Auburn Adventures: Exploring Rockets and Parks in the Heart of Massachusetts

Today we turned a quick workshop activity in our second Walk 351 adventure! We ventured around Auburn, a town 16,889 people right outside of Worcester in central Massachusetts. After hammering away a good time at Home Depot, we checked out the Dr. Arthur & Dr. Martha Pappas Recreation Complex, walked around the Pakachoag and Drury Square area, learned a bit about Dr. Robert Goddard, tried in vain to find lunch at a local mom and pop restaurant, hustled back to the car on a really humid afternoon before settling on an iconic New England franchise to cool down and have some lunch. 

Soccer Craft Kickoff

We started our morning at the Home Depot in Auburn, where we participated in a kids workshop to build a two-player soccer game. Home Depot and Lowe's both do these free monthly kids workshops where we can go and make something to bring home. Today was a cool soccer game. Using wood glue and nails, we assembled the wooden soccer pitch, added foam figures and dowels for the players, and finished it off with some stickers and the ball. It was a great experience to build something with our own hands and then have fun playing the game we just made.

Stepping Off at Pappas

After our soccer game creation, we headed over to the Dr. Arthur & Dr. Martha Pappas Recreation Complex. Dr. Pappas was the team doctor for the Boston Red Sox for many years. The complex features multiple sports fields, playgrounds, and walking trails. We ran around a real turf soccer pitch, played a quick imaginary game, and enjoyed the open space. We had a blast running around and exploring the fields. It was in the 80s and really humid, and that turf field really heated up pretty quickly, so we decided we better get going on our walk around town. We walked down to Drury Square, and before the end of our time in Auburn we had walked 3.4 miles!

Launching Down to Goddard Park

Our next stop was Goddard Memorial Park, dedicated to Dr. Robert H. Goddard, the Father of American Rocketry. Dr. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn on March 16, 1926. The park has a life-size model of his actual rocket, which was a lot smaller than the kids expected. It was fascinating to learn about Dr. Goddard's contributions to rocketry and how his work is commemorated in Auburn. The park also features a large rocket on display, representing his significant achievements. 

Failure to Launch Lunch

It was getting pretty sticky and hot as our walk wore on, and we were pretty eager to go inside and grab some lunch. We stopped at a couple local family restaurants, but unfortunately each of them were closed for the Independence Day holiday weekend. We didn't want to walk over to a fast food joint, so we hoofed it back up to the Pappas complex — where the boys took a quick detour to the playground — and jumped in the car. We tried one more local spot, which was also closed for the holiday weekend, before settling for a trip to Friendly's. This New England institution had a decent number of diners when we came in, but the waitress was attentive and the food came out pretty quickly. The boys were quite happy to have some ice cream to cap off a hot and muggy trip around Auburn.

Conclusion

Though we obviously needed to cross Auburn off the list at some point, today's trek was an impromptu one that developed while we were hammering away on our wooden soccer pitches at Home Depot. It worked out pretty well despite the humidity and lack of lunch options this time around. Stay tuned for our next town visit as we continue our journey through Massachusetts! Don't forget to check out the YouTube video of our visit!

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