Sightseeing in Central Massachusetts

The Johnny Appleseed Trail

Route 2 creates a swift passage through the Johnny Appleseed region, and makes the 25 towns, small cities, and villages easy to reach. Start with a visit to the Johnny Appleseed Trail Visitors Center on Route 2 on the westbound side, in Lancaster. It’s open daily, 9-6 ( 978-534-2302). Maps and information abound, and you’ll be able to pick up a listing of the week’s special events – there are lots, from spring through fall.

Fruitlands

Harvard is at the far eastern edge of the Appleseed Trail, and includes the very unusual museum called Fruitlands. Would you like to visit the farm where Bronson Alcott (father of LittleWomen author Louisa May Alcott) tried to create an experimental commune, called the Con-Sociate Family? How about admiring American art and history from the 19th century, including paintings by Albert Bierstadt (that great romantic painter) and Thomas Cole? Or looking at the lives of the Shakers, the religious community that died out here, in part because its members took chastity so seriously? Or travel even farther back in local history to learn about Native American artifacts?

Clara Endicott Sears, a Bostonian with much wider ideas than most in the 1920s, was fascinated by all of these, and her collections became the heart of four distinct museums, all of which make up Fruitlands. Fruitlands opens in mid-May, just in time to enjoy the apple blossoms on your way there; take Route 2 to Exit 38A, bear right at the exit ramp, and take the first right onto Old Shirley Road. Stay on this road for two miles, and Fruitlands will be on the right, at 102 Prospect Hill Road.

South of Harvard

South of Harvard are the small towns of Bolton and Berlin, noted for their orchards (see Eco-Travel). Bolton also offers the Nashoba Valley Winery, an award-winning producer of premium wines, specializing in non-grape wines like Gravenstein, a bone-dry table wine with subtle apple flavor, or Chrysleton, a light elderberry-apple wine. There are tastings and tours, outings, gift shop, and a picnic area. Pick your own fruit, too, from strawberries in mid-June to raspberries, blackberries, plums, and apples. From Interstate 495, take Route 117 east to Bolton Center, turn left at the blinking light, and go a quarter-mile to the winery, at 100 Wattaquadoc Hill Rd.

A few miles west of the Bolton/Berlin area is Sterling, where Davis’ Farmland combines a farm, a play park, a zoo, an animal sanctuary, and a children’s museum into 250 acres of playfulness. From April’s Earth Days to July’s Farmland Olympics to Halloween hayrides, there are always special events planned. It’s on Route 62; drive west from Berlin, or get there from Route 2 by taking Route 110 south at Exit 6. Next door is a maze to walk, made of pathways that outline two entwined dragons, a living sculpture of a fifth-century-BC dragon motif carved into a crop of sorghum. The maze stays open from early August to at least Labor Day.

The Lancaster Area

If you circle back northeast to Lancaster, you can re-enter the mood of quiet New England towns – unless you arrive during the first weekend of October, when the town is bustling with its annual crafts festival. North of Lancaster, on the far side of Route 2 from Harvard are the small towns of Ayer and Groton. For a drive into truly rural country, catch Route 119 in Groton and take it northeast into Townsend and Ashby, along the New Hampshire border. Ashby is a photographer’s gift, complete with Meetinghouse, Grange Hall, town common, and even a town pump and watering trough, as well as the bandstand where summer concerts still take place on Wednesday evenings.

Three miles beyond Ashby, turn south on Route 101 to Ashburnham, and then west (right) onto Route 112, meandering toWinchendon.Winchendon was once the home of toy factories, and still has a giant wooden horse at the center of the town. While you’re there, stop in at Smith’s Country Cheese at 20 Otter River Road ( 978-939-5738 or 800-700- 9974), where you can see how Gouda and cheddar cheeses are made, taste several kinds, and browse through the gift shop. A very different kind of treat is Silver Hawk Wampum Works, a large Native American handicraft and gift shop at 672 Spring Street at the intersection of Routes 12 and 140; look for beadwork, baskets, silver, quillwork, drums, rattles, flutes, and a selection of Southwestern crafts as well. The wampum beads are a specialty.

Along Route 2

Along the swifter highway of Route 2 are three small cities: Leominster (pronounced LEH-minster), Fitchburg, and Gardner. Leominster celebrates being the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed; local sculptor Phil Coté has his studio out of town at Sterling Millworks, where he creates striking sculptures of Native Americans from the period of King Philip’s War – the Mohawk, the Pequot, the Iroquois, and the Wampanoag and Mohegan. Experience Leominster’s salute to its native son the first Saturday of June, when Johnny Appleseed Day turns the town into a fair.

