Swords & Play at Higgins Armory Museum

The Divas finally made it through snow and sleet on Dec. 30 to visit the Higgins Armory Museum, a truly unique museum in Worcester, originally recommended by Dispatches reader Dan Maher for one of our early issues There are great demonstrations on the weekends, plus a great kids' zone with a giant chess game and dress-up area, and a host of armor collected by Worcester steel magnate John Woodman Higgins in the early 1900's. At kids' birthday parties, the birthday boy or girl gets to be King or Queen in the Great Hall (for members only). Call 508-853-9697.

Skating Photos from Frog Pond, Boston

We can't believe that this was a first for the Day Tripper Divas. What a fabulous time we had, despite the 20-minute wait in line to get in to the skating rink at Frog Pond at Boston Common. Crowded, yes - but manageable with kids ages 6, 7, 11, and 12. We even survived a hot chocolate spill (bring extra clothes, especially in cold weather). Enjoy!

Harbor Cruise to the Hull Wind Turbine

This annual cruise is sponsored by the Mass Energy Consumers Alliance, and it's not only fun, but very informative for all ages! It starts at Rowes Wharf in Boston Harbor. In 2006, the Town of Hull won the Department of Energy's Wind Power Pioneer Award and now generates a significant amount of electricity for the Town throught its two wind turbines. Enjoy the photos!

Follow the Guru

Dispatches readers get a free phone consult from MetroWest Boston's favorite on-site computer-repair guru, the one and only Computer Handyman, Mark Bildman. Contact Mark at (617) 596-7545 or via email. Just refer to the Day Tripper Dispatches when you call or email.

---

Click here for a preview of recent Dispatches postings!

Accessible Winter Sports for Everyone

If you're looking for recreation opportunities for yourself or friends & family with disabilities this winter, the DCR's Universal Access Program is the place where you can do it all: kicksledding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, and ice skating. They even have equipment you can use! New this year, an outdoor skating rink near the headquarters building with a warming room and accessible bathroom, is sure to be a hit. Sled hockey anyone? Check out the DCR's Universal Access Winter Calendar and be amazed! For information on booking an outing and reserving equipment, call Gigi Ranno at 617-626-1294 or email.

Family Fun Saturdays

Enjoy the Regent Theatre's Family Fun Saturdays series, which runs October through May at 10:30 a.m. Download our two-for-one Family Fun Saturdays coupon, for Dispatches readers only! Call the box office at 781-649-4849 or visit the website.

---

Preview recent Dispatches postings here!

Boston Children's Museum Update

On Jan. 1, the Boston Children's Museum will close for a few months to wrap up renovations. In the recent renovation, the BCM is improving the famous Milk Bottle, upgrading the famous big blue elevator, and creating a great new expansion that will be unveiled at the grand reopening in April. But if you're heading down to the South Street Station area, you can still enjoy the Boston Tea Party, Aquarium, Harbor Cruises, and much more on the waterfront.

New Playspace for Pre-Schoolers

Together in Motion, a new play space at No. 1 Broadway in Arlington (former Cityside Subaru location) for ages 6 and under will give you deja vu for the Tot Stop of a few years ago. The venue is set to open for drop-in sessions in December, proprietor Erik Kondo told the Day Tripper Divas and the Arlington Family Connection when we previewed the space on Dec. 12 for an AFC party. We found it nicely equipped, spacious, well-lighted, and a much-needed venue for families in Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, and surrounding towns. Looks like Kondo is planning organized activities & classses for kids and adults, and there is a separated area where you will be able to watch your kids whilst you work on the Internet. The space is also available for birthday parties and other events.

Sunrise Photo Contest

Idenfity the hour and the town or city in which this photo was taken and win a prize from The Compleat Day Tripper. There will be multiple winners - just email your answer before January 31. Active Dispatches subscribers eligible only (but the subscription is free).

