Yesterday (Saturday) we went on our first complete "canal walk" in Lowell. It was, in our opinion the first "real" spring day of the season, so it was a great time to explore the town on foot. I ended up with way too many pictures to put in a single blog entry, so I've created a flickr photostream that showcases all the pictures in the order they were taken. These few are just samples from the entire set, which is quite large. There's a link at the end of the post to take you to flickr for the rest...
...we started out from our apt. at the American Textile History Museum (re-opening in May 2009), crossed Dutton Street to where the trolley stop is, and started from there. You can park at the ATHM anytime thanks to the huge parking lot, and begin your tour from there as well.
I believe it's called Swamp Lock at this point of the canal system, and there are Canal Walk signs along the way with maps and arrows to guide you along. We had a downtown Lowell walking map as well, which you can obtain for free from several local businesses. It folds up to business card sized so you can always have it on you. Lush Beads, at Western Ave Studios, is where we got ours.
Anyway, the self-guided tour follows the canal system and there are a few informational signs along the way as well. With all the snowfall recently that has melted, the canals and waterfalls were raging! Would have been great for rafting ;)
The path also winds through downtown, so you can grab lunch or a coffee at almost any point of the tour close-by. We pit-stopped at Boott Mills Museum, where national park ranger Cherrie Swann was gracious enough to fill us in on all things Lowell, including some gruesome tales of early mill-girl injuries from working in the sweatshop-like textile factories in the 1840's. Eeek.
Boott Mills is $6 for adults to access the entire museum, and if by this point you are pooped out you can take the trolley back to the visitor center which is much closer to the ATHM where you parked your car. We opted to save the trolley for another day and kept walking. The canal walk from this point simply heads through the grounds of Lowell High School and takes you back to Merrimack Street, which is I guess the main street downtown. At this point, you can either follow the canal back to the museum or head through town.
We decided to check out the Revolving Museum since it was on our way back, and added a few pix to the end of the photostream from there. Our day actually didn't stop after that, either. We mustered up all the strength we had and walked to the Western Ave Studios, which is another old mill building converted to artist galleries and studios. They do open Saturdays monthly, and there are over 250 artists on display, so we spent the rest of the day there.
Finally, after nearly wearing out our shoes, we met up with some friends and journeyed (by car) to the newly reopened Cafe Aiello. I urge you, if you are a fan of real espresso, to support this cafe. They make a great cup and have wonderful ambience as well as helpful staff.
Whew! I'm exhausted just writng about all that! For those of you who are still with me, click here to head on over the the photostream at flickr:
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