Best Bargains in Massachusetts | 2013 Editors’ Choice Awards

Pinching pennies never felt so good! Check out our picks for the best bargains in Massachusetts for 2013. Your wallet will thank you. BEST PURE BASEBALL CAPE COD BASEBALL LEAGUE, Cape Cod Since 1885, top college players have shown their mettle every summer in the 10-team Cape Cod League. Ballplayers join the community, working part-time and living with local families. Admission to regular-season games (each team plays 44 games)–at ballfields from Wareham to Orleans–is by donation. That’s a small price to watch tomorrow’s Major Leaguers play. v2.capecodbaseball.orgBEST DINOSAUR TRACKS BENESKI MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, Amherst Bring your budding ichnologists to marvel at the Hitchcock Collection, the largest collection of dinosaur footprints in the world. Dinosaurs left their marks in the sandstone deposits of the Connecticut Valley, where the first confirmed evidence of a dinosaur in North America was discovered in nearby South Hadley in 1802. Free admission. 11 Barrett Hill Road. 413-542-2165; amherst.edu/museums/naturalhistoryBEST RETRO HOT DOGS JACK’S HOT DOGS, North Adams Jeff Levanos’s grandfather Jaffros (“Jack”) opened this narrow little grill with counter seating in 1917, and it’s still the most reliable place in the Berkshires for a great hot dog (just $1.20) and some fries–or, for the adventurous, a double cheeseburger and onion rings ($3.20). 12 Eagle St. 413-664-9006; jackshotdogstand.comBEST DISC GOLF BOUSQUET MOUNTAIN, Pittsfield Flinging Frisbees at distant targets turns out to be a fun way to traverse the wooded terrain and open ski trails of Bousquet Mountain. Wear hiking boots and bring bug spray. The 18-hole course takes two to three hours. Fee: $6. 101 Dan Fox Drive. 413-442-8316; bousquets.comBEST AQUARIUM TOUCH TANK WOODS HOLE SCIENCE AQUARIUM, Woods Hole The aquarium at the Woods Hole research center not only displays a wide range of sea creatures but even features a touch tank where you and the kids can get tactile with lobsters, tautogs, clams, spider crabs, starfish, hermit crabs, and horseshoe crabs. Free admission. 166 Water St. 508-495-2001; aquarium.nefsc.noaa.gov