Christmas Song Lyrics

If your kids are like mine, they may be asking for words to Christmas songs right about now. I don't know about you, but I can't always remember them. We found a website with all the essentials - no ads, no pop-ups, just lyrics. [Ed. - If you want Midi accompaniment to holiday and other kids songs, visit NIEHS Kids' Pages]. - from S.K. Joun, author, Mother of Two's Guide to Sanity.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, see my two front teeth. Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth, then I could wish you"Merry Christmas!"

---

Click here for a preview of recent Dispatches updates!

Feed Your Dispatches

Did you know The Day Tripper Divas are posting great new discoveries almost daily? If you subscribe to the blog via FeedBlitz you'll get an excerpt and link to the blog in your inbox very soon after an article is posted. Why, the Divas themselves are voracious FeedBlitzers!

Keep in mind that FeedBlitz is a Sudbury, Mass. company with a great reputation for keeping information secure, and for immediately honoring all un-subscriptions. You can also subscribe anonymously via the FeedBlitz website and customize the frequency of notifications. Click on the the image to see how FeedBlitz will deliver your Dispatches. The FeedBlitz signup box is in the sidebar to your right.

Happy Day Tripping!

Birds' Eye View of Harvard

This nature log is brought to you by Harvard's Rob Gogan, with special thanks to campus Nature Watchers Adam Blanchette, Kate Chadbourne, Marge Fisher, Dave Harris, Horst Huber, Sonia Ketchian, Art Strauss and Bob Stymeist. For more on winter birding, visit MassBird.

Young Great Blue Heron fishes for breakfast on the Charles by One Western Avenue.

Opossum shambles along a brick wall at the corner of Mill and Winthrop Streets just outside the MAC in a raw November rain.

Hermit Thrush forages on the grass in front of the HMNH, prolonging his migration because of average daily temperatures are 10 degrees above the seasonal average.

Flock of Starlings joined by a pair of Robins, feast on ripe red winterberries outside Shad Hall. More robins and purple finches dine on winterberries outside Dean's House.

Abundant Goldfinches in dull winter plumage busily dine on stalks of mullein growing on left bank of Charles beside Peabody Terrace.

Starling droppings paint Ware Street asphalt purplish red while their acoustic output makes human residents dizzy.

Robins bathe in the puddles on top of the Carpenter Center. Pipe-shaped spouts protruding from Carpenter get frequent visitors by Purple Finches.

Harvard-Yale game's two highest spectators, Red-Tailed Hawks, soar over tailgaters, then drift high above the Stadium... hawk also surveys 12,000 dancing Harvard-Yale undergrads at tailgate party from perch atop light tower near Stadium.

Male Cardinal flashes past the Constance Smith statue in Radcliffe Yard and a Bluejay passes high above him.

Another crimson Cardinal and a White-Throated Sparrow foraging side by side in front of Loeb House while a Robin hops nearby.

After the Thanksgiving deluge, House Sparrows enjoy abundant fresh drinking water puddles in the Yard.

Less happy House Sparrow snags feathers on pest-resistant anti-roosting spikes at Barker while a second Sparrow tries to tug the first one off the nails. After successful extrication, pair wheels off and under the portico and away into the evening.

Between Lamont and Loeb House, a Blue Jay shrieks from high in a tree and soon flies away across Quincy Street.

Cherry Trees bloom in the late November warmth in front of Harkness Commons.

by Rob Gogan, with special thanks to Campus Nature Watchers Adam Blanchette, Kate Chadbourne, Marge Fisher, Dave Harris, Horst Huber, Sonia Ketchian, Art Strauss and Bob Stymeist!

It's Not Your Grandma's Trampoline!

