It turns out you don’t need to hike deep into the woods to enjoy nature and the woods. My partner and I reminded ourselves of this during this terrific day exploring North Central Massachusetts. A few weeks back I had sprained my ankle and was eager to get back into nature but was still recovering. My partner and I wanted to experience our local foliage and decided to do so in our car and by visiting a few sights. We set out with the goal of driving up Mount Wachusett in the morning, having a picnic somewhere pretty, and maybe getting a drink or snack at an outdoor restaurant. We were so lucky to be graced by one of the most gorgeous days of weather New England has to offer.
The day started with baking a new recipe of blueberry muffins. We each munched on one while they were hot in our home in Cambridge, then set off on our excursion. We stopped for a couple coffees at Tatte in Harvard Square and were on our way. Route 2 provided nice roadside early foliage and by the time we approached the base of Mount Wachusett we were driving well below the speed limit as we soaked in the quaintness of New England. I had assembled a playlist for the day as we travelled in parallel down memory lane.
We paid the $5 fee at the entrance to N Road and slowed our pace even more. We passed countless walkers/hikers and bikers and just happened to be passing our largest groups while blasting Con te partiro by Andrea Bocelli. We slowed while passing vistas provided by ski trails and stopped for a pulled off for a moment at a small parking lot near the summit to take in some views and met a woman who had brought her entire sewing set up, kudos to her for embracing the day and the gorgeous view.
We reached the summit and took in the open scenery. As always I attempted to pinpoint my past hikes which was made much easier by the guides provided on the viewing platform which labeled every peak and landmark. The Boston skyline was distant but prominent as well as Mount Monadnock. After a good twenty minutes we returned to our cars and continued our journey.
From here we had no destination other than the trees but used the direction of Wachusett Brewing Company as a compass. We passed many beautiful old houses along the way. We arrived at the brewery an hour before they opened and looked for a park to enjoy our packed lunch. West Fitchburg Steamline Trail caught our attention and we pulled off, investestigated and decided it was more than sufficient.
We walked a short way up the stream just past the dam and took a seat atop a short concrete wall to enjoy the colors of the stream and savoured our chicken, blue cheese and walnut salad. A few pieces of lettuce fell casualty to the strong breeze, but the the calming noise it gave the leaves more than made up for the loss. We ended with mediation session guided by headspace during which the wind outdueled my feeble phone speakers.
We drove the short way back to Wachusett Brewing Company. What was an empty parking lot just an hour ago had become a sea of cars and people. We debated if we should ditch the line and journey else where but accepted we were in no rush and the ~forty minutes passed quickly with a couple rounds of twenty questions.
The beer was delicious and refreshing, especially under the tree cover of this awesome beer garden. The acoustic guitarist playing covers was awesome... oh live music, how I have missed you amid COVID. Craft beer drinkers would probably be disappointed by the mild beer, but it’s exactly what we were looking for. After some fries to complement our beverages we were back on the road.
After three stops, we had become even more aimless and this time used 119 as a driving destination after enjoying its scenery after a hike up Mount Watatic in the spring. We made Willard Brook State Forest our last stop. We unpacked our hammock and tied it up left, below the entrance road to two perfect trees in front of a covered pedestrian bridge. We plopped down right next to a family taking senior photos and opened our books. After about an hour we packed up our hammocks and were back on the road.
We were passing so many farm stands along the road we got cravings for apple cider donuts. Gary’s Farm & Garden center was eventually our choice, which ended up being a wrong one. After one bite we accepted defeat.. how can bad cider donut be so disgusting while a good cider donut is so insatiable. Well, we can’t win ‘em all, but we declared victory on this brilliant New England autumn day.
