We were extremely lucky to be invited to a tour of Western Massachusetts by the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitor Bureau. I wanted to provide some highlights of our stay and itinerary for visiting the area. We were able to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield Museums, Tour of Springfield Murals, Six Flags New England, Yankee Candle Village, Richardson's Candy Kitchen and stayed at the MGM Springfield.
Evan plays basketball and was even chosen for the All Star team so he was excited to visit. He especially wanted to check out all of the Celtics sections.
The building has gone through a huge renovation with the addition of a large theater that is a great place to start by watching a short 10 minute film. The lines on the sides of the theater light up in different colors matching with the movie.
We started at the top floor checking out all of the inductees. They are lined up all along the top of the building and below it is some memorabilia and more descriptions.
Here you can look down on a basketball court that kids can play on.
Evan posing for me.
We got a sneak peak of an area opening to the public next week. This area is interactive and also has short videos playing.
Lauren and Evan showing off some tricks for me.
Here is a view upwards.
Here you can see the outside of the building which they are still renovating. What an awesome place to visit. Check them out online: http://www.hoophall.com/
We were now all starving and headed to Frigo's Foods for a yummy lunch. With a super cute decor and fresh cold cuts it was the perfect place to have a quick bite.
The sandwiches were packed with meat and so good.
The Antipasto Salad looked really good too. There were little tables so we were able to eat there. Check them out if you are in town: https://www.frigofoods.com/
Now it was time to check in to our accommodations at the MGM Springfield and explore the hotel.
The MGM Springfield has a lot of amenities and things to do for families and adults. We were tired so we first headed to our room. Here was our room with two Queen beds. The beds and pillows were comfortable. The whole hotel is very clean and beautiful.
Here you can see the beautiful pool area. Suites have access to a deck right next to the pool.
There is a movie theater, restaurant with bowling alley, shops and much more to explore while you are there in addition to the casino of course.
Here is an outdoor concert area.
The bowling alley.
The decor inside is beautiful.
This area is in the lobby.
Here is a gorgeous view from the ballroom areas. You can hold an event there.
Here you can see some of the casino.
We then went for drinks at What’s On TAP Weds at Duryea Way.
It was like a pop up beer garden with beers, wine and spiked sparkling waters. I tried the Raspberry Sour beer which was really good. We were able to walk there from the MGM Springfield.
We then walked to Student Prince for dinner. This German food was great and I loved the decor. The stained glass was beautiful. It was also much larger inside than it looked like from the outside.
We focused on the new Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum that opened in 2017.
There are many themed areas to check out and little play areas for kids.
This area has a little kitchen to play in.
This room was cool with Oh The Places You Will Go. If you go upstairs there are pieces of memorabilia and original pictures and writings from Dr. Seuss. It is really cool to check out.
Outside we ran in to Thing 2 which was really cool as Lauren was just a Thing in her dance recital finale.
There is also a cool Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden outside.
We then checked out the Science Museum which had some cool exhibits.
The dinosaur reminded us of the Museum of Science in Boston.
They even had a special Thomas exhibit.
We then went to the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum which had gorgeous art pieces and sculptures.
Last but not least we went to the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts which had a Van Gogh for All Exhibit that we enjoyed as it was interactive.
Lauren as part of a painting.
My favorite was Home, Here/En Casa done by GoodSpace Murals. This mural was created with input from the community and even depicts people in the community.
Another favorite for me was Ellos so van con el exodo aunque no se quieren ir" which means They leave with the exodus although they don't really want to" by Collectivo Morivivi. It is gorgeous.
Another place we visited was Six Flags New England. We have been there numerous times and always have a blast. There are tons of rides plus a water park.
I was excited to check out their newest ride Cyborg Hyper Drive. It is an extreme, new dark ride experience and the first dark ride to premiere at the Thrill Capital of New England since 1999. You are able to enter S.T.A.R. Labs to help Cyborg test a new technological device. As the story unfolds, the evil, sentient cybernetic system called GRID hacks into the mainframe and takes control of the entire lab. Riders find themselves caught up in the battle, spinning and whirling mercilessly through the air, while Cyborg wrestles to regain control of the enormous machine.
Here we are in the indoor queue area.
This ride spins and rocks as you sit in a seat. There are also video displays to tell the story.
Lauren went on Superman for the first time. This is a humongous roller coaster. It has a 221 foot drop and goes 77 miles per hour!
Here is Goliath. So much fun!
We started with the kids making their own candles which was super cool. You can pick your own colors and scents.
This was the finished product. Make sure to do this early in your visit as it takes an hour to set.
The kids also made wax molds of their hand. You can make them any color you want. For $8 you can do one color and for $12 multiple colors which is what Lauren did rainbow.
There is also a new candle making bar where you can choose your scents.
They have an adorable Christmas Village. Anything in there can be purchased and it even snows every four minutes.
There is even a toy store.
There are tons of candles.
Check out their specials as you enter.
There is more than just candles there. There is popcorn, fudge, jewelry, candy and even a Build-a-Bear.
The candy was really good and we even got to see the Dixies being made. They had a large selection and even ship their candy.
There is so much to see in Western Mass, go check it out!
Disclosure: I was provided this tour from the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitor Bureau. All food and attractions were given to me for promotional purposes. No other compensation was received and as always all opinions are my own.
Another cool thing is that Satander Bank is running free clinics and has one coming up on August 15th. You can read more here.
We always have a blast at New England Revolution games. There is so much excitement in the stadium plus it is a lower cost sport to go to for families.
The NE Revs started out right out of the gate with a quick goal to get the audience on their feet.
Evan brought two friends and they all loved being at the game.
