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‘Snail Mail’ is Cool at Weston Museum
By Heather Holt Totty
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| At the Spellman Museum, kids learn history through stamps. |
Most people today are more likely to send an e-mail than a letter to a friend, relative or potential employer. Yet, there is something about the good old Post Office that can still capture the imagination.
The Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History in Weston taps into that collective appeal. Selected by Nickelodeon’s Web site as “One of the Three Best Museums for Children in the Boston Metro Area,” the museum is particularly appealing to the younger set, a surprise in this digital era.
“Stamps fascinate children,” said Henry Lukas, the museum’s Education Director. “They get a kick at looking at the pictures, and it’s a great way to learn about history, geography and art.”
On Feb. 18, the museum hosts a Happy Birthday Presidents family day. For the entire month, stamps featuring U.S. presidents will be on display, and activities will focus on this collection. Kids can put the presidents in chronological order, construct presidential biographies and participate in president scavenger hunts. They can decorate gift bags, mugs and other items with stamps.
Adults will appreciate the breadth of the museum’s collection, which comprises an estimated 2 million items: U.S. stamps spanning the history of the postal service, stamps from many other nations, historic artifacts that relate to the development of the postal and telegraph system.
“Our collection includes anything to do with sending the mail,” Mr. Lukas explained.
Children and adults alike will enjoy visiting the museum’s official U.S. Post Office where they can buy stamps – even on Sundays – at a historic postmaster’s counter.
The Museum is open noon to 5 p.m. Thursday to Sunday. Admission for children under 16 is free, and AAA members receive a discount.
Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History, 235 Wellesley St., Weston: (781) 768-8367, www.spellman.org. 
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Have No Fear of the Cold: Boston’s Wonderful in Winter
By David A. Kelly
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| Sisters keep warm while ice-skating at the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. |
With our long New England winters, many people think of escaping to someplace tropical when the temperatures dip below freezing. But if you don’t have the time or money for an extended warm-weather vacation, maybe its worth considering taking a winter weekend in Boston instead.
“Winter is great time to visit Boston because it’s the peak activity season for the arts, sports, and food-and-wine visitor,” said Larry Meehan, Vice President of Tourism for the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It’s peak season for exhibitions and theater, and dance and music, basketball and hockey, and restaurants are offering their best menus. For families, it’s also value season – with great deals on hotels, many with indoor swimming pools and extras such as museum passes.”
In addition, important attractions like the Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall, the New England Aquarium, and the old-fashioned Italian North End, tend to be less crowded in the winter. And it never hurts to warm up with a cup of New England clam chowder at Legal Seafood or a cup of espresso and a cannoli at Mike’s Pastry in the North End.
But there are plenty of other non-traditional stops for winter visitors. Try the North Bennet Street School’s Gallery for something a little different. Since 1885 the school has been training students in the art of creating high-quality crafts — from bookbinding and violin making to carpentry and jewelry making.
The school’s new Gallery features a range of items, from handmade marble paper to a 1918 grand piano. The three-story brick building is a few steps from the Old North Church and near several classic Italian restaurants and pastry shops in the North End.
It might also make sense to take advantage of winter recreational opportunities — from skating on Frog Pond in the Boston Common to signing up for one of REI’s Outdoor School classes, such as their Introduction to Snowshoeing. Learn how to strap on a pair of snowshoes, break a trail and warm up in the winter air with REI’s snowshoes and know-how.
Boston also has plenty of interesting indoor sites to help visitors stay warm.
“Without question, Boston’s hidden gem is America’s first public library – the magnificent Boston Public Library in Copley Square,” Mr. Meehan said. “It’s free, it’s easy to get to from all the hotels, the architecture, the art, the exhibitions are very high quality, it has a great café, and there are free walking tours. The grandness of the interior always surprises visitors, and it has been used by Hollywood for films such as ‘The Pink Panther 2.’”
When the lights go down, Boston is home to a lively music scene with options for every taste. There’s indie rock at the Middle East in Cambridge, a mainstream lineup at the new House of Blues and classical at the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
“I love Les Zygomates on South Street,” said Bostonian Mark Watkins. “They have great food, a fantastic wine list, wonderful atmosphere, and live jazz most nights! Where else can you hear live jazz while you dine?”
The Blue Man Group is also a great wintertime option. Although the event is hard to explain to someone who’s never been, the show is essentially a multimedia performance involving lots and lots of paint and drumming (together), marshmallows, Lucky Charms, wondrous tubes, audience participation and humor.
