Category Archives: summer activity

Family Friendly Boston – How to Have a Fantastic Camping Trip With Kids When You Don’t Have Gear (Shawme-Crowell State Forest)

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I grew up in a family that loved camping and all things outdoors… and I married a man who hates anything that could be considered remotely dirty.  With that said camping has not been very high on his list of priorities but it’s something I’ve really been wanting to do and really wanted to take our son to do.

As another summer season was nearing it’s closed I realized that another year was going to pass without us getting out and really enjoying nature the way I did growing up, and felt disappointed about the loss and I also realized if I wanted this to happen I was going to have to make it happen.

I wanted to go camping, but since my husband is not an outdoors man we have zero camping gear.  So I figured camping was out of the questions and I started looking around the different Massachusetts state parks to at least try to find a place were we could have a fire and make some s’mores.

As I was searching I came across the “Yurt” and all of the sudden my dream of taking our young son camping while being 8 months pregnant became a possibility.  I was thrilled, and ended up booking a Yurt at the Shawme-Crowell State forest, thinking that we could go spend a night there, then drive down Cape Cod and enjoy a day at the beach the following day.  It sounded like the perfect short trip for our little family.

Things to Note:

1. Yurts are a great way to camp for families without camping gear
Yurts, if you haven’t hear of them before are round, canvas/wood covered structures.  The ones at Shawme-Crowell had cement floors, locking doors, a wooden table and beds with mattress.  Which meant as far as camping gear went the only thing I needed to bring was blankets and pillows to cover the mattress.  Perfect!  That also meant I didn’t need to have or set up a tent and we could pretty much get to the camp ground a be ready to go.

Each yurt at Shawme-Crowell also had a water sprout by it, a cooking grill and a fire pit.  You can choose if you wanted a 4 or 6 person Yurt.  

2. Firewood
Don’t bring firewood with you camping.  If you want a camp fire you will have to buy the firewood from the camp ground.  Apparently there have been lots of problems/fears about bugs being brought in with outside wood so they don’t allow any.  We bought six logs for $5.

3. Yurt Rental
You have to rent a yurt for at least two nights (which was a bummer for us because we only wanted to stay for one, but we still had to book it for two)  and you can choose the size you want for your family between a 4 or 6 person yurt.  The price was around $55/night.

4. Amenities
Yurts have a water spout, cooking grill and fire pit right next to each one.  There is also power in yurts including lights and outlets to plug in whatever you need. If you walk down the road a little bit there is a bathroom with flushing toilets and showers.

Summary and Stars: ★★★★★

Five stars.  We had a fantastic time camping here.  Staying in yurt made it so easy and even my outdoor hating husband admitted that it was fun and worth the memories.  If your looking into planning a camping trip with kids I would highly suggest this as a painless way to go enjoy the outdoors without the headache of hauling around and setting up tons of gear.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Shawme-Crowell State Forest
42 Main Street
Sandwich, MA 02563

Phone: 508 888-0351
State Forest Website: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-south/shawme-crowell-state-forest.html 

Website for booking a yurt: http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/shawme-crowell-state-forest/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=MA&parkId=32621

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting the Franklin Park Zoo

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First thing to know is that if you live in Boston/Cambridge and you have a library pass you can get discount tickets to the zoo, you just have to go to the library and ask for them.

Unfortunately the “T” doesn’t get super close to the Franklin Park Zoo so if you don’t have a car you’ll have to take a bus, and for us it was a bit of a hike.  We got there on a summer day where the weather was in the 90 degree range and I realized that zoos everywhere are pretty much the same. You do a lot of walking in heat to see lazy animals hiding out in the shade.  Going into it with that mentality here are my thoughts about Franklin Park Zoo.

1) Price
Fairly expensive.  Adult ticks are about $20, children 2-12 are $13, 2 and under are free.  If you have a library pass I think the adult tickets are lowed to about $12/person.

2) Stroller Access
Yes! Lots of it and lots of walking!  If you have children who will still fit in a stroller and you want to see most of the park I would suggest bringing it along.

