Saturday, February 16, 2013

February 16th 2013: Exploring the Museums of Lowell, Spindle City

Today, I decided to make a day of exploring the various museums in the city of Lowell, nicknamed Spindle City.

Starting off early, I passed through Clinton,
Old St. Mary's Elementary School,
132 Franklin Street
Spanish Seventh Day Adventist Church
Lofts at Lancaster Mills, 55 Green Street
Clinton District Court
United Church of Clinton
Trinity Lutheran Church
Bigelow Mills, ~467 Main Street
Prescott Mill Apartments,
24 Water Street
Faith Bible Baptist Church


Atlantic Union College in Lancaster,

Harvard,
Harvard Police
200 Ayer Road

and Pepperell.
Grace Baptist Church
Finally, I reached Lowell, and did some sightseeing before heading to Dracut for lunch at Kashin Garden, a Japanese restaurant.

Giant Water Tower,
Campbell Drive near Wedge Street
Dr. Gertrude Bailey Elementary School, 
175 Campbell Drive
Chelmsford Street Baptist Church
Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer
St. Casimir's Church
First United Baptist Church
Iglesia Pentecostal Arca de Refugio, 
60 Lawrence Street
Portuguese Seventh Day Adventist Church
Gateway Center, 10 George Street
United Teen Equality Center
Old Boston Maine Railroad Station,
Green Street and Central Street
Lowell Session Middlesex Juvenile Court
From here, I decided to head to Dracut for lunch, passing by a few places along the way.
War Memorial,
Sladen Street and Pleasant Street

Beaver Brook Reservoir,  ~68 Pleasant Street
Kashin Garden is a pretty decently decorated place, with a Chinese-Japanese menu.
For my $30 groupon, I decided to get all Japanese dishes, getting the Tuna Peppers (Tempura jalapeno, stuffed with spicy tuna topped with tobiko and special sauce)

and the Inari Pillows (Fried bean curd skin stuffed with shrimp, kani, tobiko, avocado and spicy mayo) for appetizers,
while getting the Kampyo Maki (Avocado, cucumber, ebi shrimp and kampyo wrap with soy paper topped with baked spicy scallop).

All the dishes were actually pretty good, although I guess I'm not much of a fan of green peppers. I'll put a recommend for this place in a small suburban town.

From here, it was back to Lowell for more sightseeing.
Merrimack River Valley House
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church
Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church
Market Basket, 331 Fletcher Street
War Memorial,
Willie Street and  Fletcher Street



St. Patrick's Parish
Western Canal,
Lewis Street and Broadway Street
Holy Trinity Hellenic Orthodox Church

Murkland Elementary School
Mercier Multi Service Center,
21 Salem Street
Old St. Jean Baptiste Church,
741 Merrimack Street
Acre High School Apartments
City Hall, 375 Merrimack Street
Irish American Memorial,
Dummer Street and Market Street
Pollard Memorial Library

Cannon outside City Hall
Smith Baker Center,
400 Merrimack Street
War Memorials,
Merrimack Street and Arcand Drive
Kennedy Civic Center

Lowell High School
St. Anne's Episcopal Church
Lucy Larcom Park,
French Street and Father Morrisette Boulevard
Tsongas Center
The Worker,
Market Street and Shattuck Street
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine
Lowell National Historical Park

Finally, it was time for the first museum of the day, at the Whistler House Museum of Art, the birthplace of painter and etcher James McNeill Whistler, who painted the famous "Whistler's Mother" painting. Whistler Park is right next to the house, but was totally covered in snow.

I headed into the house and had to pay an entry fee of $5. This place is pretty small, but has some nice artwork, including a copy of Whistler's Mother.
Next, it was on to the National Streetcar Museum, which talks about the history of streetcars in Lowell as well as in the rest of the world. This place is pretty small too, although pretty informative as well.
Next it was the New England Quilt Museum, which was literally right next door. I had hoped that it would be about how quilts are made, but it was more just a collection of interesting looking quilts. Pictures follow.

My next destination was the Boott Cotton Mills Museum at 115 John Street in the midst of the Lowell National Historical Park, passing through the Mogan Cultural Center, which had an exhibition about the Mill Girls of the time that Lowell was the Spindle City of Massachusetts.

Next to the cultural center is the Boarding House Park on the corner of French Street and John Street, a nice place with a lot of monuments, though covered in snow.
The Boott Cotton Mills Museum was close by, containing a huge weave room which was extremely noisy, and a small exhibition area about the textile industry in Lowell and its history.

I still think the American Textile History Museum in town is better though. I spent the rest of the daylight hours wandering around Lowell and taking pictures.
Old Central Fire House,
134 Middle Street

Homage to Women, 148 Market Street
Old Central Market House,
45 Market Street
Bell, Central Street and Prescott Street
Morse Federal Building,
Bridge over Pawtucket Canal
The Concord River
The Lower Locks, ~17 Warren Street
Pawtucket Prism
Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Immaculate Conception Church
Christ Church United
Immaculate Conception Rectory,
3 Fayette Street
Massachusetts Mills Apartments,
150 Massmills Drive


With that, I called it a day for sightseeing and headed to Burlington for dinner at The Mughals, a pretty nice little Indian restaurant in town.


Having some money to spend on my groupon, I got the Limca (Indian Lemon Lime Soda) for a drink, 

the Murg Ka Shorba  (Chicken soup with boneless chicken and spices) for soup,

the Konju Pappas (Delicious kerala backwaters special prawns dish prepared in creamy coconut milk, tempered with curry leaves, mustard and dry red chillies)

with a side of Peshavari Naan (Bread stuffed with crushed dried fruits, baked in Tandoor and topped with butter and coconut powder) for my main dish,

and finally the Ras Malai (soft cheese patty in thickened sugar syrup) for dessert.
The drink was actually not bad at all, not too sour or sweet. My main dish with the naan was excellent, while the soup was just okay, and the Ras Malai is still not my cup of tea

With that, my day of exploring the museums in Lowell came to an end.






















































































































































































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