Is it just me, or do we all tend to forget about things to do and resources to take advantage of when they are so close to home, because we see them too often? Maybe it’s just me.
Thanks to Jay’s January 2023 heart rate of 21 pacemaker adventure, we need to occasionally go in to Boston to see his fancy new cardiologist. The last time we drove in, we pretty much talked the whole way about how glad that’s not our regular commute, and how do people stand driving into Boston every day? And we only drove in, went to a doctor’s appointment, had lunch and then drove home. I don’t know how someone would drive in, work an entire day, and then have to deal with the hassle of getting out of Boston in the afternoon.
Then Jay said, why don’t we just take the train next time. The train? You mean the one right next to the gas station I go to twice a week? Yeah, sure let’s try that.
We looked at the schedule, and sure enough, we could drive 4 miles from home, pay $3 to park, walk on an uncrowded train, and spend the next hour and a half chatting, looking at the scenery, or writing this story.
The cost to go from Westminster’s Wachusett Station to MGH/North Station was $12.25 per person each way. Our total transportation for two people, including parking, was $52. Although that sounds like a lot, the train is a no-brainer for me going forward–as I see it, a better use of time and money than to get in the car, pay for the gas, the wear and tear on the vehicle, and paying to park when we finally do get there. And not getting in any arguments about how I drive on the way there, priceless.
Here’s the information page with timetables for trains to and from Wachusett Station.
What else is so close to home that we either take it for granted or forget it exists? I don’t think I can get home without driving by a trailhead for Leominster State Forest, Wachusett Mountain State Reservation, Princeton Land Trust land or the Midstate Trail. Maybe that should be next.