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This weekend was our one and only chance to find a place to live in Lowell, MA before we move there in July for my husband's new position at University of Massachusetts Lowell. We had three days to learn the area, find the ideal place to live, and meet a few of our new neighbors.
Lowell, MA is located about 30-45 minutes northwest of Boston. It's main attraction seems to be the university, but there's plenty more to see in Lowell. On the first Saturday of each month you can get a sneak peek into the thriving artist community known as Western Avenue Studios (WAS) during their monthly open house. During this time of year there's also White Water Rafting downtown and rowing on the Merrimack, which seems to be a very popular sport with both the University and the local High School having huge Crew teams. There are also plenty of festivals year round, as well as new developments to help keep the city in a state of constant improvement. They also happen to be filming a movie in downtown Lowell, which we were able to get a sneak peak of in between the massive trailers and equipment semis (sorry, no cool pics).
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Lowell is that much of the city is actually considered a National Historic Park. Between the rivers and canal system, the water is everywhere- lined by old mills and factories being renovated and turned into apartments and condos with large, gorgeous windows, tall ceilings, and hardwood floors. It definitely made the decision about finding a place to live really difficult!!
(this is my "how many more places do we have to look at?? 'Cause I'm worn out" look.)
Ultimately we decided on a place that allowed us to keep our dog, have on-site parking, and gave us plenty of room to include a wonderful home office for me with room to have other people work with me!! It's walking distance to downtown, the train station, and it has plenty of room to entertain. We also had a chance to hang out with some of our new "neighbors". There are a lot of amazing photographers in the New England area, and I was so grateful to the people who were able to join us for brunch on Sunday at Ryles Jazz in Cambridge!!!
Super sweet couple, The Feds.
Jamison Wexler and The Smiths.
Eric Laurits never ceases to crack me up!
The beautiful and fashionable Shyla- also new to the area!
Tony Yu and Krista Guenin
Tony's adorable daughter...
Robert Mirani
Stacy Doyle
Jeff Newcum
.. and to everyone who I didn't manage to get a photo of, thank you so much!!! I'm so glad we could meet!! I also have to give a huge hug to Liz, who Alex has been pen pals with for quite a while before our trip. Liz and her husband gave us some great information about the area and shared a wonderful meal with us at Centro in downtown Lowell...
Random things I learned on my trip to the Boston area...
- There are more Dunkin' Donuts than Starbucks (this might be a problem)
- Regular Coffee means Cream & Sugar
- Chances of having your car broken into when parked on the street in Boston= high
- New Hampshire = No Sales Tax
- "Jimmies" are candy sprinkles for doughnuts or ice cream
- Everyone's a sports fan- especially a Red Sox fan
- Everything is a "short drive" away
- If it doesn't serve alcohol, it probably closes early
