Photo: Tambrieann

If you’re searching for a place to enjoy your Golden Years in the Greater Boston area, Newburyport is certainly considered tops. Noted as a hot spot for Boomers, about 20-percent of the town’s population is age 65 or older.

Websites like Boston Magazine detail just a few of the top reasons why. In particular, older residents, it says, are drawn to the town’s waterfront concert series during the summer months and the annual harvest festival each fall.

Newburyport is also the place to enjoy boutique-style shopping any time of the year. Some local realtors say empty nesters in Newburyport are especially drawn to the luxury of living within walking distance of the downtown area.

Along with all of its downtown retailers and dining

Photo: Jennifer Macaulay

It may officially say Duxbury on the map, but it’s not too hard to see why some refer to this seaside town as “Deluxebury”. Located about 30 miles south of Boston, the upscale suburb of Duxbury provides an ideal setting for getting away from city life, while emphasizing time out on the water and the enjoyment of the arts.

This picture-perfect New England town is the kind of place known for its ocean-front homes and upscale delights. Some homes in the affluent town are listed high above $1 million, with perhaps the largest and most expensive options often situated closest to the water.

While the town commonly hosts small boat regattas during the summer months, you can likely find year-round sailing opportunities at Duxbury

Photo: Peter Roome

From boating and beaches to biking and more, there’s plenty to enjoy when it comes to exploring Osterville. The seaside village is a great place to go, whether you stay on land or head out on the water.

A great way to see some of Osterville’s natural beauty is at Skunknett River Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary is a good spot for birding, plus you have about 100 acres to explore by bike and foot.

For swimming, beachcombing and fishing, locals know to visit Dowses Beach. The peninsula beach offers a large viewing dock, plenty of parking and some great water views.

You’ll also find lots of seashells in the sand. Some say you’ll find the nicest sand, though, on a small beach close to the intersection of Wianno Avenue and Sea

While rowhouses, triple-deckers, townhouses and even traditional houses may be more common in Boston, there’s another option out there if you know where to look. If you’re open to loft-style living, you’re sure to find some fantastic properties in the city.

One good place to begin your search is the Leather District. The small neighborhood takes its name from the days when leather manufacturing was a major industry. When that shut down, it left behind several large brick buildings, some of which now house lofts.

Another place to search for lofts in Boston is Fort Point. This waterside area is home to some large warehouses, which were primarily used in the old days for storing goods taken off ships.

The story is similar in the North End. It

Photo: Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism

For affordability by the ocean, consider searching for your next home in Hull. This coastal town may have started as a summer getaway, but it’s since grown into a relatively affordable community of single-family homes and condos.

Now home to around 10,000 residents, Hull sits on a narrow peninsula jutting out into the ocean. This means practically every property in Hull is either right by the water or within a couple of blocks of it.

Some of the homes are historic too, designed in typical Colonial Revival, Green Revival, Italianate and Georgian styles. While homes like these with ocean views would likely command extremely high prices in some neighboring towns, in Hull it’s possible to purchase a

Graphic: Realtor.com

As one of the Cape’s top vacation spots for generations, Provincetown continues to draw in visitors with its friendly, artistic vibe. While P-Town has long been considered a top LGBTQ destination, it’s also getting prominent national recognition.

Realtor.com is just one online publication that recently put Provincetown near the top of the list when it comes to the nation’s most LGBTQ-friendly towns and cities. The website looked at US Census Bureau data to find cities with the highest percentage of same-sex couples.

Analysts then considered the locations with Price celebrations, and those with LGBTQ centers. While some big cities are known for their LGBTQ friendliness, for this particular study analysts looked for places with

Photo: Chatham Labyrinth

Whether you’re simply looking for a place to take a quiet walk or a place to promote spiritual growth, the Chatham Labyrinth aids visitors and locals alike in personal reflection. A labyrinth is a single winding path that leads people to its center and back out again.

Unlike a maze, you won’t find any dead ends with a labyrinth. Instead, they are often created as a place for people to take a quiet and meditative walk. These sacred places are generally used for personal reflection, to refresh the spirit and relax the body.

The Chatham Labyrinth, in particular, was first thought up as a way to bring peace and well-being to those who find their way to Chatham. Clergy members from a number of different local churches came

While this summer may be a bit different than summers past, the iconic Chatham Fish Pier remains a long-standing tribute to the beginning of the summer season. The Town of Chatham is, no doubt, the Cape’s largest tourist destination, and most tourists in Chatham are drawn at least once to experience the excitement of the Fish Pier Observation Deck.

It just so happens that the peak tourism season on Cape Cod coincides with the peak commercial fishing season. The site is home to not only an observation deck but also a fish packing building and some other waterfront structures.

For visitors, it’s a chance to watch as fishing boats return back to port with their haul. The fresh catch of the day is then taken to refrigerated trucks and transported

Mostly residential today, picturesque Duxbury is noted as a desirable coastal town with plenty of history. Located about 35 miles south of Boston, the history of Duxbury can be traced back for centuries.

Inhabited by Native Americans thousands of years ago, Duxbury was once called Mattakessett. That translates to “place of many fish”.

By the 1600s, English Colonists discovered Plymouth, and some began farming in what we now call Duxbury. It didn’t take long before they began building homes, setting up their own community and officially incorporated as Duxbury.

The town remained mostly a farming community during the 17th and 18th centuries. Following the Revolutionary War, Duxbury entered the era of shipbuilding.

The town prospered as

There are hundreds of ponds to choose from on Cape Cod, offering up space for swimming, fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Because a majority of the freshwater ponds in the region are kettle ponds, they are relatively clear, as well.

The ponds are also often less crowded than other parts of Cape Cod. If you’re interested in some property overlooking one of these ponds, there are several enticing options for buyers to choose from.

Hundreds of homes line the shoreline of Long Pond. As the Cape’s largest and deepest pond, Long Pond sits at the border of Harwich and Brewster. Some of the homes on this crystal-clear pond have decks overlooking the water and easy access to a sandy beach. Swimming is popular on this freshwater pond too, as is kayaking and