This morning, I had a meetup brunch event, as well as a dinner appointment with my friend, so I had to do some planning to be able to do sightseeing while being on time for both events.
First off, I took a picture of the war memorial near the Shrewsbury
Town Hall.
From here, I headed to Harvard to finish off hiking there. The first place I headed to was
Ohlin Land on Ohlin Lane close to Poor Farm Road. The road I took after parking my car at the side of the road is highlighted below in pink.
I headed down the path to the marsh, where there were pretty good views of it at the viewpoint.
The next place I visited was the
Holy Hill Conservation Area, located on South Shaker Road near Ann Lee Road
I first parked at the parking area there, but after looking at the map more closely, I saw that there was a trail entrance along Ann Lee Road, so I decided to drive there instead. After finding the trail entrance, I parked nearby and headed straight to Holy Hill itself, an old worship area.
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| Holy Hill |
There were no views from here, however. From here, I headed down a steep incline to a long straight trail to get to the granite bridge there.
The bridge itself was nothing much to look at though. From here, I headed a different way back to my car, with nothing much else here. I don't recommend coming here.
The next place I went to was the
Flerra Meadows in Boxborough. There is a small water body here beside an open field, which was pretty scenic.
Done with Boxborough, I headed to Arlington next, to the
Arlington Reservoir Beach at 250 Lowell Street. There is a trail here around the Arlington Reservoir itself. Pictures of the reservoir from various viewpoints here follow.
Another interesting place I visited while in Arlington was the Park Circle Water Tower at Park Circle.
The views from here, especially of the Boston skyline, follow, including the startings of spring in some of the trees here.
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| Boston Skyline |
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| Startings of spring |
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| Flowers blooming |
Other buildings I visited before heading for brunch in Somerville follow.
Finally, it was time to head into Somerville for brunch at
Johnny D's Uptown Restaurant and Music Club. This place is pretty awesome, having a live jazz band play on the weekends while we are eating.
For my meal, I decided to get the Blintzes and Omelet, never having seen a blintz before. It also came with grits and cheese on the side. The blintz is actually like a crepe, and this one was stuffed with cheese and covered in raspberry sauce. For my omelet, I got it with bacon, mushroom and cheddar jack cheese.
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| Grits with cheese |
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| Blinztes and Omelet |
Overall, it was one of the best brunches I have had so far, and it was complete with great conversations with my new friends, and they were especially intrigued by my exploring experiences.
After the meal, I resumed my sightseeing, seeing a few places in Cambridge before continuing my trek west into Arlington.
Heading into Arlington, I decided to visit the Alewife Brook Greenway, which is pretty much a cycling path alongside the Alewife Brook, starting at Henderson Street near Alewife Brook Parkway and ending after Lafayette Street and joining the
Minuteman Commuter Bikeway. Pictures I took in this area follow.
Next, I decided it was time to proceed back west toward Framingham, where I would need to pick up my friend for dinner later, by going to hike in Weston. My first destination was
Sears Land, located on an offshoot road from ~251 Crescent Street. The route I took here to view the small pond here is shown below in brown.
Views of the pond here follow.
The next place I headed to was the
Weston Reservoir area, located within the
Ash Street Conservation Area, the parking area located on Ash Street between Beech Road and Newton Street. The route I took here is shown below in brown.
I decided to walked the aqueduct like portion of the reservoir first. Pictures of this area, cordoned off by a wired fence, follow.
Next, I embarked on a walk around the reservoir itself, once again surrounded by a tall wire fence, which pretty much marred the beautiful scenery here, although not by much. Pictures of the reservoir from various points along the way where the fence was low enough for me to take pictures follow.
The same black fence bugged me when I went to the
Norumbega Reservoir next, located off Glen Road close to Oak Street. After parking illegally here, the path I took, which was basically walking around the reservoir itself, is shown below in pink.
Pictures of the reservoir follow.
As I rounded the northern portion of the reservoir, I came to another water body, Schenck's Pond, which was fortunately not surrounded by a fence. Pictures of the pond follow.
From here, it was time to head to Framingham to pick up my friend, then off to
Oishii Boston for dinner, where another friend of mine works as a sushi chef.
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| Outside Oishii Boston |
Our friend was waiting for us at the sushi bar, where we took our seats, all dressed in uniform and working diligently. Our first course was complimentary, made personally by my friend, namely edamame mousse served in a shot glass, which was delicious.
Next came our appetizers, hers being the Grilled Black Cod, while I got the Sakura Smoked Hamachi Sashimi served in a Smoky Glass.
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| Sakura Smoked Hamachi Sashimi in a Smoky Glass |
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| Grilled Black Cod |
My appetizer was really interesting looking with smoke coming out from the burning wood underneath, which added to the flavor of the sashimi as well.
Next up, another complimentary dish, namely the Foie Gras Torchon, fashioned to look like coconut trees on a sandy beach made up of rice crispies and edible flowers, which was simply exceptional.
For the main dish, my friend just got the duck salad with ginger dressing in place of the kaffir lime vinegarette, while I got several dishes, namely the Abalone Maki, the Toro Truffle Maki and the Quail Egg Robata.
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| Duck Salad |
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| Quail Egg Robata |
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Abalone Maki (left)
and Toro Truffle Maki (right) |
I never had abalone in sushi before, and the truffle maki was unique as well, while the quail eggs were tasty as well with a slight smoky flavor.
finally, for dessert, we decided to get the Coconut Sphere with coffee mousse and Yuzu Sherbet.
This dessert was made by filling a balloon with coconut juice, inflating it, then injecting it with liquid nitrogen, causing the coconut juice to harden immediately into its spherical shape, and within it was the coffee mousse, and finally laid on a bed of blackberries and Yuzu sherbet. Not only was it aesthetic looking, with a caramel ring and raspberry on top, but also really delicious, although the sphere itself was pretty cold to eat.
With that, I dropped my friend off at a party before heading home, feeling tired after a long day of sightseeing.
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