Springs Brook Swim Area - Bedford

It’s a pool! It’s a pond! It’s a “man-made filtered swimming facility…set in a beautiful wooded setting.” Sandy beach, playground, deluxe sprinkler area, grills, food concession, small basketball court, big slide, volleyball, lap lanes, diving dock. Great shade, great lifeguards, great place - plus a conservation area for walking. MBTA goes near the conservation area at 180 Springs Road. 781- 275-1392; bedfordrecreation.org

Perfect Fun at Kimball Farm

Recognize the cover of The Compleat Day Tripper? Once again, my son's annual birthday party expedition to Kimball Farm on Friday night was perfect. This is the fourth in a row! Birthday parties are an easy do-it-yourself operation at Kimball Farm. We went from the bumper boats, to the mini-golf, back to the bumper boats, then pizza and ice cream! There's also a driving range and playground, and a great grill service during the summer with shaded picnic tables. You can put together goodie bags with candy & knicknacks from the Country Store. Kimball Farm can be crowded with school & camp groups, but it wasn't yesterday, probably because of the heat & humidity (not a problem for five 13-year-olds with 3 gallons of ice water! The crowds seemed to thin out after about 5 p.m. Phone (978) 486-3891. Prices range from $7.50 for bumper boats to $10 a round ($6 repeats) for mini-golf; discounts bundles and children to age 12.

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

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* 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.

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).

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.

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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.

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

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