Friday nights here and there). If you're looking to squeeze in a great beach day or two, call us ASAP -- before someone grabs these rooms. And after the beach, there's fun planned in town...a Downtown Gloucester Block Party. There'll be music and other entertainment, and special deals from the merchants around Main Street. Come on up and see for yourself -- and think about staying with us while you're here.

Bruins Fever Hits The Blue Shutters!

For the past month, Boston Bruins fans all across New England have been celebrating our team's championship -- and the Stanley Cup trophy has made appearances in cities and towns across the region. This weekend, the Blue Shutters Beachside Inn got into the act as we welcomed back old friends Geri and Matt Ravlich. Matt played for the Bruins back in the Bobby Orr era and proudly wears the ring from the Bruins championship season in 1972. Matt and Geri are also big fans of the Blue Shutters and were here for another visit this weekend. In Matt's honor, we built a replica of Stanley Cup (that's the smaller one of the table in this photo -- Matt is on the right, Geri in the center and innkeeper Ed on the left). When one of our guests saw our trophy, he ran to the car and pulled the life-size version out of his trunk (we later saw him carry the trophy over his head down to Good Harbor Beach). You never know who'll you see at the Blue Shutters -- you just might spot Matt Ravlich here later this summer...he and Geri will be back in a few weeks, next month and in September!

Do You Agree? Good Harbor Should Top the List of the Region's Best Beaches

The Boston Globe just ran it's annual list of Massachusetts' top 10 beaches and anyone who has ever visited the Blue Shutters will be surprised to learn that Good Harbor Beach didn't make this list. Check out the story and make sure you read the comments by clicking on the "Discuss" link -- and you'll see one from us. Here's our take on this -- if you feel as we do, go ahead and add your own thoughts.

"Good Harbor needs to be on this list of top beaches -- I'm not surprised that I'm not the only one who called this out here. This beach has so much more to offer -- a long, clean sandy strip of sand; an island you can walk to at low tide; dunes you can relax along; a tidal creek you can drift on; a "lagoon" where the creek and the ocean meet; rocks you can explore; and some of the nicest views you'll see in all of NE -- of Cape Ann's unique twin light houses, spectacular homes, boats on the horizon and, each morning, an amazing sunrise. And it's all just minutes from Route 128 and walking distance to a supermarket, diner and ice cream shop -- no long lines of traffic to get here and no nasty "greenheads" that plague other beaches. They don't call this Good Harbor for nothing -- in fact, one of our guests (we own the Blue Shutters Beachside B&B here) just noted that we should rename it "Best Harbor" Beach. I can't imagine that the folks who made these choices have ever visited this beach. Come on up and see for yourself...and I'm sure Good Harbor will make the list next year."

Are we right about this? Let your voice be heard -- on Boston.com or here on our blog.

Happy Independence Day!

It's July 4th -- for many, the official start of summer (although we've enjoyed many great beach days already this season). If today is any indication of what we can expect the next few months, we're in for a great summer! There were already beachgoers on the sand before 8 this morning (and some folks were out even earlier for the sunrise). Last night there were fireworks over Gloucester Harbor -- and we expect to see more rockets over Good Harbor and Long Beach tonight. There are still a few rooms open in early July -- come see for summer fun awaiting you the Blue Shutters.

A Special Addition to the Blue Shutter's Photographers Showcase

Cape Ann is a very popular spot for photographers -- we've featured many of our own photos and those shared by our guests right here on the this website and on our Facebook page. We also have some coffee-table books in our Main Room that feature some of our favorite photographers -- there's our former chambermaid, Vickie Coe (who's a student at the one of best photography schools, the Corcoran College of Art + Design) School) and Kirk Williamson who helped us when we first took over the Blue Shutters. Last week, we had a very special photographer stay with us -- Joseph Weiler, who has an amazing gallery on Rocky Neck. Next time you visit the Shutters, check out the portfolio book he left for our Main Room -- and take some time to check out his gallery, where you see a sampling of his stunning black and white photos (that's one of his photos above).

Something New on the Cape Ann Scene: Gloucester Dine Dance Cruise

We're always telling folks about the fun happenings around Cape Ann, and often we go out and experience these activities ourselves just to make sure they'll be fun for our guests. Well, last night two of the innkeepers had one the best nights ever, with a new addition to the Gloucester scene....a Dine Dance Cruise. Great music, good food and a beautiful cruise down the coast to Marblehead Harbor -- how can it get any better? These cruises will run every Friday night throughout the summer -- next up is the legendary James Montgomery and his band. If it's half as much fun as an evening with the Sugarbabies (that's them in the photo here, with their lead singer waving to folks on the Gloucester docks), you're are in for a real treat. Check out the Gloucester Dine Dance Cruise website (www.gddcruise.com) for the full schedule -- the cruise takes place on the Privateer IV, where many have enjoyed great whale watching with Seven Seas Whale Watch. We encourage you to work this into your plans if you're staying here at the Blue Shutters over a Friday night -- or if you live nearby, just come on up for the night and have a fun evening...dancing, dining and enjoying our beautiful harbor and coastline.

Still Time to Enjoy the Greasy Pole and Saint Peter's Feast...and Some Great Beach Days

There's still time to experience Gloucester's Saint Peter's Feast and catch the world-famous greasy pole contest -- and the weather is expect to make this the best of the four-day celebration in downtown Gloucester. Despite the sometimes wet and cloudy weather, the Feast has entertained us with music at the bandstand, food and amusement rides at the carnival, and the boat races and greasy pole challenges that lead to today's final championship contest. You can check out a schedule of events here -- and the new Fiesta webcam -- but we can tell you there will be even more of what we've seen the past few days plus the Blessing of the Fleet, religious services and the procession through the streets of Gloucester. And if you'd like to grab some time on the beach, the weather should cooperate for you as well today. The Feast goes late into the night, and when you're done you can come rest up at the Blue Shutters. We still have rooms for tonite -- and by the way, tomorrow and Tuesday promise to be great beach days!