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Star Travel Center

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“ I didn't even see a sign that said "gas this exit" or anything, I just actually saw the station itself and swerved off the highway to get to it. ” in 2 reviews

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2606 Fm 174

Bowie, TX 76230

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They had the cutest nick knacks. I could spend hours looking at all the cute items in the store. The prices were also very reasonable. We ate lunch here. The food was so good. I got a burger that was very good. Customer service also was spectacular.

Burger was huge

Great travel stop. Amazing assortment of snacks, clean bathrooms, delicious smelling food, and cute clothes to check out. Definitely a great place to stop on a long road trip.

This place came out of nowhere. I was actually beginning to kind of stress because I was running very low on gas and Yelp could not find any gas stations or anything around me (This page wasn't made yet. I actually made it while here). I didn't even see a sign that said "gas this exit" or anything, I just actually saw the station itself and swerved off the highway to get to it. Turns out even though they could make a fortune by charging through the roof for gas, seeing as there's not very many other choices, they still had reasonable if not low prices, plus when I went inside, I was entirely surprised. It was really nice inside. It was like a cross between a regular store and your normal convenient store, plus the bathrooms were immaculate. Also, one of the employees gave me a full coffee pot of hot water to bring outside and pour on my mirrors because they were frozen and I couldn't even see anything in them. So great customer service. Not sure what, if anything, is around here, but if there are any other choices, choose this place instead.

We always pass through Bowie on our way to the metro. Never had an issue. This time we stopped due to needing a car charger. We headed out and tried charging phone but it didnt work it the battery . So on way back we stopped and the person in charge so called manager. Said she couldn't give us money back or on electronics. We didnt get a receipt. For one we didnt want money back. We just wanted a charger that worked. The 2 girls that helped were nice but manager wasnt. They did say we could get something else for the exchange. But we got another charger. Than she said no more exchange. So we went outside to see if it worked and didnt. Than my husband went back in and the other lady was nice but than her comes the so called manager yelling at him like he is a child. She said i already told you i am not giving you money back. No one wanted money back just a charger that work. Not professional at all.

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Star Travel Center

You can share perfectly cooked hamburgers , philly cheese steaks and philly steaks with your friends and spend a good time here. This restaurant offers good coffee among its drinks. Star Travel Center is famous for its great service and friendly staff, that is always ready to help you. You will pay adequate prices for your meal. The atmosphere of this place is nice. Based on the users' feedback on Google, this place deserved 4.2.

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Star Travel Center

2606 Fm 174, Bowie , Texas 76230 USA

• Independent
• Credit Cards Accepted

Learn more about this business on Yelp .

Star Travel Center in Bowie, Texas is North Texas' destination for Shopping, Dining and Fueling Up. We offer a wide variety of souvenirs, truck and auto accessories, snacks, beverages and everything else you can imagine for travelers from far and near.

Reviewed by Jack S.

awesome service and great burgers Olivia was great she was very nice and great service Read more

Reviewed by Bruce K.

Quick convenience store and gas station along US-287 north of Bowie. A big selection of snacks, drinks and even some interesting gifts. Bag of jerky? Yes, please. The gas station in the front has... Read more

Reviewed by Manuel G.

Stopped for gas and wanted to grab something quick to eat. Luckily, inside the gas station there is a burger cafe. We ordered two cheeseburgers that came quick and the friendly singing chef... Read more

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• Sun: 6:00 am - 7:00 pm
• Mon: 6:00 am - 10:00 pm
• Wed: 12:00 am - 11:59 pm

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Menu for Star Travel Center in Bowie, TX

• Contact: (940) 872-8804

American North American

Staff required to disinfect surfaces between visits , wheelchair accessible entrance , wheelchair accessible parking lot , quick visit , read more friendly staff quick service -->.

Star Travel Center in Bowie, TX, is a American restaurant with average rating of 4.4 stars. Curious? Here’s what other visitors have to say about Star Travel Center. Today, Star Travel Center will be open from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. Don’t risk not having a table. Call ahead and reserve your table by calling (940) 872-8804 . Other attributes on top of the menu include: staff required to disinfect surfaces between visits. For a similar meal experience, check out Dos Chiles Grandes Cafe and Armadillo Grill as an alternative. Have you dined here before? Leave a review!

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2606 FM174, Bowie TX 76230, USA

startravelcenter.com

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The first time I ate here was in the middle of the night. It was amazing! But randomly, the worker will decide that they won't ... cook for you when you call in. Read more

I absolutely adore this truck stop. I ordered three eggs, sausage, toast, biscuits and gravy and sliced tomatoes with a drink ... for under $15 The staff were very friendly and helpful and I was promptly served. The little shopping center has somewonderful clothing boots and handbags for men women and children. And also a nice selection of perfumes and colognes. The giftshop inside of the gas station has tons of cowboy themed bobbles and artwork. I was quite happy with the ladies restroom as itwas very clean. The staff were friendly and helpful. The small town everyone knows everyone atmosphere was lovely Read more

One of the most expensive places to buy diesel between an Amarillo and Dallas. The deli is wildly inconsistent depending on who ... is working. Sometimes they'll make you fresh delicious food, other times the food is bland or they refuse to cook somethingfresh because they want to sell something that has been sitting under a heat lamp for hours. They used to have really goodcoffee, but they changed brands. If you miss the pecan coffee, you can still get it at the truck stop in Henrietta. Read more

This is the best truck stop by far always clean big lot for parking and the service makes you feel right at home I always try to ... stop every chance I get and this is why. I went in this morning to get ready for the day and grab a burrito as I walked to ordera burrito she told me she was too busy to make one. I was disappointed because well the burritos are really good so I use therestroom and grab a drink and a pastry for breakfast and as I?m checking out the lady at the grill ( I think she goes by ms.Carla) walks over and hands me a hot fresh waffle sandwich and says she is sorry she couldn?t make a burrito. This is why it?sthe best truck stop because they care they treat you with respect and actually care about the customers oh and talk about anawesome sandwich definitely the best breakfast sandwich I?ve ever had 10 out of 10 would recommend Read more

My parents go to Star Travel Center a lot and almost always go when Malia is there. They invited my family and our friends to ... join last Sunday and it was absolutely incredible! It was a large party of 12 and every order was done perfectly. Best burgers,patty melts and fries! Can't wait to go back. Malia outdid herself and is truly amazing! Read more

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When is star travel center open.

