Graveyard of Dearly Depinted

Fun Graveyard to visit at the Ben & Jerry's Headquarters

At the Ben & Jerry's head quarters in Waterbury, Vermont, there's all sorts of fun things to do for the family. The most notable is the factory tour with some free ice cream at the end of the tour.

One of the big attractions, is the famous flavor graveyard honoring all the retired flavors.

Graveyard of Dearly Depinted

In 2014, we visited the graveyard. I remember it being a fun and quick visit. Basically your look at all the various flavors and try to remember ones that you might have tried that are no longer available.

The graveyard is located in the back of the factory, a bit of a walk from the scoop shop. If you didn't know about it, you could easily miss it!

This is a quick visit, most people stayed for about 20-minutes. It's a fun place to say that you visited, especially if you like Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.

Some Fun Facts:

• There are 30 tombstones of flavors gone by.
• The oldest tomb is the Dastardly Mash 1979 - 1991.
• Each tombstone has the flavor name, a short story and then the year the flavor was offered.
• Some people leave flowers near the flavors they liked, or is it the ground crew playing a trick on the tourist?
• If there's enough interest in a particular flavor, Ben and Jerry's may bring it back!
• If you can't make it to the real graveyard? Ben & Jerry's made a virtual graveyard for you to enjoy. There's even a page on the most missed flavors.

Take the Factory Tour

Ben & Jerry's factory, Route 100, Waterbury, Vt., 802-846-1500, benjerry.com. Tours daily, adults $3, seniors $2, 12 and under free.

Note: The tour is closed to due COVID-19. Visit the website for updated details.

Shelburne Farms

Popular Stow Farm to pick Your Own Apples

It's September, and for most people in Massachusetts, it's time to think about Fall. One of the popular Fall activity is apple picking.

Massachusetts has several places to pick Apples, Massachusetts own mass.gov site has a list of all the places where you can pick-your-own apples. There's even a map to show you what's close to you - or where you want to go.

There are two places in Stow, Massachusetts that we like to go to. Shelburne Farms and Honey Pot Hill Orchards. Both are very good, but we really like Shelburne Farms.

One of the reasons we like Shelburne Farms is that it's less crowded and you don't have to walk forever to find apples.

Fun Facts About Shelburne Farm

• Located only 20-miles from Boston
• They have 20 varieties of Apples. (Not all apples are available at the same time.)
• Don't want to spend time picking apples, you can get pre-picked bags in the Apple Shop.
• In 2020, Shelburne Farms is open. Social Distancing is required. They are limiting the number of people that are allowed to pick apples. (Expect long lines on Weekends)
• Full information on how Pick-Your-Own farms are available on the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources PDF document.
• Several local amateur astronomer clubs like to look at the night sky from the farm during nights in October. The location away from city lights makes it a perfect location to view the night sky.
• McIntosh Apples make the best Apple Pie, but if they are not available, try Northern Spys, Baldwins, Gravensteins, Pippins, or Cortlands.

Boston Globe Ad

I found a classic Ad from the Boston Globe:

Getting There

Shelburne Farms is located on 106 West Acton Road, 978-897-9287, shelburnefarm.com, They are open daily 9 a.m.-6 p.m., weekend attractions are available 10-5.

Yankee Candle Village

Fun place to spend hours with the whole family

One of the places we like to shop at in central Massachusetts is Yankee Candle Village in South Deerfield. It's a fun place to spend an hour, or more, browsing around all the cool candle and accessories that they have,

The one downside is that the place is literally in the middle of nowhere. So usually if we are stopping here we are going to or coming back from a destination - such as Vermont or something in Western Massachusetts.

Five Things to Check out at Yankee Candle Village

200,000 candles! You certainly find the perfect candle here!

Did you know that you can make your own candle jar? You can pick out various colors and designs in the Wax Works section. Fun thing for kids to do. (The Wax Works Candle-Making section is closed due to COVID-19)

It's always Christmas time at the Yankee Candle Village. They have amazing Christmas displays throughout the store. Certainly a fun tradition! Stop by in July for Christmas in July festivities.

Look for the 25-foot Christmas Tree and 6-ft Tall Nutcracker Lots of great classic toys and stocking stuffers for Christmas.

Find the place where it snows every 4-mins!

Bewitched Statue in Salem

Fun facts about the Bewitched statue in Salem, Massachusetts

In the heart of downtown Salem, Massachusetts, in Lappin Park, is a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens - the popular TV character on Bewitched.

