Beautiful town square and gorgeous Historical Society Museum, in an extremely involved community…read morethat puts effort, love, fun, and interest into every single one of it's events.

Visited during the Courier and Ives Cookie Tour in December. Nicely decorated for Christmas with…read morethe real Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus! Our host was very pleasant and we toured the upstairs and downstairs at our own leisure. There were quite nice displays in each room that told a nice story.

The McDowell Colony is and has been for years an environment where established and aspiring artists…read moreare able to live and concentrate on their work, art and craft. It is a nationally recognized facility that often gets overlooked in the era by the locals but does wonders to provide the atmosphere and artistic community in the era. We used to when we had availability in the summer do the tours and hope to do tbem again as they are inspiring to be able to see into the spaces of where the artist creativity takes place.

I am a sincere donor and activist for art and wanted to look into the MacDowell Colony until I…read moretried calling to ask more about the company, the front desk receptionist was extremely rude. Hung up right in my face as I was talking about donating. Talk about a great way to treat your customers. I will be sure to share this experience with my entire network of art enthusiasts. You lost a great opportunity, I hope you learn from this mistake.

In the 1800's, Gardner MA industry was focussed on making chairs. Since 1905 they've been erecting…read morea giant chair to proclaim Gardner as "Chair City of the World"! The current "Bicentennial Chair" is on display outdoors in Helen Mae Sauter park at Cross and Elm, over 20 feet tall, weighing around 3,000 pounds. Photo Op! Gardner is still called Furniture Capital of New England, now more for the many stores than for manufacturing.

Granite clocks and…read morebells The Princeton library is simply amazing. Not just impressive or kind of cool but just amazing. Difficult to come up with the proper adjectives to describe this library, especially consider what an itty, bitty little town Princeton is. The library's beginning was in 1884 when the generous and obviously very wealthy Edward Goodnow gave some money to have a library built. Actually Goodnow wanted a building built to be part library and part school. Another school for the kids was built around 1900 so the library took over the entire building. And what a building it is. Made of rose tinted granite and framed by brownstone, the building includes a huge clock tower with a thousand pound bell that still rings out every single hour. The site was selected because it had a great view and the library is indeed an imposing and stunning sight as you enter into the very, small town of Princeton. Once inside it just gets better. An incredible spiral staircase, the only one I have ever seen in a library is just the start. Lovely stained glass, great old pictures and some wonderful antique furniture is scattered about along with great wooden shelves and doors. Had to describe a library this wonderful. What made it even better were the two sweet and friendly librarians that took the time the tell us all about the incredible library that they were so proud of. I don't know if any library can ever be called perfect for everybody. But the stunning library in the tiny town of Princeton is as close to perfect as I've yet seen.

Two lane main street ~ twenty m.p.h. No traffic lights ~…read moreexcept one blinking yellow.  Sidewalks welcome feet.  Waves and hello's from all. A small town,  full of friendly down-to-earth people. It's my hometown where I can leave my doors unlocked at night, and still feel safe and sound.

This is a small library in a small town with not a lot of parking, but the interior is nice with…read morebeautiful furnishings and rugs. The conference room is open to the public and was in use by patrons. Staff are friendly and efficient. The area is very rural and not near a highway. You see signs of poverty from ramshackle housing to roads in rough shape so I feel the town is providing the library with the resources it can, they just don't have a lot. But it is put to use. It was especially good to see younger people there. In some towns the clientele is very geriatric and you wonder if support for a library will live on after they pass, but not here.

A MUST DO! A FREE EVENT & FREE PARKING! It's Time to jump into The TimeMobile & scour the Earth &…read moretake you to places from a different time that you won't believe still exist. We have set the dial to the year 1791 in the town of Harvard MA. located less than an hour's drive from Boston. We've arrived at the Harvard Shaker Cemetery nicknamed The Lollipop Graves. The graves look like rows & rows of Giant Lollipops. There's not too many cemeteries that you can go to & say " Hey this is pretty cool looking!" This is one of the Secret Hidden Gems of America that most people have never heard of or been to before. This is the final resting place of least 331 Shakers who were buried here between the 1790's & the early 1900's. They used to have individual stone markers. In 1879 the Harvard Shakers replaced them with cast iron markers that were round on the top with a stick in the center like a Giant Lollipop. This is the only cemetery where the Lollipop iron markers still remain. In 1945 the Shakers handed over the deed to the cemetery to the town of Harvard. They currently provide all of the upkeep to the property. The stone marker that reads "Harvard Shakers" was later added by the town of Harvard. Because of their look The Harvard Shaker. Cemetery was later nicknamed The Lollipop Graves. There's a very interesting fact about this cemetery. The Lollipop Graves were here some 29 years before The Modern Day Lollipop was even invented. What? Yup! There was boiled sugar on a stick that dates back to the Middle Ages. But the modern day Lollipop with hard candy & a stick in the center was invented by George Smith of New Haven, Connecticut. In 1908 Mr Smith made large hard candies that were anchored on sticks. George named them after a race horse of the time called Lolly Pop. In 1931 George trademarked the lollipop name. But where did George get the original inspiration for the shape to make his legendary candy. It could be just a coincidence but on the other hand there is Anecdotal evidence that may suggest something different. Connecticut is the next state over to Massachusetts. New Haven is only a mere 128 miles away from Harvard MA. In 29 years anyone could have visited or heard about or drew a picture of these unusual looking graves. Mr. Smith could have got wind through the grapevine or even subconsciously hearing something about them. The graves could have been the inspiration for the Modern Day Lollipop. No matter if it was just a coincidence or was the inspiration for the candy the fact remains The Lollipop Graves were here 29 years before The Lollipop was even invented. Amazing & True! To make it worth your trip go visit the Beautiful Cryptic Remains of The Bancroft Castle which is about 15 minutes away in Groton MA. You can read my review of that as well. Happy Trails! It used to be, you had to have Mega Bucks & be really Rich to have the Good Life, not anymore. The Game has changed. You've been Upgraded. Now You Can Live Like a King on a Limited Budget!

What a marvelous library! It is beautiful. Staff are terrific! They…read moreoffer special quiet rooms which can be used for ZOOM meetings. I attended an awesome evening presentation there, offered by Greg Barnhisel, speaking about his new cultural biography, "Code Name Puritan: Norman Holmes Pearson at the Nexus of Poetry, Espionage, and American Power." Published October, by the University of Chicago Press.

I like how quiet it is there, gives me a place to read, do my homework, chill, or sometimes meet up…read morewith my friends!! Librarians are so super nice too, I love their librarian fashion. The DVD sections are fun to browse through too! Lots of oldies. Overall it's awesome.

This is a nice post office with friendly service, ample parking, and no long wait times. It's also…read morerefreshingly normal with no mask mandate and the staff unmasked. Sometimes I will combine a trip here with one to the library which is nearby. I believe there is also a farmer's market in the area but I haven't checked that out yet. The central location of the post office makes it easy to combine errands in one trip which is great these days with high gas prices.