Springfield, Massachusetts has a grouping of five museums, all located around one central Dr. Seuss themed sculpture garden (more on that at a later date), with one entry that gets you into all of them. These five are:
Springfield Science Museum
Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History
George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum
Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts
The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum
I’ll start today with a quick peek into the first one, the Springfield Science Museum, which for reference is very similar to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, as seen in Night at the Museum:
R.E. Phelon African Hall – Ramps will guide you thru this two-story exhibit, which features many mounted animals
Dinosaur Hall – The life-size T-Rex is the main thing you’ll notice here, in what has become a go-to for most museums
Earth Hall – Minerals from around the world, as well as some that are local to the area
Solutia Live Animal Center – A little aquarium nestled into the museum, showing off some of the local animals, as well as creatures from around the world
Special Exhibits – This space was filled with the Adventures with Clifford The Big Red Dog exhibit, which is a “paws-on” experience for children
Seymour Planetarium – Take in a show exploring the universe in the oldest operating planetarium in the US
This is a great spot to start your trip around the five museums, and has a lot of things for all ages!
Ben and Jerry’s has their original factory located in Waterbury, Vermont, and is a giant tourist trap, and really not worth visiting unless you happen to be in town already.
The tour itself will run you $4, which is basically paying for the free sample, and features the following:
A video in their moovie theater showing how the company was formed and the expansion since. But once that part of the movie is done (about 30% of it so far), they launch into the things Ben and Jerry are passionate about: Liberal politics. And spend the rest of the movie pushing their agendas onto everyone who is now suddenly unwillingly sitting there.
You then walk out onto an overlook, from which you can see all the machines that are involved in the ice cream making process (but no pictures allowed on this tour!).
These machines do everything from mixing the milk and cream, to blending together flavors, and putting them into their containers, before sealing it all up and sending it out the door.
Free tasting. At the end they give you a single scoop free sample of a random flavor, before sending you on your way!
After the tour you can go for a walk behind the building, and see their giant tanks that store the milk, cream, and sugar before they hit the factory floor.
And lastly, you can head to the Flavor Graveyard, the final resting place of flavors that didn’t quite make it, or the limited edition runs. Some of these, like Sugar Plum, seemed great on paper, but tasted horrible…and on its tombstone reads:
It swirled in our heads,
It danced in our dreams,
It proved not to be though,
The best of ice creams.
One of the reasons I got a PlayStation, besides to play MLB The Show, was to finally try out one of the most storied franchises on gaming systems: God of War.
One of my biggest issues while starting the most recent edition of the game is that I had no idea what was going on. There’s no intro video to catch you up, and I even bought the Guide, hoping for something in there, and not an ounce of knowledge was gleaned…so I knew that Kratos was a God, and that’s about it.
(Although I’m told by people that when you play all the way thru it will fill in all the questions I have…but I’m impatient.)
The game is beautifully drawn, and a complete work of art, as you can see from the PushSquare screengrabs below.
Despite not knowing what was going on for a lot of it, the story is intriguing, as we follow a classic father-son journey into the real world, on a quest to deliver his mothers ashes to their final resting place.
We do what we please. No excuses.
While this game wasn’t for me, it just isn’t my style or genre, I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an adventure with a really long story.
Rock of Ages quarry, located in Graniteville, Vermont, is a popular maker of tombstones and monuments, and a great stop if you are driving thru Vermont.
The quarry has a few different things to see:
Quarry – The main part of this facility is the tour that takes you up into the mountain, to overlook the quarry, where they work on extracting the rock from the mountain. They use diamond saws and water jets to cut thru it, taking out large squares to take away by truck.
If you look at the picture below, you can see three bodies of water, all in different states of use. On the bottom left you have a fully used and dirtied body of water. On the right side, you have bright white water, which is where they are currently working out of. And finally, in the back, you have a fresh pond that they haven’t tapped into yet.
Plant – The plant is where you can take the self-guided factory tour, and this is the area where they work on the materials, doing everything from sawing and sandblasting, to polishing and precision cutting.
Bowling Alley – Nestled in the bushes outside the factory and gift shop is quartz bowling alley, with rubber bowling balls. You’ve never seen a ball roll so smoothly over a surface, as it heads down towards the pins at the end.
The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, located in Shelburne, VT is the home to one of the more famous Teddy Bears, and this walkthrough gives you a brief history of the bear, and the making of each one.
