Having started on Uxbridge
2 weeks ago, I decided to finish exploring the town today. The first place I went to was the
Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. Along the way to Uxbridge, however, I passed by the town of Grafton, which I visited the
very first day of my exploration project. The first place I passed by was
Ekblaw Landing, which is a boat launch area onto the
Quinsigamond River and Lake Ripple downstream on the corner of Worcester Street and Providence Road.
 |
| Ekblaw Landing |
 |
| Lake Ripple |
Continuing on, I passed by the Grafton Town Common at Worcester Street and South Street, and stopped to take pictures of the surrounding area.
 |
| Grafton Town Common |
 |
| Jerome Wheelock Statue |
Finally in Uxbridge at the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park, the route I took is shown below highlighted in pink.
I first parked at the parking lot on Oak Street and headed down the Towpath trail along the the Blackstone Canal. Here I saw massive webs covering the tree branches along the trail, and have since found out that they belong to web worms. There were also many holes in the road, presumably made by some burrowing animal.
 |
| At River Bend Farm along the Canal |
 |
| Some animal's home |
 |
| Webs made by web worms |
At the end of the trail was the
Stanley Woolen Mill, through which the canal flows.
I then headed out onto Cross Road and walked back to my car along Oak Street. Along the way, I saw a war memorial at the junction with Granite Street, a Nipmuc dwelling exhibit, and some nice views of Blackstone Canal.
 |
| War Memorial |
Nipmuc Dwelling
 |
| More views of Blackstone Canal |
Next, I decided to head into the Northbridge section by heading up Goat Hill along the Goat Hill Trail on Hartford Avenue, hoping that there would be nice views at the top, but was sorely disappointed.
 |
| Hiking up Goat Hill |
Apparently, the views of Goat Hill from Hartford Avenue itself were so much better.
I noticed the Lookout Rock point on the map, so I decided to check it out, thinking that there might be some good views there. To do this, I drove my car up to Quaker Street near Wolf Hill Road, where the parking lot was on the left. As I proceeded to my destination, I happened to spot a .rocky outcrop on my left. Thinking that this was the Lookout Rock in question, I ventured out onto the rocks. It was a pretty perilous journey, however short, but when I finally got to the edge after almost falling from a great height a few times, there was still no good view. Fortunately, there happened to be a grasshopper next to where I was, so my trek was not that fruitless after all.
 |
| View from the fake Lookout Rock |
 |
| The Rocks I had to climb past |
 |
| The steep drop |
 |
| Grasshopper on the rocks |
Heading back into the woods, I then spotted a sign indicating the direction to the real Lookout Rock spot.
Finally at my real destination, the view I saw was one of the greatest ones I've had in this area to date.
 |
| Lookout Rock |
After my brief venture into Northbridge, it was back to downtown Uxbridge for some picture taking. Some interesting areas include the Uxbridge Common on Court Street and Douglas Street with the
Uxbridge Public Library and the old Unitarian Church nearby,
Saint Mary's Church on Mendon Street, the town hall on South Main Street and Congregation Maranatha next to it.
 |
Congregation Maranatha,
15 South Main Street |
 |
| Uxbridge Public Library |
 |
Uxbridge Town Hall,
21 South Main Street |
Uxbridge Town Common
 |
| Saint Mary's Church |
 |
| Old Unitarian Church |
Done with Uxbridge, I headed on to Douglas. The
Breezy Pinic Grounds and Waterslides are here with a nice set of waterslides on Whitin Reservoir as well as a picnic area. There were a lot of people here when I arrived, and there was an entrance fee of $18, so I decided not to go in, but drove around the Whitin Reservoir area to take pictures of it.
I then went to the East Douglas area where I took 3 pictures, one of the civil war monument on the corner of North Street and Northeast Main Street, one of the
East Douglas United Methodist Church and the town post office, and the last one of Saint Denis Church.
 |
| Civil War Monument |
 |
East Douglas United Methodist Church
and Douglas Post Office |
The last town I visited today was Webster. I liked Memorial Beach Park on Memorial Beach Drive a lot, except that in order to avoid paying the entrance fee, I had to park pretty far away at the Mohegan Bowl-a-Drome, a candlepin bowling place, at 51 Thompson Road, and walk all the way in. This place has a beach on the shores of a lake with a long, unpronounceable name: Chaubunagungamaug. It is also called
Webster Lake.
Heading into downtown Webster, I found several interesting buildings and monuments, shown below.
 |
| Webster Town Hall, 350 Main Street |
 |
| Monster Mini-Golf, 37 Sutton Road |
 |
| Monuments near Town Hall |
Although it was only around 1 at this time, I was feeling exhausted by this time, and decided to call it a day.
I first parked at the parking lot on Oak Street and headed down the Towpath trail along the the Blackstone Canal. Here I saw massive webs covering the tree branches along the trail, and have since found out that they belong to web worms. There were also many holes in the road, presumably made by some burrowing animal.
No comments:
Post a Comment