AN ABSOLUTELY MUST DO! A FREE EVENT & FREE PARKING! It's Time to jump into The TimeMobile & scour…read morethe Earth & take you to places from a different time that you won't believe still exist! We have set the dial to 1906 in the town of Groton MA. Located about an hour outside of Boston & perched on top of Gibbet Hill in Groton, are the cryptic ruins of The Bancroft Castle. Many people think that you have to jump the pond & go to Europe & other continents to see castles. Not True. Here in America we have many castles; ironically they just aren't being promoted. This is one of the Secret Hidden Gems of America that most people have never heard about or been to before. THE HISTORY: In 1906 General William Bancroft constructed his castle on top of Gibbet Hill in Groton, Massachusetts. This place was a gift for his wife. It was originally intended to be a bungalow & more additions were going to be added to create a large castle. Unfortunately he didn't have the funds to complete his vision. In 1918 it became a sanitarium & in the 1930's the bungalow became an entertainment venue. On July 4 1932 the fireworks celebration went haywire & the bungalow caught fire. All that remained were the exterior stone walls. Since 2000, The Castle & it's trails became a protected open space for the city of Groton & open to the public. Great News for us! There is free street parking below the Castle on Lowell St . There is NO PARKING from DUSK TO DAWN otherwise you can Park there. There is also a sign with a notice that this is a Tick area. Take all precautions with DEET or other spray, long sleeve shirts & tucking pants into socks & shaking out of clothes etc. You can visit https://www.mass.gov/info-details/tick-borne-disease-prevention for the latest tick guidelines. Also just stay on the main cleared path & with precautions & spray you should be Fine. I wouldn't picnic here because of the ticks even though it's a beautiful spot. It's only a short walk up the hill to The Bancroft Castle. IT'S BEAUTIFUL! You will see meadows, trees, green grass, a beautiful Castle & a white structure in the distance. You can get right up close to the stone structure of Bancroft Castle. It offers a clear open window to the natural setting on all its sides & above too. After your exploring adventure, come on down the hill & it's only a few minutes drive to see that white building. It is The First Parish Meeting House built in 1755 in Groton. Happy Traveling. AND IT'S ALL FREE! 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!

Cool little structure to check out if you find yourself in Groton. Easy hike from main road- May…read moreeven see skins wild turkeys and cows

Beautiful spot! Beautiful coming here in every season- always a beautiful view and cool things to…read morelook at from fall leaves, flowers in spring and summer and winter snow. Love seeing the garden they have here. Great place to some for a walk and beautiful views. There's a visitors center with bathrooms that's open seasonally till about 4 or 5 pm. There are also bathrooms (not sure if seasonal) on the end closer to the bridge. Free parking on both sides as well.

This site is in the cute little town of Concord, and the site itself has a beautiful visitor center…read more(former Buttrick family residence) which contains a small informational exhibit. What's really nice is the outdoors. There's a garden space where you have a good lookout of the North Bridge, a significant location where the Minute Man faced the British Army. The path to the bridge is not too far of a walk, and you can see a beautiful memorial quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "the shot heard round the world." I also liked the plaque honoring the graves of the British soldiers since a lot of lives were lost on both sides for American Independence. The bridge is a great scenic walk and great to do for both history and nature lovers.

On our second visit to the Zimmerman House, we were blessed with two docents (guides) from the…read moreCurrier Museum, both were very knowledgeable about Wright and the building. I learned a few new things on this visit, and we also got to walk to the Kalil house just down the street, which the museum has recently taken under its control. That could hardly be more different, yet still recognisably a Wright house.

Not what you might expect to find in Manchester, NH…read more Connected to the Currier Art Museum, they provide tours that are hosted by two volunteers. You can see this home and there is one two blocks away called the Kalili Home. If you appreciate Frank Lloyd Wright, this is a must of you're in Manchester.

I don't think I can put into words how pleased I was with Tye Tours, but I will try…read more I brought 10 college students to Manchester to witness firsthand the campaign atmosphere leading up to the New Hampshire. We hoped to attend campaign events throughout the state. And we could not have done it without Mel and Tye Tours! Mel was willing to drive our group to all corners of the state at odd times of the day, sometimes adjusting his personal schedule. He always kept the drives interesting with fascinating trivia about New Hampshire and New England in general. He was a sweet man who got to know the students and offered them candy along the ride. On one instance, Mel went above and beyond anything I could have expected. A student became ill at an event and had to be transported to the hospital. Mel drove the rest of the group from Concord back to Manchester, then returned to Concord to wait with me in the ER while my student was treated. He then drove us all back to Manchester, accepting no additional money for the extra 4 hours of work. Mel is not just good at his job; more importantly, he is a good man. I would highly, highly recommend him and Tye Tours.

We just returned from the 7-day Tour of New England. Everything was great! Mel made the driving…read moreinteresting with his knowledge of the history and geography. He went out of his way to find out what we wanted to see and to include those sites in our travels. His choices for meals were outstanding. We hope to take more of Mel's tours.

