Second day of sight seeing

June 25 – Up and on the road again this morning!  Today we went back to Springfield, MA the visit the Springfield Amory National Historic Site.  It’s right in the downtown area but easy to get to.  We were there much longer than we thought as it’s a really nice weapons museum with a history of arms manufacturing and housing of US military armaments.  It was started in 1794 by President Washington and closed in 1968. 

Gun display in 2 layers to look like a pipe organ

That’s when the government decided to pay companies big bucks to make all of our weapons for us.  There was a display of one of the original lathes used to carve the gun stocks from 1819 and then more modern methods.  There were arms from all the wars we have been in and a lot of information about Canadian born John Garand who invented the M1 rifle which was used in WW2 and into the 1950’s until he invented the M14.  He never sought a patent on his work but felt it was his patriot duty to give the designs to the US Amory where he worked.  Once he retired from the Amory he spent the remainder of his life in Springfield.

We jumped right on the interstate from downtown and shortly we arrived in Sturbridge, MA.  We had planned to visit Old Sturbridge Village, which I think is kinda like Williamsburg in it’s reproduction of Colonial times but you can’t just walk around.  Here you must have a ticket to enter the village.  We didn’t think we’d have enough time to make it worthwhile and it’s actually only about 40 minutes from us so we’ll do that another day.  We did make a stop at the Yankee Traders package store.  Barbara had told me they had the best selection of wines and liquors and she was right!  I bought 4 bottles for me, 1 for a gift and Bill got a 4 pack of Mudslides.  Then we had a great lunch at Sturbridge Seafood.  We expected it to be a diner style place from the look of the building (it shared the space with a pizza place), but it was quite a bit more upscale.  I had my first of the summer lobster roll and opted for a Caesar salad instead of the fries.  Bill had a chicken and andouille sausage pasta alfredo.  He had leftovers, I did not.  Umm, I love lobster!  They have a 4 course Pre Fixe menu on Tuesdays that we think we will have to go back for!

Gurleyville Gristmill

Since gas is much cheaper (.38 per gallon less than CT) we filled up and headed south for CT.  Since we were ahead of schedule as far as getting home for dinner, we went to Mansfield to see the Gurleyville Gristmill.  We didn’t expect it to be open and it wasn’t but we got some photos and it’s in a very serene little valley, on the Fenton river.  The water wheel is no longer there and you can go inside on Sunday afternoons so maybe we’ll go back.  A sawmill was on the site in 1723 and the mill was built around 1835 and operated until the 1940’s.

Since we needed groceries, mostly produce, we stopped at the newly opened Price Chopper and got some super deals on things.  We signed up their discount card and used some coupons and did very well.  Then we finished off with a stop at Aldi’s and Walmart.  The biggest thing we needed at Wally World was to exchange our Shark hand vac that lasted just over a month.  I had the receipt and all the parts and Bill said she wanted the box.  He said look at the receipt, it’s been over a month and it was in Florida so she had him get a new one and she kept the box to package up the old one.  That is the only thing we have to vacuum our little bit of carpet.  I hope this one is better!

After emptying the car Bill got the lawnmower and did our yard while I put things away.  We bought a rotisserie chicken (on special) and pencil asparagus (and rhubarb) at a roadside stand before the grocery stop so dinner was easy.  We took our walk and settled in for some TV and computering.