Kimball Farms - Mini-Golf, Ice Cream & Air Hockey, Oh My!!

In the last month, we've made two trips to Kimball Farms.  Our next door neighbors first told us about this magical place a few months ago, and we couldn't wait to go.  What is Kimball Farms, you might ask?  It's acres of fun...that's what it is!  We went to their Westford location (about 50 minutes outside of Boston), which has 2 mini-golf courses, bumper boats, an arcade, petting zoo, batting cages, a par 3 course (they call it "pitch and putt"), a "grill", and massive amounts of homemade ice cream!

The first time we went to Kimball Farms was with our friends Dave and Kirstin.  Their website said everything was open until 10pm, so we decided we had plenty of time to eat dinner at their house before heading to Westford.  When we got there, we saw a sign saying ice cream actually closed at 8:30 that night, so we decided to do that first.  The ice cream servings are HUGE and delicious!  This is a small serving...needless to say, I wasn't able to finish it (but came close!!!).  :)

After eating ice cream, we made our way to the mini-golf counter.  We were met by a few teens who told us they'd stopped letting people play for the evening.  When I asked why, the girl said "We're already not going to leave on time tonight...there are a lot of people playing, so no one else can play."  Since their website didn't say anything about a "last round", and it was just before 9pm (plenty of time for four 30 year olds to play a round of mini-golf), I asked if she'd make an exception and let us play.  We certainly wouldn't be the ones holding things up (can't you tell we're fantastic mini-golfers?).  She just said "No.  We're already going to have to stay late tonight."

Ugh.  I wasn't happy (since we'd driven almost an hour to play mini-golf), but we decided to make the best of it and head to the arcade.  They've got a great arcade with all the classic games we were looking for.  After some ski ball, we decided to pay some two-on-two air hockey.  Everyone left happy, as Trav and Dave won one game, and Kirstin and I won another.  :)

This past Friday, Travis and I went back to Kimball Farms to continue our mini-golf saga, and left REALLY early to make sure we'd have plenty of time.  We had dinner by the farm animals (burgers, fries, and watermelon...perfect for a summer night) and had a great time watching the goats.  Most goats I've seen aren't too keen on being petted all the time - they usually suffer through the petting with the hopes of a "french fry thank you", but these goats LOVED being petted!  Every time someone walked up to the fence, the goats came running and would put their heads up to the fence to graciously accept the happy rubs.  It was very cute.  We even watched one dad pick his kids up by the ankles and dangle them headfirst over the fence so they could pet the goats' heads.  So funny.

After dinner we DID get to play mini-golf, and it was great.  The holes are interesting and well kept, and there are lots of fun things to look at as you go!  I won't tell you who won (since it wasn't me), but we had a fantastic time!

I managed to hit my ball off a rock, over the walkway, and into the woods. Maybe this is why I didn't win. At least it found a friend!

We'll be back soon for more fun.  Kimball Farms was quite a fantastic surprise...I just wish they'd update their hourly information online to reflect what actually occurs.  :)

Seagrove Pottery Day Trip & Yates Mill

Saturday of last week, we took a trip to Seagrove, NC, one of the largest community of potters in the United States.  With almost 100 shops and galleries scattered throughout the area, you could drive around and look at these beautiful works of art all day.

Mom and dad have each gone several times, but this was my first visit.  Travis and I love going places like this (see our visit to Antique Alley in New Hampshire), so I had obviously been hoping to visit Seagrove for quite some time.

Seagrove is out in middle of nowhere - quite a nice change from city life.  Lots of winding roads and cows do the heart good.

We started the day at Bulldog Pottery.  I'd seen on Facebook that they were having their Open Kiln that day - I had no idea what that meant, but we were all for it!  As we were trying to find our way there, we had to laugh at the "city" planning.  As we were looking for their house number, we realized none of the numbers were in any particular order - we'd pass 2264, then 2280, then 2168, then 2270, 2423, 2380, and 2435...all on the same side of the road.  No particular order...no right/left, even/odd pattern.  We finally got there and realized an open kiln is just an open house - snacks & lots of work displayed.