Make sure to sit in the first few rows if you’re willing to get wet; otherwise opt for seats on the main floor for the best views. (And don’t forget to buy your tickets in advance at blueman.com/aaa to take advantage of member savings.)
With fewer visitors, winter can be the perfect time to find some great Boston hotel deals. Be sure to check out AAA.com/hotels for the latest.
Whether it’s a show, a restaurant, the library or a hike on snowshoes, Boston has enough wintertime magic to warm the hearts of any weekend visitor.
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Curious George Comes to the Hub
By Karen White
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| Curious George’s creators were Cambridge residents. |
Curious George, that mischievous scalawag of book and PBS television fame, is swinging into the Boston Children’s Museum in a fun, new exhibit that’s all about learning.
From Feb. 7 to June 6, “troublemakers” of all ages can indulge their inner monkey in “Curious George: Let’s Get Curious!”
“The staying power of the Curious George stories is that he’s clever,” said Gail Ringer, the museum’s Vice President of Exhibits. “We find it delightful that he gets into scrapes, but figures things out on his own.”
There’s plenty here for kids to figure out – from puzzles to matching games to working with light and shadow. Familiar places from Curious George’s world – a city park, a construction site, a farm, a space rocket – provide colorful settings where kids can play with pulleys, putt a golf ball, weigh fruit in a sidewalk stand or experiment with windmills and whirligigs.
Pre-schoolers will enjoy putting on a uniform or shopkeeper outfit and engaging in some imaginary role-playing, while elementary school-aged kids can design and build structures with the help of a giant, movable crane.
“What’s great about this exhibit is the huge variety of things to do, to create and build, to climb and explore,” Ms. Ringer said. “It looks like playing, but there’s a lot of learning going on. Basically, the educational point of the exhibit is to develop science and engineering skills.”
Included is a mini-museum of Curious George memorabilia that tells how authors H.A and Margret Rey escaped from Europe during World War II and came to create one of the most beloved children’s characters of all time.
In fact, Ms. Ringer said, people who knew Margret, a long-time Cambridge resident, say she shared a mischievous streak with her imaginary friend.
But curiosity can be a good thing, especially if it leads to learning and growing.
“That’s the general idea of the exhibit – that Curious George learns by doing,” Ms. Ringer said. “He messes around, gets into a little trouble, but develops great problem solving skills along the way.”
Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Congress St., Boston: (617) 426-6500, www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org..
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Twilight Tours at Sholan Farms
By Julia Quinn-Szcesuil
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| Sholan Farms, the last working apple orchard in Leominster, is assumed to be the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed. |
The crisp air and sharp beauty of a New England winter is dazzling in the sunlight, but mesmerizing when it is appreciated under cover of the night.
At 8 p.m. the second Friday of the month, Sholan Farms offers free Twilight Tours through a 2-mile loop on the property. The tours are run by the Friends of Sholan Farms, a volunteer-staffed organization that manages the city-owned property. The tours allow them to share the beauty of the land with residents, said Neal Wynne, a hiking team leader.
More people take the tours during the winter months, Mr. Wynne said, thrilling in possibly sighting some of the deer or tracks of coyote or porcupines that populate the land.
After the hike’s end, everyone converges for a bonfire with free hot chocolate, tea and marshmallows with sticks for roasting. Participants are welcome to bring heartier fare, like hot dogs, to roast over the fire and replenish themselves.
The terrain, said Mr. Wynne, is not overly challenging, but depending on what you want to do, you can bring snowshoes or cross-country skis instead of hiking boots. There are always a couple of hike leaders, so groups can break off and have an athletic adventure or a leisurely winter nighttime stroll.
“It is nice way to get out and to check out the scenery,” he said, recalling a particularly glorious full-moon hike where the icy coating on the trees reflected silver in the night sky.
Sholan Farms is the last working apple orchard in Leominster and is assumed to be the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed. “The Twilight Tours show a different perspective of the farm,” said Mr. Wynne.
Tours are open to all ages who can make the hike, and reservations are not necessary unless you have a large group. Calling ahead is advised if the weather is questionable.
Volunteers will accommodate larger groups on other nights to do similar hikes, if requested.
Sholan Farms, 1125 Pleasant St., Leominster: (978) 840-3276, www.sholanfarms.com.