Bread and circuses, American-style? Maybe, but who knew furniture shopping could be so thrilling!? Just inside the massive Jordan's Furniture building in Reading is the Trapeze School of NY - Beantown. This is a real, live double trapeze that has enough show lighting, music, and action to take you over the big top and beyond, to the ice cream stand, restaurants, Duck Tour arcade games, IMAX theater, and many more activities in this amazing indoor complex. Classes can be pricey, but there are party discounts and individual swing packages range from $10-$25. Ages 6 and up. To reach TSNY, take exit 39 off 128, just north of I-93, Tel. 781-942-7800; or email.

Let 'Em Loose at Perpetual Motion!

Perpetual Motion is once again a sure cure for family cabin fever, and now it's suitable for kids of all ages. After its move from Andover to Lowell last year, this popular Day Tripper venue resumed its role as a rainy-day refuge not only for preschoolers, but also for older kids with the addition of a physical challenge course designed specifically for Perpetual Motion, including slides, climbers, a huge foam pit and a traverse climbing wall. Of course, you'll still find the fabulous indoor playground for ages 6 and under, complete with sand and swings. Perpetual Motion is now located at 345 Chelmsford Street Lowell, MA 01851; tel 978-452-0777; about 25 minutes from Routes 2 & 128 via the Lowell Connector.

---

Click here for valuable sponsor coupons

Mayor's Holiday Special

If you are itching for some holiday performances at a reasonable price, Boston Mayor Tom Menino is offering his second-annual Mayor's Holiday Special. This program provides discounted tickets to dozens of shows, including the Black Nativity, Boston Ballet's Nutcracker (almost $20 off), the Handel & Hayden Society's Baroque Noel, Boston Pops' Holiday show, An Elvis Christmas at Arlington's Regent Theatre, and many more.

---

Click here for sponsor coupons,
including the Regent Theatre!

CT Workshop Announces Vacation iCamps

Computer game design, robotics, engineering, programming, digital design, movie production, news casting, and animation are some of the exciting possibilities at iCamp by Children's Technology Workshop. Campers create their own experience by choosing one of ten cool adventure themes and combining several projects to tell a story. Themes include "Architect," "Fashion Designer," "Team F1," "Rescue," "Olympics," "Medieval," and others. Activities occur both on and off the computer, with outdoor breaks and games throughout the day. Trained adventure guides help campers select projects that suit their age, area of interest and skill level to maximize the fun and the thrill of success. Camp runs Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm, with optional extended hour. Registration is open now for winter and spring programs: Full-day: $595/week, half-day: $345/week. Call for availability and registration: 617-395-7527 or send an email.

Photos from Fuller Craft Museum

The Divas attended the opening of the Fuller Craft Museum's newest exhibit, "Wear Art: Now and Then," took in jewelry and woodworking class demonstrations, and strolled arond the grounds. The Museum is in Brockton, about 30 minutes from 2 & 128.

---

Give Holiday Cabin Fever the Boott!

If you find yourself with cabin fever over the holidays, try taking your family or out-of-town visitors out on a Perfect Day Trip* to Lowell. We did this recently, and by absolute luck, we stumbled on the historic Boott Mill Museum, where generations of men and women, including my children's great-grandmother, labored to make a better life for their families.

Friendly park rangers give you an authentic mill apron and answer questions along a trail of life-sized pictures of children through the mill. Walking through the weaving room is a step back in time - minus the dust, but including the din of the clacking looms (don't forget to take the complimentary earplugs). Upstairs, you can follow the process of turning cotton into thread, into cloth. Try out a small loom and listen to the voices of men and women who actually worked in the mills. By another stroke of luck, I later found our copy of The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully handed down by Lowell relatives, which made for great reading that night.

There are many reasons why Lowell makes a Perfect Day Trip: From the mill, you are just steps away from many other indoor and outdoor Lowell attractions, including The Revolving Museum, antique shops, (Jack) Kerouac Park, the Lowell Spinners (in season) and dinner at The Lowell Brewery. You can take a trolley tour along the Canals and check out the music festivals in the summer. The National Park Service site is a great place to preview your trip to Lowell. - by Laurie Smith

---

* Downtown Lowell, Harvard Square, and Moody Street in Waltham are just a few of the dozens of "Perfect Day Trips" featured in The Compleat Day Tripper.

