The Jackpot! Wards Berry Farm in Sharon.

Sharon, MA was voted the "Best Small Town in the USA" in 2013 by CNN Money, and the play area at Wards Berry Farm is one of the many, many reasons why it deserves that vote. We hit the jackpot. The play area has an all-natural setting surrounded by farmland on one side, and goodies like coffee, tea and muffins on the otherside. Parents have a place to sit and sip an ice coffee, and kids get their thrills. Everyone is happy.

There are stinky farm animals that the kids will want to pet, picnic tables and a public bathroom. We love the old school horse swings. Creek. Creek. 

The only other farm with a play area that we know of is Lookout Farm in Natick, but supposedly there is an entrance fee that includes other attractions like a kiddie train. Painful. We might miss that train. We want cheap thrills.

Mayor Thomas Menino Park, Charlestown @ Spaulding Rehad

For two decades, Mayor Menino understood our natural and essential need for open space and cultivated a city wrapped in gardens, playgrounds, greenways and parks, and like the tangled roots of a bed of Lily of the Valley, the city is cushioned by a beautiful, intoxicating groundcover. Like a gardener who has found the perfect spot for the perfect flower, Mayor Menino looked out his window of the Spaulding Rehad in Charlestown where he was under care, and saw the perfect spot for a park that patients and families could enjoy, and for a time, forget their physical limitations and challenges.

After all, every parent should be able to push their child on a swing or hold their child's hand down a slide, and every child should be able to feel the thrill and pride when rocking a seesaw or spinning on a merry-go-round. At his last and poignant ribbon cutting ceremony, Mayor Menino said, "The park here at Spaulding reflects my commitment to build a city that works for all of our people, not just some of our people." There are no limits to the imagination of any child at the Mayor Menino Park.