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They’re Making Powder in Amesbury
By Heather Holt Totty
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| The adventurous can try snowboarding in the Junkyard. |
Want to take a ride down the biggest, baddest sledding hill in New England this winter? Try snow tubing at Amesbury Sports Park.
“We’re the steepest slope for tubing around,” said Director of Sales Meredith Robinson. “We typically run about 40 mph. It’s an absolute blast!”
The park makes snow for its 10 snow-tubing lanes and has three lanes that use a specially designed plastic matting called Neveplast. So, even if Mother Nature isn’t cooperating for snow making, the tubing goes on.
Amesbury Sports Park welcomes visitors as young as 4 as well as their grandparents. And though the ride down the hill is a thrill, the trip up is easy. A conveyor belt transports you effortlessly to the top; all you need to do is sit back, enjoy the ride and listen to the piped-in pop music.
“This is really the lazy man’s fun sport,” Ms. Robinson said.
If you want to have a little extra excitement, though, ask the operator at the top of the hill to give you a spin before pushing you over the edge.
This winter, the Amesbury Sports Park opens a new ski-and-snowboarding terrain park called the Junkyard. It incorporates items found in the everyday lives of teenagers – a school locker, a science desk, a vending machine – for riders to bounce off.
The Park is open Thursdays through Sundays. Three- and five-hour passes are available. Stay for lunch or dinner at the Corner Kick Pub, a full-service restaurant that is open whenever tubing is happening.
Amesbury Sports Park, 12 South Hunt Road, Amesbury: (978) 388-5788, www.amesburysportspark.net.
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Monster: Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Golf
By Bryna René
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| Glowzo The Clown taunts mini golfers at Monster Mini Golf. |
If you’re a dedicated putter, you don’t have to give up your short game this winter. At Monster Mini Golf in Warwick, you can play 18 holes indoors, in the comfort of … black light?
Monster is just what its name implies: a mini golf course populated by glow-in-the-dark monsters, gargoyles, skeletons and other creatures of the night.
The game is played with glow-in-the-dark balls, the 18th hole is graced by the leering face of Glowzo the clown, and the “greens” are a deep, dark black.
All in all, this is not your typical course.
Although a few of the monsters (particularly the werewolf, who lunges at golfers from the left wall) are quite spooky, this isn’t a house of horrors, and none of the monsters or props are inappropriate for younger children.
Some, like the multi-headed green alien who looms slimily in the course’s center, are actually kind of cute.
“We’ve got something for everyone, from little monsters to big monsters,” owner JoAnne Lemoi said. “Parents and grandparents have as much fun here as the kids.”
The arcade area includes a billiards table, an air hockey table, Skee Ball and a variety of video games. Players can win tickets to trade for “Teddy Scares,” zombie dolls, skull bookends and other scary stuff.
Monster also works with the Feinstein Junior Scholars, providing free golf and other prizes to reward good deeds done and with Rhode Island Library Services to reward kids who meet their reading goals.
So if you’re looking for something fun and different to do this winter, or craving a little taste of the Halloween spirit after the holiday season, scare up some friends and check out Monster Mini Golf.
Monster Mini Golf: 33 Lambert Lind Highway, Warwick: (401) 921-5472, www.monsterminigolf.com.
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Old-Fashioned Winter at Sturbridge
By Karen White
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| Give ice harvesting a try. |
Shivering and tempted to turn that thermostat to 78? Warm up with a wintertime visit to Old Sturbridge Village, where 19th-century activities like sleigh rides and ice harvesting take the edge off January’s chill.
Yes, admits Ann Lindblad, Director of Marketing and Communications – winters in the good old days were dark and cold indeed. But hearty New Englanders in the 1830s had learned not only how to adjust, but also to thrive.
Women sewed when the sun was high, resorting to spinning and knitting – chores that didn’t require close eye-work – as daylight dimmed. Dropping temperatures in attics and spare bedrooms meant those were good places to keep food frozen, while the human inhabitants of the house just threw on more layers of woolen clothing.
“They knew what to expect, and were prepared for it,” Ms. Lindblad said.
Costumed interpreters chat with visitors, helping them dip candles while discussing how many might be needed in a winter, or passing a cup of cider while explaining how families prepared enough food to get by in the lean months.
But winter wasn’t all gloom and doom. “It was a very social time,” she said. “Farm work was done, harvest was done, so they would socialize. People could get around so much better when the roads were covered with snow and ice, much better than traveling the muddy, bumpy roads at other times of the year.”
