Sunken Garden Poetry & Music Festival

Sunken Garden Poetry & Music Festival Three-time US poet laureate Robert Pinsky kicks off the 2008 Sunken Garden Poetry & Music Festival with poetic musical group Merge. The festival runs every other Wednesday through Aug. 20 and showcases world-class poets and musicians, sometimes separating the two performances, sometimes merging them. Arrive an hour early to picnic on the grounds. If you go, know that this festival is strictly B.Y.O.S. (bring your own seating - lawn chairs, blankets, etc.). 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free admission; $10 onsite parking. Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, Conn.; 110 miles from Boston. hillstead.org

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" Want a luxury-box view of the history of baseball without the skyrocketing we-just-won-two-World-Series prices? "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is a collection of three exhibits on baseball history, from exhibits at the Bennington Museum featuring pro memorabilia (DiMaggio's jersey, Robinson's contract, Ted Williams's bat) and the history of Vermont amateur teams, to a Bennington Center for the Arts retrospective of Michael Schacht's silkscreen prints of baseball greats. Friday night admission is free and includes a shuttle between the sites. Warning to Red Sox nation: You pass through a turnstile from Yankee Stadium to enter the exhibit. Boo! Hiss! Fri: 3-8 p.m. Free. Museum: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. except Wed. Center: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. except Tues. $12, combined ticket; free under age 18. Museum: 75 Main St. (Route 9), Bennington, Vt. Center for the Arts: Route 9 at Gypsy Lane, Bennington, Vt.; 170 miles from Boston. Bennington Museum: 802-447-1571. Bennington Center for the Arts: 802-442-7158. www.benningtonmuseum.org or www.benningtoncenterforthearts.org

Saturday and Sunday
Wool days at Old Sturbridge Village The Sturbridge sheep are getting it taken off - all off. Wool Days at Sturbridge Village means shearing demonstrations and a chance to try your hand at the steps that transform dirty, tangled raw wool into something you'd want to wear. While you're there, take a spin around the common on the stagecoach, watch some old-fashioned baseball, or fish in the mill pond. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. $20; $18, seniors; $6 kids ages 3-17; $10, dads on Sunday. Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, Mass.; 59 miles from Boston. 800-733-1830. osv.org

Museum of New Hampshire History What do the etchings on the egg-shaped stone mean? How does it feel to sit in the middle of a wigwam? Can you climb a fire tower faster than your spouse? Find out at the Museum of New Hampshire History. Museum admission is free from Saturday through June 22 in celebration of the 85th anniversary of the Loudon Classic, the oldest motorcycle race in America. Mon-Sat, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun: noon-5 p.m. Free through June 22. Museum of New Hampshire History, 6 Eagle Square, Concord, N.H.; 68 miles from Boston. 603-228-6688. nhhistory.org