Things to Do in Fitchburg

Cinema World’s movie theaters engage all of their patrons' senses with an ample lineup of amenities: digital-sound quality, 3-D images, the smell of freshly buttered popcorn, sweet sips of soda, and cushy chairs you can touch because they definitely are not holograms.

Joyous sounds reverberate off the walls at Mason Recreation Center, a decades-old entertainment emporium managed by a staff committed to keeping its guests entertained. Pins clatter on dozens of lanes designed for candlepin bowling, a variation on tenpin bowling that uses smaller balls and cylindrical pins that are not cleared away between frames so bowlers can hear their faint screams. The staff engineers the fun activities, hosting open bowling, overseeing league competition, and throwing birthday shindigs in private rooms. On several tournament-size tables, billiard balls clack against one another, and in the onsite arcade, video games bleep and purr like robots napping on magnets. In warm weather, the staff unfurls an 18-hole miniature golf course and opens an onsite sweets station that serves freshly scooped ice cream.

Looking to put a new spin on a classic family activity, the minds behind Glowgolf decided to give the game a phosphorescent update. Incandescent courses place friends and family amid a tropical-fantasy golf world of neon orange, green, and violet surroundings. Players putt luminous orbs through vibrant treasure chests and glimmering windmills while negotiating tricky obstacles near walls portraying black-light-lit aquatic scenes. With more than 20 locations spread over 10 states, Glowgolf's fluorescent labyrinths challenge human players and traveling gnomes.

North Ridge Mountain Guides founder Jamie Leahy first fell in love with scaling peaks while tackling the heights of Mount Washington. The AMGA certified single-pitch instructor has since defied gravity on inclines of ice and rock around the United States and in Ecuador, summiting peaks of more than 19,000 feet to touch the sky and harvest his crops of clouds by following a simple philosophy: climb hard, climb safe. This mantra guides his approach to teaching the ins and outs of belaying and rappelling and steers the expeditions he leads up the less-traveled routes of Mount Monadnock. He also shares the art of ice climbing with pupils during introductory courses that delve into subjects such as crampon placement, swinging an ice axe, and how to read the ice, which often obscures its messages in Wingdings fonts.

White pines, hemlocks, and white birches flourish on the 140 acres of New England countryside that golf-course architect Ted Manning—a Robert Trent Jones protégé—and US Women’s Open champ Mary Mills sculpted into a championship golf course for Townsend Ridge Country Club. Golfers can leave breadcrumb trails to find their way back as they swing through the forested links, hitting over the stream that splits the 3rd hole’s ryegrass fairway before heading uphill on a 474-yard, par-5 12th hole. The course’s signature par-4 14th hole demands a cautious approach, as balls that land past the pin find themselves rolling down a steep slope. At last, with the clubhouse in sight, golfers finish up at the 18th by launching their balls over a pond to land on a double green shared with hole 9.

Although it’s a daily-fee course, Townsend Ridge creates the feel of a private club with a driving range hemmed by 35 hitting stations and a pro shop that hosts two swing simulators. These let players keep in shape during wintery months by tackling digital recreations of the links at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. For more structured practice sessions, golfers can join lessons and get professional answers as to what’s the best grip for hitting out of the sand and what kind of bird lays golf balls.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-70 course

• Length of 6,188 yards

• Course rating of 70.2

• Slope rating of 125

• Three tee options

The famous fairways at Doral, Sawgrass, and Pebble Beach that make avid golfers salivate are assembled in one place at Lancaster Golf Center, though with one key difference—they’re in miniature. The lilliputian course eschews the windmills and lava pits of normal mini-golf links for smaller replicas of full-sized bunkers and water hazards. Nearby, the center’s driving range challenges golfers to take more forceful swings. Its 78 hitting stations unfurl both natural grass and artificial turf, and there is cover and heating for winter practice as well as illumination for night or when everyone is wearing really dark sunglasses. The practice area also boasts an 8,500-square-foot putting green, a chipping area, and a sand bunker.

Golfers start keeping score at Lancaster's nine-hole executive course, especially at its fifth, sixth, and seventh holes, which compose an Amen Corner that claims 526 of the course’s 1,057 yards. Before trekking across the fairways, players can hone their form during lessons with teaching professionals Dennis Lanciani and Jim Cronin, who boast more than 43 years of combined experience teaching golfers not to illegally attach wings to their balls. As the instructors offer advice, students’ children can entertain themselves at nine batting cages or with bank-shot basketball. Before heading home, visitors of all ages can enjoy a frozen treat from the center's stock of Richardson’s Ice Cream.