With fields closed down by the weather, farmers turned to ice harvesting for income. Visitors can try their hand at one of the huge ice saws or ice tongs during the Jan. 30 “Fire and Ice” day, when interpreters show how giant blocks of ice were removed from frozen ponds and prepared for shipment to the tropics.
Other programs let visitors learn about authentic hearth cooking, or, as winter loosens its hold in March, how to tap a tree and boil up a bit of maple sugar. If snow is in the air, children can zip down hills on vintage wooden sleds, or families can take a sleigh ride, complete with jingle bells.
The village is gorgeous after a snowfall. “That’s one of the reasons we don’t close in the winter,” Ms. Lindblad said. “We want people to experience what 1830s life was like year round. Winter adds a whole new dimension.”
Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge: (800) 733-1830, www.osv.org.
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Get the Picture at Rockwell Museum
By Judith Lerner
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| In “Behind the Camera,” see the photo that Rockwell used for “Girl in the Mirror.” |
A young girl in a summery white dress sits in front of a mirror pondering more than her face — you can tell. Teenagers gather around a soda fountain flirting and pouting. A policeman and a little boy sit on lunch counter stools, conferring.
“Girl in the Mirror.” “Soda Fountain.” “The Runaway.” We all know these instantly as Norman Rockwell illustrations.
How come we remember them so vividly? How did he do it? How did he capture that moment?
“Behind the Camera,” which runs through May 31 at the Norman Rockwell Museum, pairs familiar and some unfamiliar paintings with the reference photographs he carefully staged, revealing the artist as director.
Rockwell was interested in showing the America he knew and observed, and he was a perfectionist.
“Behind the Camera” illuminates the way he worked and developed.
By the mid-1930s he began posing friends, neighbors — and often himself — hamming and hiring photographers to shoot his compositions.
Rockwell would scout locations, find props and choose the models, then position and direct everything — but a photographer snapped the shutter. Photographs freed him to focus on and offer up the fleeting movement, nuance, detail.
In “Behind the Camera” a photo of the real girl looking into the mirror hangs below the painting. Sections cut from photos are pieced together on the wall beside “Soda Fountain” to show us Rockwell’s creative process.
“I love to tell stories in pictures,” Rockwell said.
He did just that: told complete stories in a single image, and we still want to “read” those stories.
“Norman Rockwell was a natural storyteller with an unerring eye for detail,” said Stephanie Plunkett, the museum’s Deputy Director. “This exhibition shows how that narrative instinct found its first expression in the artist’s meticulously composed photographs.”
Norman Rockwell Museum, 9 Route 183, Stockbridge: (413) 298-4100, visit www.nrm.org.
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Stand in the Center of the Earth
By Mary Albon
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| Step inside the world, circa 1934, at the Mapparium. |
Like many avid travelers, I am fascinated by maps.
Maps set me dreaming about future journeys, conjuring up enchanting images of places I’ve never been, or prompting happy memories of cities and countries I love. If you love maps as much as I do, please take note: Boston is home to the ultimate destination for cartophiles — the Mapparium.
Enter this three-story stained-glass globe, and you find yourself standing at the center of the Earth. Constructed of 608 brilliant glass panels illuminated by more than 200 LED light fixtures that can produce up to 16 million colors, the Mapparium is as vivid and radiant as the windows in a medieval cathedral — and just as awe-inspiring. From the middle of the 30-foot acrylic bridge that spans the interior, you can see every part of our planet from the inside out.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2010, the Mapparium was conceived and built in the midst of the Great Depression. Its design reflects the political realities of its time: Based on the 1934 Rand McNally world map, the Mapparium presents a world of empires that have since collapsed and disappeared.
The Soviet Union sprawls across Eurasia, Germany extends into Eastern Europe, and Africa is a patchwork of European colonies. Compared with contemporary maps that take into account advances in cartography, the Mapparium’s scale also can be surprising; for example, Greenland looks as big as South America, yet in reality it is only one-eighth the continent’s size.
The Mapparium is a historic artifact, but it is also a work of art, and there is nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world. A visit includes a multimedia presentation, “A World of Ideas,” which uses light and color to shows how ideas have the power to connect people and change the shape of the world — including bringing down empires.
Mapparium, Mary Baker Eddy Library, 200 Massachusetts Ave., Boston: (617) 450-7000, www.marybakereddylibrary.org.
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High-Tech Patriots Hall Makes Math & Science Fun for Kids
By Brandie M. Jefferson
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| “In the Numbers” teaches kids math through an interactive, football-themed game. |
When you think educational field trips, what comes to mind? Museums? Aquariums?
