THE SIX STATES of New England form the most compact and most accessible region in the United States. It's easy to see all six states on one vacation, but you can also spend a week in just one place on your charter yacht. One state, Rhode Island, can fit in your coat pocket; the others -- Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine -- can fit inside Oklahoma and still leave room to stretch out.
When Emily Dickinson wrote, "I think New Englandy," we sense what she means. It has to do with small towns, ingenuity, self-reliance, rugged individualism.
It's variety, too. New England's identities are many. It's the arty and culturally rejuvenated city of Providence. It's the serenity of the Cape Cod National Seashore. It's the skyscraping granite peaks of New Hampshire's White Mountains. It's the booming biotech world of Boston. It's the jagged rocky coast of Andrew Wyeth's Maine. It's Irish. It's Italian. It's Vietnamese. It's Haitian. It's Cambodian. It's Portuguese.
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