Wellesley Transportation provides airport, local, and long-distance service

February 28, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

SPONSORED POST: Let Wellesley Transportation help you and your family with all your transportation needs. Owned and operated by Thomas Shinnick since 1995, Wellesley Transportation, formerly known as College Taxi, has been proudly serving Wellesley and the surrounding communities for over 90 years. Originally established in 1926, Wellesley Transportation provides on-time airport, local and long-distance transportation in luxury vehicles. For reservations, call or text 781-235-2200.

If the idea of driving to the airport exhausts you before you even start your trip, let Wellesley Transportation’s professional licensed livery service get you there. Trade in the stress of fighting traffic and finding parking for a reliable, service-oriented, and safe experience.

All Wellesley Transportation drivers are commercially insured and registered, with spotless driving records.

Wellesley Transportation can:

Transport you both locally or long-distance

Pick up visitors from the airport and bring them to your door

Meet you or your visitors at convenient designated limo areas at the airport

Get all passengers and baggage safely into the vehicle

Thomas’ excellent communication skills will ensure that you will get the right vehicle to transport your entire party to your destination. For reservations, call or text 781-235-2200.

Beyond Wellesley: Tuning into Nashville

November 8, 2019 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

broadway nashville

You won’t find 2 more different places than Wellesley and Nashville. And that, of course, is the beauty of what people from either place will find visiting the other.

Nashville has so much to offer that you just don’t come across in Wellesley:

Vehicles driven by sober people lined on each side by drinkers peddling from their barstools while singing at the tops of their lungs.
Broadway, a non-stop party strip with country and other singers belting out tunes from open-air bars bearing the names of Kid Rock, Jason Aldean and others.
Pedestrians who more or less obey traffic signals.
A colorful pedestrian bridge linking the NFL’s Tennessee Titans football stadium to the central bar and restaurant area.

peddlers nashville — A little rain didn’t stop the party bikes from cruising Broadway

On and under the surface, Nashville is more suited to grown-up visitors than families, though granted, we didn’t seek out activities such as the acclaimed zoo. We also traveled without renting a car, so confined our excursions to those within a reasonable walk, run or ride-share.

I should mention that neither Mr. nor Mrs. Swellesley is much of a country music fan. We recognized some names and songs, but weren’t bowing at Music City’s altars like some visitors. We descended upon Nashville to attend a late-October journalism conference called the LION Publishers Summit, and take in the sights while there.

Nashville sights and sounds

We started off strong, taking a quick look at daytime Broadway after checking in to our hotel, which had a guitar-shaped pool we regrettably never used. Guitars are everywhere in Nashville, and southern charm and manners were alive and well, too. We made a concentrated effort to be friendly, and more or less succeeded.

We grabbed lunch at Acme Feed & Seed, which boasts a steady stream of customers and juicy brisket sandwiches. We ate on the rooftop bar, which

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Beyond Wellesley: The Downton Abbey exhibit at The Castle in Boston

September 6, 2019 by Deborah Brown 4 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to step back in time to post-Edwardian England at “Downton Abbey: The Exhibition,” appropriately venued at The Castle at Park Plaza in Boston. If you were a fan of the upstairs-downstairs British historical period drama which won 15 Emmys and three Golden Globes, you simply must go, darling. It’s been absolutely ages (ok, since 2016) since the PBS show wrapped up after six seasons of family drama, social commentary, and absolutely fabulous costumes. You need a Lady Mary fix, admit it.

Downton Abbey exhibit — Executive Chef and Natick resident Joe Lewi laid out quite a spread on media night. The former Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey marketing executive served up bits that would have appeared at the Downton Abbey table: cold stuffed tomatoes; cucumber gazpacho; artichoke and asparagus salad; Beef Wellington; and French macarons.

For the uninitiated, Downton Abbey followed the divine and dramatic lives of the Crowley family, who were to the manor born and lived “upstairs.” Meanwhile “downstairs”, their servants lived a somewhat parallel existence of good times and bad, but without all the money and fabulous bespoke clothing. Downton Abbey was a place where everybody knew their place, and deviance from social standards was not permitted. But Mrs. Patmore cooked so beautifully, and the parties were jolly, so to be a spoilsport about it all would be really quite bad form.

Downton Abbey exhibit, Boston — Gotta love Lady Mary, played by Michelle Dockery. Privileged, demanding, determined, and always impeccably turned out.

You’ve got until September 29th to see all the sets, costumes, and historical exhibits. No RSVP required, but you can get your tickets ahead of time here. It’s always an open house situation at an inherited cozy little 300-room place in the English countryside. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 6pm, with the last ticket sold at 4:30pm. Expect to spend between 60 and 90 minutes exploring Downton Abbey. Guests are welcome to stay for as long or as little as they would like during hours of operation. The exhibition is fully accessible for the mobility impaired.

Downton Abbey, Boston — Hands down, this was my favorite of the over 50 costumes on display at the exhibit. Just a little Summer ensemble worn by Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern). Also on display: wedding gowns, ball gowns, riding clothes, military uniforms, and more.