Star Travel Center is open on the following days: Monday: Open 24 hours Tuesday: Open 24 hours Wednesday: Open 24 hours Thursday: Open 24 hours Friday: Open 24 hours Saturday: Open 24 hours Sunday: Open 24 hours

Does Star Travel Center offer delivery?

Yes, Star Travel Center offers delivery.

Star Travel Center menu has been digitised by Sirved. The menu for Star Travel Center may have changed since the last user update. Sirved does not guarantee prices or the availability of menu items. Customers are free to download these images, but not use these digital files (watermarked by the Sirved logo) for any commercial purpose, without prior written permission of Sirved.

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Scientists collect high-resolution images of the North Star's surface for 1st time

Polaris might be heavier — and spottier — than expected.

In our solar system, scattered across one of Earth's verdant mountains, six eggshell-white telescopes gaze into the deep universe. As one cohesive hive, the domed structures collect cosmic light to guide modern astronomers exploring space — and it is thanks to this hive that we now have a brilliant new perspective on the light that guided astronomers of the past: the North Star.

Our visual knowledge of the current North Star (because of Earth's axial wobble, the title passes to different stars over the eons) runs deep. Artists, old and new, have depicted Polaris shining in their paintings, astrophotographers have imaged it from their backyards and scientists have pointed their instruments at it for decades. But what's special about these new Polaris views, courtesy of the CHARA Array on Mount Wilson in California, has to do with resolution. The special thing about CHARA is, as touched on, its telescopes work in tandem with one another. Their light data is combined in a central facility to provide one whole, clear picture of a source. It's as though the sextet of worker telescopes forms one ultimate telescope with a diameter of 330 meters (1,083 feet). And because of this, the project's image resolution — specifically, angular resolution — is excellent.

Sure enough, after checking out some of these Polaris images, put together with CHARA observations taken between 2016 and 2021, scientists found some previously unknown features of the star. Most notably, there are discernable spots on the star's surface, kind of like the sunspots we see on the sun every now and then.

"The CHARA images revealed large bright and dark spots on the surface of Polaris that changed over time," Gail Schaefer, director of the CHARA Array, said in a statement . 

One of the major reasons this finding came as a surprise has to do with the fact that Polaris isn't any old star. It's a sort of star known as a Cepheid variable, which means it brightens and dims periodically. Polaris in particular gets brighter and fainter according to a four-day cycle, and scientists love locating Cepheids due to such very predictable behavior. That's because it allows these stars to be used for cosmic distance measurements. Basically, watching the change in a Cepheid's brightness over one cycle can reveal its true brightness.

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By contrast, without predictably periodic pulsations, a star wouldn't be very reliable for such measurements. At risk of simplification, a dim star, for instance, could be either far away or just small — or, it could be weirdly dim for some other reason. Or, it could just happen to be dim during the time at which it was observed.

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Returning to those spots, as the CHARA team says, these high-resolution images of Polaris mark the first "glimpse of what the surface of a Cepheid variable looks like." So, to find spots with that first glimpse was intriguing. But these spots weren't the only result of the team's analysis.

Unlike our lonely sun, Polaris doesn't roam the universe by itself. Boasting about 46 times the size of our host star and lying over 400 light-years away from us, it's part of a triple-star system. It just happens to be the brightest of its siblings. In fact, the original goal of CHARA's Polaris investigation was to map the orbit of the star that circles our North Star once every 30 years. It's the one that's way closer than the other, making the endeavor a complex feat. Not only does this star float very close to Polaris, but the companion is also incredibly faint. It wasn't even confirmed to exist until around 2005, owing its documentation to the Hubble Space Telescope .

"The small separation and large contrast in brightness between the two stars makes it extremely challenging to resolve the binary system during their closest approach," team lead Nancy Evans at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, who also helped with the companion's identification, said in the statement. For that reason, the team dipped into some other astronomy tool boxes as well, such as a speckle interferometer at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.

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This mission was indeed a success, helping to confirm things like the size of Polaris and suggesting that the star may be about five times more massive than the sun — which is heavier than previously thought. That discovery is important in its own right because, as Evans told ScienceNews , only a few Cepheids have had their masses determined. It also poses some interesting questions to explore in the future. "The mass combined with the distance shows that the Cepheid is more luminous than predicted for this mass from evolutionary tracks," the study authors write, for instance.

Still, the North Star's spotty nature seems to have taken the limelight. Consider how the areas of the star on which spots are seen and the rate at which the star rotates appear to suggest a 120-day radial velocity variation — essentially referring to changes in the object's velocity as seen along an observer's line of sight. That poses yet another puzzle.

"We plan to continue imaging Polaris in the future," John Monnier, an astronomy professor at the University of Michigan and co-author of the study, said in the statement. "We hope to better understand the mechanism that generates the spots on the surface of Polaris."

The study was published on Aug. 20 in The Astrophysical Journal.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Monisha Ravisetti is Space.com's Astronomy Editor. She covers black holes, star explosions, gravitational waves, exoplanet discoveries and other enigmas hidden across the fabric of space and time. Previously, she was a science writer at CNET, and before that, reported for The Academic Times. Prior to becoming a writer, she was an immunology researcher at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. She graduated from New York University in 2018 with a B.A. in philosophy, physics and chemistry. She spends too much time playing online chess. Her favorite planet is Earth.

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AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE

Star city at 50.

Change comes to the place where spaceflight was born.

Michael Cassutt

Deep in a birch forest 25 miles northeast of Moscow’s Red Square is a collection of apartment blocks and gray buildings, some rather oddly shaped, that gives the impression more of a campus than of a town. On many days the roar of jets from a nearby airfield shatters the silence, but otherwise the place is quiet, remote, apparently serene—a Russian gated community.

Known as the Federal Budget State Research Center and Cosmonaut Training Center, the complex bears the name of a national hero, Yuri Gagarin. NASA calls it the GCTC, short for Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. More popularly, and slightly inaccurately, it goes by the name of Star City (a better translation is “Starry Town”), and at the age of 50, it is the world’s oldest facility dedicated to the business of training humans to fly, work, and live in space.

