Things to Do in Marlborough

Still River Outfitters, Inc’s expert guides lead scenic tours through the Bay State's assortment of rivers and national parks. During kayak adventures, the guides shepherd crews along the Concord, Sudbury, Charles, and Assabet Rivers, pointing out blue-winged teal ducks in Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and feral battle reenactors grazing in Minute Man National Historic Park. On dry land, guides summon outdoor enthusiasts for hiking and snowshoeing adventures, teaching tour-goers how to navigate the land and properly use hiking equipment. Their trips usually include a snack to keep passengers fueled throughout the excursion or provide a handy toll for bridge trolls.

BBs fly across Citadel Airsoft's 60,000-square-foot indoor facility as marksmen square off in CO2-fueled contests. Three days a week, open skirmishes reward strategy in 30-minute games that follow a variety of rules and scenarios such as Downed Pilot, where rival teams compete to either rescue or capture a specific player. For more experienced sharpshooters, Citadel organizes indoor and outdoor simulations that test players' mettle with unique obstacles and targets painted on remote-control houseflies. First-time players can boost their airsoft skills during training events and add to their personal armory with safety equipment and supplies from the facility's onsite pro shop.

The digital chorus of more than 40 arcade games soars above the rhythmic click of caroming billiard balls on Jillian's of Worcester's emerald expanses of felt. Good-natured competition finds an outlet at air-hockey tables, and a plethora of racing games let friends match wits or join forces against their true enemy: traffic cones. Versions of Deal Or No Deal and Wheel of Fortune and a selection of brand-new high-definition games glow festively near 24 Brunswick billiards tables. Private parties migrate to a lounge, where projection screens and high-definition televisions broadcast sporting events or news. Guests twirl or covertly stomp bubble wrap on the dance floor to the thumping rhythms of live music or follow noses to an array of appetizers, pizzas, paninis, and dinner entrees dispensed from the full-service kitchen.

Seasoned ace Jim Fenner steadies unstable swings and smoothens out wobbly putts with lessons tailored to individuals, groups, or players hoping to address specific ailments within their golf game. A veritable Johnny Appleseed of golf, the passionate pedagogue roams about courses and teaching centers throughout the greater Worcester area, spreading golf wisdom and burying dimpled orbs that soon blossom into VHS copies of The Legend of Bagger Vance. Clients can catch Jim refining pupils' motions at one of the area's outdoor ranges and courses on sunny days or remedying trust issues between clubs and their owner at the indoor golf simulator of The Perfect Game, where he hibernates during the off-season chill.

When festival founder Anne-Marie Aigner first noticed the burgeoning food-truck scenes on the West Coast and the Midwest, her prescient mind foresaw that the tide would make its way to New England. In order to cultivate the nascent movement, she founded her food-truck-festival tour to bring dozens of trucks' eclectic wares to locales outside of Boston. Already scoring mentions in Boston and Worcester Mag in its first year, the festival has featured such four-wheeled kitchens as Redbones BBQ and Roxy's Grilled Cheese. Aigner hopes to sustain the food-truck industry beyond the festival's inaugural year by attracting interest throughout the region and motivating grassroots support for the mobile culinary spots and their future descendants, sandwich-slinging helicopters.

When PYOP Studio, Inc founder Vaishali Patel learned she was pregnant, she seized the rare opportunity to put her pottery painting skills to a mischievous use. So she picked out a bisque platter, painted the words “You’re going to be a perfect daddy” on its surface, covered it with chocolates, and presented it to her husband while they were picnicking on a lake.

Now, the innovative potter strives to empower budding artists to create their own pottery keepsakes at PYOP Pottery. She provides customers with more than 200 bisque pieces and 50 vibrant paints to choose from, and even helps new parents assemble footprint artwork to preserve memories and prove the existence of feet to their future, segway-powered great-grandchildren. Though her studio encourages customer to explore their own creative potential, on-staff artists are happy to create custom pieces.