If you can’t make it to Boston by the exhibit’s September 29th closing date, you can always catch the exhibit at Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina, where the Downton denizens will spend the holiday season. You can also catch up with the family later this month on the big screen. The Downton Abbey movie is set for release on September 20.

Viking Cruise line was the presenting sponsor of Downton Abbey: The Exhibition. Now there’s an outfit that knows how to explore the world in comfort.

Wellesley High School PTSO on its website game

May 10, 2019 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley High School, Wellesley The Wellesley High School PTSO website keeps expanding, like the minds of its scholars, in an effort to keep families in the loop on all that is available to students. Their niftiest new page tells you everything you need to know about school-sponsored trips. Did you know that through the Science Department, your family can host a Swiss student in September, and then a Swiss family will host your student in April?

There are also trips to France and Spain through the Art Department, to Houston through Key Club, to Peru through World Challenge, and more.

No, the travel doesn’t come free. Trips range in cost from $2,000 – $4,700. It’s not cheap to broaden one’s horizons, but over the years we’ve heard families rave about their kids’ experiences.

Contact the PTSO with any questions or suggestions. [email protected]

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Beyond Wellesley: New Bedford Whaling Museum, lunch, and a winter beach visit

March 22, 2019 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

It’s smack-dab middle of winter here in New England, a time when it can seem easier to just hibernate at home rather than venture out into the cold, bleak world. Let me encourage you to join the resistance to such inactivity with a road trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum, a nearby lunch at the family-friendly Whalers Tavern, followed by a constitutional on a little-known New England beach frequented all winter long by locals and their dogs.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum

New Bedford in the early 19th century was the world’s busiest whaling port in the world’s richest city. Whaling was at the center of everything in the busy port town, a place that was populated by the Wampanoag Indian nation before Europeans landed onshore. In the early 1600s English settlers took a look around the coastal area, took note of its favorable position, and came back fifty years later to settle the area. That didn’t go well for the thousands of Wampanoag residents who soon found themselves at war with the European colonists. Significantly reduced in number by disease and ruthless war tactics, the Wampanoags were quickly pushed off land they had occupied for perhaps thousands of years.

It’s a dramatic story, and the museum’s exhibits showcase the area’s history, the whaling industry, and its impact not only on New Bedford but globally. Not to be missed (and impossible to do so): five massive whale skeletons, the world’s largest ship model (the Lagoda), and America’s longest painting. Every room in the museum, opened in 1903, is devoted to all things whaling — paintings, costumes, ship models, maps, an astonishing number of scrimshaw arts and crafts, and more.

The whaling vessel Lagoda takes center stage in one of the galleries as the world’s largest ship model. To call it a model ship, although accurate, almost fails to give it its due. The 1/2 scale replica looks ready to set sail at a moment’s notice, and visitors are welcome to climb right aboard and imagine what it must have been like to make Lagoda both home and office for anywhere from six months to four years, just as 19th-century sailors did.

Whale hunting was deadly to whales, of course, and it also was risky business for the hunters. A small boat of about six or eight men would row within hurling distance of a 150-ton whale and let fly at least seven harpoons into whichever part of the mammal they could hit. The whales often didn’t welcome the attention, and there are several paintings in the museum that depict seriously angry whales getting their revenge on hapless sailors, most of whom were non-swimmers.

Which brings us to author Herman Melville, who in 1841 shipped out from New Bedford on the Acushnet. His experiences on that whaling ship helped form his great American novel Moby Dick. In chapter 20 of the 585-page tome, Melville describes The Seamen’s Bethel, a small wooden structure just across the street from the museum and included in the admission fee. Built in 1832 as a non denominational church, Melville’s narrator, call-me Ishmael himself, described how sailors bound for their dangerous work on the sea would stop in to offer up prayers before they set sail: “In the same New Bedford there stands a whaleman’s chapel and few are the moody fishermen shortly bound for the Indian or Pacific Oceans who failed to make a Sunday visit to this spot.”

New Bedford, Seamen's Bethel — New Bedford, Seamen’s Bethel

Also in the museum is the 3,000 square foot Casa dos Botes Discovery Center for kids. Don’t miss the observation deck on the top floor of the museum for a great view of the New Bedford harbor. The door out to the deck doesn’t lock behind you, even in the dead of winter. I nervously checked that out for you.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum
18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 997-0046
Hours, January through March:
Tuesday – Saturday 9 am – 4 pm
Sunday 11 am – 4 pm
Admission: Adult $17; seniors (65+) $15; students (19+) $10; Child/youth $7; under 3 free
Tickets include admission to the Mariners’ Home.

Lunch at Whaler’s Tavern, 24 North Water Street

About three-tenths of a cobblestone-street mile from the museum is a great family friendly lunch spot that likely becomes a different sort of lively with a more adult crowd come evening. The staff told us to sit anywhere, so we took a high table in the bar area and perused the menu. I started out with the excellent Quahog Chowder made with applewood smoked bacon, onions, celery, red bliss potatoes, and plenty of chopped quahogs. Next up for me was the arugula salad with sun-dried tomatoes and generously portioned sushi-grade ahi tuna, very fresh and a nice light counterpoint to the richness of the chowder. My companion ordered the BLT on a buttered toasted bun, downed it, and left full and happy.