Over its lifetime, the center has trained more than 120 crews for launches on Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz spacecraft, or for trips to Mir and the International Space Station on the U.S. space shuttle. Most of the trainees have been citizens of the Soviet Union and Russia, but graduates of the center include more than 140 Americans, Europeans and Japanese, half a dozen Chinese astronauts, and all the world’s space tourists, from U.S. millionaires Dennis Tito and two-time flier Charles Simonyi to Canada’s Guy Laliberté and Iranian-born Anousheh Ansari. Center officials estimate that 400-plus people have studied in its classrooms and trained in its simulators.

Today the center is facing challenges unlike any it has ever known. Its major buildings, constructed in the 1960s, are crumbling under the dual assaults of weather and age, and for the first time in its history, the facility is under new management. In July 2009, control passed from the Russian air force to Roskosmos, the country’s civilian space agency. The center’s director, veteran military cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev, was retired.

His replacement? Civilian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, at 52 a veteran of six spaceflights and two tours on the International Space Station, the first cosmonaut to fly on the shuttle, and holder of the world record for time spent in space (803 days). Krikalev is generally considered one of the most capable and popular space travelers in the world. (He even flew—and remains friends with—Charles Bolden, the current NASA administrator.) But will skills learned in space prepare him for the job of re-energizing Star City as it enters its second half-century?

THE SOVIET MINISTRY OF DEFENSE order creating a “Cosmonaut Training Center”—Military Unit 26266—came down on January 11, 1960. The center, officially created as part of the Soviet aerospace medical establishment, was first directed by flight surgeon Yevgeny Karpov. A site was chosen not far from the Chkalov Air Base, home of the USSR’s military flight test center, and within reach of both the Red Banner Air Force Academy in Monino and the Korolev Design Bureau in Kaliningrad, where the Vostok spacecraft that carried the first cosmonauts to orbit was built. When Karpov, his staff, and the original cosmonauts—a group that included Gagarin, Gherman Titov, and Alexei Leonov—moved to the location in 1960, they took up just one building.

Over the next decade, Star City grew in size and budget, expanding to a staff of 600, with more than 60 cosmonauts. The team worked on plans for lunar landing missions as well as manned military projects, and got its own aircraft support unit, the 70th Special Destination Wing, based at Chkalov. The center’s directors were air force generals, many of them former cosmonauts. With the abandonment of the lunar program and the scaling back of military efforts in the 1970s, the facility concentrated on training cosmonauts for long-duration space station missions on Salyut and, in the 1980s, Mir.

Star City first opened its doors—grudgingly—to Americans in 1973, when NASA astronauts began training for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. A special residence was built for the Americans on the grounds of the center (the building was later converted into the Profilactorium, a medical center for crews recuperating from long-duration missions. It now houses the NASA director of Russian operations and his team).

NASA has had a permanent presence at Star City since 1994, when astronauts Norm Thagard and Bonnie Dunbar began to train for the first shuttle-Mir mission. Integrating the civilian U.S. team into a closed Russian military center wasn’t easy. Driving onto the grounds for the first time one cold February day in 1994, astronaut Ken Cameron looked at the grim buildings, barbed-wire fences, and armed guards and told his small team, “Well, guys, there’s only a few of us cowboys, and a hell of a lot of Indians.”

Culture shock was a serious problem for the Americans. Recalls astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria, NASA’s director of operations in Russia from 1996 to 1997: “You couldn’t find a restaurant. The telephone situation was bad. There were no gas stations. Gasoline was sold from trucks that were just pulled up along the road.”

Bert Vis, a Dutch space researcher, co-authored the only published history of the GCTC, Russia’s Cosmonauts: Inside the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center , which came out in 2005. Originally invited to Star City by a cosmonaut pen pal, Vis has made 17 visits, for a week or two each time, since 1991, when the Soviet Union disbanded. In the early days, Vis bunked in his host’s apartments, could not use a computer, and barely had access to a phone. Lately he has been able to book rooms at a hotel, though landline phones are still iffy.

The greatest change since the Soviet breakup has been the way Star City residents react to foreign visitors. At first “people would stare at me,” Vis says. “They were not used to seeing a foreigner there. When they heard me speak English, they would turn their heads and look at who that stranger was.

“There were older military officers who refused to meet with me, thinking that talking to a Westerner would harm their careers,” he adds. “Don’t forget that the old generation owed everything they had to Communism.”

Today, NASA astronauts live at Star City for months at a time, in Western-style cottages. And, Vis says, “The latest groups of cosmonauts are much more open to non-Russians, and don’t see the NASA guys and Europeans as spies who come to steal their technology.”

That may ease cooperation with Americans, but Krikalev also has to contend with other culture gaps and rivalries—among Russians. At the space station’s mission control center in Moscow, the staffers, including the all-powerful flight directors, are employees of the Energiya Corporation, which builds the spacecraft. But the capcoms (capsule communicators, or “ glavnis ” in Russian), who communicate with the cosmonauts in flight, come from Star City. GCTC doctors handle all the preflight medical care for cosmonauts, and work with them on a daily basis. But during missions, physicians from another organization, the Institute for Medical-Biological Problems, are in charge. According to John McBrine, a NASA veteran of four tours in Russia, “There’s no way the IMBP doctors have the same relationship to the crew the GCTC guys do.”

Another fundamental rift is between the two kinds of cosmonaut: the military pilots in Star City and the civilian engineers like Krikalev, who come from Energiya. The smaller Energiya team lives and works in Moscow, commuting to Star City only when assigned to a specific program. Beginning in 1966, Soviet law required each cosmonaut crew to have a commander from the GCTC, as well as a flight engineer from “the organization that built the vehicle,” meaning Energiya. It would be as if NASA had ordered every Gemini crew to include an engineer from McDonnell aircraft.

For years, both organizations fought for the right to command space missions. “GCTC rightly felt that every spacecraft commander should be one of their pilots,” says McBrine. In some cases, a veteran Energiya engineer had to work under a rookie GCTC commander—not the most harmonious of situations.

Today the training center is part of Roskosmos, which was created only in 1994 to serve as a Russian counterpart of NASA. Headed by Anatoly Perminov, the agency is trying to foster a thriving Russian space industry. It intends to end the country’s reliance on the Baikonur Cosmodrome, located in the independent nation of Kazakhstan. Roskosmos plans to transform a missile base at Svobodny, in the Russian far east, into the Vostochny (“Eastern”) Cosmodrome, and hopes to launch cosmonauts from there by 2018.

