March 17th 2013: My Second Day Exploring the Outskirts of Boston

Today, I had a meetup brunch at Hops N Scotch in Brookline, but before that, I took my time exploring a bit of Cambridge,

Large Shell Sign,

Memorial Drive and Magazine Street

Magazine Beach

Stone Work, Riverside Press Park,

River Street and Memorial Drive

Fort Washington Park

where there were people practising Crew on the Charles River this early in the morning,

 and Boston,

Dorothy Ramler Park,

120 Peterborough Street

where there were decent views from the Parker Hilltop/McLaughlin Playground area at ~190 Parker Hill Avenue,

and excellent views from the top of Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park nearby.

Finally, I decided it was time to head to Brookline for brunch. After gathering with everyone else at the bar restaurant, we headed upstairs in this trendy place to take our seats. I decided to get the Chicken and Waffles (Crispy Fried Chicken, buttermilk Waffle, maple Syrup) dish, having heard of the flavor from Lay's Potato Chips,

while my friend beside me got the Hangover Hash (Scrambled Eggs, Potato, Spicy Chorizo, collard greens, tomato salsa).

In my opinion, by itself, my dish was nothing much to write home about, although with maple syrup, it was really tasty, although in my opinion, maple syrup makes anything taste good anyway. Just glad I got to try out how it tastes.

After brunch, we decided to head across the street to 16 Handles, a frozen yogurt place, 

where I decided to share my groupon with everyone else, and everyone ended up getting a froyo for just ~$1! Overall, the yogurt wasn't too bad, although the coffee flavor was a little bitter for me.

After bidding adieu to all my friends, I dived back into sightseeing, heading back into the Roxbury area of Boston.

Old American Brewing Company Building,

251 Heath Street

Old Jefferson School,

240 Heath Street

Old Eblana Brewery, 117 Heath Street

From here, I wanted to go visit the Museum of the National Center of Afro American Artists. The doors looked open, and the lights were on, but when I rang the doorbell at both the main entrance and the side entrance, no one answered. There were also 2 cars behind the building which looked extremely suspicious in this seedy area, so I decided to hightail it out of there soon after, but not before taking a few pictures of the area.

After leaving with my life still intact, I resumed my sightseeing in Roxbury.

Horatio Harris Park,

Townsend Street and Walnut Avenue

2nd Church of Christ, Scientist,

33 Elm Hill Avenue

Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church

Emmanuel Temple Pentecostal Church,

471 Warren Street

Mount Calvary Holy Church,

9 Otisfield Street

Old Blue Hill Avenue Synagogue(Congregation Adath Jeshurun)

Roxbury Presbyterian Church

St. John Missionary Baptist Church

Twelfth Baptist Church

Resurrection Lutheran Church

Southern Baptist Church,

29 Winthrop Street

Dudley Town Common 2,

Dudley Street and Hampden Street

Dudley Town Common 1,
Dudley Street and Blue Hill Avenue

St. Patrick's Church, 10 Magazine Street

Shirley Eustis House

Old Dearborn School, 25 Ambrose Street

From here, I decided to to head to Charlestown to sightsee a little there before heading into East Boston. The views from the Charlestown Overlook on Mead Street near Bunker Hill Street were pretty good,

while I mistook the Basilica condominiums in the Charlestown Navy Yard area to be Building 114 on the Boston Harborwalk,

although the view of the Tobin Bridge was nice from here.

In East Boston, I continued my tour of the coastal areas, 

Sacred Heart Church East Boston

Harborside Community Center

visiting LoPresti Park

and Carlton Wharf in the light of the setting sun among other places.

With the sun setting for good, I decided to head for dinner at Ristorante Ravesi in Revere. This Italian place is pretty decently decorated, and had a lot of interesting food on the menu. 

I decided to go with the Antipasto Raffaele (broccoli rabe, roasted peppers, cheese, clams casino, calamari salad & breaded lobster tail), a sort of appetizer sampler,

and the Pollo Frangelico (sautéed medallions of chicken, mushrooms and apples in a creamy hazelnut liquor sauce)

The appetizer was extremely well presented, and all of it was really tasty, with only the peppers not being of my taste, as I don't really like them anyway. The hazelnut sauce for my pasta was simply heavenly, with the apples completing the picture perfectly.

Unfortunately, the Bosca Nera (chocolate sponge cake surrounds a layer of chocolate and Chantilly cream, studded with Amarena cherries, separated by white sponge cake, decorated with chocolate ribbon and drizzled with a hazelnut caramel sauce), was not to my liking, mainly because of the cherries, which again is not something I like.

Overall, a really good dining experience, I have to say, for a relatively low price. Definitely recommend this place if you are in the area.

With that, my weekend of exploring more of the suburbs of Boston came to an end.