In Newbury, the Parker River winds through salt hay and into the Great Marsh. Follow the refuge road and the dunes open toward Sandy Point, where you can look across to Crane Beach and see why locals call this a rare kind of coast.
North in Newburyport, shipyards gave way to a brick downtown and a working waterfront. Birthplace of the U.S. Coast Guard, the story still runs through the Custom House and along the riverwalk, where cafés and shopfronts spill into Market Square.
Rowley and Amesbury slow the pace. Antique barns stuffed with treasures, red brick, rolling hills, and the Merrimack threading past old mills turned into taprooms and studios define this quieter corner of Beef Country.