Holliston --- Vacationland 2008 Part 2
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There’s a 25-cent Mudville Tour available by appointment. The fee is waived for former Mudville residents and Red Sox fans –- however, proof is required.
Next you may find your way to the entrance road of Pleasure Point.
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A lovely, scenic stroll it is the way to the beach. Just imagine what it was like back in 1882. Lovely still! The Point gives one an excellent view of Valentine’s Rock, off to the left from the beach area. A bird may help in marking the rock.
Stop for a dip in the waters of Wennakeening. You may appreciate it by now. Bring your canoe, rowboat or kayak and search for Tom’s Rock down near the islands at the southern end of the lake. Tom’s rock is named for Wuttasacomponum, sachem of the local Nipmuc tribe. He was said to have his summer wigwam on an island that was once located there, but sank beneath the water when he was hanged for alleged war crimes during King Philip’s War. He was framed. The rock was a popular stopping off point for swimmers making the across-the-lake swim, a rite of passage for youths back one hundred years and more.
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Lunchtime is approaching, so make your way back toward Railroad Street, and stop in at Casey’s Crossing. Although I personally lament they took the Finnan Haddie appetizer off the menu, I have been easily appeased by their ribs and the fish and chips. They have a great selection of micro beers. I hope they still have the Green Monster Ale -– worth a stop there. The atmosphere is equal to any sports bar around, so you need not expend unnecessary gas traveling to Boston for your sports bar fix.
If you are able to leave Casey’s after a reasonable time –- a hazard for some –- you can walk off lunch and meet up with a few more of your fellow townies by hiking around Holliston’s most popular walking track. The loop includes Railroad Street to Woodland to Washington (turn left) around to downtown, down Central Street and back to Casey’s. You may be inclined towards another Green Monster ale.
Now, we all know about the hefty price of Red Sox tickets. Check out the men’s softball or the youth baseball schedule and catch a game at GoodwillPark, the site of a long history of ball playing in Holliston dating back to at least 1873.
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My greatest lament in life is the loss of the Holliston Town Team, a fixture in Holliston until the 1950s. Oh, to have local baseball again!!! Sit on the old stone bleacher section and root the teams on! The town of Clinton claims to have the oldest baseball diamond (since 1875) still in use. Nay, nay, Clinton. The baseball diamond at Goodwill Park is older and still in use!
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If not a game day, and you are inclined toward a bit more hiking you need not take off for New Hampshire nor the White Mountains. We have, right here in Holliston, the Town Forest, a great place to traverse wilderness pathways. Thanks to the CPC a parking area off Adams Street is marked out. There’s an intricate network of pathways throughout the forest and the sites are most intriguing. It’s a geological Disneyland with boulders, ledge and evidence of old quarrying activity. No quarry ponds to drown in here, but you’ll get your money’s worth hiking hither and yon.
There’s also rock climbing just over the town line into Hopkinton on Hanlon Road. College Rock has been a popular location for more than a century. Pay no never mind to the rumble of the tractor trailers on 495. Pretend they are Indian drums or something else. Stay on the pathways, watch for wildlife – from chipmunks to deer, and always check for ticks after the hike! They’re out there!
If you are not of the hiking ilk, stop by the Superette and gather together a picnic basket full of their good stuff and they’ve got it all. Head over to StoddardPark for a lunchtime or early evening restful, meditative moment among the pine trees. Bring a radio if the Red Sox are playing an afternoon game. Grab a book from the public library and commune with nature while you watch the sun drift lazily down behind Pleasure Point on the other side of the lake. In the calm of the evening try shouting over to a Mudvillian who may be lounging there - or languishing - in the evening shadows. Back in the days of the Fair Brothers, sound carried easily across the water. See if that is still true today. HAAALLLLLOOOOO OVER THAR!!!!!. Otherwise, enjoy a sure to be spectacular sunset. Check for ticks too. They're out there.
Joanne Hulbert, Town historian, Town Forest Hiker.