Travels With Hannah: Exploring North Central Massachusetts

I couldn’t figure out what all the ruckus was about. The streets of Leominster, Massachusetts — not even two hours southwest from where I live in the Bay State — were wild. People were pouring out of bars. I remembered, after a pause, that it was St. Patrick’s Day, Massachusetts’s unofficial holiday. It was also a Friday, which explained the explosion of enthusiasm onto the streets, right outside of The Fix Burger Bar, where, to begin our North Central Massachusetts weekend adventure, we were scheduled to dine.

Actually, dinner went off without a green-tinged hitch. Inside, my kids and husband and I enjoyed smash burgers (I got mine Big Mac-style, with special sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions on a sesame bun), thin and crispy fries, and chicken wings. An hour later, we were back on the road, headed, this time, for Great Wolf Lodge in nearby Fitchburg, the water park’s 12th location, which opened in 2014; New England will welcome its second regional location in 2025 in Mashantucket, Connecticut, on a 13-acre parcel of land that practically abuts the Foxwoods Casino.

Imagine Las Vegas, but for kids and the young at heart. That’s what Great Wolf Lodge is: over 120,000 square feet of entertainment, from its famed water park to its ropes course to its climbing wall to its bowling alley. From the moment we walked in, my two young boys were captivated. It was, my youngest said, the best hotel he had ever been to — and he had practically traversed the globe.

Rooms come with entrance to the park, but we also had two Wolf Passes, which entitled our kids to one round each of mini-golf; scoops of ice cream; cups of candy; free wands for playing the virtual game, MagiQuest, which runs the length of the building; one MagiQuest game; Paw Points arcade cards; admission to the ropes course; a double climb on the wall; a game each of bowling; and a leather bracelet with their name printed on it.

We had already eaten dinner, but the main event of the evening wasn’t over. A St. Patrick’s Day-themed dance party began around 8 p.m., and our kids joined in, singing and bopping with strangers until, right at the end, a cascade of green and white balloons was released from netting above, showering the dance floor.

The next morning, we began our day of fun. We headed straight for the water park after breakfast — the park opens at 9 a.m. daily — where we had reserved seating, a table and chairs in a private area in one of the park’s two separate rooms. The park boasts 14 total attractions, including a hot tub, a lazy river known as Crooked Creek, a wave pool, a few rafted rides, and some thrill-seeking rides designed for kids and adults over 48 inches tall. There are also areas best suited for younger kids, like Fort Mackenzie, where a slowly filling bucket constantly tips over, drenching the people below. My kids adored it.

Dining options abound at Great Wolf. We dried off and ambled over to Hungry as a Wolf, where pizza by the slice and by the pie are available (the venue sits right off of the arcade, which makes it easy to entertain impatient children). Then it was time to check off our enormous list of activities. We headed straight for the ropes course, where we defied gravity by tackling even the most befuddling of obstacles, high above the ground.

My eldest son discovered a nascent passion for rock climbing, pitting himself against the toughest of three wall challenges. Even as he fell off, he tried again and again, determined to reach the top.

We (well, the kids and I) went candle-pin bowling, tossing the Skee-Ball-sized balls down the alley — mostly into the gutter — getting creamed into oblivion by my husband, who is an improbably excellent bowler. And we spent a very long time playing miniature golf, even though it was only nine holes, two of us, at least, very thankful that the Lodge had decided against a longer course.

By dinnertime, all four of us were wiped, but not exhausted enough to forego dinner. The restaurant, Lodge Wood Fired Grill, provides a massive buffet every evening, and our kids happily filled their plates with pasta, bread, salad, and a panoply of dessert. Back in the room, they tucked into bunk beds, separated by a wall from us into their own wolf cave (this category of room is known as the KidCabin Suite), an adventure that they found nearly as thrilling as the ropes.

Our final day in North Central Massachusetts meant one more destination, a 15-minute drive over to Wachusett Mountain, in Princeton. The ski resort, which first opened to skiers in the 1930s, has 27 trails, eight lifts, and a 2006-foot summit. We took a few quick runs in the brilliant March morning and then headed off for lessons — the kids with their instructors and us with ours. We turned slow and wide down the mountain, learning to perfect our technique, and then stopping, every so often, to admire the conditions and the view.

Our ski instructor, who has been with the mountain for three decades, skied us into the mid-mountain Bullock Lodge Cider House, a 1930s-era stone warming hut operated by Phillipston, Massachusetts’s, Red Apple Farm. There, skiers can enjoy hot cider donuts, apple turnovers, coffee, cider, and more.

Every great trip must come to an end. Ours drew to a close at the Black Diamond Restaurant at the base lodge, high above the clamor, where we ate French onion soup and marinated steak tips and watched the light fade on the slopes. It was hard to believe we only had a little over an hour to drive to get home. A weekend away had felt, after all, like a true escape.