February 26th 2012: Bowling in Cambridge and Hiking in Many Towns

Rising from my uncomfortable sleeping position on my colleague's couch after the party here in Boston yesterday night, I decided to leave early to see the sights around town before heading to Lanes and Games in Cambridge for a bowling session with my friend.

Of course, with the Bunker Hill Monument so close to my friend's place, I had to visit it, although it was still too early to climb to the top of it. Pictures of the monument and the surroundings from the top of Breed's Hill, on which the monument stands, follow.

Next, along the way to Newton to continue my sightseeing, I stopped by a few places which I found were interesting.

The Training Field/Winthrop Square

St. Mary-St Catherine of Siena Church

Thompson Square,
Main Street and Austin Street

Old Charlestown Five Cents Savings Bank,
152 Warren Street

Chandler Pond,
Lake Shore Road and Lake Street

Thomas Edison School

Back in Newton, I started off by heading to Edmand's Park, where I parked on Blake Street near its junction with Withington Road. The route I then took here to explore the place is shown below in pink.

From the parking area, I headed down the old Colby Road, turning left onto the Esker Trail to head to the old sand pit. There was nothing much to see here, and the dam nearby was not much to look at either. With that, I walked back the other side of the dam to Colby Road and back to my car. Don't come here if you are looking for nice views, because there are none.

The next place I went to explore was the Andover Newton Theological School. There were a few nice buildings here of which pictures follow.

Hebrew College

Colby Chapel

Wilson Chapel

Quadrangle

Next, I headed to Crystal Lake, located on Lake Avenue near Laurel Street. There are various points along its shores from which there are great views of the place.

The next place I went to was the Frank Barney Conservation Area on the corner of Thurston Road and Circuit Avenue. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

There was nothing much to see here though.

The next place I went to was the Williams Saco Streets Riverwalk, where I parked at the end of Saco Street. The path I took is shown below in pink.

Here, I was hoping to see views of the Charles River, but there were none to be had here either.

The next place I headed to was the Mary Hunnewell Fyffe Footbridge, found at 2284 Washington Street. This bridge spans the Charles River over the Cordingley Dam, from which there are beautiful views of the waterfalls here.

The next place I went to hike at was the Auburndale Park. I parked at the end of West Pine Street, and the route I took is highlighted below in pink.

From the parking area, I headed left to get to the shore of the Charles River at Wares Cove.

From here I walked along the river to Forest Grove Road, which crosses over Purgatory Cove.

I then walked to the landfill area, following a dirt path back to the Flowed Meadow Conservation Area, and I followed the paths back to my car.

From here, I visited a few other places in town before heading to bowling.

St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Emerson Community Center, 5 High Street

At Lanes and Games in Cambridge, I had some time to kill before my friend came, so I decided to look around for a bit. This place has both candlepin bowling and ten-pin bowling, with the former on the first floor and the latter on the second. Every Sunday morning, games are discounted at around $3.75 a game, which is why we decided to bowl today.

Unfortunately, I did not do well today at bowling, and I lost all 3 games to my friend. Oh well.

After bowling, our original plan had been to head to a restaurant in the area for lunch, but my friend recommended that we eat closer to his home in Waltham instead, so we decided to go to Khushboo Indian Restaurant in Lexington. This place is on the 2nd floor of a building, with nice window views of the surroundings.

After the usual pappadum starter, I decided to get the Lamb Masala Dosa, while my friend got the lunch deal of Lamb Dilrooba.

Pappadum starters

Lamb Masala Dosa

Plain Naan and Lamb Dilrooba

The Dosa was pretty interesting as it looked more like a rolled up art poster, and I had to move it about on the plate to get at it as it was too long to fit on the plate. It was delicious though, as was the dilrooba.

After lunch, my friend had a tennis match, so we parted for the day, and I resumed my sightseeing in Lexington. I went to for a light hike at Parker Meadow. The path I took after parking at Hancock Street near Coolidge Avenue is shown below in pink.

This was pretty much a walk around the pond in the middle of the meadow, which would be pretty decent in summer, so I guess this place is acceptable for visiting.

The next place I went to was the Beaver Brook North Reservation in Waltham. This place is located at around 380 Trapelo Road, directly opposite the National Archives at Boston.

After parking at the Elsie Turner Park, the path I took is shown below in pink.

I got a little lost at the start due to the presence of side trails, but I finally managed to make my way to the top of Mackerel Hill, where there is a water tower, but there were no nice views of the surroundings from here.

I next headed down the other side of the hill to the supposed Cascade on the map, but it did not look impressive either.

From here, I found an unmarked trail leading to Metropolitan Parkway North, which I then followed back to another opening to head back into the woods. Along the road, I happened to spot this old abandoned building on the side of the road, with the inscription "Dr. William F. Mclaughlin Building", which was originally part of the former Metropolitan State Hospital.

Old Metropolitan State Hospital

After turning back into the woods, I took the first right to get back to my car.

It was on to the next town of Weston to look at Riverside Park, located near the end of Recreation Road close to I-95. The parking area was closed, but I was still able to find parking along an abandoned road leading to the railway beside it.

The path I took to get to the Charles River is shown below in pink.

At the river, there's an old metallic bridge that is blocked off, but there is also a nice view of another road bridge in the distance.

Dover was next on the list, with my goal to find the peak of Snow Hill. Finding the trailhead from Snows Hill Lane was hard enough, but finding the top of the hill was even tougher. The rough route I took here is shown below in black.

The initial part seemed easy enough, until the side trails came into play. Only the GPS on my phone kept me from going too far off course. When I realized I was lost, I decided that the best way to find the peak was to head up, and I had much more success that way, coming across the fire tower at the top of the hill.

It was not barricaded, so I decided to climb up the tower to see the views from there. I was more scared here than I was at the Harvard Forest in Petersham, as the wind was blowing strongly today. Thankfully, I still made it safely up and down, and views from it follow.

Thankfully, the return trip wasn't as bad, although I did have some trouble finding the correct trail, but I made it out just fine. My last town for the day was Medfield. While driving to Danielson Pond on High Street near Homestead Drive, I passed by Kingsbury Pond on Spring Street between Woodridge Road and Preservation Way and decided to take pictures of it as well as the old Grist Mill beside it.

Danielson Pond itself was quite scenic as well.

Finally done for the day, I decided to head to Zebra's Bistro and Wine Bar in town for dinner. The interior decor was pretty nice, with paintings hung all over the walls.

Looking at the menu, which had both Japanese and Western cuisine, I decided to try the Spicy Crunch Seafood Roll, the Ball and Flower, and the risotto special with roasted red peppers, spinach and parmesan cheese.

Spicy Cruch Seafood Roll

Risotto Special

Ball and Flower

Of all the dishes I had I was only impressed with the artistic look of the Ball and Flower, which was delicious and well. The rest were pretty typical I guess.

With that, a fruitful week of sightseeing and hanging out with friends was finally over.