Things to Do in Ashland

Saba Alhadi was visiting her retired father when she received the phone call. A man on the other end, with a British accent, informed her he'd seen her photos of the city of Boston. He worked with Random House and wanted to publish her work—provided she write a book about the city and furnish it with her photographs of 16 historic sites. More than five years later, Saba's book, Boston in Photographs can be found on gift-shop shelves in the Old State House. Formerly a travel agent, she began building her portfolio as she turned her lens on the city and developed photography walking tours through historic neighborhoods.

On each of her tours, she reveals historic details such as brick sidewalks, verdant cemeteries, Romanesque courtyards, and flower-packed window boxes, and encourages those on her tour to look for unlikely subjects. Meanwhile, she interlaces the history with photo tips on how colors on different buildings complement each other, how a reflection of a historic church in a window can become a composition, and how to keep a historic interpreter from startling when the shutter goes off. She also devises scavenger hunts throughout Victorian neighborhoods, sending participants scattering to decode cryptic clues that draw on notable local facts, such as which districts were once home to wealthy citizens and which homes have pools in the backyard.

Housed inside Boston's monumental textile mill, the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation invites guests on a trek through American history with a collection of artifacts dating as far back as 1812. Throughout the building's hallowed halls, interactive displays cleverly disguise education as amusement, coaxing visitors both young and old to steer a 19th-century fire engine, play a foot-powered piano, and teach an antique telephone switchboard how to send text messages. Enduring exhibits also showcase Waltham's industrious past with displays dedicated solely to textiles, watches and clocks, and transportation, including bicycles and penny-farthings powered by shredded pieces of yellow journalism. Members can take advantage of such perks as complimentary museum admission, invitations to special events, and unlimited use of the museum library.