The original one made by John Sortino was stiff, and not cuddly. But he wanted to make them movable, so he added in joints.
They show the full swatch of fur, which they then lay down the stencils on, and cut out all their little parts. With all the extra space, they make tiny bear buttons, that go over your pin for the tour.
The factory makes approximately 750 bears a day, each sewn shut by hand after they are jointed and stuffed.
When you get ideas of what you want your bear to look like, with custom clothing or writing on their paws, all you gotta do is contact them, and they can work to make anything happen.
All their bears have a lifetime guarantee, regardless if they were run over by a lawnmower or eaten by a dog, and when they get sent into the hospital, they get put on an appropriate honey IV drip.
This tour is geared for kids, but fun for adults too!
I recently signed up for SiriusXM Radio, and it really does change the way I listen to radio…and it’s given me a lot of great laughs with their comedy lineups.
While my vehicle doesn’t have a physical XM Radio, I was able to sign up for it as a “Streaming Only” version, which works on a computer or mobile device.
Because I don’t have an actual radio, the plan is missing some of the channel options, but here are some features (as per my plan):
Channel selection is fantastic, including (but not limited to):
Music – Top songs in all genres and from all decades…and channels that are specific to artists (or songs similar to them), such as Garth Brooks, Dave Matthews, and U2
Comedy – Comedy Central, Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy, Kevin Hart, all have their own themed channels, as well as some random standup channels
Sports – Designated Channels just for ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Soccer, PGA, and home play-by-play for most sports…other plans have ones for NASCAR and MLB
News – Full news coverage from Fox News/CNN/MSNBC, business from Fox Business/CNBC/Bloomberg, World News from the BBC, and even a Fox News Specific Channel just for SiriusXM “Headlines 24/7”
Howard Stern – Not my cup of tea, but channels dedicated just for him
It runs on 4G, so if you are in the mountains and lose signal…
Random invitations to exclusive events, such as U2 at The Apollo, or a private Shawn Mendes event!
I got a great deal for my first six months, well worth the trial!
Downtown Montreal is a flash to an old French city, as you walk the cobblestone streets and explore the markets.
Some of the highlights of the downtown area include City Hall and the famous Notre-Dame Basilica.
Meanwhile, you can wander down to the old port, where things really start to get fun. At the edge of it all is a clock tower, with a little door in the side, and 192 steps to the top. Once ships pass this tower, they have officially entered the Port of Montreal.
Among the things you can see out there (if you peak just under the bridge) is a Six Flags, and just a great view of the Saint Lawrence river.
As for the entertainment in the port, there’s a slew of things to do, from ziplines to an aerial course, and a giant Ferris Wheel that creates a great view.
And finally, there is a Montreal Science Centre, which until the middle of September has a DreamWorks Animation exhibit, showing an adventure from sketch to screen.
Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Home of the 1976 Olympics, the former home of the Montreal Expos, the current home of some Blue Jays preseason games, and host to many events including the CFL, 2015 Women’s World Cup, and future proposed site of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Olympic pool and gym is still in use, open to the public at an incredible rate of $50(CAD)/year for membership. The pool is regulation 50m in length, but is used the wide way for regular people, to create more swimmable laps for us plebs.
The pool floor is movable so they can make it shallower/deeper as needed.
There are also designated areas with a diving pool, a polo pool, as well as weights and a judo section.
And then you get to the Stadium itself, which was setting up for an Expo while I was there. It is a huge space, much larger than MSG and Barclays that we have here in NY, and features a closed roof that amazingly has no beams on it.
As for how that roof is held up? They built the Montreal Tower, the world’s tallest inclined building in the world, measuring at 500+ feet, and attached strings/ropes to the end of it, to hold the weight of the roof.
You can take an elevator to the top of the tower, which provides great views in all directions. From the Old Port to the Mountain, and as seen in the picture below, an overview of Saputo Stadium, home of MLS’s Montreal Impact, and the Olympic Villiage, the pyramid looking building.
Once done with these buildings, make sure to walk thru Olympic Park. This includes the biodome (used as the Velodrome for the games), the Maurice Richard Arena (home of boxing and wrestling), and on the far side of the park is the current home of the 1976 Olympic Torch.
The torch provides a podium to stand on, and a great photo op with the stadium and tower behind you.
As for the Olympics Logo from 1976 (seen below), it is multi-layered.
There is a podium at the top for the three medal winners
Mount Royal. The center of Montreal, and a bit like Central Park once you start wandering the paths.