“We want to be in that rotation for schools,” Bryan Morry said, sitting in his Foxborough office. Behind him, a window frames Gillette Stadium.
Mr. Morry is the Executive Director of The Hall at Patriot Place, Presented by Raytheon, and he wants to teach kids. About football? Well, yes. Mr. Morry does get a little excited when it comes to the game. But with “The Physics of Football” sitting atop his bookshelf, it’s obvious he’s got more in mind than tossing a pigskin.
The Hall is on its way to establishing itself as a destination education museum, not a “graveyard of artifacts,” as Mr. Morry put it. It’s a modern, shiny, interactive example of the awesome power of science.
In “In the Numbers,” kids – and adults – compete at touch-screen kiosks, answering questions about football statistics, basic math and word problems. A correct answer advances your player on a large screen in front of the kiosks. The winner is greeted with congrats and words of wisdom from an onscreen Patriots player.
“We’re really fortunate to have Raytheon involved,” Mr. Morry said. According to Raytheon, a defense contractor children start to lose interest in math and science once they reach middle school.
The collaboration’s aim is to show children that “things they love involve science,” Mr. Morry said. “Including football.”
So far, it’s been a success. The Hall opened in September 2008 and since has had more than 110,000 visitors, including nearly 10,000 kids on field trips.
Teachers can visit the Hall in advance to tailor a trip that fits the class’ lesson plan and the state’s education standards.
And the education team can arrange for guests – word is, they have an “in” with a local sports team. After reading his book, one school group was surprised by an appearance by Tedy Bruschi.
“The kids were ecstatic,” Mr. Morry said.
You don’t have to be a member of a school group to get the educational benefits of the Hall.
Anyone can make their way through the exhibits, along the way kicking footballs, getting into the middle of a huddle, standing under a rain of confetti or hanging out in a replica of the swank Patriots locker room.
The Hall of Fame exhibit consists of four 30-foot pylons. In front of each is a kiosk; flip through the players’ stats, videos and other information while the player’s image is displayed on the pylon using high-tech, non-reflective digital ink. It uses 20 to 30 percent less energy than LCD would, according to Mr. Morry.
In fact, the entire Hall is a showcase to the cool things that math and science can accomplish.
Children have no choice but to leave with an idea of the awesome things technology is capable of.
AAA members save 10 percent off adult general admission to The Hall (up to six per party) when they show their AAA cards.
For information, visit www.patriot-place.com/thehall.
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Hopes & Dreams at Cape JFK Museum
By Karen White
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| The Hyannis museum honors JFK through personal photos. |
Greeting visitors at the John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis is an oversized photo of nine brothers and sisters in matching striped bathing suits, each a stair-step shorter than the last. Their grins hold the promise of the future, one of big dreams and ambitions woven by father Joseph.
The story of how many of those ambitions were realized — and how so many dreams dissipated in tragedy — is left to other museums. This small Main Street museum isn’t the whole history book but simply a front-page dedication – from JFK to his beloved Cape Cod.
Photographs are the main medium; captions are to the point. Instead of facts, it’s a feeling of JFK that visitors get – this was Jack, summer of ’62, wind-blown hair, squinting into the sun, smiling.
These were the days when locals kept up with the latest fashions by spying on Jacqueline as she exited St. Francis Xavier Church. There’s Carolyn, sticking out her tongue, riding a pony, and John Jr. pretending to drive a car, feet dangling mid-air. And photos of sailing, always sailing, as if the family lived on the waters of Nantucket Sound instead of in the expansive compound perched ashore.
The docent will happily talk about how celebrations for Rose’s birthday were held on the beach, how many rooms are in the main house, how cousin Maria Shriver and hubby Schwarzenegger this summer had coffee across the street when Ethel was in the hospital. The famous couple had to sneak out the back, but the curious were there for him, not her. Hyannis folk generally leave the Kennedys alone, she said. Always have.
The John F. Kennedy Museum is a snapshot of a man without cares, without pain — finding peace and relaxation, as so many do, along the shores of Cape Cod.
For info, call (508) 790-3077, or visit www.jfkhyannismuseum.org.
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Higgins: Marvelous, Medieval Museum
By Karen White
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| Worcester’s Higgins Armory Museum is home to one of the nation’s top three armory collections. |
How did I not know this place existed? Me, a “Lord of the Rings,” Arthurian-legend, Hogwarts-lovin’ geek who can’t get enough of the Black Plague or the Black Knight – how in Merlin’s beard had I never visited the Higgins Armory Museum?
