Woo, as in Worcester

Worcester, Mass - aka the Woo - is the the second largest city in New England and the surrounding areas were a great place to start our vacation.

Our friend Jen showed us around and introduced us to some of the top spots in the area starting with breakfast at Dinky's Blue Belle Diner, housed in a former train car.

Ava made a new friend, Sierra, and the girls enjoyed exploring the lives and times of 1790s-1830s rural New England at Old Sturbridge Village.

Ava and Sierra chose their tug of war team wisely and, with Rob's help, they took down the competition.

The girls also got a firsthand look at tin-smithing and a riverboat trip.

Heading north, the girls visited Lowell National Historic Park to learn about the Industrial Revolution in America.  Highlights included seeing the operation of working looms (good thing they passed out earplugs) and earning their Junior Ranger badges.

Lowell is also home to the Spinners (Industrial Revolution... looms... Spinners... get it?), the Red Sox single-A farm team.  The girls got to meet Canaligator (water from the surrounding canals was used to power the factories), play games and get their faces painted, watch the Spinners get crushed by the visiting team from Vermont, and run the bases after the game.

Before he went "On the Road," Jack Kerouac lived in Lowell, and the girls visited his birthplace and first home.

A visit to the Woo would not complete without a trip to Rota Spring Farm where the girls fed goats and ate ice cream in view of the very cows whose milk was used to make these sweet treats.