A lot of people make the mistake of walking all the way from the bottom, but the trick is to park up near the Smith House, in the Mount Royal Parking Lot (duh), and save your walking/hiking for Mount Royal Park.
At the top of the mountain is the Mount Royal Chalet, build over 85 years ago, and is a great point to launch your hike. Behind the Chalet is a great viewpoint, overlooking the entire city.
Once you are done gazing, head out into the woods, and seek out the Mount Royal Cross, which is lit by LEDs, and can be changed colors depending what’s happening in the world (consider what’s done at the Empire State Building on a nightly basis).
One thing that helped me on my forest stroll was my phone’s map, and/or a compass. There are very few signs in the paths, and it’s easy to start heading in circles without realizing it.
We are down to just 16 teams at the World Cup, and here are my completely wrong predictions for it!
ROUND OF SIXTEEN
Uruguay vs. Portugal – Uruguay — Suarez vs. Ronaldo will be the big storyline, but I think Uruguay walks away with this one. Their defense has been tighter (have yet to let in a goal, vs. the four that Portugal has), and they have just had the stronger World Cup to this point
France vs. Argentina – France — I mean, it is all about Messi…but France is young and incredibly fast. From the 19-year-old Mbappe, to Pogba and Griezmann (only in their 20s) and will run past Argentina, who struggled in the first rounds
Brazil vs. Mexico – Mexico — El Tri limped into the Round of 16, after getting blown out by Sweden, but I think that was more about Sweden’s strength, then about Mexico’s weaknesses. Meanwhile, Brazil, which should’ve been flying high, haven’t been the team that they were expected to be, and I think they have an early knockout.
Belgium vs. Japan – Belgium — Belgium has looked almost flawless this World Cup, which isn’t something that can be said about most teams…while Japan isn’t going to be able to keep up
Spain vs. Russia – Spain — I picked them as my winners…but now that we’ve gotten thru the Matchdays, I may have to revisit that, but I do think that Russia’s dominance in the first two days disappeared once they faced Uruguay, and it won’t come back now.
Croatia vs. Denmark – Croatia — Denmark has been unable to get the ball in the back of the net (2 goals in 3 games), while Croatia has come out really strong, and is +6 on the tournament.
Sweden vs. Switzerland – Sweden — Sweden’s win over Mexico was not a fluke. They are a very strong team, and while Switzerland has had a great showing, I think the yellow and blue walk away with this one.
Columbia vs. England – England — This is the one tough pick in a seemingly easy side to the bracket…it all comes down to James. If he’s injured, Columbia loses. If he’s healthy, they will put up a good fight against The Three Lions.
QUARTERFINAL
Uruguay vs. France – France — Uruguay didn’t let in a goal in the Matchday Round, but that should change in round 1 against Portugal, and France’s speed will just overpower them
Mexico vs. Belgium – Belgium — Despite Mexico getting past Brazil, it’s going to take a lot more to get past Belgium, and they just don’t have it in them
Spain vs. Croatia – Spain — Spain got lucky by ending on this side of the bracket, giving them an easier path to push through to the Semifinals
Sweden vs. England – Sweden — England has a very complete team, but one thing they are missing this World Cup is a finishing punch in the final third. Harry Kane has had his moments, but I don’t know that they can land the uppercut against the strength of Sweden
SEMIFINAL
France vs. Belgium – Belgium — This one should be the Final. Both these teams probably weren’t anyone’s favorites coming into the tournament, but they have both shown up and are keeping a very strange World Cup in order.
Spain vs. Sweden – Spain — Like I said earlier, and like I said in my initial review, Spain was my favorite coming in. But then they didn’t look fantastic…yet ended up in what should be a much easier bracket. And while Sweden may have a better team this time around, Spain will smell the final, and their experience will come out ahead.
FINALS
THIRD PLACE — France vs. Sweden – France — France has so much firepower, and while Sweden does too, I think France is more complete from top to bottom
CHAMPION — Belgium vs. Spain – Belgium — Since the World Cup kicked off I’ve liked how Belgium has performed. From the Hazards’ and Romelu Lukaku to De Bruyne and Dries Mertens, this team is stacked and ready to win their first FIFA World Cup!
That left bracket is so much stronger than the right. Because of that both third and first place should come from it…but it can also work to a disadvantage as they will get beat up on their way to the finals.
It should be noted that I correctly picked Germany to win in 2014 🙂 …over Belgium.
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