Eight Things to Know

• Installed on June 15, 2005 at a large ceremony by fans and a few protesters - some people weren't happy that a TV witch statue stands in the home of the 1692 Witch Trials.
• Statue was installed 35-years after the show did some filming in Salem, Massachusetts. The show was set in Westport, Conn.
• Before being installed in Salem, people were able to get a preview of the statue at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
• The statue and surrounding area is owned and maintained by TV Land - so if there's any damage done to the statue it will be fixed by TV Land.
• In the original agreement, the will remain at Lapping Park for 10 years. After that the city can request the statue to be removed
• Statue is 7 1/2 feet tall and weighs 3,000 pounds.
• According to bewitched.net, TV Land spent $75,00 to install the statue. The statue was sculpted by StudioEIS under the direction of brothers Elliott and Ivan Schwartz.
• The movie version of Bewitched by Nicole Kidman was released 9-days later. (Perfect timing?)

Small TV Land Mentioned on the pavement.

Salem Saga

The Bewitched episode that was filmed in Salem was called "The Salem Saga." You can find it in Season 7, Episode 3 in the Bewitched collection. It first aired on October 8, 1970.

Market Basket

Fun Place to Shop in New England

One grocery store that many New Englanders are familiar with is DeMoulas Market Basket. They are well known for having the best selection with the lowest prices of other regional chains.

As of January 2020, Market Basket operates 80 stores within three states - 49 locations in its home state of Massachusetts, 30 stores in New Hampshire, and a single store in Maine.

Five Things I Have Learned

The first DeMoulas Super Markets store with the Market Basket name store opened in 1975 in Salem New Hampshire.

For some reason, Market Basket doesn't allow photography within the store. When you enter the store, look at the glass door and you'll see a notification that photography is prohibited.

During the 2014 Protests, Market Basket was trying to lure in customers with a 4% reduction on everything you buy. This didn't help as people were loyal to the protest.

In 2010, the company purchased land in Bourne, Massachusetts at the site of the former Cape Cod Factory Outlet Mall. The company paid $20-million for the land where Arthur T. was a major investor. After the purchase, a prominent real estate investor appraised the property at $9 million. This was one of many financial family disputes.

You can download this week's flyer from their website.

2014 Protests

In the summer of 2014, customers were boycotting shopping at Market Baskets. This was a direct result to have Arthur T. Demoulas return as CEO as he was outstate from the company by his cousin Arthur S Demoulas. In the media, they were referred to as Arthur T and Arthur S.

THe protest resulted in stores being empty from shoppers for about seven weeks. Some workers didn't want to work because they didn't want to cross the picket line and encourage shoppers to stay away.

The entire event ended on August 28th, 2014 when the Market Basket shareholders announced that Arthur T. Demoulas reached a deal to buy the company from rival relatives for more than $1.5 billion.

What's more amazing that customers returned back to Market Basket. Despite shopping at other supermarkets for several weeks, they still wanted to buy their groceries at Market Basket.

Six years later, shoppers are still doing their weekly shopping at Market Basket over Stop and Shop and Wegmans. In Framingham, on a recent Sunday morning, the Ashland Market Basket was packed while the Temple Street Stop and Shop was very quiet.

You can watch a 2016 Documentary about the protest: "We the people: The Market Basket Effect."

Minuteman Statue in Concord Massachusetts

Fun Facts about the Minuteman Statue in Concord

One of the most famous statues in Concord, Massachusetts is the Minuteman statue at the Old North Bridge.

Eight things I Learned About the Statue

Installed On -The statue was Installed on April 19, 1875, as a permanent memorial for the centennial of the fight at the Old North Bridge. President Ulysses S. Grant was at the dedication. On the same day, the statues of John Hancock and Samuel Adams statues were raised in Lexington.

Rebuild the Old North Bridge First - Prior to the statue being placed on the current location, the town of Concord had to put up a new bridge. The original bridge was taken down in 1793 and there was never a need to put up a new one.

Statue Specs - The statue weighs approximately 1500 pounds. It was cast from ten discarded brass cannons donated to the town from Congress. The granite base came from a quarry in Westford. The Ames Manufacturing Company in Chicopee, Massachusetts did the casting - you can see the signature on the base of the statue back.

Design By - Created by Daniel Chester French for free of charge as he was an unknown artist. He was only 23 when he created the Minuteman statue. He was paid $1,000 ($22,909.56 in 2019). That money came from the will of Ebenezer Hubbard, a local farmer who lived in downtown Concord.

Specific Location - The statue was placed on the spot where Acton Minuteman Captain Issac Davis and Abner Hosmer were killed when the British troops fired.

Pedestal Work - John Cole of Westford did the pedestal work. He was paid $975 for his work.