Arlington Enrichment Offers Parents' Night Out

This monthly program at Arlington Enrichment Collaborative gives kids an evening of pizza, games & crafts at a fraction of the cost of babysitting - and parents a worry-free night out! The next event is Saturday, December 16 from 6 –10 PM. The cost is $25 per child or $20 for each additional child per family. To register, please email or call (781) 643-4694. AEC is a nonprofit corporation and a licensed and insured child care provider. AEC is at 1100 Mass Ave, 2nd Floor in Arlington.

---

DISPATCHES SPECIAL
Bring a copy of this announcement for a $2 discount per child!

Keep 'Em Busy in the Car!

From the license plate game to counting cows - time flies when you’re having fun, and the miles fly by too! Even the shortest day trip can seem long unless you have some tricks up your sleeve for keeping the kids engaged along the way. Plan ahead with a few car activities like the ones detailed in this article by Laurel Smith, a former schoolteacher and mother of three who has logged thousands of road trip miles both as a kid and a mom. Visit her website for more than 101 travel games and activities for kids.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Public Skating in Metro NW

Public skating at town recreation centers like "The Rec" (or TRex as my son used to call it) in Arlington is well underway. Arlington's Veterans' Memorial Rink is located at 422 Summer St. and public skating hours there are on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Town rinks like the Arlington Rec often have skate rentals and sharpening services, along with a concession stand and vending machines.

Other public skating around the area can be found at the charming Frog Pond at Boston Common, Burlington Ice Palace, The Charles Hotel, Chelmsford Forum, Larz Anderson Skating Rink, Murphy Skating Rink, Puopolo Park/Mirabella Pool/Steriti Memorial Rink, Simoni Memorial Rink, and The Skating Club of Boston. (We'll be adding specific links to these places soon, but you can click here for DCR's statewide list, sorted by town).

Childcare & Preschool Options Book

Arlington Family Connection has just released its 2006 edition of Childcare & Preschool Options in Arlington. This comprehensive booklet of preschools, daycare centers and other childcare options is a must-have resource for parents in Arlington and surrounding communities. The booklets are available for sale for $8 at the PTO Thrift Shop (basement of Fox Library, 175 Mass. Ave., E. Arlington) and at Isis Maternity (397 Mass. Ave., Arlington). They are also available for sale for $9 (includes shipping and handling) through Arlington Family Connection's website.

GMaps Pedometer Saves the Day

According to its founder, the GMaps Pedometer is a "little hack" that uses Google's amazing mapping application to help record distances traveled for a walk, run or hike, without having to drag a GPS or pedometer around - a potential day-saver for a Day Tripper with a child in a backpack or stroller or someone with limited endurance. Other tools like Google Earth or MapQuest are easier for calculating driving distances - after all, this tool is called a pedometer - you must add individual points for all the twists and turns in your route to get an accurate distance. Click map for a larger image of this sample walk at Willard Brook State Forest.

---

Only a few more days to use the Regent Theatre's
two-for-two Voltaic Vaudeville ticket coupon!

Stow Away for Airplanes & Apples!

Stow's the place to be this weekend - while you're devouring your "$100 Hamburger" on the terrace of Nancy's Airfield Cafe, you can watch your 8-to-17-year-old take a small airplane ride (free every 2nd Saturday of the month), courtesy of the Young Eagles based at Minuteman Airfield. Then, Nancy recommends picking a few apples & pumpkins in the crisp autumn air at nearby Shelburne Farms, Carver Hill (try the ice cream!) - or join the throngs at Honey Pot Hill. Nearby you'll also find the Fruitlands Museum (a former Alcott house) a cozy place featuring a Shaker cafe, Native American dioramas by Henry Brooks, a gorgeous view, and free concerts on Thursdays. Nancy, who's big on using local natural foods in her cafe, will tell you how to get to local organic farms like the Small Farm, Applefield, and Blue Heron. If you still have time and energy after all this, take in the Children's Discovery Museum in Acton on the way home! This Perfect Day Trip will be covered in further detail in the blog, and many of the destinations Nancy told the Divas about are in our book, The Compleat Day Tripper - and the cafe website has directions, maps, and more area links - but of course Nancy is the best source of information!