Though Roskosmos owns Star City, the agency doesn’t necessarily like the arrangement. According to former cosmonaut Yuri Baturin, “Roskosmos did not plan to absorb GCTC. But the Ministry of Defense specified reductions in armed forces, and simply included GCTC in that.” Apollo-Soyuz astronaut Tom Stafford put it more directly: “The Russian air force couldn’t afford to keep paying the bills. They don’t have an interest in manned spaceflight—they never really did.”

The shift from military to civilian ownership poses a staffing problem for Krikalev. The center was allowed to keep 210 military employees, and another 110 workers were allowed to leave military service and stay in their jobs. But that still leaves dozens of positions unfilled, and many military people stationed in Star City scrambling to find assignments elsewhere.

To hire replacements, Krikalev has to offer salaries competitive with those of private industry, placing extreme pressure on his budget, which needs to be doubled to “keep the center functioning properly.” He plans to recruit directly from Moscow’s best technical schools, Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Moscow Aviation Institute, but says, “I’m not giving up on graduates from military schools.” Also on his wish list are space and missile students from Mozhaisky Academy, in his hometown of Leningrad. He’d like the cosmonaut corps to be larger and more diverse, noting that only one of 34 Russian cosmonauts is a woman.

Then there is Star City’s aging infrastructure. Most of the center’s buildings were constructed during the glory days of the 1960s. Some “look like they’ve been shelled,” Krikalev complains. Richard Garriott, the video game entrepreneur who financed his own trip to the space station on the Soyuz flight TMA-13 in October 2008, says, “They have very limited money for exterior work, but always have money for the essentials: simulators, the centrifuge, the hydro-lab.”

Under military control, the training center’s flight support unit, the Seregin Wing, had 16 aircraft, from Aero L-39 training jets to Tupolev Tu-154 transports. These were used by the cosmonauts to maintain pilot proficiency, and for weightlessness training. But in late 2009, the Russian air force disbanded the wing and dispersed the airplanes. “Except for one,” Krikalev notes, “a Tu-154 with glass hatches in its fuselage,” which was formerly used by the Ministry of Defense in NATO’s “Open Skies” program.

Juggling these management problems while continuing to train space station crews has been difficult, says Baturin—“like rebuilding the conveyor belt while you still manufacture the item. Imagine what a car would look like under those circumstances.”

Star City’s main business, of course, is spaceflight training. And the methods developed there over 50 years are often quite different from NASA’s. The GCTC trainers emphasize theoretical classroom work, complete with regular graded exams, while NASA concentrates on practical skills, teaching astronauts to perform specific tasks like operating the station’s robot arm or conducting a spacewalk. “GCTC will test you on the nature of an electronic relay,” says Lopez-Alegria, “but knowing that doesn’t help me operationally. We don’t do systems, we do skill sets.”

In the old days, the GCTC published few manuals; cosmonauts took handwritten notes at lecture sessions. Staffers were reluctant to print and distribute written materials, because they saw the information as proprietary. (In early 2008, South Korean astronaut candidate Ko San was removed from a Soyuz crew assignment for taking workbooks out of Star City without permission. According to one former NASA astronaut, manuals are still officially restricted to the center.)

As a first-time flier, Garriott saw value in the Russian methods, including the emphasis on theory: “At first I wanted to rush through that phase. But eventually I became a big fan of the Russian top-down system.” For example, he says, “I started training, right from zero, with my crew and with the same small team of instructors. Over the weeks and months, these two or three instructors followed every step of my progress: what I got, what I didn’t get, how I responded to every situation. We passed our exams, then flew down to Baikonur, where we were in quarantine for two weeks. We suited up, got out to the pad, got into the Soyuz. And on the radio was one of my instructors! I hadn’t realized that would be the case. But it was so reassuring! I realized, That guy knows me . Back on the ground, after the flight, the crew starts its debrief—and the same instructor is there too.”

This emphasis on personal relationships is one of the reasons the glavnis in Russian mission control are from Star City, not Energiya. NASA has started to move toward a similar model: Many space station capcoms are now members of the training teams, not fellow astronauts. “Both sides have learned from each other,” says McBrine.

STAR CITY IS MORE THAN just a school for space travelers. It also is a company town with a population of 6,000, including retired cosmonauts, training specialists, engineers, and administrative staffers and their families, as well as businessmen, cooks, and schoolteachers. There are baptisms and weddings. Children of cosmonauts have married and raised families here, and a Russian Orthodox church was dedicated last winter—a first for Star City. There are, of late, many funerals.

For 49 years, the military director of the GCTC doubled as the “mayor” of this unique village. But the shift to civilian control brought an election in June 2009. The winner was Nikolai Rybkin, a 63-year-old retired air force colonel who was Star City’s State Security (KGB) representative from 1976 to 2001. Rybkin was a popular figure in Star City because he paid attention to things that mattered to its residents. “He was great about getting a gazebo built and returning the swans to the lake,” says one NASA official who asked to remain anonymous. “I just wish he’d also put more street lights along the roads.”

At the time of his election, Rybkin was in jail, charged with smuggling, and so was unable to take office. In late October 2009, Russian government officials appointed former cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, a Rybkin supporter, to take his place—which speaks to the insular nature of Star City. During the glory days of the 1960s, residents had special access to food and consumer goods, and lived in apartments that were double the standard Soviet size. The price for these privileges was submission to strict military and KGB control. Three cosmonauts from Gagarin’s group were expelled for “violation of training discipline” when one of them started a drunken argument with the local militia. Over the years, others were sent packing for marital discord, embarrassing personal connections (engineer Boris Belousov was discovered to have Ukrainian relatives who had fought on the side of the Germans during World War II), or failing to appreciate the Communist Party (Eduard Kugno openly criticized the organization as “a pack of lickspittles”).

In the old days, it was also risky to criticize Star City management. In 1967 engineer Gennady Kolesnikov, while a candidate for the cosmonaut corps, complained about training methods and was ordered to see the doctors. “I was checked for ailments, and they found 12!” he told Bert Vis. With this “medical disqualification,” he was transferred to a teaching job outside the center.

Star City’s managers often used the medical department as a disciplinary arm, a ruse that veteran cosmonauts knew well. Following his 1965 Voskhod 2 flight, Pavel Belyayev was so suspicious of the center’s doctors that he skipped medical exams for months. Tragically, he developed a bleeding ulcer that turned into peritonitis, which killed him.