Their pottery was BEAUTIFUL.  I took some fantastic pictures I was SO excited to show you all, but my camera malfunctioned and I lost about 60 of my pictures from the first half of the day.  SUCH a bummer, and I'm still not sure what happened.  The pictures below are from their facebook page - go check it out to see more of their work!  It was clean and contemporary, the colors were fantastic, and the shapes of the vases were beautiful.  Mom ended up buying a bowl, which you'll see later.

Their shop - photo from Bulldog Pottery Facebook page

Some of the work they had for sale - photo from Bulldog Pottery Facebook Page

Our next stop was mom's favorite - Dover Pottery.  The potter and her two sons all have stores in Seagrove, and their work is beautiful.  To get to her shop, you turn down a dirt path and drive through the woods for a good ways.  After a few minutes of off-roadin', you come to a cluster of old barns.  Her shop is in one of these barns, and it is so cool!  It had wood panel walls, uneven brick floors, large dark beams in the ceilings, stained glass windows, and was full of beautiful antique cabinets displaying her work.

Dover Pottery - photo courtesy of their Facebook page

My favorite of her work is the crystalline glazed pieces.  These crystal patterns are produced by a specific glaze formulation and controlled firing procedures.  When fired, the cooling cycle is slowed, allowing portions of the glaze to separate from the batch, forming the crystals.  We got a few of these pieces, which you'll see below!

After Dover Pottery, we decided to grab some lunch.  On the way to the restaurant  we passed by some of the funniest looking goats ever.  Some looked like regular goats (1-2 colors per goat), but others had crazy spotted patterns all over their bodies.  I guess everything in Seagrove must be beautiful.

Here are some pictures from the rest of the day.  Our 5 favorite shops were Dover Pottery, Bulldog Pottery, Dirt Works, Frank Neef, and Dean & Martin.

After lunch, we went to Dirt Works Pottery.  I found a Christmas present for Travis (yes...I know Christmas is 9 months away) and a tiny pot used to hold toothpicks.  As I was checking out, we realized we'd hit this shop on the perfect day - his once a year customer appreciation sale, where everything was 25% off!  Mom had been eyeing a large plate, so this sale was all she needed to turn right back around and buy it.  Perfect timing!

Dirt Works Pottery

Frank Neef had some of the most impressive and beautiful work we saw all day.  He does a lot of crystalline pottery, but takes it a step further by adding hand cut designs to his work.  His work was so perfect - I can't imagine how he does it.  We got to chat with his wife, who runs the shop, for a while, and she told us a little about life in Seagrove.  It was nice to hear that Seagrove is a tight-knit community that really supports one another.  They moved to the area about 4 years ago and were a little worried about how they'd be accepted.  Would long-time residents be wary of new competition?  After a few weeks, they realized that wasn't how it would be at all, and they have enjoyed living in a community of like-minded artists who are encouraging and uplifting to each other...and to newcomers!

Here are some other shots from the day.

Johnston & Gentithes Studio

Whynot Pottery

Whynot Pottery

McCanless Pottery

McCanless Pottery

McCanless Pottery

Great White Oak Gallery

Such a fun day.  Now...here's what we came home with.

3 Crystalline pots from Dover Pottery.  (left - right) A thank you for Jess, who was keeping Toby, one I took back to Boston, mom's new multicolored pot.

(Left - Right) A mug for Travis from Dover, my tiny toothpick holder from Dirt Works, and a bowl from Bulldog Pottery.

A platter I got from the Pottery Expo in town.

Mom's plate she purchased from Dirt Works is on the left, 2nd row from the top!
We had fun re-styling her shelves to fit it in.

On the way home, we decided to stop by Yates Mill Park, a 174 acre wildlife refuge and environmental research center.  It was beautiful - such a peaceful place to walk around!