Central Massachusetts Tour 2006
Our tour of Central Mass. yesterday was great. We drove by Redemption Rock, then after realizing we'd passed it, turned around and drove back so we could actually get out of the car and admire it. Obligatory pictures were taken. Massachusetts is home to two rocks, the widely reknowned Plymouth Rock and the lesser known Redemption Rock. Having been to both, I can say with certainty that Redemption Rock is definitely the more satisfying of the two to visit. For one, Plymouth Rock is a small rock that sits in the sand in the middle of a gazebo that was constructed around it. When I was last there, it was not recommended that you go under the shelter of the gazebo because of a falling tile problem they were having. Also, there's a disclaimer that states it probably isn't the exact rock that a pilgrim set his feet upon when disembarking from the Mayflower way back in the day, but it's certainly a reasonable looking stand-in as far as you should be concerned. Redemption Rock, however, is the actual rock upon which the Indians agreed on a ransom for Mary Rowlandson. Plus, it's big. And you can stand on it and feel mighty. If you're interested in rocks that have major historical significance, head out to Princeton and check out Redemption Rock.
The next stop on our list was Turners Fall. It's a small mill town on the Connecticut River. I'd probably be able to tell you more about it if the historical museum was open on days other than Friday and Saturday. We carried on down the road to historic Deerfield which was a really interesting experience. Often historic sections of towns are the heart of the town, newer construction generally having fanned out from the original centers. Deerfield seems to have expanded off to one side as opposed to all around. When we drove into town, it was like we had been transported back in time. I assumed initially that it was a living history place, that each house was a museum, but as it turned out, it's still very much an active town. People live there, which is great, but also unexpected because it's just not set up the way I'm used to seeing a town set up. The lack of modern structures taking up space in the background gave me a much better idea of how vulnerable the towns were back in the day.
After Deerfield, we drove to Northampton to peruse a few bookstores. I loved Northampton. It has a great energy, lots of hustle and bustle. Traffic was a bit of a nightmare but it had everything you'd imagine the ideal college town would have. I came home and started pressuring Dave into thinking about Smith or Umass Amherst because I was ready to pack up and move.
Miscellaneous things re: the trip: I worked my way through an entire box of Kleenex; we discovered a great diner just past the Yankee Candle Factory Outlet; Mary Rowlandson is not from Deerfield but from Lancaster, a fact we discovered after having asked several people in Deerfield where her house was originally sited and being greeted with confused looks, a fact which also probably should have registered after having read the inscription on Redemption Rock that said "Mrs Mary Rowlandson of Lancaster"; don't take 128 north on a Thursday night, it's better to just sleep at work.