Whaler's Tavern, New Bedford — Whaler’s Tavern, New Bedford

Other menu items that looked tempting: Shark Bites, locally caught, breaded, and deep fried and served with Cajun remoulade; lobster quesadilla; burgers; grilled chicken sandwich; Korean BBQ pulled pork sandwich; chourico melt; soba noodle bowl; and more. Show up Monday – Friday, 3pm – 6pm for raw bar buy one, get one free littlnecks and oysters. They have a full bar, so plenty of chaser options.

Whaler’s Tavern
24 N Water St, New Bedford, MA 02740
(774) 206-6303

Walk it off at West Island Town Beach

About eight miles away via cottage-lined Sconticut Neck Rd. (plug in West Island Town Beach, Fairhaven, MA into GPS) you can find a little-known beach overlooking Buzzards Bay. During the off season you can just pull into the lot, a casual and muddy affair when we stopped by, and join the locals and their dogs as they enjoy the general solitude.

I probably wouldn’t plunk my family down there for a summer day. The sand was covered with seaweed, and the swimming area was quite rocky. But for beach walking a couple miles in either direction on firm footing you can’t beat it, and the sunsets must be amazing. Avoiding the Cape Cod bridge traffic is also another plus that locals swear by.

West Island Town Beach

Beyond Wellesley: sneak peek at the renovated Hood Museum at Dartmouth College

Beyond Wellesley: Family fun at Versus arcade in Boston

Beyond Wellesley: a visit to a North End restaurant in Boston

More pictures from our New Bedford adventure:

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You can’t tell this Wellesley geography bee winner to get lost

January 16, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

Byline: Mo Henzel, Sprague School 4th grade teacher

Alex Ho, a Fourth Grade student at Sprague School, won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee and a chance at a $50,000 college scholarship. The school-level Bee, at which students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 31st annual National Geographic Bee, a geography bee competition designed to inspire and reward students’ curiosity about the world. Questions cover not only geography, but also cultures, physical features, history and earth science.

Wellesley Geography Bee winner, 4th grader Alex Ho, is in the standing row, 2nd from the left

Thousands of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories are participating in the 2019 National Geographic Bee. The school champions, including Alex, will take an online qualifying test; up to 100 of the top test scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to compete in their state State GeoBee.

The National Geographic Society developed the GeoBee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. Over more than three decades, 120 millions students have learned about the world through participation in the GeoBee. The winners of the State GeoBees receive an all-expenses paid trip to National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., next May to participate in the GeoBee national championship, competing for cash prizes, scholarships and an all-expense paid Lindblad expedition to the Galapagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavor II. Learn more at www.natgeobee.org.

National Geographic will air the final round of the National Geographic Bee Championship in May 2019. It will air later on public television stations; check local television listings for dates and times.

Everyone can test their geography knowledge with the exciting Geo Bee Quiz, an online geography quiz www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/quiz, which poses 10 new questions a day and with the National Geographic Geo Quiz Alexa skill, which releases six new questions a day.

Social media outreach brings book home to Wellesley

November 28, 2018 by Kim Maire Leave a Comment

Facebook has received a lot of criticism recently, but for the Wellesley Free Library, Facebook proved to be a great friend. Maybe because the library is more than just about the books, and FB is more than just about advertising. At their best, both are about the community.

Michael Cohen returned from the U.K. recently, and realized that he had left a guide book that he had borrowed from the WFL at a shop at Borough Market in London. So on Nov. 16, Cohen made a request through the Facebook group What’s Up Wellesley, which has over 5,400 members, to find
someone who might be in London to be able to retrieve and return the book for him.

Forty-two comments and suggestions poured in over the next few days. One respondent volunteered their sister who lives in London to help (but the sister was not visiting again until Christmas, past the due date!), another suggested buying the Library a replacement copy online for $9 (the Library won’t accept outside replacement purchases), and another wondered why the London shop couldn’t mail the book back to Massachusetts (shop refused to mail it).

london book — Photo courtesy of Michael Cohen

But the post from Paige Ford Fisher worked. She wrote, “Hi Michael. We are in London and I know the place. I’ll go get it and get it back to you. We are suppose to be coming back to Wellesley for Thanksgiving, but I’m sick. If we don’t make it my husband will be back next week for work. He can get it to you!”

What’s Up Wellesley founder Lianna Ramage considers the group’s ability to help people to be one of its successes. While she also admits that the administrators of the group have all had to deal with negative posts from time to time, she wrote, “We volunteer our time, and the whole point of the group is to foster a sense of community!”

This story has a happy ending. Finally, Fisher wrote, “It has been a fun project. Book was returned to Michael’s home last night while he was out. Not the most exciting picture moment, but what worked for schedules. I love Wellesley and the playful nature of our community! Excited to move home this summer! Until then…happy trails!”