Train trip to Drumlin Farm

On Sunday, we made a train trip with Grandma (aka "Baba") to the Drumlin Farm Fall Festival just West of here in Lincoln, MA. Prior to going to the farm, H insisted that there would be "Horses and cows and sheep and turtles and crabs closing their eyes under the water." Perhaps she was unduly influenced by our trip to the aquarium in Woods Hole...to our surprise there did indeed turn out to be turtles at the farm (as part of a wildlife show), but alas, no crabs.

The chickens were a big hit, as were the sheep and the hayride. We'll likely be making the trip to Lincoln again, as it is easier to get to by transit than either of the two small zoos in the Boston area: Franklin park (long walk or bus from the orange line, takes at least 1 1/2 hours to get there from Cambridge) or Stone Zoo (lovely and fairly close, but inaccessible by transit).
Drumlin Farm is about a 15 minute walk from Lincoln Station on the Fitchburg commuter rail line that runs through Porter Square (the ride from Porter was about 30 minutes). Walking directions are here. We found the walk pleasant, except for the last block where there was no sidewalk, and we needed to walk through a field of long wet grass...but I suppose the point was to get out into nature so us city-folks shouldn't complain too much...

Biking to spy pond

Our neighbors (the same ones who kindly share their bike trailer for grocery shopping, and who are serious about their family biking...their 4 year old is pretty solid on a 2-wheeler which I find rather impressive) were slightly horrified that we had never gone biking on the Minuteman Bikeway, which they insist is one of the best features of our neighborhood. It got to the point where Angela feared they might disown us if we didn't actually get out on this path, so on Labor day, at the last minute, we decided to try an actual recreational bike ride. We tend to see our bikes as utilitarian, and almost never go on recreational bike rides, so this was a big step!

We didn't go too far, just a quick couple miles to Spy Pond in Arlington. Unfortunately the playground was closed due to a sand wasp infestation, but we got a lot of mileage out of counting geese, ducks and swans, and running on the lawn. H was plenty happy riding along, and probably could have gone much farther once we got going. It was nice to feel like we got "out of the city" in just a few miles. For other folks who might like to try a ride on the Minuteman, it starts by Alewife station on the Red Line, and bikes are permitted on the red-line during non-rush hour on weekdays and all day on weekends. We'd love to hear about other car-free recreation options in the area, either by rail or bike or both, if anyone has some to suggest.