3) Size of Zoo and Variety of Animals
Honestly I thought this zoo was surprisingly small.  I just looked up the website to double check but the animals total in at 46 different species, many of which share enclosures.  I guess it sounds like quite a few, but you can tour the whole park fairly easily in an hour or two.

4) Playground
One of the best things about this zoo was that they have an awesome and huge playground in the middle of it.  After seeing about ten animals my two year old son was bored with the animals but he was super interested in the playground, I think he could have played there happily for hours.

Summary & Stars ★★★☆☆

Three Stars. Franklin Park Zoo is fairly difficult to get to by public transportation.  The zoo itself is quite small compared to other zoos I’ve visited (Hogle Zoo – Utah, San Diego Zoo – California) but was really manageable for a toddler.   The playground was amazing and if your children get tired of animals it’s a great place to kick back and let them run around in an enclosed area.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Franklin Park Zoo
1 Franklin Park Rd.
Boston, MA 02121

Phone: 617-541-5466
Website: http://www.zoonewengland.org/franklin-park-zoo 

Winter Hours(October 1- March 31) 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. daily

Summer Hours(April 1 – September 30) 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. weekdays
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. weekends and major holidays 

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting the Bunker Hill Monument & Museum with Kids

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One of the last stops of the Boston Freedom Trail is the Bunker Hill Monument.  For two years I could see the spire of the monument light up at night from my apartment window, but somehow whenever we went on the Freedom Trail or took visiting friends or family we always got distracted from the Freedom Trail about the time we went near Mike’s Pastries and never finished the second half.

When my parents came to town to visit I was determined that we were going to do the full trail so that I would finally see both the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument.

The Bunker Hill Monument was created to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was the first fight between the British and the New Englanders during the American Revolutionary War (battle fought on June 17, 1775)  From my perspective it’s a huge, tall, monument with 294 very narrow stairs leading to the top.

We climbed the 20 flights on a blisteringly hot day.  Somehow, and I’m not really sure how, my husband managed the climb well ahead of us, with toddler on his shoulders.  I’m kind of glad I didn’t see it because those stair are narrow and I’m sure seeing my boy on his shoulders would have scared me to death.  The other three of us made it about 50 stairs and had to take a break, then we would walk 40 stairs and a break, then 35 stairs … anyway, eventually we made it to the top sweaty, exhausted, and empowered.  The view was fantastic and it was totally worth it… though I could not control my legs or get them to stop shaking for about an hour.

Things to Note:

1.  Price
Both the Bunker Hill Monument and Bunker Hill Museum are free.

2.  Stroller Access
You can easily bring a stroller into the Bunker Hill Museum, but there didn’t seem to be any handicap access and certainly no elevators leading to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument.  If you want to enjoy the view from up there you’re going to have to hike a lot of stairs and either leave your stroller bound tots at the bottom while you do it or carry them to the top with you.

3.  The Stairs
There are so many stairs leading to the top of the monument and they are narrow and winding.  If you’ve got kids with you you’re going to want to keep a close eye on them and if they are too big to be carried but too little to walk all the way up you should probably not attempt to bring them.  The stairwell as well as the stairs are narrow and not a great place for little ones to play.

4.  The View
The view from the top was fantastic, but the windows to enjoy the view were tiny and dirty… and even when you get to the top there is not a ton of room.  Don’t plan on getting there and hanging out or having a picnic or anything.  It’s more like a get to the top, check out how awesome Boston is, rest for a minute, and then start the decent.

Summary and Rating: ★★★★☆

Four stars, it’s hard to complain about free. This place will give you a serious work out and it’s not for the faint of heart.  Not super toddler friendly though you can easily bring up older children and, if you’re feeling strong, you can carry up a baby.  On the off chance that you don’t want to walk to the top you can still enjoy the view from the hill.  There is lots of green grass to run around on and the area surrounding it is beautiful.  Plus right across from the monument is Bunker Hill Museum, which has air conditioning, water and an elevator.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Bunker Hill Monument & Museum
Boston National Historical Park Monument Square
Charlestown, MA

Phone: 617-242-5641 (Group tours 617-.242-5689)
Website: www.nps.gov/bost or https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/freedom-trail/bunker-hill-monumnet.shtml

Museum: September – June, daily 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. July – August, daily 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Monument: September-June, daily 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. July – August, 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II with Kids

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In addition to visiting the Plimouth Plantation I would highly recommend continuing the adventure by visiting Plymouth Rock (Free… though… not as impressive as I was expecting) and the Mayflower II.

