December 21st is the first day of winter. Although the season starts the 21st of December many consider it so be winter somewhere around thanksgiving.
Winter is classified as the coldest season of the year. Winter holds the shortest days and longest nights. The season holds many cozy yet chilly things to do especially in this cold New England weather.
In Boston the commons have an ice skating rink on the frog pond that costs five dollars for daily admission and nine dollars for skate rentals. Kids have free admission and have five dollar skate rentals. There is a two dollar locker fee and eight dollar fee for sharpening skates for those interested.
The rink is open until ten on Fridays and Saturdays and until nine the rest of the days. except Monday when they are only open until four. On December 31st they will be holding a skating spectacular where you can watch professional skaters perform.
The Frog Pond Cafe is open all the same times as the skating rink is open. The cafe offers snacks such as onion rings, chips, candy and pretzels. A specialty of theirs is a Belgian waffles with a choice of nutella, whipped cream or maple syrup as a topping. They also offer some meal like options as well such as mac n cheese, hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, chowder, and hamburgers. They of course offer hot cocoa.
Another ice skating option is the indoor ice skating rink in Franklin. The ice skating rink is located on Panther way for those who don’t know. On Friday nights they have a DJ going with admissions five dollars and five dollars for skate rentals.
For an outdoor yet close to home option there is the ice skating rink at Patriots place. The admission is eight dollars with a four dollar skate rental. Aside from the multiple restaurants at the patriots place there will be a Dunkin Donuts concession stand available on site serving coffee, hot chocolate and donuts. If you bring a gently used or new winter coat for cradles to crayons they will knock two dollars off of the admission price.
At our very own Franklin High there is a ski and board club that heads to Nashoba. The club visits Nashoba on Monday’s starting January seventh until February 24th. To get the exact dates click here.
Ski and board club isn’t the only way to go skiing or snow boarding though. The closest places are Nashoba and Wachusett. At Nashoba a day ticket is $48 on a weekend and $38 on a weekday while there is an additional $35 for the rental of Ski’s and boots or a board and boots.
Nashoba also has tubing held at different location than the skiing and snow boarding. It only costs $28 for a two hour tubing session. At Wachusett a ticket is $58 on a weekend and $53 on a week day while the rentals are $34 for the ski’s and boots or a board and boots.
At Old Sturbridge village they have sleigh rides and horse drawn rides. The price is included in the admission price which is $24 for adults and eight dollars for youths which includes 17 year olds. They also have many holiday themed events including brunch with Santa.
The sleigh rides and horse drawn rides are offered on the weekends and during winter break. If there is enough snow on the ground the sleigh will be available otherwise it will be a horse drawn ride with wheels.
Another free option during the long winter is sledding. Almost everybody has at least one sled tucked away somewhere in their basement or garage. It can be fun to act like a kid for a little while even if you’re dressed up like an Eskimo.
“I love sledding it’s my favorite” gushed Franklin High senior Samantha Stratton.
“My favorite part of winter? Christmas obviously” Franklin High School senior Stacey Johnson stated.
Christmas and other Holidays such and Hanukkah tend to be the best part of winter. The presents and family time generally call for good times.
So even if you don’t get to do any of the above activities this winter the holidays are fun alone.