A fascinating collection of old cars and equipment. Worth a visit. Pay what you willread more

Amazing place for kids and adults alike. Kids can play with this from past generations while older…read morefolks can see stuff from their childhood and before. We appreciate everything the Ice House Museum does for the community.

It is always a beautiful day to visit this place! I stopped the other day after work for an…read moreafternoon stroll on my way home.

Beautiful gardens and when they offer yoga among the flowers it is amazingly peaceful and joyful!read more

This is one of several mysterious stone chambers in New England, whose provenance and purpose is…read moreunknown. Usually they are square or rectangular in shape, with stone slabbed roofs and soil floors. Archaeologists usually try to claim that they were built by early colonists as 'root cellars' yet they are ill-suited to that task as the floors are soil, which is hardly conducive to dry storage. There is also some documentary evidence from early colonists saying that the chambers were there when they arrived. Other chambers have had very old trees growing out of their walls, evidence that the chamber must be older than the tree. Another theory is that they were sweat lodges used by native Americans, but there is no evidence to show that any native groups built stone sweat lodges. So who did build these things? The closest equivalent in Britain is the souterrains of Scotland or fogous of Cornwall, but these tend to be larger and have curved layouts. The corbelled roof construction is similar to the beehive cells constructed by early monks like the Culdees, but there the similarity ends. Maybe it was early Viking explorers? An earlier megalithic culture that we don't know about? It's a fascinating enigma. Research by antiquarians and earth mystery researchers has shown that many chambers have precise geometric ratios in their construction, and that they are aligned to significant solar events like midwinter solstice, and this Beehive Hut seems no exception. The proportions are almost exactly 2:1 - it is just short of being twice as long as it is wide, and the width and height are the same. The entrance (by my estimation) seems to be aligned to midwinter sunrise (it's hard to be precise because of the tree cover), and is situated part-way up a hillside, which would allow the rising sun to enter the chamber. There are an interesting couple of white quartz stones, one in the back wall and one in the left-hand side wall, which may mark the extremes of the sunrise positions between equinox and winter solstice. But as I'm not resident here I am unable to do the long-term observations that this theory would require to confirm it. Interested locals should get in touch with the New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA), who will know more about these things.

Located in Rindge Nh such a beautiful place tranquility peaceful and quiet over looking the…read moremountains the alter is built out of natural stone the property is beautiful kept. The bell tower rings . The museum is dedicated.to Veterans both women and men as well I strongly recommend the Cathedral of the Pines

A beautiful resting place for ash burial. Also used for weddings. The staff is exceptional and all…read moredetails for the burial went smoothly. The grounds are well kept up and heavenly. I loved all the flowers and plantings. A very peaceful and beautiful place. You must visit to appreciate the grounds.

I visited this station for it's historical significance. Although not the original station (built…read morein 1875 ) in town, this building was completed in 1911 for the Boston & Albany Railroad. At it's peak, 140 trains were making there way through this station, daily. Over the years it has served a variety of railroads and switched hands multiple times. As routes were moved away from Worcester, ridership decreased and in 1972 Amtrak boarded up the building and began to use a much smaller brick building nearby as it's station. By 1992 a group of locals began efforts to rehab the old station to it's original beauty. After several years of effort and planning, during which the building was purchased by the Commonwealth of MA, the building finally began restoration and in 2000 the building reopened to railway passengers. A small part of the station is set aside for rail passengers. Here you'll find a map of commuter rails and a MBTA ticket kiosk. There is no Amtrak customer service available here. You can purchase Amtrak tickets originating at this station through their web site. There is a small waiting area, a Worcester public library book vending machine, a police substation and a QR code that will link you to a walking tour of the Blackstone canal area. There is an elevator up to the platform level and ramps down to the bus level. Three vending machines are available for snacks and beverages. Public restrooms are older but clean enough as public restrooms go. The main part of the building is a beautiful vaulted hall that can be rented out for private events. This area is closed off during event and open to the public when not in use. There are also two dining areas off this main hall and a parking garage next door. The official website has information about renting the event space. Another example of the beautiful historic architecture you will find in this historic city.

I have been going by this train depot my entire life ...like 100's of thousands of times. I lived…read moreright up the street for a few years in my childhood and most of my life it was boarded up and in disrepair. About 20 years ago they decided to remodel it and spent millions of dollars to renovate it and bring it back to its glory. Every time we would drive by I wondered what it looked like inside and think that I needed to check it out someday. So a few days ago as we drove by my husband said "do you want to stop and check out Union Station?" YES!!!! There is a parking garage directly behind it with easy access into the station. The station is HUGE (well, not as big as the NYC!) and we walked throughout checking everything out. The station was pretty quiet on a Saturday afternoon and everything was closed (restaurants, coffee shop, police station etc), there was just a handful of people either waiting on a train or bus. The architecture was absolutely beautiful as most buildings built in this era were. I have no idea how well the ticketing and schedules work, but it is definitely a beautiful building worth checking out.