Get $200 in Exclusive Coupons

Our $200 coupon inserts are still available for Dispatches readers to download and print - just click through to our sponsors page.

---

Harvard Square makes a Perfect Day Trip almost any time, but when the fun, funky, and fabulous Oktoberfest hit the Square on Sunday October 8, the Divas were there, right next to our sponsors, Children's Technology Workshop! We wish to thank our fabulous AHS booth workers Silvain and Claire-Marie and Jule & Ben with their hobby-horse polo, and all you loyal Day Trippers who stopped by!

Oktoberfest Coupons

Harvard Square makes a Perfect Day Trip almost any time, but the weekend of October 8, 2006 was special, when the fun, funky, and fabulous Oktoberfest hit the Square. The Day Tripper Divas were there, and wish to thank all you Day Trippers who stopped by! We still have the $200 coupon inserts for Dispatches readers to download and print - just click through to our sponsors page.

Win 50% Off a Week of iCamp!

---

Click Here to help your kids create
technology instead of just consuming it!

Oh, For the Love of Fluff!

Been too long without a Fluffacino or a Fluffernutter sandwich? Head to the What the Fluff? festival in Union Square, Somerville, on Sept. 30 - you'll be downright grateful that Archibald Query invented Marshmallow Fluff right there in 1917. But this isn't just a bunch of fluff - you'll get to see local artists, musicians and dramatists, inventors, comedians and storytellers pay tribute to this great American treat in a "madcap festival of science meets nostalgia meets urban landscape." Sponsored by the Union Square Main Streets Assn.

---

Look for the Day Tripper Divas and play The Compleat Fluffer game while you're at the festival - we'll be researching Union Square as a potential Perfect Day Trip feature for our next edition!

Pick a Peck of Perfect Peaches

Some of the Day Tripper Divas' favorite places to pick-your-own, choose from farmstand, or just enjoy the harvest season are Berlin Orchards, Brooksby Farms, Charmingfare Farm, Chip-In Farm, Codman Farm, Drumlin Farm, Land's Sake Farm (organic), Honey Pot Hill (best on weekdays to avoid crowds), Marino's Lookout Farm, Nashoba Valley Winery, Old Frog Pond Farm (organic), Shelburne Farms, and Stonyfield Farm (see pages 22-24 of The Compleat Day Tripper for reviews). Keep in mind that Nashoba Valley Winery hosts a visit from Santa on a horse-drawn carriage in mid-December.

Since the season for crops like peaches, raspberries, pumpkins and apples varies from year to year, depending on the weather, it's a good idea to call ahead to the farm you want to visit to check on picking conditions. For a complete listing of PYO in Massachusetts, see the Mass. Dept. of Agriculture's Pick-Your-Own farm listings.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Looking Back - and Forward

HALFWAY

If looking back indicates
how the next half may go
I better get in better shape.

- Julie Kuhn, Arlington Poet

---

Get in Shape with the Day Tripper!