This gem not only contains a marvelous display of authentic suits of armor and weaponry of all kinds, but also presents it in a reproduction of a Medieval castle’s grand hall.
The owner of Higgins Pressed Steel opened the museum in 1931 to show his growing collection. Insides, knights are frozen mid-joust, and workers delicately feather-brush the gleaming suits lest a hint of dust mars their magnificence.
Even with one of the country’s top three armory collections – from Corinthian helmets circa 550 to gladiator-era Roman garb – the best thing the museum possesses is a sense of fun. On special days, fully clad knights somersault down the halls to demonstrate the armor’s flexibility, or sauntering Imperial Stormtroopers compare a 15th-century suit with their own.
Children play with giant chess pieces and squint through the visors of replication helms. Want to learn to talk like a pirate or brandish an ax like a Viking? The Higgins offers that, plus all-night gaming sessions, a Festival of Ale and audience-participation combat drills.
A new exhibit features the elusive (and imaginary) Professor Rufus Excalibur Bell. Amid packing crates and field journals are the oddities he’s collected on travels around the globe – dragonheads and shrunken goblins, boggarts and fairies and The Golden Fleece.
Education Director Devon Kurtz isn’t surprised I didn’t know about the Higgins. “We don’t want to be a secret anymore,” he said. “What makes this so much fun is not just the true history, but the stories and mythology of it all. We get excited about it, and want people to share in our excitement.”
Higgins Armory Museum: 100 Barber Ave., Worcester, 508-853-6015, www.higgins.org. In November, active military, veterans and families receive free admission.
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Community is Focus of Warwick Museum
By Brandie M. Jefferson
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| The Warwick Museum of Art is located in an old armory. |
Patty Martucci, programming director at the Warwick Museum of Art, wants to bring art to the greater community. To do that, she wants the community to come to her.
“My goal is to get everybody here,” she said, seated in the museum’s newly redesigned gallery. “Make it a community place.”
In April, the Museum celebrated its renovations with a grand re-opening. There was a crowd of visitors from around Rhode Island and, to Ms. Martucci’s surprise, around the country.
The renovation added usable space to the former armory building, thanks to a grant from the Champlin Foundation. The open gallery boasts exposed brick and piping, and nine arched windows that had been blocked by wall partitions now flood the room with light.
“You can’t believe what a difference it makes,” Ms. Martucci said.
And the new stage is perfect for groups like “The Unexpected Company,” which performs improv at the museum every Sunday at 7:17 p.m., and the Cornerstone Playhouse, which practices and performs at the space.
Ms. Martucci is working on having something at the museum for all age groups. A seven-week art camp for kids this summer was so popular that she developed another four-week session for ‘tweens, teens and adults.
In the near future, she will implement more community-oriented activities. Using her connections as a former City Hall employee, she is planning a program that will bring speakers, artists and performers to the museum on weekdays for seniors.
But one of the most exciting events will be this December.
“I want an affordable, original art show and sale,” she said, with high-end crafts and art at prices that make it ideal for holiday shopping. “The idea is to promote local artists and help people during this economy.”
Nothing will be priced higher than $32.95 – the museum’s address on Post Road.
Ms. Martucci is overflowing with ideas, so expect more to come. She’s just getting started.
The museum is open noon-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat. For information, visit www.warwickmuseum.org.
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In Beverly, a Gem for Transport Buffs
By Heather Holt Totty
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| Lawrence B. Walker, with his 1932 Cord, spent day and night documenting New England transportation history. |
For car lovers – and those enamored with planes, trains, trolleys and boats – the Walker Transportation Collection in Beverly is a treasure.
Walk up to the Beverly Historical Society, in the historic Cabot House, at 117 Cabot St., and ring the doorbell. You’ll be escorted to the basement of the 18th-century home. Here, volunteers staff a one-of-a-kind collection of artifacts pertaining to transportation in New England.
The collection has 5,000 photographs, including images of just about every make of car from the beginning of the automobile. There are photos of diners, gas stations and construction of the Southeast Expressway (the original Big Dig) in the 1950s.
Also on display are model cars, license plates and other automobile paraphernalia. Of particular note is a collection of model Ford cars and trucks. Most are die-cast vintage from the Franklin and Danbury Mints, plus plastic models given out by dealerships to promote their cars.
