Visit this hidden little gem in Massachusetts

My son and I recently found this hidden little gem of a town in Massachusetts, Shelburne Falls!

You drive through a downtown street lined with old brick buildings filled with shops and businesses. Each of the parking meters and power boxes are painted something different like a dog, a crab, a car, flowers etc. Straight ahead is a beautifully constructed iron bridge. To the left is a road taking you down to an area called "glacial potholes." Here you will see a huge crater area with a dam and waterfall.

According to the town website https://www.shelburnefalls.com/vistor-information/3-see-the-glacial-potholes-in-the-center-of-shelbu

The "Glacial Potholes" began to form after the last glacier age when the Deerfield River first started to flow over these rocks, about 14,000 years ago. The formation of these river-eroded features thanks to the great glacial lake, Lake Hitchcock, that filled the Connecticut Valley and also extended into the lower Deerfield Valley. While Shelburne Falls was not under Lake Hitchcock, it was under the sediments of the Deerfield River that built a delta into the lake. Lake Hitchcock drained by 14,000 years ago. The Deerfield River was then able to cut downward into its delta sediments. During this erosive process, which continues today, the river found itself on top of the gneiss bedrock and could start eroding holes in the hard gneiss.

After you're finished taking in this beautiful area and get back to the iron bridge, look to your right, that is The Bridge of Flowers. Find a parking space and go for a walk, this bridge is definitely something to see! This bridge was once a useable trolley bridge that became unsafe to use. Now it is a beautiful garden.

More about this from their website https://www.shelburnefalls.com/index.php/40-things-to-do/attractions

When the trolley bridge was discontinued in 1928, it became an eyesore. Women of the town looked at it and thought it could grow flowers just as well as weeds. The Shelburne Falls Women’s Club took over management and maintenance of the plantings, and a subcommittee oversees it to this day. Eighty loads of loam and several loads of fertilizer were spread over the Bridge, and the first flowers were planted in 1929.

Today, the Bridge of Flowers is a perfect example of a mixed border, with flowering trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, bulbs and annuals that keep the Bridge in glorious bloom from April 1 to October 30. They are cared for by the volunteer Blossom Brigade. Every year, tens of thousands of visitors from as far away as China come to admire the Bridge and take away happy memories of a small rural town with a great beauty at its heart.

Leading us to another great place to visit while there, the Trolley Museum. Depending on where you parked follow the signs up the hill.

The Trolley Museum is a moment of history frozen in time. Even though the actual museum building was closed due to COVID-19 we enjoyed walking the grounds and seeing all of the old trolley cars outside. Each car even has a display placard telling you more about that car.

More from their website https://www.sftm.org/index.shtml

The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum is dedicated to preserving and operating Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway trolley car No. 10. This car was built by Wason Manufacturing Co. in Springfield MA in 1896. It was delivered new to Shelburne Falls and has never left the valley. For thirty years it served its namesake towns. For twenty years it crossed the Deerfield River on what is now the famous Bridge of Flowers. Saved by a local farmer, it spent sixty-five years as a chicken coop, tool shed and play house. Now, through the efforts of the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, you can ride it in the same freight yard where it used to load and unload passengers, apples, mail, milk and other freight, one hundred years ago.

Even with all the COVID-19 restrictions going on we still managed to have a great time while staying socially distant and safe. We look forward to visiting again when everything is over so we can go inside.

Have any of you ever been to this little town and visited these sites? If so, share your stories and pictures. If not, you should definitely add it to your list.