River Walk & Steampunk Festival

Today I attended the Waltham Land Trust’s free, public guided walking tour along the Charles River during the Steampunk Festival. It was beautiful weather for a walking tour, which included a mix of history, conservation, and wildlife (including some avian arial combat when a red-tailed hawk got too close for comfort for some other birds). After the river walk, it was also great to meet several local Waltham groups that had booths at the festival on the common, including folks from the Waltham Historical Society, Waltham Pride, and the Waltham Little Queer Library. I also got a delicious sweet potato slider from Ya Mother’s Truck N Kitchen, which I learned is a Waltham-based food truck that regularly provides meals for sale at Might Squirrel Brewery.

Fish Ladder at the Moody St Dam

Even though I’ve walked past it many times, I never realized that the Moody St dam has a conservation feature — a permanent and robustly constructed “fish ladder” enabling fish to safely navigate upstream of the dam.

Birthplace of America’s Industrial Revolution

Before the walk I knew about the city’s history as the “watch city” and that there were numerous mills and factories in the 19th century, but today I learned that Waltham was home to the continent’s first modern watermill to power a textile factory.

Mosaics at Charles River Museum

Thanks to Sonja Wadman from the Waltham Land Trust in her steampunk tour guide outfit, explaining the history of industrialization and conservation along the Charles River.

Beaver Brook Outlet

As someone who has lived along the Beaver Brook, I was always curious how it connected to the Charles River. I learned that my confusion was warranted since a long stretch is channeled underground from Main St over to the outlet by the Newton St bridge!

Mary T. Early Pedestrian Bridge

I learned about the conservation and community advocacy by the namesake of the pedestrian bridge across the Charles River near the Shaw’s parking lot.

Baby Geese

The tour was careful not to disturb this family of geese as we returned back to the Steampunk Festival.