ROCK ON! Celebrating Stone in the Garden

New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods features 37 stone sculptures by top New England artists in a glorious 45-acre garden setting now through October 15. Sculptural and environmental works by Curtis, Hoffman, Kuyper, Mazur, Phillips, Rudnicki, Stanley, and Wheelwright surrounded by 1,500 wildflower species on garden trails and in natural areas. Fruits, foliage, and berries highlight the season. Kids and adults can make their own sculptures at the Interactive Mini-sculpture Park. Special events like Meadow Madness on Aug. 26-27 run rain or shine throughout the show, check the website for schedule.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Subscriber Raves

• "It was an obvious choice to contact you. We were going to put together a list of activities that we found on our own for our grant project, but you have already done it!" - Bonnie Payne & Michael Watson, Activate Arlington
• I am at the playgrounds in town a lot with young children and have mentioned your pamphlet to other parents and told them where they can buy it. I think it's terrific and saves parents/grandparents the stress of having to look everything up separately. - Chris Graves, Arlington
• ROCK ON! at Garden in the Woods is a fantastic outing with small kids! The paths are very easy for little ones and looking for the sculptures throughout make for a fun game. The interactive sculpture building area was also a lot of fun. - Amy Speare, Arlington Family Connection
• "Just wanted to say WOW! The email blast [last Dispatches] you sent out was absolutely fabulous! Thank you so much for including me in the email list." - Lisa Traxler, Arlington

---

Free the Blog - Visit Our Sponsors!

North Shore Children's Museum Update

A reader discovered several changes took place during last year's move of the North Shore Children's Museum in Salem. The famous 50ft. tugboat and a few of their other old favorites were not moved to the new location, but the new spot now features a cool fire truck, some computers, a tide pool, ball activities, an indoor play structure, pretend stage complete with TV and costumes, a pretend diner, dentist office and post office. Admission is a reasonable $4.50. Thanks to Linda de Valpine for this update!

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Organic Pickings at Old Frog Pond Farm

At Old Frog Pond Farm in Harvard, a giant stone tortoise (photo) is just one of a fascinating array of installations by sculptor/farmer Linda Hoffman. This fall, visitors can pick their own organic raspberries, apples, and get a tour of Hoffman's sculpture studio (call ahead). The 2-acre apple orchard was certified organic in 2006 and raspberry certification is expected in 2007.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Construction Site Builders' Expo

You'll be amazed and inspired by some of the creations made by builders of all ages at the 2005 Builder's Expo at the Construction Site in Waltham. Come in and sign up for the next one! The Construction Site is a great stop for a hot or rainy day and if it clears up like it did today when I was there, you can walk the very accessible trail along the Charles River - I spied a Great Blue Heron fishing in the Moody St. Falls within eyesight of the store! Watch for a Perfect Day Trip feature on Waltham, coming soon!

Dispatches readers get a 10% discount at The Construction Site and its related stores, Aisle 9 and The Rail Yard - click here for the coupon code.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Eye Wonder at DeCordova

Eye Wonder is a free family program that focuses on “seeing” and “doing” in the DeCordova Museum, in Lincoln, just about 10 minutes from routes 2/128. For more information call 781/259-3632.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Capen Spray Park, Medford

Capen Spray Park in Medford is a great place for splishing & splashing during the dog days of summer! Button-controlled sprinklers delighted Dispatches correspondent Crispin Olson's 4-year-old son, who went there with his preschool class. Google Earth to 133 Capen St., behind the old water works next to the Route 16/Mystic Parkway rotary. Resident parking only on Stoughton Street off Boston Ave.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

$1 off at The Book Rack!

The Book Rack is proud to be Arlington's community bookseller and a premier sponsor of the Dispatches. Print this item and bring it in for $1 off any purchase! - Contact Mike Buglio, 13 Medford St., Arlington; (781) 646-2665.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Green Meadows Farm

Green Meadows Farm in Hamilton now offers programs like a Teen Film Workshop , Young Farmer Saturdays (ages 5 to 10), and Sustainable Dinners at the Farm; plus a series of Edible Plant Walks led by environmentalist Russ Cohen.

Green Meadows Farm is a certified organic farm raising vegetables, fruits and heritage breeds of livestock in Hamilton, Massachusetts. the Farmstand offers seasonal vegetables plus a variety of natural and organic dry goods, artesian cheeses, hormone-free meats and handmade gifts, and you can sign up for next year's .

