DR. SEUSS NATIONAL MEMORIAL SCULPTURE GARDEN
Category: Beyond Boston
220 State St., Springfield, 413-263-6800. Sculpture Garden is open daily from 9 a.m.–8 p.m. This fitting artistic tribute—as well as a museum devoted to Theodore Seuss Geisel’s literary accomplishments and favorite characters like the Lorax, the Sneeches and Horton the Elephant—was created by Geisel’s step-daughter, Lark Grey Diamond-Cates. Besides the sculpture of Geisel sitting at a drawing board with the Cat in the Hat as his muse, pieces include the Yertle the Turtle Tower and the Grinch.
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ELM BANK RESERVATION
Category: Beyond Boston
900 Washington St., Wellesley, 617-933-4900. Reservation is open dawn to dusk year round, gates open at 8 a.m. Bordered by the Charles River on three sides, Elm Bank Reservation is 182 acres of woodlands, fields and old estate property. Deer and other wildlife live along the river banks of the reservation, which also contains areas for hiking, playing soccer, canoeing, kayaking and picnicking.
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MINUTE MAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Category: Beyond Boston
Concord and Lexington (North Bridge Visitor Center, 174 Liberty St., Concord), 978-369-6993. Park grounds open sunrise to sunset. Created in 1959 to preserve the sites associated with the opening battles of the American Revolution, Minute Man Park consists of more than 900 acres of land along original segments of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, including Lexington Green and Concord’s North Bridge. The park also preserves The Wayside, the 19th-century home of literary greats Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott.
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MYSTIC AQUARIUM & INSTITUTE FOR EXPLORATION
Category: Beyond Boston
55 Coogan Blvd., Mystic, Conn., 860-572-5955. Daily through Nov 30: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; beginning Dec 1: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tickets: $26; seniors $23; children (3–17) $19; under 2 free. At Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, close encounters of the incredible kind happen every day. Whether you’re touching a ray, feeling the splash of New England’s only beluga whales, going beak-to-nose with a penguin or exploring the deep sea with the world’s only exhibits on Dr. Robert Ballard’s fascinating expeditions, you’ll be closer to ocean life than you ever thought possible.
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OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE
Category: Beyond Boston
1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, 508-347-3362. Wed–Sun 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m.; daily Feb 13–21 during school vacation week. Tickets: $20; seniors $18; children (3–17) $7; (under 3) free. Take a trip back in time at this recreation of an early 19th-century New England village where costumed educators give visitors a glimpse of life in America’s early days. Visit a tin shop, a cider mill and a blacksmith, ride the old-fashioned yellow stagecoach and tour restorations of period New England homes while marveling at authentic remnants from a long-gone age.
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PLIMOTH PLANTATION
Category: Beyond Boston
137 Warren Ave., 508-746-1622. Through Nov 29: Henry Hornblower II Visitor Center: 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Nye Barn, Hobbamock’s (Wampanoag) Homesite, 1627 Pilgrim Village, Crafts Center: 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Tickets: $28; seniors $26; children (6–12) $18. When the Pilgrims landed in America during the 17th century, they landed at Plymouth Rock. They built their settlement three miles south of the rock and named it Plimoth Plantation. Today, visitors can tour the Plantation and see how the Pilgrims went about their daily lives, hunting, gathering and making crafts. Special exhibit: Thanksgiving: Memory, Myth & Meaning.
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YANKEE CANDLE FACTORY
Category: Beyond Boston
25 Greenfield Rd., South Deerfield, 877-636-7707. Daily 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Call for additional information. The Yankee Candle Factory is one part of a larger complex devoted to the company. It also includes a museum, a candle store and the Bavarian Christmas Village. Visitors are able to dip their own creations at this one-of-a-kind must-see for fans of the popular scented candles.
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