masschusetts – The Adventures of Shadow and Wilma

I will have sections of my blog that I will title “Throwback Adventure”, and will plan on posting them every Thursday. These are journeys we have taken before I started the blog, but are well worth sharing. Many of these Throwback Adventures will include our Buster, who was known for his crazy tail, his happy howl, and his zest for life. We miss him dearly…he is forever in our hearts!

In January 2017 Shadow and I Adventured to the Palmer Lighthouse in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Palmer Lighthouse is located in the Acushnet River at the entrance to New Bedford Harbor. It was built in 1849. The Lighthouse is twenty four feet high and is made out of stone rubble. It can be reached by foot at low tide through the hurricane wall in New Bedford Harbor. The Palmer Lighthouse is no longer a working lighthouse.

We had a wild Adventure to the Palmer Ligthouse on a cool winter day. We had many Adventures in New Bedford on this day, and the Palmer Lighthouse was one of our most scenic stops. I do not remember doing much research but found that we could make our way to the Lighthouse as the tide was low. Having no idea what the tidal patterns were we decided to journey to the Lighthouse, closely watching the water. We met a nice family along the way that adored Shadow, while also ran into some teenagers in the appearing to be up to some trouble. I was quite disappointed at all the trash in the area, I guess left behind from the tide. However we carried on, sometimes on rocky footing, but soon arrived at the Palmer Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was quite stunning, bright white and uniquely stone. There was a stone-like pathway directly to the Lighthouse so we were able to climb to the door to check out this beautiful Lighthouse. We really lucked out finding low tide on this visit, but did not stay long unsure what to expect upon our return. A fun, and memorable Adventure to the Palmer Lighthouse (Rating: 3).

Today we visited Moore State Park in Paxton, Massachusetts. Moore State Park is approximately 400 acres, and was a former home to grist and saw mills. Portions of the park are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has a pond, trails, and various “Mill Village Features” on the grounds.

This is actually the second time that we have been to Moore State Park, the first time was with Shadow and Buster in July 2013, and the second trip today, with Shadow and Wilma. My GPS was not too cooperative today, but we were able to locate the Park after an unplanned detour. We started our journey down a paved road, with beautiful, natural landscape adorning the sides. We soon arrived at the pond where there were several rustic wooden rocking chairs, picnic tables, and a gazebo-like structure to sit and enjoy the view. The more we walked I began to have some flashback memories of our initial journey, remembering that we had been caught in a downpour, before relaxing for a bit in the gazebo-like structure. I believe that visit was a shorter stop, while today we spent about two hours exploring.

I decided to start on some trails, before coming back through the viewing area. The trails were not well marked, but I was quite glad I had printed a trail map, which helped me navigate the forest, and not worry about getting lost. We started on Judy’s Secret Garden Loop Trail, and then connected to the Stairway Loop Trail. The trails were kind of blah, but we enjoyed walking along the pond, and finding some cute rock benches along the way. The trails were very peaceful, with the sounds of birds singing. Shadow enjoyed some swims, while Wilma jumped onto all large rocks in her path. The trails were very quiet, and we only saw one couple walking their dog. It is always nice to find a tranquil nature trail, away from the bustle of society.

After our walks on the trails we headed to various areas of the park to find some of the “Mill Village Features”, and take some photographs. These included: the Old Sawmill, the Bat House, the Chalet Foundation, the Enchanted Bridge, and the Artist Overlook. I took photographs of four of these “Features” which you can view below. This was one fun component of the Park. Definitely a unique Park to explore (Rating: 3)