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walkitoutI took T. to martial arts and Vic’s, fun as always.
I took the van out to Holyoke and met S. and her children H. and C. I was handing off a money order for a security deposit on a new apartment for them. If the move in date had been less tight, I could have mailed it, however, this was a lot of fun! Because I figured if someone needed to hand the money order off in person, we might as well make it Fun For Everyone.
We had lunch at Pizza D’Action. I’m not familiar with Holyoke, so when I got there, I took a look around. Holyoke is not a particularly wealthy town, but it is very pleasant, with lovely old mill buildings and a currently empty canal system that used to power them. The mill buildings are in the process of being renovated to accommodate new uses, and I’m sure the future holds amazing things for Holyoke. But right now, Holyoke is a delightfully diverse town where you have to be cautious about turns because there are a lot of one way streets. Fortunately, my metric for Is This Unfamiliar Neighborhood Safe has a line in it for, Are There Bars on Windows and Doors, and my metric is Super Clear: ground floor windows and doors in nice looking buildings with no bars anywhere to be found = Totally Safe Neighborhood. Translation: we found a wicked good restaurant, unbelievably friendly, inexpensive (sandwich for S., loaded chili fries for me, small cheese pizza for the kids, a couple sodas, a bottled iced tea and a bottle water, just over $30 pre-tip) and super, super tasty. Did I mention the sandwich and loaded fries were vegan, and there were a _ton_ of vegan and vegetarian options? Did I mention how incredibly sweet the people working there were to all of us, but especially the hyper little kids? I wish it weren’t so far from home; I’d be there a lot. As it is, we have plans to return soon!
After lunch, we went to the Children’s Museum. I had bought tickets online to make sure we had a reservation — we didn’t really need to, because it was not crowded at all. Above average Children’s Museum: great tunnel, awesome climbing, really cool ambulance play area, good water table, fun color dinosaurs to be included in an animation activity, big size light bright, Stupendously Awesome Grocery! The scanner _works_! And there’s a payment screen which is a pick bills and coins to come up with the exact amount activity! Many, many other things to do (cafe, fire department, musical instruments, a really cool pneumatic tube system you can put scarves and soft balls into and adjust shunts to make things take different routes). We will _also_ be going back to that.
In addition, I had the latest from Coldplay and from Imagine Dragons to listen to on the drive out and back. it was a very, very fun day.
I took the van out to Holyoke and met S. and her children H. and C. I was handing off a money order for a security deposit on a new apartment for them. If the move in date had been less tight, I could have mailed it, however, this was a lot of fun! Because I figured if someone needed to hand the money order off in person, we might as well make it Fun For Everyone.
We had lunch at Pizza D’Action. I’m not familiar with Holyoke, so when I got there, I took a look around. Holyoke is not a particularly wealthy town, but it is very pleasant, with lovely old mill buildings and a currently empty canal system that used to power them. The mill buildings are in the process of being renovated to accommodate new uses, and I’m sure the future holds amazing things for Holyoke. But right now, Holyoke is a delightfully diverse town where you have to be cautious about turns because there are a lot of one way streets. Fortunately, my metric for Is This Unfamiliar Neighborhood Safe has a line in it for, Are There Bars on Windows and Doors, and my metric is Super Clear: ground floor windows and doors in nice looking buildings with no bars anywhere to be found = Totally Safe Neighborhood. Translation: we found a wicked good restaurant, unbelievably friendly, inexpensive (sandwich for S., loaded chili fries for me, small cheese pizza for the kids, a couple sodas, a bottled iced tea and a bottle water, just over $30 pre-tip) and super, super tasty. Did I mention the sandwich and loaded fries were vegan, and there were a _ton_ of vegan and vegetarian options? Did I mention how incredibly sweet the people working there were to all of us, but especially the hyper little kids? I wish it weren’t so far from home; I’d be there a lot. As it is, we have plans to return soon!
After lunch, we went to the Children’s Museum. I had bought tickets online to make sure we had a reservation — we didn’t really need to, because it was not crowded at all. Above average Children’s Museum: great tunnel, awesome climbing, really cool ambulance play area, good water table, fun color dinosaurs to be included in an animation activity, big size light bright, Stupendously Awesome Grocery! The scanner _works_! And there’s a payment screen which is a pick bills and coins to come up with the exact amount activity! Many, many other things to do (cafe, fire department, musical instruments, a really cool pneumatic tube system you can put scarves and soft balls into and adjust shunts to make things take different routes). We will _also_ be going back to that.
In addition, I had the latest from Coldplay and from Imagine Dragons to listen to on the drive out and back. it was a very, very fun day.