Fitchburg’s boom time was the second half of the 19th century, and its buildings display the life work of architect H. M. Francis. Look for Gothic church windows, large round Romanesque arches, and Neo- Classical touches. A walking map of the town’s architecture is available at the Fitchburg Art Museum or the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center. The wealthy industrialists who encouraged the city’s ornate taste in buildings also made possible the very fine collection of the Fitchburg Art Museum, now supported by the newer industries of electronics and plastics. The museum contains mostly American paintings and sculptures, including works by Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, and George Bellows, and hosts special exhibits like New England blown glass. It’s at 185 Elm Street.

Walk over to Renaissance Park, next to City Hall, for the summer farmers’ market and food court. At the other end of Main Street, take the Mill Street walkway to the Mill Street Outdoor Café, where vendors offer gourmet coffee, baked goods, wines, sandwiches, and even musical entertainment in the evenings. During the last week of July have fun with the 50s in Fitchburg Festival, with live music, a Sock Hop, a 50s car show, vendors, and children’s activities. In summer, take the kids to nearby Lunenburg on Route 13, where Whalom Amusement Park still offers its rides, games, waterslides, miniature golf, and entertainment.

Gardner is known as “chair town,” thanks to the industry that began here in 1805 and came into its own in 1826 with five Heywood brothers, and continues today with P. Derby and Company. University chairs are still made in the city. So is hand-wrought silver. The town was named for Thomas Gardner, who died from the wounds he received at the Battle of Bunker Hill. There are two historic districts: one “uptown” around the town common at Central Street between Woodland Avenue and Green Street, and the other “downtown” around City Hall. Walking tour maps are available and highlight the way the town grew in the late 1800s. A good way to start touring is to visit the Gardner Museum at 28 Pearl Street, where furniture, silver, carriages, and inventions are gathered in a wonderful picture of life in the 19th century. To get there, take Exit 23 from Route 2, bearing right at the end of the ramp and passing under the railroad bridge. At the first traffic light, turn right onto Elm Street; when you reach the traffic circle, bear right again onto Pearl Street, and the museum is on the left. Gardner also has the new Gardner State Heritage Park on Lake Street (from Route 68follow signs), with its own visitor center and an eight-foot chair to sit on. Look for the “world’s largest chair” on Elm Street.

Nearby Wachusett Mountain is open to hikers, and the ski area there opens its high-speed chair lift to visitors during local events (mostly weekends) during summer and fall for a Skyride to the summit. Head for Route 140 in Princeton and follow the clear signs onto Mountain Road. Road races, both foot and bicycle, happen here often, and the weekends of September are crowded with a food festival, a blues festival, and sports events.

In nearby Westminster, the Wachusett Brewing Company offers Saturday afternoon tours and tastings, including both its noted ales and a great root beer for the kids: 175 State Road East, which is Route 2A, two miles east of Exit 25 from Route 2.

As you drive west along Route 2, Templeton and Phillipsburg are pleasant villages to explore. Templeton’s farm stands are especially nice, like the Kitchen Garden at 268 Baldwinville Road, where there’s a bakery and gift shop to go with the produce, or Pat’s Farm Stand on Route 2A, a family-owned business with fresh produce, meat market, and deli.

Quabbin Reservoir Area

Farther west, in the area around Quabbin Reservoir, the towns of Athol and Orange are close to Route 2. From Athol, drive north to Royalston for a spectacular waterfall, Doane’s Falls, on the Athol Road at Doane Hill Road. The site is owned by the Trustees of Reservations. Apath leads along the gorge to let you see the multiple cascades – even interesting in winter, when wonderful ice cascades are formed.

In Orange, the Miller’s RiverWildlife Art Gallery provides a striking (but small) collection of watercolors, prints, and woodcarvings at 192 West Main Street (Route 2A), half a mile west of the downtown district.

Take Route 32 or its quieter cousin, Alt 32, down the east side of the watershed area to the town of Ware, an unexpectedly lively location with spring maple sugaring and the famous Brimfield Flea Market (May, July, September), summer concerts and fairs, and autumn scenic train rides. The town has three scenic waterfalls and a covered bridge, as well as factory stores and antique shops.