Rout
116/ Whately
Whately Diner
If your one of the many who stay up past 11:00 at night chances are you have or will end up here some time. By no means a secret hang out, this little nook is standard issue for all creatures of the night in the valley. In fact it's the only diner most know of that's open 24/7. Your only other choices tend to be Dunken Doughnuts or a 24 hour Supermarket. To be fair it's actually pretty damn neat inside. It's a truck stop, the diner has a 50's look, the food is good the bathrooms vend out cologne, condoms and novelty sex items as well as have coin operated showers. The downfall is that the place is usually packed because it's the only place open late at night. It is a good mix of truck drivers, local yokels and hep-cats, which can be interesting.
Yankee Candle Factory
Take a right at the end of 116 instead of a left (to go to the diner, there's road signs for this place). Soon you'll see the massive Yankee Candle Factory on the left. This beautiful tribute to consumerism will surely tweak your senses! Besides A candle outlet store which will destroy your sense of smell and make you feel like you huffed glue an hour before, there's also a wonderful car museum which I haven't been in because it costs money. But the real treat is yet to come! There is also a Winter land with Santa working in his workshop almost every single day. And Medieval land, and a toy store, and Germany land with the famous Oompah Band (above) playing shows every 5 minutes! And some nutty old geezer on a boat tells you what to do and how wonderful things are. It's the closest thing to Disneyland in the Valley. I heard this story about some Hampshire College student who did a whole bunch of LSD and spent a day their. Legend has it that he became the third member of the Oompah Band.
Dove's Nest
Unlike the Whately Diner, the Dove's Nest is a
place to go when you just want some cheap, good food with a quiet friendly
atmosphere of a small town diner. It's about half way from UMASS to the
Whately Diner on the left next to a 7 Eleven. Only open during the daytime
this is much more of a weekend morning little place to go and get away from
everything, a special place to celebrate or just a nice place to bond with
friends. I've only eaten here for breakfast, which is awesome, but the
other food sounds good too. And the Chef is pretty damn cool as
well. I'd say if you can get 2-5 Mutants together early enough on a
Saturday or Sunday morning head out there and have a good breakfast (another
plus is that the staff separates each persons order so you each get your own
bill!). Then head to Yankee Candle Factory for entertainment.
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