July 4th 2012: Independence Day in Wilbraham and Ludlow

I had another potluck dinner at home later tonight, but I decided not to waste the rest of the the holiday, heading into the town of Wilbraham to do some sightseeing. Here, I visited a few interesting places before heading to lunch at Krazy Jake's at 2537 Boston Road, which happened to be open today. They included the Wilbraham and Monson Academy, which has a pretty nice campus, and bricks with engravings by former students, one of which even had a Hello Kitty on it, and the town green on Main Street and Springfield Street, which has a sculpture of an Earth globe.

Horse Carriage outside
Country Homes Furniture,
2755 Boston Road

Nine Mile Pond,
Pond Road and Boston Post Road

Spectacle Pond Beach,
Post Office Park behind YMCA of Greater Springfield

Grace Union Church

St. Cecilia Church

Wilbraham United Church

Wilbraham Town Hall, 240 Springfield Street

Gazebo Park, Burt Lane and Main Street

Rich Hall, Wilbraham and Monson Academy

Gill Memorial Library

Blake Middle School

Hello Kitty Brick

Legacy by former students

Memorials on Town Green,
Main Street and Springfield Street

Old Glendale Parish, 944 Glendale Road

Finally, it was time for lunch at Krazy Jake's. This place is more like a brunch/seafood restaurant, so I decided to try the Lobster Club Sandwich, which was actually pretty good.

After lunch, I headed for my first hike of the day, at Rice Nature Preserve, the entrance located at the end of Highmoor Drive.

I walked the entire length of the Highmoor Trail before turning left at the intersection onto the Rachel Phelps Trail. At the viewpoint, I emerged from the woods into an open field with great views of the valley below.

As I proceeded on through the field, I took a few pictures of bugs climbing the tall grasses growing here.
















As I continued climbing, I eventually reached the intersection with the Sunrise Trail, which Took took to get to the viewpoint at the Ledges, but the view was only partial with tall trees growing here.

Backtracking to the start of the Sunrise Trail, I then took the Tom Leary Trail further up the hill to reach the viewpoint, which had a bench there.

Unfortunately, the grass here was so overgrown that I had to turn back, and from here I headed all the way back to my car.

With that, I was done with Wilbraham, and it was on to the town of Ludlow. Before crossing over into the town, however, I came upon the Green Towne Bridge on Cottage Avenue near Dollar Avenue which straddles the Chicopee River flowing between Ludlow and Wilbraham. There are some good views of the river from here.

Green Towne Bridge

Chicopee River

From here, it was on to Ludlow, where I visited a few places, including the Haviland Pond Beach at ~530 Center Street, which was full of people this hot and sunny day.

Red Bridge Pond,
Poole Street near Alden Street

St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church,
45 Newbury Street

Church of the Nazarene, 12 Cedar Street

Ludlow Town Hall, 488 Chapin Street

Our Lady of Fatimah Church

St. Paul's United Methodist Church

St. Elizabeth Parish,
181 Hubbard Street

Union Church of Christ,
510 Center Street

Ludlow Mills,
East Street and Sewall Street

Library Park,
Chestnut Street and East Street

Hubbard Memorial Library

Haviland Pond Beach, ~530 Center Street

Christ the King Church,
15 Warsaw Avenue

First Church in Ludlow

Memorials,
Center Street and Church Street

At this point, my roommate called to tell me that his pork shoulder was ready for consumption, so I headed back to prepare my own food as well. Unfortunately, as my roommate was really tired, soon after eating, he had to call it a day, so I decided to do the same too, as I had only slept for 4 hours yesterday as well.