Today, I had an appointment to learn fencing in the morning at
Vivo Fencing Club, located in the town of Wilmington. I decided to get some breakfast first in the city of Lowell at
Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus, a small nice looking cafe located in downtown Lowell.
For food, I decided to get a small Hot Chocolate and the Spicy Capitalist Panini
(Ham, swiss lettuce, tomato and spicy mustard), which was just alright I guess.
I managed to visit two other places in town
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| Kerouac Park, 75 Bridge Street |
and Tewksbury
before finally having to head to Wilmington for my class. The place itself is a small gymlike place located in an industrial office space.
When everyone arrived, our instructor talked to us about our attire, that we should be wearing long pants (I was wearing shorts), and showed us our suits and masks,
as well as the swords themselves, which are electrically wired to register a light when it hits a target.
He then showed us how to hold the sword properly, like so below.
Next, we warmed up for a bit, running around the gym and doing certain stretching exercises before he suited us all up, giving us all breast plates as well.
After suiting up, it was time to start learning how to fence, like how to stand, move forward and backward, and lunge in attack.
After giving us swords, it was time for target practice.
After a few rounds of using correct stance to advance or lunge to attack the target, our instructor showed us the various types of parrying and reposing to attack.
Finally, it was time for the real thing. As there were not enough people, I ended up fighting a kid who apparently was more experienced than me, but I still managed to win him easily, partly because of my longer reach.
I got to fight another kid after that, and won easily again. This time, my instructor paired me up with the most experienced fencer today, and although I won the first round, he beat me easily the next round after figuring me out. I guess I still have more to learn.
After the class, I rushed to the town of Ipswich, where there was supposed to be an equestrian event, the Jumper Classic, but apparently it got canceled a few days ago due to a lack of riders, and I only found out when I arrived and did not see any crowds at all.
Frustrated at all my wasted time, I decided to head westwards to the town of Andover for lunch, passing by an old Polish Church converted to condominiums in town at 28 Topsfield Road,
and the Institute for Savings in town,
passing by the towns of Topsfield
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Town Common,
High Street and Main Street
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| Town Hall, 8 West Common Street |
and North Andover
before finally reaching the
Boston King Cafe in Andover. This place is a really nicely decorated cafe,
but I could not say the same for the food I got here. The Honeydew Smoothie tasted horrible,
while the Corned Beef Hash was just average as well.
After my okay lunch, I headed out to check out the Andover Day festival, which I had no idea was going on today.
I also visited the
Andover Historical Society, which happened to be having an exhibition on clothing in the 19th and 20th centuries.
From here, I went to Central Park, located on the corner of Bartlet Street and Chestnut Street, where there were a lot of people having fun under the sun.
Other places I visited today before going to get my second lunch at the
Pizza Connection in town follow.
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Andover Town House,
20 Main Street
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| Stevens Street Dam, ~5 Stevens Street |
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Balmoral Street Dam,
Riverina Road near Haverhill Street
|
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Wood Memorial Park,
Lowell Street and North Main Street
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I got the Big Mack Pizza from the small takeout place, consisting of (Thousand Islands Dressing, Hamburger and Extra Cheese, Topped With Cold Lettuce and Tomato), which was actually pretty good and interesting.
While here, I managed to visit the
Addison Gallery of American Art, a pretty nice art collection to say the least. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but managed to sneak some in nonetheless.
The last thing I did for the day was hike at the
Moncrieff Cochran Sanctuary, located at the end of Chapel Avenue within the Phillips Academy campus. The path I took to view the various water bodies here is shown below in pink.
Pictures of the water bodies, which were just okay I guess, are shown below.
I don't know why, but even though the walk was pretty easy, I was exhausted by the time I left the place. I guess fencing does really zap one's energy. With that, I called it a night, and headed back into Lowell to get dinner at
Hookslide Kelly's, a typical bar restaurant in the downtown area. There was hardly anyone in the bar when I arrived.
The menu was totally different and much more limited than what I saw online as well, so I ended up ordering just appetizers to us
e my Groupon at this place, getting the Chicken HSK Quesadillas (Melted Colby Cheddar, monterey jack cheeses tucked inside flour tortilla served with sour cream and salsa), Wing Dings (bone in wing sections battered and fried golden brown) and the Jalapeno Poppers (crisp jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and breaded with panko crumbs).
Of the food I ordered, only the quesadillas were pretty good, while the rest was just so-so. Definitely not coming back here again. With that, my somewhat okay day of sightseeing came to an end. I definitely look forward to another fencing lesson next weekend.
I don't know why, but even though the walk was pretty easy, I was exhausted by the time I left the place. I guess fencing does really zap one's energy. With that, I called it a night, and headed back into Lowell to get dinner at Hookslide Kelly's, a typical bar restaurant in the downtown area. There was hardly anyone in the bar when I arrived.
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