Care for Some Nettle Tea, My Dear?

Care for some Stinging Nettle tea with your Milkweed muffins? Russ Cohen, noted local environmentalist, author, and wild foods enthusiast who was recently featured on NPR's Here and Now, will be leading several wild foods foraging walks in Eastern Massachusetts this summer. These walks are recommended for adults and older children; call ahead for wheelchair and stroller accessibility; some require pre-registration (see website)

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Experience the Art of Crafts

What do measuring tapes, pine needles and pencil stubs have in common? They are all materials used to create unique baskets and vessels in the basket [r]evolution exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum. This unique and delightful out-of-the-way museum in Brockton has something for everyone, and where you can even touch some of the exhibits. Knowledgeable staff seem to be everywhere; on a reader's recent visit, a painter on a ladder even called down with her own insight on the exhibit - a sure sign of that there's something very cool inside!

Now on Exhibit at the Fuller Craft Musum:

• basket [r]evolution - to 9/10
• Daniel Clayman: Line, Form, Shadow - to 10/1
• Linda Behar: The Elemental Stitch: Photorealism in Thread - to 10/22
• Randal Thurston: Wunderkammern - to 10/22
• The Scale of Things to Come - to 11/19

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Wonderful Waterfall

If you're looking for a meditative way to spend the afternoon, try a visit to Steep Falls, 40 minutes out of Portland, Maine near Standish. "It's a real negative-ion high!" says Dispatches contributor and photographer Tracy Marks.

To get there, go to the Steep Falls rest area on the Saco River and take the path from the right side of the road (the other side from the main parking area) and walk 1/3 mile past the first small swimming areas all the way to the falls.

There are several sandy swimming beaches, and if no one is there, you can sit on a rock on top of the waterfall and dip your feet in the rapids. This waterfall is only 6 feet high (maybe even less now, the water level is high) but it's 75 feet wide and and makes great rapids. There are half a dozen small somewhat protected beaches, the water there should be quiet enough for kids to swim*, said Tracy.

Maine swimming holes
Massachusetts swimming holes

---

* On all day trips and particularly around rivers and water, please use good personal judgement and exercise caution, as conditions can change.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Take a Turn Around the Revolving Museum

Lowell is listed in the Compleat Day Tripper as a one of our Perfect Day Trips. An amble around downtown Lowell has to include a visit to the Revolving Museum, "an evolving laboratory of creative expression for people of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities who seek to experience the transformative power of art." This is a very special place - highly recommended for the art-deprived, and great for a rainy day. Lowell is about 25 minutes from Arlington/Cambridge.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Don't Strike a Match Here!

Heading up to the beach in Rockport? Consider a side trip to this strange and wonderful roadside attraction - "The Paper House," made entirely of newspapers! This is (perhaps the weirdest) one of 250 literary sites on the new Literary Map of Massachusetts, an online site in development by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Thanks to MCB Executive Director Sharon Shaloo for this tip! Map

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons

Free Computer Consult for Dispatches Readers

• Get the Computer Handyman - FREE! Refer to the Day Tripper Dispatches when you call for a free consult from Metro West Boston's favorite onsite computer-repair hero, Mark Bildman. This offer is good through May 31. For details, call Mark at (617) 596-7545 or email.

All Aboard for Trains!

One of my son’s first words was “coal.” Wouldn’t have been too surprising, if, say, he were the child of West Virginia miners—but here in Arlington, you don’t come across too much coal these days. Except, if you’re a kid who spends his days immersed in the world of steam engines—in particular, a blue tank engine named “Thomas”— and other types of trains. As I’ve learned from talking with other parents and observing the pre-school social scene, my train-obsessed son isn’t alone. This article delivers a listing of family outings that center around the railroad. Click here for the complete All Aboard for Trains! article (PDF Format). This article by Helene Ragovin James was first published by the Arlington Family Connection.

---

Click Here for Sponsor Coupons