Stay at Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts

I'm always on the lookout for free or inexpensive places to visit while traveling, so I was delighted to find Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about this historic place in his 1863 poem Tales of a Wayside Inn. He referred to it as “ancient” even then — this inn's been operating since 1716, making it one of the oldest in the United States!

We discovered this Colonial-era gem on our way to New Hampshire and didn't have time to eat or sleep there. But we did tour the inn, formal gardens, carriage house, schoolhouse and gristmill. There's no charge for tours, but donations are accepted.

The Wayside Inn is on U.S. Highway 20, 23 miles west of Boston. It's open year-round, and the dining rooms serve traditional Yankee lunches and dinners daily except July 4 and Christmas. For details, phone 1-978-443-1776 or log on to www.wayside.org.