Oh, The Places I'll Go

I live for adventure,

Here’s my latest quencher.

This one’s a joint-venture,

So pull up a bencher!

To Springfield we roamed,

Through Google we combed.

The locals, they droned,

Our plan was then honed.

Parks were found,

Museums abound!

We went all around,

We pounded the ground.

Springfield’s delightful,

Foliage was a sightful.

It was all so exciteful,

We couldn’t help but be sprightful!

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HA! That was fun! I haven’t written poetry since high school, and in case you’re wondering, yes, I sucked at it then too, LOL!

Hat’s off to Dr. Seuss, for finding rhymes in the days before the Internet! The man must have had a very good vocabulary.

Speaking of Dr. Seuss… guess where I went last weekend?

If you guessed the Dr. Seuss Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts, give yourself a gold star.

This was a short get-away by my standards – only three nights, and less than 80 miles from home. Hubby and I enjoyed a rare trip together in our RV, thanks to the long Indigenous People’s Day weekend, so we packed off to a campground in Monson, MA. Read on for my review of the campground, the Dr. Seuss Museum, the Springfield History Museum, and the general area.

Sunsetview Farm Camping

Great little campground in Monson, MA! This is a lovely campground located in a quiet neighborhood on a large, wooded property. The campground was full-up for the holiday weekend, and despite booking at the last minute, we managed to score a great site. Grassy and spacious, it was a short walk to the activity pavilion, a sandy pond-side beach, and a wooded walking trail. The trail led to a large open field, where my dog had a blast chasing her soccer ball up and down the hills.

There are a lot of seasonal campers at this campground, and I was leery of that when we arrived. I often find that seasonals aren’t very fond of transient campers, but that wasn’t true here. There’s an active and friendly community here, and we felt welcomed to join in the activities, like the dart tournament, candy bar bingo, and the corn hole tournament.

Steaming Tender Restaurant

I went looking for a restaurant, and I have to say, the name of this place put me off at first. The term “Steaming Tender” brought to mind steaming piles of cow patties, for some reason, but Google’s star ratings don’t lie. It’s got a 4.5-star rating, so I decided to put the unappealing “steaming” images out of my head and give it a try. I’m glad we did.

Some of you train fanatics will already have worked out that “tender” is a term for a railroad car, and, of course, steam locomotives were commonly used throughout the country back in the day. So that’s where the name of this restaurant came from, which is a big improvement over cow patties!

The restaurant is housed in an old railroad station, and the building is registered as a historic place. You can’t help but be taken back to the turn of the century when you arrive. You pull open two enormous wooden doors to get inside, and walk past the former ticket counter to register with the hostess. The wooden floors, wrought iron railings, paneled walls and stained-glass windows are completely in character, and it’s easy to imagine what this place would have looked like to travelers of yore. After checking in, you can wait for your table on the cobble-stoned train platform, swinging on the bench seats that have been suspended beside the rail.

Sitting here, my eyes are drawn down the track, and I can sense the excitement that a turn-of-the-century traveler would have felt sitting, waiting for a train to whisk them away on a grand adventure. For a second, I wish I could step back in time, and be that traveler, on the brink of that journey. I know how they’d feel – the same way I feel when I’m at the airport, waiting to board a plane, excited to explore a new place’s sights and sounds and tastes.

This restaurant is a lovely little visage of times past.

Dr. Seuss Museum

Did you know that Dr. Seuss, author of some of the best-known children’s books of all time, grew up in Springfield, MA? I didn’t know that until this weekend.

This is a great little museum, with lots of hands-on activities for the kids, plus plenty of history to keep the grown-ups interested. The characters from books like Green Eggs and Ham and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas are represented in life-size, brightly-colored statues, while the walls are graced with images from beloved books.

Throughout the museum, the story of the author’s life unfolds in both words and photographs. I thoroughly enjoyed strolling through this museum. I only wish I’d found it when my kids were little! I may have to borrow someone’s tots for another visit.

Outside the museum, a beautifully manicured lawn leads you to the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden, where life-sized versions of Horton and the Cat in the Hat frolic in the sun. This would be an ideal spot for a picnic on a warm afternoon.

Springfield History Museum

The Dr. Seuss Museum is part of a five-museum group called The Springfield Museums. Although our admission ticket included all five museums, we had other plans for the day, so we decided to visit just one other museum. There are two art museums and a science museum, but you might be surprised to find out that we chose the Museum of Springfield History. Seems like the history of this small city would be pretty boring, right? Wrong!

As we learned, Rolls Royce built cars in Springfield in the 1920s, following several other innovative car companies, including Duryea and Knox. Many vehicles from these companies are on display at the museum. It was fascinating to see the change in vehicles over the years. In some cases, the changes over just a few years were remarkable, moving from a vehicle that looks very much like a horse-drawn carriage to one that is immediately recognizable as a predecessor of modern-day cars in just a few years.

And then there were the motorcycles. The Indian Motorcycle Company was based in Springfield, and it built some of the earliest motorcycles in the country, starting by mounting a small engine on a bicycle around the turn of the century. The museum features several Indian motorcycles for both street use and for racing. Just like with the cars, it was amazing to see the evolution from a bicycle with a motor, to a motor-bike, to a motorcycle.

The Milton Bradley Company, famous maker of board games and toys, got its start in Springfield, and the museum pays tribute to the game-maker with their Hasbro GameLand exhibit. This area has lots of hands-on activities related to their games that school-aged kids are sure to love. For the adults, there’s a timeline of Milton Bradley creations, including “The Checkered Game of Life”, which was the first iteration of “The Game of Life” that so many of us grew up playing; Mr. Potato Head, which originally required children to use a real potato as its body; and Simon, the memory game that lit up the 80s.

This was a great museum, packed with interesting history.

Springfield

Springfield is the third-largest city in Massachusetts, after Boston and Worcester, and I expected it to feel a lot like Worcester, since both cities are similar in size and geographic area. That wasn’t the case, though. Springfield is a lovely city – clean, uncluttered, and easy to drive. While Worcester’s blue-collar roots have crafted a tough, gritty, resilient culture, Springfield feels like a bucolic country town that’s grown up. There’s lots of green space. The streets are spacious and clean. The buildings have breathing room. I found myself wishing I had more time to explore the city, which is an unusual thought for me, a city-avoider. I’ll make my way back there one of these days, and plan to spend a couple days exploring all this little city has to offer.

That’s my take on the Springfield area, which I highly recommend, if you’re in Massachusetts. Out-of-towners usually think of Boston when they think of The Bay State, but we’ve got lots more to offer. When you’re ready for a break from the hustle and bustle of Boston, head west to discover all that Springfield has to offer.

Happy travels!

Kimba

© Kimberlee Martin, 2022. All rights reserved.