Missing Statue - In early January 1975, in a secret town selectman meeting, a vote was made to approve the National Park Service to remove the top of the minuteman statue so a cast can be made on it. On January 16, 1975, the statue was taken down. At the time people were told it was one of the National Park Services bicentennial projects. The statue was placed back on the pedestal on April 1st - plenty of time for the town's bicentennial celebration. It was later revealed that the cast was made because of a bomb was found at the base of the statue on November 26, 1973. The National Park Service wanted a cast of the statue just in case the original one was destroyed or removed illegally.

New Cast Request - At a Town Hall meeting in November 1992, a request by the National Guard was made to make another cast of the minuteman so that a new statue could be placed in Washington D.C. That request was denied.

Our Lady of Fatima Shrine

Some fun facts about this popular shrine site

On the backroads of Holliston, Massachusetts is the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine. Its not only a special place to attend Mass but a place to walk around and be inspired by the 30-acre shrine.

This is the home of the Xaverian Missionaries.

Six Things I Learned about the Shrine

Established in 1950 by a group of priests from Italy. In August 1952, a group of Xaverian Missionary Fathers purchased a 15-room house that had a barn and 23-acres in Holliston. This would be the site of the current shrine.

In July 1948 - Archbishop Richard J. Cushing gave approval to the building of an outdoor shrine on the seminary grounds.

The priests and seminarians designed landscaped much of the work of the shrine.

The Rosary Walk is a 900-foot-long string of boulders fastened by a marine chain as a reminder to pray the rosary every day. The chains are connected to an anchor that was donated by the Navy in memory of President John F. Kennedy. The string of boulders is said to be the largest rosary in the world. Each boulder bears a plaque inscribed with the Hail Mary prayer.

Every thirteenth of the month is "Mary Day" - which honors the appearance of Mary to the children on the thirteenth of each month.

Christmas Lights Tradition - Since 1960, the shrine grounds is decorated with Christmas lights. Hundreds of visitors visit to check out the light display. Lights cover almost half of the 30-acre shrine.

Finding the Shrine

The Our Lady of Fatima Shrine is located at 101 Summer Street, Rte. 126 in Holliston. Note: Check out the satellite view on Google Maps.

Erikson's Ice Cream

Great New England Ice Cream

One of our favorite local ice cream stand is Erikson's Ice Cream. The classic ice cream stand is located at the border of Stow and Maynard Massachusetts.

They have a large selection of fresh ice creams to select from. They have Gluten Free cones too!

Some of the flavors they are featuring in 2020. They have a list of flavors on their website, this is my list from a recent visit:

Specials

Finding Erikson Ice Cream

Erikson is located on 12 Great Road in Maynard, MA. It's located about a mile and a half from downtown Maynard on Route 62 and 117.

Historic Deerfield Massachusetts

Great Place to learn New England History

If your traveling through I-91 in central Massachusetts, one of the towns you'll be driving through in Deerfield Massachusetts. Most people stop at the Yankee Candle flagship store - located just off of exit 24 on I-5.

Did you know that just down the road is Old Deerfield Village Historic District? It's a fun place to learn more about Old New England. A few years ago we accidentally discovered this place when we took the wrong exit off of I-91.

Some Characters you may see around Deerfield

Things I Learned About the Historic Deerfield

The outdoor museum was founded in 1952 to teach people about the history and culture of early New England and the Connecticut River Valley.

Admission tickets to all the buildings is $18 for adults and $5 for kids.

The Old Deerfield Village is a subsection of the actual Deerfield town. The village has one major street with several cross streets. The main street is called "The Street."

What's interesting is that the street was a real street at one time. In 1670 a surveyor laid out the mile-long road, the village and the surrounding meadows for farming, a town plan that survives perfectly intact today.

There are twelve preserved houses to tour. The oldest house is from 1730. You can tour three centuries of American History and discover how things have changed over the years.

Twenty-four of the house that is on "The Street" were standing when the Revolutionary War began in 1775, and 42 houses predate the Civil War.

Guest can check out authentic furniture, silver and other historic decorations.

The Henry N. Flynt Library is a special collection library perfect for people researching early New England life. You can learn a lot more about the lives of people in the Connecticut River Valley.

This unique old houses and layouts are a perfect place for photographers looking for the ideal New England town.

Newport Wave Sculpture

Fun Facts about the Newport Wave Sculpture

When your walking around downtown Newport, Rhode Island you may see the Wave statue near the waterfront. This is a popular tourist photo spot for selfies and family photos.

Some people bring socks to put on the statue for a bit of humor - mostly during the cold winter months and late-night visits.

Four Things I Learned

1. Official Name is "The Wave."
2. No one knows who's feet it is supposed to be in the wave.
3. The bonze sculpture is 7 and half feet tall and 8 feet wide.
4. The sculpture was requested by the nearby marketplace - Perry Mill Market. It was don by Kay Worden in 1983.