Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sunday In My City - Moore State Park, Paxton

Unknown Mami hosts a great feature called Sunday in My City, where you share with the world what's going on in your city each Sunday. I have had so much fun participating as well as catching a glimpse into other bloggers' Sundays!

This Sunday, my little one (who has her first loose tooth!) and I went for yet another hike. This time we traveled to our neighboring town of Paxton, Massachusetts to visit Moore State Park, a lovely and serene 400-acre piece of conservation land.

We passed through Paxton Center, another typical New England town center. Here's the church (I show you a lot of these, don't I? I have a thing for steeples, I guess!)



And just beyond the church is the town hall...




A bit further down the road is the entrance to today's destination...

Moore State Park...and I must say that so far this has been my favorite place to hike/walk. Of course, the fact that it was a gorgeous warm but breezy day helped, but the park is beautifully maintained without feeling too "civilized". It was one of the most serene and glorious places I have visited.

You start out near a beautiful meadow near the parking lot...

Moore State Park is a bit different than the trails we hiked last week in that our four-legged friends are welcome!


The paved road that leads from the parking area is open to pedestrians and bicyclists only, and is a pretty gentle and shady hike.

A good thing when you're accompanied by a five year-old with a loose tooth! I don't recall them being so debilitating....

I don't think I captured it on film, but this road is lined with rhododendron bushes - you can bet I'll be back next spring when they're in bloom! Must be gorgeous!

There's lots of greenery though, like these beautiful ferns....

It took me 27 shots before this shy butterfly showed me her wings....so pretty!


We passed another smaller meadow, framed by one of the ubiquitous stone walls that criss-cross the New England landscape.

Not far from the entrance is a pretty pond, Eames Pond...



And in the distance we came upon this sight...

Aptly named "Enchanta Bridge", it turned out to be a beautiful spot to sit and rest, gazing out over the tranquil pond....

Sigh....

The water runs below it into a stream - this is the view from behind as we moved along...


Just around the bend we spotted another structure, the Old Sawmill....

On the way, some "wild animals" made their way over to say hello....

"Quack! Quack!"


The Old Sawmill was pretty cool...


Other than a brief thunderstorm the other day, we haven't had much rainfall so the water hasn't risen high enough to pour over the dam more than a trickle...

Here's the side...the water would normally flow right underneath the building...


And here's the view from behind....



There were several other trails nearby, as well as an orchard and some historic buildings, but we had to head home, so we said goodbye to Moore State Park.

But we'll be back!

Thanks for joining us on our hike! I'm pretty excited about next Sunday in My City...first of all, it will actually be in a city for a change (not that there's anything wrong with woods and hiking and wildlife, but I do live a stone's throw from the second largest city in New England...) and there is a really cool event taking place that I hope to share with you! It might be a bit of a major challenge ( <- Hint, hint....) to capture it on film, but I'll give it my best!

What's happening in your neck of the woods this fine Sunday? Hope you pop on over to Unknown Mami and join the fun!

Happy Sunday to all!

6 comments:

Tara R. said...

What a beautiful place for a hike. You captured it wonderfully.

Claudya Martinez said...

That's some kind of a teaser you left us with for next week.

Beautiful pictures of a beautiful place. I had no idea loose teeth were debilitating. I must prepare.

babs said...

That is a beautiful park. Great shots you got!

babs said...

That is a beautiful park. Great shots you got!

Unknown said...

What a beautiful park! I am so glad you had a fun time. And your baby lost a tooth...how exciting is that? Treasure the moments because they fly : )

Chicago Mom said...

Gorgeous photos! I want to come take a walk there now.