Appleton Farms Grass Rides

On Friday, October 30, we had our first snow of the season.  We got a whole 6" leaving more than a little frost on the pumpkins.  But that won't deter me from getting out of town this weekend.

One more fried seafood run.  That was the pretext for our hiking adventure today.  But our favorite gluten-free fried seafood place is up in Essex near Cape Ann.  I check the Trustees' Special Places book again and find several options.  But hey, as long as we're heading to the North Shore, why not ping our reliable friends in Marblehead.  Their response to my text:  "Where and when?". 

So we're off to Appleton Farms and Grass Rides, a large property in Hamilton, MA.  The "farm" part is pretty self-explanatory, but that said, there is also a farm store and people can own CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares of various crop products.  Other parts of the property include "grass rides", which is an English term for "carriage paths".  These wide trails make for easy hiking to view the open spaces.

You get the idea of the "Grass Rides" as Betsy and Kay walk along.

We take a right turn detour (see map) down this tree-lined "grass ride" to see...

an interesting and uniquely shaped monument of some kind.

There's quite a bit of variety on this property:  wide open farmland and tall trees, too.

We take another detour.  There's a large semi-circular wall here, but no clear indication what this area was used for on the farm.  Perhaps some kind of mill stone structure? 

The farm operations and store are just across the pasture.

Looking back, we could have extended our walk somewhat because we accidentally made a left turn a bit too early.  That was a blessing, however;  had we done that we would have gotten pretty soaked.  As it was, you can see the puddles in the road walking back to the cars.

Our walk was short, only 2.13mi  and 128ft of elevation.  But it wasn't about the distance, it was about having time together.  Afterward, it was about a 14 minute drive to our restaurant

Ahh...

the pièce de résistance:  seafood chowder, gluten- free Flisherman's Platter, and cole slaw (for 2).  A great way to top off the afternoon.

Thanks for the great time, friends.