Things to Do in Shrewsbury

Golfers across the handicap spectrum practice bogey-thwarting skills at Natick Golf Learning Center, where PGA- and LPGA-certified pros preside over a multifaceted outdoor practice facility. The center’s outdoor driving range offers 75 artificial and natural-grass hitting mats; two chipping greens, a putting green, and a practice bunker let players practice their finesse shots. During daily lessons, the pros enlist video analysis and other teaching aids to help pupils tackle new skills or correct recent on-course weaknesses.

Climbers cling to a large steel building, strategizing their way up the side of the rock-like cliff. They have come to conquer Central Rock Climbing's 14,000 square feet of indoor mountains, climbing walls reaching 15–40 feet in height. Resident instructors and staff members stand by to offer guidance and expertise to novices as they strive to master the basics of belaying. The gym's members enjoy unlimited climbing as well as 3,500 square feet of bouldering and more than 60 climbing stations. Guests also hone their physiques with free weights, yoga, and Pilates classes. The staff furnishes gear rentals for those who don't have their own. To get to the top of the climbing walls, climbers are required to carry, at minimum, a harness, climbing ropes, and a clear yodeling voice.

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.

In Boylston, 132 acres rest untouched by modern society, where warm breezes send flower petals dancing and sidewalks give way to winding trails. Tower Hill Botanic Garden envelops visitors in fields of green grass, tall trees, and colorful flowers across both outdoor areas and indoor garden spaces. Staff members educate guests on the gardens’ various flora and fauna in classes and programs calibrated for students of every age. Special events, such as the African Violet Show, shine the spotlight on even more species of flowers, much like the wildflower-identification portion of standard driving tests.

Inside Bikram Yoga’s two practice spaces, instructors crank up the thermostat to sultry temperatures to loosen up students’ muscles during 90-minute yoga sessions, helping increase flexibility and range of motion while building muscle tone. Instructors pay special attention to coaching newbies during each class, teaching Bikram’s 26 postures and two breathing exercises to help students of all fitness levels stretch out joints or baby injuries and appendages put out of commission due to hostile negotiations during teamwork-building human knots. Each instructor trained directly under Bikram Choudhury—the creator of Bikram Yoga—to ensure that pupils receive safe, easy-to-follow instruction that bolsters health and clears minds.

Making that first mark on a blank canvas can be intimidating, but the only way to create a masterpiece is to put paint on the canvas. To help the process, the professional artists behind Just Paint bolster creative intuitions with step-by-step instructions during each of their sessions. While teachers offer assistance, students of all skill levels sip on their favorite BYOBs as they slather canvases with vibrant hues and bold brush strokes. In addition to their usual sessions, Just Paint also hosts private parties for birthdays, weddings, and baby showers. They offer classes for kids, as well as three-day summer art camps featuring fun themes and projects, such as sports, fashion, and famous neck beards.