“This is probably the only collection of its kind anywhere,” said curator Dave Fletcher. “It is even bigger than what the Smithsonian has in terms of showing transportation in New England.”
One of the unique things about the collection is that it has been developed over 40 years exclusively by the efforts of volunteers. This is a labor of love for the men who keep the collection impeccably organized. Ask to see something in particular and your request can usually be met in a matter of minutes.
Whether you are a collector, researcher or curious transportation buff, The Walker Transportation Collection is a must-see. The collection is open for viewing and research from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday and from 1 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. Admission costs $5.
For more information, call (978) 922-1186 or visit www.walkertrans.org.
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Try Your Hand at Disc Golf in Easton
By Karen White
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| In this game, the object is to get the disc into the basket. |
I was hiking at Borderland State Forest when I noticed a curious metal basket stuck on a pole on a hillside. Odd, I thought. Was it a place to tie up a horse? Some kind of unusual bird nesting spot?
Turns out there’s a golf course at Borderland, but rather than Titleist and nine irons, this golf is played with hard rubber flying discs. Get the Frisbee in the basket – it’s like getting the ball in the cup. Except you don’t play with Frisbees, as my family found out one day – aiming a few practice shots, the Frisbee struck the metal basket and flopped down with a huge chunk out of its circumference.
We might have been amateurs, but that didn’t stop us from having loads of fun. Borrowing a few authentic discs from the park rangers (they collect lost ones), we set out on this 18 “hole” course. Immediately, the frustrations became clear. Some holes weave through dense forest, where trees try their best to get in the way of every throw, others through lush meadows, where tall grasses work to camouflage wayward discs.
Every hole has two options, white or blue tees: the whites are shorter and easier, say, 430 feet vs. 910 feet. Signage at each tee shows you about where the basket is – sometimes you can spot it through the trees, sometimes not. Sometimes, the disc bounces off a rock into prickly underbrush or lands in a stream.
It wasn’t long before we understood why the other golfers, who could whip their discs in a straight line, carried professional-looking bags stuffed with a dozen brightly colored discs. Not only are there specific discs – “drivers,” for instance, and “putters” – but they don’t have to stop playing if the underbrush swallows one.
We didn’t stop either, despite losing our way to Hole 3, getting chased by a friendly dog and routinely scoring eights and nines on Par 3s. All I wanted was to return the borrowed discs and have a great family day in the outdoors – which we did. Fore!
The course is open 8 a.m. to sunset. Park admission is $2 per car. Visit www.mass.gov/drc/parks/borderland or call (508) 238-6566.
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On the Trail of Cranberries in Foxboro
By Brandie M. Jefferson
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| An olfactory oasis awaits at the Ocean Spray cranberry bog, located behind Bass Pro Shop at Patriot Place. |
All of a sudden, it’s quiet. No shoot’em up games, no golden oldies, and no sounds of feet shuffling around the floor.
And it smells different. It smells like outside; like plants and standing water – but not the putrid kind – and flowers all rolled into one olfactory treat.
There’s no whiff of gasoline in the breeze, and the shade doesn’t come from buildings. It’s that dynamic shade, shifting as branches move in the wind.
Where am I? Within the sprawling Patriot Place complex in Foxboro. No, really?
Yes. Really.
The Nature Trail and Cranberry Bog at Patriot Place sits behind the Bass Pro Shop. Walk through the store – stop at the Educational Aquarium, a collaboration with the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife, where you can see more than 400 native New England fish.
If you can take your eyes off the walleye, turn around. A two-story observation window looks out over the bog. Spotting scopes (for sale) let you take a closer look. But for the best view, walk through the Blue Fin Lounge, off the patio, and head to the water.
The bog, sponsored by Ocean Spray, is the last working cranberry bog in Foxboro.
Signs along the path to the bog talk a bit about the history of the tart berry (native to the United States); give practical information about farming the berries (they’re harvested late September to early November); and explain the unusual way the fruit is grown.
Along the way, keep an eye out for turtles – they’re tiny, but plentiful — dragonflies of exceptional size and flora unique to the bog landscape.
And a word of advice, two, actually: bug spray.
After the bog, the trail proper begins. It’s a half-mile of wood chips with an average grade of 3 percent, reaching 12 percent in places. This is where you’ll see the bigger animals; deer, swans, Canadian geese, foxes and others.
The trail is open daily dawn to dusk; access is free.