Cosmonauts aren’t always exemplars of the healthy lifestyle. Garriott’s backup, Australian entrepreneur Nik Halik, recalls “working out in the gym with cosmonauts, then walking outside to see them puffing cigarettes and drinking vodka.” The darkest side of life at Star City has long been alcoholism. One unnamed veteran cosmonaut says that “90 percent” of the staff of one engineering department drank too heavily. The affliction is most common among the dozens of retired pilots and engineers who were selected for cosmonaut training in the 1960s, moved permanently to Star City, then never made it to the launch pad. But the problem isn’t limited to the unflowns. To this day, visitors can find famous names from Salyut and Mir crews stumbling drunk down icy sidewalks. Halik says he drank so much during his year-plus at Star City that now he “can’t stand the sight or even the thought of vodka.”

Maybe it’s because of the small-town insularity that the 1997 class of nine cosmonaut candidates included three second generation spacemen: Sergei Volkov (son of the new mayor), Roman Romanenko (son of three-time flier Yuri Romanenko), and Alexandr Skvortsov, whose father Alexandr was a cosmonaut candidate in the 1960s. This isn’t necessarily nepotism. Since the 1990s, young Russians have not seen becoming a cosmonaut as the plum opportunity it once was. Interest in the most recent Energiya recruitment in 2005 was so dismal that the company had to go looking for new hires among grad students at Bauman Moscow State Technical University and at Moscow Aviation Institute.

The problem may be a lack of exciting new missions. “Unflown cosmonauts concentrate on future work on [the space station],” Yuri Baturin says. “Those who have completed flights look into the future, and they are often disappointed by the absence of clear plans.” Leroy Chiao, a NASA astronaut who trained in Star City off and on for five years, remembers that cosmonauts and astronauts “didn’t talk about lunar flights, knowing that it was beyond the timeframe of our careers.”

The inbred nature of Star City’s society does have an upside. Richard Garriott—himself the son of an astronaut, Skylab and shuttle veteran Owen Garriott—says, “When I was growing up in the Johnson Space Center community, the astronauts were mostly test pilots—part of an old boy’s network. They played hard, and they played away from home. They rarely appeared at family gatherings, picnics, kids’ baseball games. They had hangouts no one knew about. Star City is completely the opposite.”

Garriott recalls a night in February 2008, shortly after arriving at Star City, when he and Halik entered the Soyuz Café, “a shiny jewel of new construction” that he describes as “half digital, half dacha.” They were immediately invited to a family gathering. “It was for the next ISS crew, and there were babies and grandparents in attendance, in addition to the adults. We sat down. The host welcomed everyone, and every five minutes or so he would ask somebody to stand up and introduce a guest and offer a toast—to the crew, to the future, and so on. I found similar scenes repeated there almost every night for the next year.

“Part of what I experienced was unique—possibly only to Star City. But the vibe you got was ‘Someone you know is in space.’ It’s part of everyday life. It’s continuous. It’s a very meaningful way to deal with this hazardous way of life.”

Rather than resenting the foreign spaceflight participants, says Garriott, the residents of Star City have welcomed them. Part of it is practical: “The Russians love the idea of foreigners buying seats on their vehicles. Not only does it offset the cost of flying, but it shows that people are willing to take a chance on their system.”

The openness to new ideas is typical of the cosmonauts now flying missions to the space station. “The earlier guys were a bit reserved or uncomfortable with us,” NASA’s Lopez-Alegria says. “We had been their cold war enemies.” Today’s cosmonauts are not only completely at home with international crewmates, they are also, thanks to Facebook and other social media, far more connected with the outside world. GCTC cosmonaut Max Suraev blogged his Expedition 21 stay on the station in 2009 and 2010, posing for pictures with a “ray gun” and joking about subjects from space food to his inability to choose clothing. In many of his posts, he was more candid than the typical NASA astronaut.

One of the middle-generation cosmonauts, Yuri Malenchenko, arrived in Star City in the late 1980s as a 26-year-old fighter pilot. He went on to serve a four-month tour on Mir in 1994, flew a short shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 2000, then participated in two long-duration missions in 2003 and 2007. Now 49 and training for a third ISS stay, he is philosophical about the ways the life of a Russian cosmonaut has changed over the course of his career: “Twenty-two years ago the country was different. Since then there have been many events that happened in politics and the economy. So now Star City is different, and we are different.”

Michael Cassutt is a novelist and television writer in Studio City, California.

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Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy sacks air force chief; girl among six killed in Russian bomb attack that hit Kharkiv playground

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed the country's air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk after claims an F-16 pilot was killed by friendly fire. Six people have died, including a 14-year-old girl on a playground, in a Russian guided bomb attack on Kharkiv, officials say.

Friday 30 August 2024 21:50, UK

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• Zelenskyy sacks Ukraine's air force commander
• Decision comes after MP claimed F-16 pilot was killed by friendly fire
• Girl among six killed with dozens injured in strike on Kharkiv
• Russia accused of war crimes over guided bomb attack that hit playground
• Women killed in strike on Sumy region that hit baby food packaging factory
• Putin to visit International Criminal Court member Mongolia
• Analysis: Why Putin's arrest in Mongolia is unlikely
• Battlefield situation: Latest frontlines in maps
• Watch: Who are Ukraine's secret resistance?
• Your questions answered: Strategic consequences for Ukraine if Pokrovsk falls
• Reporting by Bhvishya Patel , and earlier by  Mark Wyatt

We'll be back with more updates and analysis soon, but before we go, here's a recap of the key developments that took place today:

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sacked Ukraine's air force commander, days after a pilot died when an F-16 jet crashed
• Six people have died and at least 55 others hurt following a Russian guided bomb attack on the city of Kharkiv;
• Two women died and 11 people were injured by an attack which struck a factory in Sumy that manufactures packaging for baby food, juices and household products;
• The Kremlin announced that Vladimir Putin plans to visit Mongolia - a member of the International Criminal Court which has an issued an arrest warrant for him;
• The Ukrainian pilot killed when his F-16 fighter jet crashed on Monday was shot down by Ukraine's own anti-aircraft missile system, an MP has claimed;
• Mr Zelenskyy said today's attack on Kharkiv could have been avoided if Ukraine had permission to strike Russian military targets with Western weapons;
• The EU rebuffed a request from Kyiv for the bloc to train Ukrainian soldiers inside the war-torn country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed the country's air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk.

The sacking was announced on Friday in a presidential decree. 