Plymouth Rock is a fairly small rock, I feel like my toddler could have climbed it, surrounded by a monument and a bunch of fences.  It about a thirty second tour and then you’ve seen it and there is not much else to be done.

On the other hand Plymouth Rock is located on the same beach as the Mayflower II, which is worth a tour.  The Mayflower II is a replica of the original ship (Mayflower).  It was also built in England and sailed to Plymouth.  The ship was tiny!  The original ship had 130 passengers and we learned that the pilgrims all had to stay below decks (100 or so of them) along with all the animals they brought (goats, chickens & dogs.) They ended up landing at Plymouth in December (brrr) and then dying off due to exposure.  Only two people died while sailing over, and half of all the passengers and crew members died after they landed. Yikes!  All in all they ended up trapped on the ship and below decks for 7 months, though sailing there only took 2 months… the rest of the hardship was finding somewhere to live and building shelters.

I learned (probably relearned since I’m sure my history teachers covered it along the way at some point) this from the actors on the boat telling their stories, which were fantastic.  The sleeping space looked awful and tiny, and I am shocked only two people died on the way over… I would have suspected a lot more murders with them being confined to that tiny space.

After we walked around the Mayflower II we decided to take a short walk up the city hill to the local cemetery.  Along the way we were able to see some of the original house and the cemetery was where the first pilgrims were buried.   We ended our tour with a quick run through the grist mill and then we all needed some time off our feet, trying to see the Plimouth/Plymouth Plantation, Mayflower II and Grist Mill all in one day is a fairly exhausting endeavor…

Things to Note:

1) Parking
There are free and paid areas to park, and you can ask where they are when you buy your tickets.  When we went to see the Mayflower II we ended up parking by the Grist Mill and walking a 1/2 mile or so to the ship.  We were happy to do it because the trail was really scenic and we were able to drop by Plymouth Rock along the way.

2) Pricing
There are a bunch of options for pricing depending on how many of the Plymouth attractions you want to see.  They range in scope from about $20 – $30/Person.  You can find out more here: http://www.plimoth.org/plan-your-visit/hours-prices

3) Stroller Friendliness
This part of the Plymouth experience was not very stroller friendly.  We took our stroller on the 1/2 mile walk from our car to the Mayflower II, but from there on you will need to either have someone stay behind with your stroller/young child or you will need to give your stroller to the people at the desk to keep an eye on and carry your child onto the ship.

4) Child Friendliness
Again this part of the tour was not super baby/toddler friendly.  Seeing a lot of the ship requires you to be able to move up and down some fairly steep/narrow stairways and your child/children will likely need a fair amount of help to do it safely.

5) The Experience
The Mayflower II is populated with actors portraying people that actually traveled on the Mayflower.  They spend the time going about their daily business, talk in accents, and answer questions as if they were actually there.  I thought it was a really fun way to learn more about the Mayflower and what conditions on board were like.  I also really liked talking to the woman on the ship and finding out that her parents sent her away on the ship to find a husband… and mostly to get rid of her.  It was both horrible and fascinating learning about that kind of culture.

Summary and Rating ★★★★☆

Four Stars.  This was a fairly expensive history lesson, but one of the best and most engaging I’ve had.  Being about the see people dressed from the time period and interacting with them was a blast.  I loved being able to direct this history lesson and learn more about the things that I though were interesting in the form of personal conversation, rather than reading similar things from a information card.  Again the Mayflower II allows children, and mine really enjoyed being able to touch things and walk around, but they are going to need a fair amount of supervision while on the boat.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Plimouth Grist Mill
6 Spring Lane
Plymouth, MA 02360

Plimouth Plantation’s Mayflower II
State Pier (across from 74 Water Street)
Plymouth, MA 02360

Phone: 508.746.1622
Website: https://www.plimoth.org/

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting the Plymouth Plantation with Kids

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Recently we headed down to Plymouth to see the Plimouth (original spelling) Plantation.  There they have  recreated the village to mimicked the original one, and they have actors who walk around talking like old English people and answering questions etc.  It sounded cool and we had heard lots of good things about it.