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Harry Potter Casts His Spell on Boston Museum of Science
By Brandie M. Jefferson
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Harry Potter is casting his spell over New England.
Whether you’ve read the books, watched the movies, or just want to add some magic to your day, you’re in luck. The Boston Museum of Science has the clothes, the settings, the props – yes, even the original wand – used in the “Harry Potter” movies.
The layout of the 10,000-square-foot “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” is based on themes borrowed from the movies – look for The Great Hall, Hagrid’s hut, the Gryffindor common room and other familiar places.
Museum President and Director Ioannis Miaoulis said the exhibit will be fun for kids and adults because — like he and his teenage daughter — many families have shared the books and together followed the story of Harry Potter.
“This will attract visitors of all ages, some of whom have never visited the science center,” Mr. Miaoulis said. “We always look for exhibits that expand our audience. Then, we can engage them in science and technology.”
Yes, if you bring kids to the exhibit, you can sneak some learning into the day – a lot of learning, actually. The museum has more than 700 interactive exhibits – about space, Earth’s oceans, math, birds, dinosaurs, physics and just about anything else.
No matter how old you are, you can’t help but learn something as you push, spin, crank and build your way through the museum’s hands-on facility on your way to see Harry and company.
This summer, more than 200 onlookers got a sneak peak at the exhibit – an outfit worn by Professor Slughorn and a giant horse, the knight from a game of chess that Harry played in the first movie. There were ecstatic children, excited parents and a lot of confetti.
A live owl delivered to Mr. Miaoulis a package containing a pair of glasses and a wand.
But that was just the beginning. The full exhibit features more than 200 artifacts – costumes, props, settings – from the movies, including some from the latest: “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.”
The exhibit has only been on display once before, at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. The Boston Museum of Science will be the first to display the items from the latest movie. It will also be the only New England stop.
“Harry Potter: The Exhibition” runs through Feb. 21. The exhibition space was created with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Exhibitgroup/Giltspur.
It’s not exactly magic, but thanks to the “art and technological wizardry of moviemaking,” Mr. Miaoulis said, “the ‘Harry Potter’ films have brought to life an enchanting and complex world.”
As complex as the world of wizards and warlocks may be, it should be easy to reach the exhibit, no matter where in New England you are coming from. Trains, buses, even duck boats will transport you between the two worlds.
Tickets are on sale now. Visit www.mos.org.
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Brain Food for the Tech Minded
By Karen White
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Kismet responds to sound cues in a human's voice.
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Enter the MIT Museum, and dead center is a robotic arm designed to move under its own brainpower. Hey, wasn’t it a robotic arm ripped from a Terminator that started scientists thinking about crazy possibilities … which led to the rise of the robots … which led to humankind’s destruction …
My goodness – is that stuff for real?
No, don’t panic yet. As the MIT Museum makes clear, artificial intelligence might be a real field of study, but scientists are still light-years away from creating a real-life Optimus Prime – or even a Wall-E.
“In the world of A.I., there are lots of people working hard to envision and create robotic devices that mimic people, and not everyone agrees on that,” said Josie Patterson, MIT Museum Director of Marketing and PR. “But people who are engaged in science have a deep understanding of what science is. They are comfortable searching for the unknown – it excites them.”
For decades, MIT professors and students have faced the challenges of AI, and the museum’s displays of legs, heads and assorted robotic devices tell that tale. One success was Kismet, a head powered by 21 motors and 15 computers that responds independently to sound cues in a human’s voice. Hmm, looks familiar – anyone remember Furby?
But the MIT Museum’s not all A.I. There are fascinating holograms, 3-D photos created by the bending and focusing of light, cityscapes that seem to reach to your nose, or a woman who follows you with her eyes and blows a kiss. There are moving sculptures, made of gears and chains, motor oil and cocktail spears, violins and rice and scraps of paper. Are they science or art, or both?
MIT minds created the first working gas mask in 1917, inertia-measurement instruments used in the Apollo mission and the WOW pod – a self-contained living space for advanced (and obsessive) World of Warcraft players. From Sept. 14 to 26, the museum’s first floor will be closed while new exhibits on current MIT projects, such as brain imaging, human space flight and energy and climate issues, are installed.
Science or science fiction? Call it “science imagination.” “What’s nice about this museum is you can see how technology is integrated into our lives, and how, if you tinker with things, it stimulates the imagination,” Ms. Patterson said.
MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge: www.mit.edu/museum.
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