Wales, MA

Our third stop had us adding another sticker to our map and it was a nicely sized one too! We arrived after friend, Charlie and just in time to hook up and get dinner started. We will be spending this short, three-day stint together.

This campground had great reviews and was quite reasonably priced - both right up my alley. George had a list of, “You get what you pay for” comments early into setting up. The first problem being we only had 30 amp service and what followed next wasn't pretty - - difficulty hooking up to their confusing and overflowing sewer system. Oh well...I guess you get what you "don't" pay for.

A quick dinner of hot dogs, kraut, beans, and corn on the cob was an even more enjoyable and tasty meal eaten outdoors. Temps gradually dropping down allowing us to fire up our raging propane gas fire pit and witness the splendor of the rising moon. We didn't realize it at the time, but it was actually a "bad moon on the rise" predicting what would follow the next day.

After catching up with each other, we called it a night and heading inside as the mosquitoes attempted to eat us alive. 

"Uh, where are we? Why are we here?

Dad, please don't let them take my temperature!

Day two was a difficult day for us and awful for Miss Lucy Lu. We didn't wait too long before finding a highly rated Animal Hospital where we could get her checked out. Turns out, we were lucky, once more, to find a very clean and modern facility and felt confident in the vet who took care of her. She seems to have a urinary tract infection that was causing her quite a bit of distress and pain. Her frequent trips to her litter box and cries broke my heart. Daddy had located the hospital and drove there like an expectant father with a wife having contractions two minutes apart.

Lucy handled all the examinations like a trooper and was so well-behaved despite her malady and everyone loved her (like who couldn't). Over $350 later, they loved my Visa card even more. We brought her home and did our best to medicate her and keep her comfortable. She protested taking her meds, but Mommy tricked her with some chicken broth, and she was non-the-wiser.

We were so physically and emotionally wiped out after spending over four hours at the hospital, that George just grabbed some terrible take-out and we all went to bed early. Poor Charlie was on his own for the whole day, but never complained a bit. Sorry Charlie.

The last day turned out to be the best of the three.  We took a ride into Sturbridge Village and having both been there before, neither Charlie nor I recognized much of what we had seen in the past.  We got to make about 5 U-turns and got to see some interesting and some boring sites along the way, so not a total waste of time.

A train pulling out of the station in its hay day.

On the way back to the campground, George mentioned that he wanted to go to a restaurant that was an old railroad station . It was called The Steaming Tender. By the time we parked the car, we knew we were in for an interesting and informative evening. The building is a National Historic Site and every inch of it bespoke of years gone by when the main form of transportation was by train. There were so many items to photograph, that I only included the most spectacular and/or funny of the bunch.

The 1884 station itself was very authentic as you can see from the original photo and the ones I had taken during and after dinner. You can recognize the archways in several photos matching the original, as well as the entry doors and ticket booth. We all enjoyed walking around, each pointing out interesting old time pieces. Very scary for me to admit, but I recognized many of them, including (not photographed) the pot-belly stove that heated the waiting room. It was a similar design to the one I had warmed my hands on when traveling by train to high school. 

The 1909 Parlor Car. Used for private parties and Murder-Mystery Events.

Don't look at that man in the picture,,,,,focus on the background and then look at photo below!

We were sitting approximately right where this photo was taken. Curved ticket booth area no longer exists, but you can see the circle where they patched the floor ages ago.

Proud of his great choice of restaurant. 

Charlie opted for the Stout Wheat

Cheers - enjoying a nice Steel Pale Ale

Dinner was quite good and our waitress was sweet and dressed in engineer overalls.  The menu was varied so there was somethin' for everyone. During dinner a train made an unusually quiet approach, but then roared past the station to the surprise and shock of most the diners! Everyone had their hands to their chests and then we all looked at one another and laughed. I've eaten at a restaurant along side the Valhalla Train Station and always heard the train approaching, but not this train. It was kind of nice, because it made you look at all the people at the tables around you. It was a tremendously fun evening.

Leave it to me to be on hold after making a phone call.

Perfumatic.....it contained Brut and Old Spice

Charlie demonstrating his first paying job to youngster, George.

The only one eager to get on the scale. Charlie and I chose to look at other items of memorabilia.

Interesting and confusing plaque.

This is a photo of a train pulling into the station where we had our dinner.

Ticket Counter 

Stone platform where many people awaited their train.

I hope you can enlarge this photo to see the schedule. It is similar to how we travel by plane today; you need to arrive and plan to await your trains arrival to the station., which could take anywhere within a 2-hour window. 

Steam Engine 102 in the middle of the parking lot.

This is the newly refurbished Train Master Home that has been turned into a Bed and Breakfast. Future plans call for a horse and buggy to transport you back and forth to the train station. 

A bit more history of this beautiful Train Station. At the rear of the station, there is a unique and rare "diamond crossing," which allows trains to enter from north, south, east and west. When it was built, it was the third largest in Massachusetts. The property in front of the station has been excavated to reveal a former park and grotto. Attempts are being made to restored both to their former beauty, including using the flower and shrub plantings from the original architectural design. I would return here in the future to watch the progress as it moves forward bringing us back to the past.

Last photo of our stay here...sites 93 and 94.
We are in the foreground and Charlie is behind us.

Deep thought for the day: While we all enjoy the new, modern conveniences of life and depend upon immediate and precise timetables, the days when life moved by more slowly and less smoothly seem much more simple and easy. Technology has ended the hay day of railroad travel and it is bittersweet to see the things we have left behind along the way. ~ vc