There was no immediate explanation from Mr Zelenskyy for his decision but it comes days after a Ukrainian pilot was killed when his F-16 jet crashed on Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Oleksiy Mes was killed while defending Ukraine's skies in a Western-donated warplane.

Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuhla has claimed the jet was shot down by the country's own anti-aircraft missile system.

In response to Ms Bezuhla before his sacking, Lieutenant General Oleshchuk said her comments were a "tool to discredit the top military leadership".

"Mariana, the time will come when you will apologise to the entire army for what you have done, I hope in court!", he added.

Six people are now known to have died following the Russian guided bomb attack on Kharkiv, local authorities have said.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said one child was killed in a playground and three people were killed in a 12-storey apartment block that caught fire as a result of the strike.

The Ukrainian authorities did not give the circumstances in which the two other people died in the strikes, which hit four areas of the city. 

As well as those people who died, at least 55 others were injured, officials said. 

About 20 of the injured were in severe condition, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Top Ukrainian officials have begun a visit to Washington, the Ukrainian presidential office has said. 

The delegation includes economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko and defence minister Rustem Umerov.

"We are working in Washington... We are grateful to our partners for their support," the president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Telegram .

The visit comes amid Volodymyr Zelenskyy's renewed a call on Western allies to allow Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to attack Russian military air bases.

Kyiv says that the most effective way to counter Russian strikes is to target Russian planes, not the bombs themselves.

The US ambassador to Ukraine has called on Russia to be "held accountable for these war crimes" in Kharkiv. 

In a statement on X, Bridget A Brink said "Russia struck an apartment building in Kharkiv with a guided aerial bomb, killing several and injuring many, including children".

Kharkiv has been the focus of heavy Russian bombing throughout the war, although there had been a drop in intensity in recent weeks, possibly related to a surprise invasion launched by Ukrainian forces into Russia's Kursk region.

Ukrainian authorities said today's attack involved five aerial guided bombs launched from planes in Russia's Belgorod region, also known as "glide bombs" which are fitted with a navigation system taking them to their targets.

The footage below shows the aftermath of the attack in Kharkiv.

The EU has rebuffed a request from Kyiv for the bloc to train Ukrainian soldiers inside the war-torn country, but will train them as close as possible to Ukrainian territory, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said. 

The EU has trained some 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers inside the economic union's borders since Russia's invasion of the country and will aim to train 15,000 more by the end of the year, Mr Borrell said.

Kyiv has asked the EU to consider some training inside Ukraine, arguing this would be faster, more cost-effective, and logistically easier than inside the EU.

But multiple EU countries are reluctant to deploy troops inside Ukraine, expressing concerns about their safety and questioning whether such a move would divert Ukrainian forces from their core mission, in order to protect trainers.

Mr Borrell told reporters: "Some member states were ready, others reluctant.

"Finally, we decided that the training will be as close as possible to Ukraine, but not in Ukrainian territory."

Ukraine has urged Mongolia to arrest Vladimir Putin on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant when he visits next week.

The court issued an arrest warrant in March of last year against Mr Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. 

The Kremlin has dismissed the accusation, saying it is politically motivated.

The warrant obliges the court's 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest Mr Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory. 

Now, the Ukrainian foreign ministry has called on the ICC to arrest the Russian leader when he visits Mongolia on 3 September. 

"We call on the Mongolian authorities to comply with the mandatory international arrest warrant and transfer Putin to the International Criminal Court in the Hague," the ministry said on Telegram.

Asked earlier today whether Moscow was concerned that Mongolia was a member of the ICC, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "No, no worries about this. We have a great dialogue with our friends from Mongolia."

Asked whether there had been discussions with Mongolian authorities about the ICC warrant, Mr Peskov added: "Obviously the visit, all of the aspects of the visit have been thoroughly discussed."

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he held a meeting with the top military commanders of Ukraine this afternoon.

The president said that three key issues were discussed, starting with the situation on the frontlines.

Kursk invasion

Ukraine's top commander says Kyiv's forces have advanced up to 2km in their invasion of Russia's Kursk region.

Oleksandr Syrskyi briefed Mr Zelenskyy via video link and said Ukrainian forces took control of 5sq km of Russian territory. 

Discussions were also had over the next set of reinforcements in the area, which Mr Zelenskyy said was "extremely important for strengthening our positions".

General Syrskyi also briefed the president on the ongoing fighting near Pokrovsk, which Ukraine is trying desperately to hold in the face of advancing Russian troops.

Preparing for new academic year

The meeting also covered how Ukraine will deal with the new academic year for schoolchildren, which starts next week.

Mr Zelenskyy heard reports from Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, internal affairs minister Ihor Klymenko and education and science minister Oksen Lisovyi.

The president said discussions covered security issues, as well as the construction of bomb shelters.

Energy problems

The third key issue addressed was the current state of Ukraine's energy grid following a week of heavy Russian strikes.

Mr Zelenskyy heard analysis of energy issues, including the potential construction of protective structures around key energy infrastructure.

Images are emerging of the aftermath of today's attack on Kharkiv.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and wounded in its strikes during its invasion.

The scenes come as Volodymyr Zelenskyy renews a call on Western allies to allow long-range attacks on Russian military air bases after the attack.

The number of people killed in a Russian strike on Kharkiv has risen to five.

Meanwhile, 40 people have been injured after the Russian missile hit a residential building and playground, according to the regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Earlier, we reported that a 14-year-old girl was among the dead.

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Moscow Travel Guide: Best Things to Do + More [2023]

· everything to know about visiting moscow, including the best things to do and how to get around. ·.

Moscow is Russia’s vibrant capital city, and it also happens to be the largest city in all of Europe. The city’s long and infamous history makes it one of the most unique places we have ever visited.

The architecture ranges from centuries-old palaces to uniform, gray concrete buildings. The people range from cold and private to warm and welcoming. Moscow is a city is strong juxtapositions, and we learned a lot during our time there.

This post will break down all you need to know about visiting Moscow, including the best things to do, how to get there, how to get around, and more.

The Best Things to Do in Moscow

1. explore the red square.

The Red Square is the heart of Moscow. Most of the city’s top attractions can be found here, including just about everything on this list. The Kremlin, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and Lenin’s Mausoleum are all located here, and the State Historical Museum and GUM are not far from here, either.

The Red Square is a common home for parades, protests, and seasonal celebrations. There are massive Christmas celebrations here, with food vendors and carnival rides set up in numbers.

