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Our trip to Groton, Massachusetts

• Day 1 - Mason City, IA to Elkhart, IN
• Day 2 - Elkhart, IN to Henrietta, NY
• Day 5 - Groton, MA to Wyomissing, PA
• Day 6 - Wyomissing, PA to Youngstown, OH
• Day 7 - Youngstown, OH to Portage, IN
• Day 8 - Portage, IN to Red Wing, MN
• Day 9 - Red Wing, MN to Coon Rapids, MN

Days 3 & 4

The third day of our trip as another travel day with very little to stop and see on the way as we wanted to get to Groton, MA in time to check into our room and look around town a bit. We were treated to another day of toll roads before getting to Groton in the middle of the afternoon. The picture below is where we planned in advance to stay, and although we hate being negative on this travel log, we’d be remiss if we led other to believe everything they read on the Internet (Stagecoach Inn). The accommodations are a little rustic for our taste, and even though we understood in advance that we would be staying in a nearly 350 year old structure we expected the condition of the rooms to be a little better. If you like to hear more about the rooms send us e-mail, we’ll be glad to describe them. The rest of the facilty is a wonderful place to gather for a drink, meal, or just to relax and listen to the live music. We enjoyed the two evenings we stayed here as far as the public side of the Inn is concerned.

We met up with Kirsten and Jim, the prospective bride and groom, and joined them and their other guests (parents and aunt and uncle) for dinner at Villa Banca in Nashua, NH. This old bank building has been renovated into a very nice Italian restaurant with outstanding food. We also enjoyed the musical selections played especially for the bride and groom (Get Me To The Church on Time).

Saturday morning we had time to look around Groton and the surrounding communities. Groton has very little as far as business, which should be read to mean, “no downtown.” We did take a picture of the Town Hall that indicated that the town was established in 1655 and this building also had a date of 1859 and we suspect this is the building that replaced the third town hall that became part of the Stagecoach Inn (the Stagecoach Inn website history gives some great detail about this history)

The picture above was taken along Route 40, a county road we took to Nashua, NH. We don’t know the reason there are so many dead trees here but thought the flowers and deadwood provided a striking contrast in color and texture.

We took the short drive to Nashua, NH to look around this town, which we understand provides most of the retail services to the Groton area. The church was such a grand building we had to take a picture of it even though we do not know when it was built or any history on it.

Later in the morning we drove back through Groton and then to Ayer, MA (pronounced “air”) to make sure we didn’t leave any stone unturned as far as things to see. I found this 1872 building of interest while Sandy discovered a shop where a large white polar bear begged her for a ride back to Iowa.

This next picture shows you just how easy we are to entertain. We noticed the unique building beside the railroad tracks and assumed it was a depot in the past. I wanted a picture of it since it was so unique compared to what we are used to seeing. As I looked for the proper angle to take the picture the commuter train headed for Boston arrived and we waited around to see the train take on additional passengers and then disappear toward the east.

The afternoon and evening were occupied with the wedding of Kirsten and Jim. The ceremony was conducted by a friend of Jim’s in the city park gazebo and the reception was held in the Groton Country Club.