On the plantation you start by visiting the Indian Village and I was a little hesitant about this part, not because I didn’t want to see and learn from the Native Americans, but because I was afraid it would seem… I don’t know, exploitative and wrong somehow. The Native Americans were dressed in traditional garb, but they didn’t speak like actors, instead they told us about what life used to be like for their tribes and it was really cool.

These Native Americans were part of a matriarchal society, the elder women got to decide when someone was old enough to be married, and that was based on their ability to do the chores and other things that needed to be done.  Once they were established as old enough the woman would go out and pick a husband and bring him back to her village.  Food was said to be plentiful and they only needed to work around 3 hours a day to maintain their lifestyle, the rest of the day was for them to do whatever they wanted, which didn’t sound too bad to me…

Then we walked over to the pilgrim village.  The village was fairly big and all of the houses were both open and furnished, so you could walk in and sit on a rough feather bed, and pick up a brass kettle… which meant our son was trying very hard to play with all the ceramic pottery… eek.

We went in early September and the bad part about the village is it was dry and so so hot.  It felt like walking through a dessert.  The baby was hot, we were all sweating, and it was hard to plow along for long periods of time.  We met up with one of the actors and got to ask her some question.  My husband said her expression was priceless when I asked I could take a photo with her, you could see her not knowing how to respond while saying in character.  Anyway, she let me.  The village was cool, and it was a lot of fun to be able to direct the history lesson and experience it in such a hands on way.  

Things to Note: 

1) Price

So if you’re going to make the trip to Plymouth you will probably want to see more than just the plantation.  In a near proximity to the plantation there is also the Mayflower II (patterned after the Original Mayflower that you can climb on and ask actors questions about) and the Gist Mill, where you can see how flour and the like was ground.  You can buy a ticket to see any one of the attractions or a ticket to see any two or even all three of them.  For all three the tickets run about $30/person, two of the three is generally about $20/person.   You can view more specific details here: http://www.plimoth.org/plan-your-visit/hours-prices
2) Parking
Parking is free at the Plantation and there is nice big lot.  They also offer golf cart rids to those with mobility issues, which makes for a pretty fantastic family visit with the old and young.
3) Stroller Friendliness
Yes!  This is mostly an outdoor attraction and there are trails and paths everywhere, as well as lots of walking involved.  Bring a stroller is your child still uses it. 
4) Child Friendliness   
Perfect for children.  Lots of big open spaces, plenty of space to run around in and hands on exploration.  Kids can climb on the beds, sit in the chairs, hold the pots, visit the farm animals and interact with the actors.  My son was only 1.5 years old at the time and he loved it, everyone I’ve talked to with older kids said they also had a fantastic experience.

Summary and Rating ★★★★☆

Four stars.  It was a little bit expensive, but I thought this place was a blast.  We went during the off season, but I’ve heard that there is even more to do during the on-season… and probably a few more actors populating the villages, when we went there were only five or six and the village is quite big.  There is a lot of open space for kids and it’s really fun to be able to talk to the actors, ask them questions, learn about why they did the things they did etc.  I also thought it was really fascinating to be able to compare the lifestyles of the early pilgrims to those of the Native Americans, it would have been nice if they could have picked up a few tips from the Natives who seemed to have life pretty well figured out.   I would highly recommend this trip, it was one of the most engaging and interesting history lessons I’ve ever gotten to experience.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Plimoth Plantation 
137 Warren Avenue
Plymouth, MA 02360

Phone: (508) 746-1622
Website: https://www.plimoth.org/
Hours: 9am-5pm 7 days a week