2. Check Out the Ziferblat

The Ziferblat is a café in Moscow that is unlike any café we have ever been to. While most cafes charge you for your drinks and food, the Ziferblat charges you for your time.

Upon arrival, you are given a clock. When you leave, the barista calculates how much time you spent in the café and charges you accordingly. This concept was created to help visitors to be more intentional with their time, and the cafe itself is incredibly charming.

For a detailed look at everything you need to know before you visit, make sure you read my post about visiting the Ziferblat Cafe in Moscow .

3. Marvel at St. Basil’s Cathedral

St. Basil’s Cathedral is one of the most iconic churches in the world, and it was the single thing we were most excited to see while in Moscow. Built almost 500 years ago, St. Basil’s Cathedral is recognized by its colorful domes and whimsical style. The church is of the Russian Orthodox faith, and the inside is just as wondrous as the outside.

St. Basil’s Cathedral is located on the edge of the Red Square, making it incredibly convenient to visit. Entrance for non-worshippers costs 800 rubles, and tickets can be bought at the church

4. Explore the Kremlin

The Kremlin is the largest active fortress in Europe, and it is the site of most of Russia’s government affairs. In addition to government buildings, the Kremlin Complex is filled with courtyards, towers, and museums that are open to the public. If you have the time, you could spend a couple of days fully exploring all that there is to see in the Kremlin.

5. Walk Through Lenin’s Mausoleum

Vladimir Lenin is one of the most important figures in Russian history, and his body is located perfectly embalmed in a mausoleum in the Red Square. The Mausoleum is open to the public to visit, and as long as you are willing to go through a few security checks, it is easily one of the best things to do in Moscow. Its convenient location in the Red Square makes it a can’t miss attraction.

There is absolutely no photography allowed inside the Mausoleum. Do not test this rule.

6. Wander Along Arbat Street

The Arbat is a very popular street in Moscow that is lined with stores, cafes, and other touristy attractions. It is one of the oldest streets in the city, dating back to the 1400s. This street is both quaint and trendy, and there are many walking tours that introduce tourists to the neighborhood’s wonders and highlights.

7. Catch a Show at the Bolshoi Theatre

As a lover of the arts, it is hard to think of Moscow and not think of ballet. Russia has always been a top dog in the world of fine arts, and Bolshoi Theater is one of the best places to catch a performance. We were lucky enough to attend an Opera here, and it is a venue that you don’t want to miss out on if you enjoy opera, ballet, or orchestral performances.

8. Visit the State Historical Museum

The State Historical Museum is one of the most respected museums in Moscow. Despite its name, it is not really focused on the history of Russia as a nation. Rather, it contains a collection of artifacts from all throughout Russia’s history.

The museum’s collection is very broad in nature. It houses some items from indigenous tribes that used to occupy the region, pieces collected by the Romanov family, and more.

9. Wander Around GUM

GUM is an absolutely massive mall within walking distance of the Red Square. It isn’t just the size that draws visitors here; it’s the sense of luxury. The mall is so beautiful inside, much like the metro stations.

While visiting a mall might not sound like it belongs on a bucket list, this mall does. You will not want to miss out on visiting GUM while in Moscow.

10. Admire the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

While St. Basil’s Cathedral is the most iconic church in Moscow, it isn’t the only one. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is absolutely stunning, with massive golden domes. It is the tallest Orthodox church in the world, and it is the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow.

It is located just about a mile from the Red Square, just south of the Kremlin Complex. You can walk to it from the Red Square in about 20 minutes.

How to Get to Moscow

Flying to moscow.

Moscow has three major international airports: Sheremetyevo (SVO) , Domodedovo (DMO) , and Vnukovo (VKO) . All three of them are directly connected to downtown Moscow by the Aeroexpress trains, which leave every 30 minutes throughout the day. By Aeroexpress train, you can expect to get to the city center in 25-45 minutes depending on the airport that you fly into.

Sheremetyevo is the biggest and busiest of the three airports, and it is the one you are most likely to fly into – especially if you are coming from outside of Europe or the Caucus region. We flew into Sheremetyevo on a direct flight from New York City.

I usually provide backup airport options, because flying right into the city isn’t always the cheapest way to get where you’re going. Unfortunately, when it comes to Moscow, don’t really have a choice other than to fly right into Moscow. It is a very remote city, and it is usually the cheapest place to fly into in Russia as a whole.

Since Sheremetyevo is so busy, you will probably find a great flight option anyway. I wrote in  my post about finding cheap flights  that using hub airports will lead to more affordable airfare, and the same logic applies here. Even though Russia’s national airline, Aeroflot, is no longer a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, Moscow is still a major hub connecting passengers from all over the world.

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Train or Bus to Moscow

Trains and buses are one of the most popular ways to get around Europe. However, they’re of very little use when you’re trying to get to Moscow.

Moscow is hundreds of miles from the nearest major cities. The only major European city that can even be reached within 8 hours on the ground is St. Petersburg, and even the Baltic capitals of Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn are over 12 hours away.

If you want to get to Moscow, the best option is almost always to fly. While the train routes to Moscow are scenic, they simply take forever.

How to Get Around Moscow

METRO | TROLLEYS | TRAMS | BUSES

Moscow has one of the most memorable metro systems in the world. Its metro lines are very deep underground, and the stations are absolutely stunning. Each station has its own unique style, but all of them contain escalators that seem to go on forever.

The system was built in an effort to showcase the power of the Soviet Union and its bright future. The plans were a form of propaganda, but they resulted in what is still one of the most visually appealing subway systems on earth.

Moscow’s metro system isn’t just pretty. It is also very useful and accessible. The system has 17 lines that connect the city and its surrounding area.

But wait; there’s more!

The Moscow metro system is also incredibly affordable, with each ride costing less than a dollar. The metro is by far the best way to get around Moscow, as it is almost impossible to beat the connection times and the low cost to ride.

Tickets can be bought at electronic, English-speaking kiosks in stations, or directly from ticket counters at certain larger stations. There are also day passes available, which are a very solid option if you plan on riding the metro several times per day.

The metro is by far the best way to get around Moscow.

In addition to the metro system, Moscow also has a network of buses, trams, and trolleys. This system is nowhere near as convenient or well-connected as the metro, though, and is likely of little use to you during your trip. There is no Uber in Moscow, but a similar app named Yandex is available if you need a ride in a pinch.

