The town of Hamilton on the North Shore may seem somewhat of an odd choice for a day trip, but as you say, Hamilton has what every destination needs. That's right, something to see, something to eat, and somewhere to find fresh air and exercise, plus a cultural tradition from across the pond.

00:00:18,629	Here on the north shore, landscapes reminiscent of an Andrew Wyeth painting. Just 45 minutes from Boston, the town of Hamilton has a perfect location, says resident Jennifer Grams. We're 15 minutes away from some of the most beautiful beaches. Downtown is quiet and clean. Schoolchildren. Patton Park, named for World War II General

Patton. His Sherman tank actually sits in the middle of George S.

00:00:47,170	the park, and his son, when he retired from the military in 1980, came back to their homestead, which is on Asbury Street, and turned it into Green Meadows Farm. Several farms in the area supply local eateries. Fresh haddock tacos with pickled red onions here on the Hamilton Wenham line, Gramas owns a little cafe with big ambitions.

Our goal is to provide our community with really healthy, great tasting, natural. Grassy Roots does brisk business at lunch. Menu highlights, fresh lobster and fish from nearby Gloucester, all kinds of prepared meals, and even gluten-free dessert. I'm so lucky to be able to have a store in this community.

We have a ton of supporters in a small town.

00:01:42,269	This town of just under 8000 people is proud to be known as horse country. Founded in 1882, the Myopia Hunt Club is a local fixture and home to a sport that's very Downton Abbey fox hunting. We are all the crazy people who go out on horseback following hounds over hill and dale,

risking our lives, but we love it. On this day, the rainy setting feels very English. What types of hounds are these? Well, we got a couple Penmeradales, we've got cross breed and American. These hounds are incredibly well behaved and very friendly. They're trained to hunt in a pack, a sort of huge happy amoeba.

Now I must ask, I love your look. What role do you play in all of this? I'm the huntsman. Oh yes, it's my job, my job to train them and hunt them and to look after them. Don't worry, the only fox you'll find at myopia is this. Of door knocker, says participant Tony Cory.

We are not really hunting anything. Nothing gets killed. It's really about the sport of keeping up with hounds cross country once they're on the scent that's been dragged in advance. Hence the term drag hunt. We literally drag a fox scent on the ground and we can dictate where the hounds go because they'll follow that scent.

Brady Cutler is one of 3 masters who organize and lead the drag hunts. You're a 4th generation fox hunter. I am. Yeah, I'm actually wearing my great grandmother's jacket, so I'm 4th generation in this jacket. Involve up to 100 people and last for 2 to 4.5 hours. It's over fences and stone walls and hills and streams,

and it's just very thrilling. At the end of the day, you really deserve that shower and a nice drink. You do not have to be a member of the club to participate in the myopia hunt. It's open to the public, as are much of the grounds. Our hunt country goes from Hamilton all the way up to the

Merrimack River in West Newbury. We maintain those trails for everybody's use biking, walking.

00:03:57,930	Also in Hamilton, polo, including Harvard University's Polo Club. In 2014, the club formally opened this farm and riding facility. Supporters include Coach Crocker Snow and actor, alum, and polo enthusiast Tommy Lee Jones. While at Harvard, Amelia Phillips became team captain even though she never played before college. Harvard polo is the best thing

that I did decided to do at college. It's quite a commitment filled with day-long work and practice. During our fall season, which is our busiest season, the varsity players. Come down 3 or 4 times a week, both weekend days and then 2 practice days. We spend maybe like an hour to an hour and a half on horses.

Other than that we're mucking out 20 stalls. We're feeding the horses, we're cleaning the barn, we're cleaning the tack. A lot more work than the Prince Charles version of polo. Bang. Coach Snow, formerly a Boston Globe foreign correspondent and polo player, expects a lot from his students. Keep going, keep going.

The basic rules are designed so that horses and players basically don't crash into each other. When the ball is hit, the ball creates a straight line, and that's called the line of the. And when you're moving around, you're not supposed to cross that line of the ball. Your mallet stays on your right side.

You're not allowed to hook mallets above a certain height. There are a lot of rules of the road to make sure everyone's safe. But is anyone safe with me here? Like wrap your hand under. There you go. Perfect. OK, and then straight back tennis racket.

00:05:33,629	He forgot the horse, but other than that, that was perfect, It was awesome.

00:05:36,800	really well done. Back to the, uh, red jackets that we saw in the fox hunt. They're actually called pink coats, which is funny because the originator of them was a tailor by the name of Thomas Pink, so they're pink coats. Yeah, and of course today Thomas Pink is a famous British menswear company.

Now as for those white sock ties, the long ones. That they were wearing out there. Well, tradition was that if somebody got hurt then they could use that as a bandage or as a sling so there was multipurpose use to those long stock white ties, not just fashion, it's function as well. Green grow the animals of Portsmouth.

See for yourself when Chronicle continues.