May 24th 2026: North Uxbridge Fire Museum, Uxbridge

 Today, we decided to go check out the North Uxbridge Fire Museum in Uxbridge. 

Small place, but at least we got the most out of a rainy day, including a misguided order of Bubblegum ice cream from Pirate's Cove in Northbridge.

Recommended Places to Visit: Northbridge

Recreation

Golf
Shining Rock Golf Club
91 Clubhouse Lane


Mini-Golf

West End Creamery
481 Purgatory Road


Water Bodies
Swans Pond
~481 Purgatory Road

Whitins Pond
Carr Road and Purgatory Road

Linwood Pond
670 Linwood Avenue

Carpenter Reservoir
321 Carpenter Road

Arcade Pond
Arcade Street and Main Street

Riley Pond
196 Castle Hill Road

Riverdale Pond

50 Riverdale Street

Meadow Pond
306 Douglas Road

Ellis Pond

869 Quaker Street

Museums
Northbridge Historical Society
17 Church Street

Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center

1 Memorial Square

Dams
Fish Pond Dam
Carr Road and Purgatory Road

Linwood Pond Dam
670 Linwood Avenue

Whitin Mill Dam
~23 Douglas Road


Hiking
Recommended:
Lookout Rock
Quaker Street between Forsythe Farm Road and Wolf Hill Road

Shining Rock
386 School Street

Architecture

Monuments

War Memorial
Providence Road and School Street

Whitinsville Common
Church Street and Linwood Avenue

Places of Worship

St. Peter's Parish
39 Church Avenue

St. Patrick's Church
7 East Street

Village Congregational Church
25 Church Street

Trinity Episcopal Church
33 Linwood Avenue

Blackstone Valley United Methodist Church
61 Linwood Avenue

United Presbyterian Church
7 Spring Street

Soorp Asdvadzadzin Armenian Apostolic Church
315 Church Street

Rockdale Congregational Church
42 Fowler Road

Fairlawn Christian Reformed Church
305 Goldthwaite Road

Pleasant Street Christian Reformed Church
25 Cross Street

Schools
Northbridge Middle School
87 Linwood Avenue

Town Facilities
Whitinsville Social Library
17 Church Street

Whitinsville Post Office
44 Church Street

Northbridge Fire Department
1681 Providence Road

Historical Buildings
Cotton Mill Apartments
17 Douglas Road

Whitin Mill
~23 Douglas Road

Whitinsville Bank Building
8 Linwood Avenue

Aldrich School
14 Hill Street

Old Whitin Machine Works
~3 Whitinsville Road

Old Centre Congregational Church
Benson Road and Hill Street

Linwood Mill Apartments
670 Linwood Avenue

Riverdale Mills
130 Riverdale Street

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Western
Maison de Manger
670 Linwood Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
Pulled Pork with Slaw Crepe
New England Clam Chowder

Tried:
Breakfast
Peg's Diner
87 Church Street
Recommended Dishes:
Grilled Cheese


Deli
The Green Plate 
167 Church Street
Recommended Dishes:
Coleslaw
Buffalo Chicken Salad Wrap


Italian
Northbridge House of Pizza
2225 Providence Road
Recommended Dishes:
Meat Lovers
Hawaiian

Seafood

Pirate's Cove

74 Providence Road

Recommended Dishes:

Clam Chowder

Clam Cakes

Bubblegum

Banana Split

Western
Rockdale Grill
91 Clubhouse Lane
Recommended Dishes:
Saute Shrimp

Jube's Family Restaurant
1227 Providence Road
Recommended Dishes:
Mr. Potato Head

Grille 122

91 Providence Road

Recommended Dishes:

Hawaiian Martini

Mediterranean Chicken

Thai
Divine Thai
123 Church Street
Recommended Dishes:
Winter Shrimp
Chilli Duck
Divine Fried Rice

April 11th 2026: Children's Museum of Franklin, Franklin

 Today, after having a Brazilian rodizio lunch at the fancy but expensiveAlma Gaucha in Worcester, 

we passed through Grafton,

Grafton High School

 

Grafton Middle School

and Northbridge

Northbridge Fire Department

before heading into Franklin

Franklin Landings

Ginley Funeral Home

to check out the Children's Museum of Franklin. Pretty small place in my opinion, glad I got in for cheap.

While in Franklin, we stumbled onto ladybug sculptures from the Ladybug Cultural and Historical Trail.

Library Ladybug

Zentangle Quilt Ladybug

Definitely coming back for the rest of them.

March 14th 2026: Revisiting the Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center, Northbridge

 Today, after another delicious meal at Nan Xiang Express in Shrewsbury, this time getting the Beef Scallion Pancake,

the Braised Beef Noodle Soup 

the Spicy Beef Soup Dumplings and Chicken and Shrimp Siu Mai.

From here, it was on to the Whitinsville area of Northbridge to visit the Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center, which has moved from Grafton since the last time I visited. Much nicer and bigger now.

The little one had fun running around the museum on a scavenger hunt, so overall it was a good day revisiting this small museum.

September 14th 2025: North America's Largest Collection of Fresco Paintings in Woonsocket RI

 Today, we passed through Northbridge and

Ellis Pond, 869 Quaker Street

Uxbridge,

West River Pond,
28 West River Road

Wheelock Memorial Park,
261 Mendon Street

Ironstone Reservoir,
1 Elmwood Avenue

before going on a short hike at Centennial Park in North Smithfield RI, where the rough path we took is shown below in pink.

Nice views of the further dam,

and a side view of the second dam.

The path to the stone arch bridge was a little overgrown though, just a little.

and the dam here was dry, unfortunately.

From here, it was on to our main target for today in Woonsocket RI,

Harris Elementary School

the St Ann Arts and Cultural Center. We had some difficulty getting cash from an ATM nearby, but I am glad the volunteers stayed way past time to give us a really good tour of the beautiful place.

 

I'm glad I was finally able to visit North America's largest collection of fresco paintings after all this time. Interesting that fresco painting can only be done while the plaster is still wet, and errors cannot be easily reversed.