How Many Days Do You Need in Moscow?

Moscow is the biggest city in all of Europe, and it is absolutely loaded with things to do. You could spend weeks in Moscow and still find new things to do. Of course, most travelers don’t have that kind of time to spend in one place!

I recommend spending no less than three full days in Moscow, and ideally closer to five or seven.

Moscow is very spread out, and it can take some time to get from one major point to another. There are also so many places that are nice to just sit back and relax, which is hard to do when you’re in a hurry trying to cram activities into just a few days.

If you only have a week to visit Russia, I’d advise spending all of the time in one city. If you decide to split your time between Moscow and St. Petersburg, I recommend not trying to squeeze in any day trips beyond those two cities.

When Is the Best Time of the Year to Visit Moscow?

There are two different ways to approach this question. Personally, I think the best time to visit Moscow is around Christmas and New Year’s Day. While the weather will be absolutely freezing, Moscow is a surreal winter wonderland in December and January.

We were in Moscow right before Christmas. While it was very cold, you can always bundle up. Exploring the Christmas markets and pop-up ice skating rinks throughout Moscow is one of my favorite memories from anywhere I’ve traveled, and I dream of going back to do it again.

If you aren’t fond of the cold, Moscow is beautiful in the summer. It tends to get pretty cold in the shoulder seasons, so if you want warm weather, you should plan to visit in the summer. Moscow actually gets pretty warm in July and August, and there are a bunch of fantastic places to soak up the sun within the city.

The best time to visit Moscow is either around Christmas or from late May to August.

Is Moscow Safe to Visit?

While Moscow is a truly wonderful city, there’s no denying that visiting Russia comes with risks. As the country is run by an infamous communist dictator, concerns about visiting are valid. While we didn’t experience any sort of threat or negative treatment during our time in Moscow, we visited in a peaceful time.

In our experience, Russia doesn’t seem to detain normal Americans or Westerners to use as pawns. As a regular person, as long as you don’t commit any crimes, there is a slim chance you will run into any issues. However, Russia will not hesitate to enforce its laws against foreigners, and illegal behaviors will likely land you in a very compromising position.

Russia will not hesitate to enforce its laws against foreigners, and illegal behaviors will likely land you in a very compromising position.

To make matters worse, Russia has a bad reputation for gang violence. While the Russian mafia has very little interest in normal Western tourists, they won’t hesitate to pick a fight with anyone who ventures into their sphere of influence. If you seek out illegal substances or activities, you could be a target of the mafia.

If you seek out illegal substances or activities, you could be a target of the mafia.

Finally, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, things are all very different. Russia is currently at war, and there are battles raging within 8 hours of Moscow. While it is still relatively safe to visit, that could change at any time as the war with Ukraine continues.

Is Moscow Worth Visiting?

Without a doubt, Moscow is worth visiting. It is one of the most unique major cities we have ever visited, and we hope to make it back one day. The Russian Orthodox churches are stunning, the city’s history is unlike any other, and the food is to die for.

While many visitors prefer St. Petersburg to Moscow, I think Moscow deserves a lot of hype of its own. Moscow is the beating heart of Russian culture and history, and it’s a place I highly recommend checking out if you have the chance.

That’s all we have for you about Moscow! I hope this post was helpful as you plan your trip to Russia’s capital.

Have you been to Moscow? Or is this your first time visiting? Comment below if you have anything to add to our travel guide!

Hi, I'm Greg. I'm an avid traveler who has traveled to over 50 countries all around the world with my wife and kids. I've lived in Italy, Mexico, China, and the United States, and I dream of moving abroad again in the future. With this blog, I provide my audience with detailed destination guides to my favorite places and pro-tips to make travel as stress-free as possible.

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Life-size dinosaurs, a candy store tour and more to do this weekend

Take a road tip to Wiscasset for art, food, car racing and a gargantuan amount of candy.

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One of many dinosaurs that will be at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. Photo courtesy of Jurassic Quest

Make no bones about it, it’s going to be a great weekend, starting with  Jurassic Quest at Cross Insurance Arena . Animatronic dinosaurs will delight the kids, who will also get a kick out of digging for fossils and riding on a baby dino. Another option in our weekly roundup is “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” at the Maine State Music Theatre in Brunswick.

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Some of the candy available at the Granite Hall Store in Round Pond. Photo by Aimsel Ponti

For an even sweeter experience, we’re sending you candy shopping. We’ve shined a light on five shops  with something extra to offer and created a nifty guide of 18 to look you can find  all around southern Maine and the Midcoast. From giant shops like Sweetz & More in Wiscasset to charming places like the Granite Hall Store in Round Pond, there’s a candy shop out there calling your name.

These 5 unique Maine candy stores are a real treat

The Brackett’s Market 4-Cylinder Pros compete Saturday at Wiscasset Speedway. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Should your sweets-seeking adventure bring you to Wiscasset, we clue you into  several other things to do  in town, including car races at the Wiscasset Speedway.

A trip to pretty Wiscasset can also include art, history, speed

Bagel sandwich with eggs, cheese and pork roll from Dutchman’s Wood-Fired Bagels in Brunswick. Photo by Aimsel Ponti

Want to hit breakfast right out of the park? Make your way to Brunswick for an egg and cheese sandwich from Dutchman’s Wood-Fired Bagels . We’re particularly partial to the one with pork roll and bodega sauce. Your taste buds can thank us later.

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Ling-Wen Tsai, “Rising/Sinking Study Chair,” wood and milk paint, 12 x 12 x 5 inches. Photo courtesy of Corey Daniels Gallery

Farther south in Wells, check out “Life Forms,” a women’s sculpture collective at the Corey Daniels Gallery. You’ll see works by about a dozen artists as you make your way through the exhibit.

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U.S. Navy Band Country Current performing in Tennessee. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class April Enos

For some Sunday afternoon live tunes, head to Memorial Park in Freeport at 3 p.m. for a free performance by Country Current . The band is the only U.S. Navy country/bluegrass ensemble, and the show should be a foot-stomping good time.

See U.S. Navy band Country Current for free in Freeport

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Asylum seekers are still coming to Portland – and the city now has more options

Is the hive at work these bees keep popping up around portland, democrats criticize windham state representative who attended jan. 6 rally, police say man shot wife, son multiple times before he was killed on bridge between maine, n.h., truck that fell through covered bridge was 6 times heavier than posted limit, member log in.

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