MAINE  (ME)

Maine is likely a reference to the fact that it was part of the mainland and not one the many surrounding islands.

    [The island of St Croix, ME was actually first settled by the French in 1604, but an English colony quickly followed in 1607 ]

   Maine was originally part of Massachusetts, so it was not one of the original 13 colonies. It wasn’t granted separate statehood until 1820. Nicknamed The Pine Tree State for it’s 17 million acres of forest, is the most Eastern state of the union.

   A popular destination for it's beautiful natural landscape and picturesque harbors & lighthouses, it's famous for blueberries (there's even a theme park, Wild Blueberry Land,) and Stephen King. Bangor, ME's incredibly tall, 31 foot Paul Bunyan Statue, (the mythical, giant lumberjack from American oral folklore, known for superhuman strength and his companion, Babe, the blue ox) was even featured, coming to life, in King’s horror novel, IT.  (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is also a native son, and both Henry David Thoreau and Harriet Beecher Stowe were influenced by their time in the state.) 

NEW HAMPSHIRE  (NH)

Named after the county of Hampshire, England (from Old English, Hamtunscir, meaning "village of Hamtun;"  Ham likely being either hām = homestead  or hamm = water meadow)

   Known as The Granite State for it's many Granite Quarries, New Hampshire was originally part of Massachusetts, and thus not one of the original 13 colonies.
   New Hampshire gets less tourist attention than the rest of New England, but in addition to the picturesque White Mountains & Washington Peak it also has a few secret gems like Clark’s Trading Post, (founded in 1928) a family amusement park with live trained bears, and the Master Sand Sculpting Classic, a sand sculpting festival & competition in Hampton Beach that offers sand sculpting classes and includes a lit sand gallery for night viewing and fireworks.

VERMONT  (VT)

From the French; Verd Mont - meaning "Green Mountain."

Named when it was claimed, originally, as part of New France. It was later ceded to England in 1763 after the Seven Years War and in 1791 it became the 14th state, the first to join after the original colonies and is still known today as The Green Mountain State.

   Vermont has many claims to fame, including being the first state to abolish slavery in the US. It’s the inspiration for much of Robert Frost’s poetry as well as being the setting of  NEWHART  (the second Bob Newhart show that takes place in a quintessential Vermont Inn.)

   Real Vermont is full of quaint small towns, Bed & Breakfasts and thrilling Ski Resorts. It has loaned it’s name to companies like Vermont Cheddar, the Vermont Teddy Bear Co., and The Vermont Country Store (one of the oldest of the classic kitsch general stores - owned by the same family since 1886.)   

Commonwealth of MASSACHUSETTS  (MA)

From the Algonquian language meaning something along the lines of  "at or about the great hill”  which is likely referring to the great Blue Hill region of South Boston.

   Before statehood the Commonwealth was called the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and it's still referred to as the Bay State after its Five Bays. including Cape Cod. Massachusetts is the home of Plymouth Rock, a ton of Revolutionary War History (like the Battles of Lexington & Concord, Bunker Hill and the ride of Paul Revere) and the (fictional) LITTLE WOMEN. 
   It’s perhaps most well known for it’s capitol city, Boston, (name sake of the Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre and Boston Red Sox.) and Salem, of Salem Witch Trials infamy, where you can visit a trial judges' house and Proctor's Ledge where the 'witches' were executed. Salem, MA also boast the real life 1668 Gabled House that Nathaniel Hawthorne based his HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES on, and Sudbury is the site of The Wayside Inn (originally called "Howe's Tavern” when it opened in 1668,) titular inn in Longfellow's TALES OF THE WAYSIDE INN, the oldest continuous Inn in America.

CONNECTICUT  (CT)

From the Algonquian word Quinnehtukqut meaning  beside "the long tidal river,"  a reference to the Connecticut River, the longest river is New England flowing from the SW corner of Maine, forming the border between Vermont & New Hampshire, and discharging into the Long Island Sound.

   Established by banished Massachusetts Puritans in the 1630’s. Connecticut is nicknamed The Constitution State, because it's claimed the Connecticut Fundamental Orders (of 1638/39) were the first written constitution in history, and much of the US Constitution was inspired by that of Connecticut.  New Haven, CT, home of Yale Un., was also the first city in the US to have a commercial telephone exchange in 1878.
   Connecticut boasts beautiful Colonial architecture, orchards, covered bridges, scenic autumn drives. Louis' Lunch (the birth place of the Hamburger, at least according to the Library of Congress) and the seaside town of Mystic; the inspiration of MYSTIC PIZZA.

RHODE  ISLAND  (RI)

Named for its resemblance to the Greek Island of Rhodes, as both have distinctive red clay soil. The Mediterranean Rhodes derived from the Romanized Greek; ródos -  and the US either from the Greek directly or the cognate Dutch rood, both meaning "red."

​   [ Until 2020 the full name was State of Rhode Island & Providence Plantation. ]

    The Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State. Despite being only 13 miles wide (the smallest state by land mass) it has 40 miles of Atlantic shoreline coast, and over 2,000 known shipwrecks in it’s water! (Colonial trading ships, Revolutionary War and WWII ships among others, more shipwrecks per square mile than any other state.) So it’s no surprise that it’s known for clams and sailings, (the state hosts the America Cup of Sailing.)

    The state was the first colony to declare independence, and yet surprisingly the last of the original 13 colonies to join the Union in 1790. It had the US’s first circus, first gas-lit street, first Jazz festival, the oldest penny arcade in America, Spring Lake Arcade and is home to the real life Haunted House that THE CONJURING movie was based on, (offering haunted tours and even overnight stays.) It's capitol, Providence has one of the highest concentrations of Colonial architecture in the US on Benefit St. and it's gorgeous State House Dome is the world's fourth largest self-supported dome (the largest being St. Peter's Basilica in Rome)​