April 20th 2014: Karaoke and Beaches in Quincy

This morning, I decided to finish what I started yesterday, going into the town of Sherborn to check out the Little Farm Pond, located within the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary. The path I took here from 105 Farm Road is shown below in pink.

The pond was pretty nice this time of day.

Back at my car, I decided to go on another hike at Mount Misery in town. Along the way, I saw a large water body on my map and decided to go check it out. It turned out to be Farm Pond, which I had visited a few months ago during the winter. The views at the beach were better now, of course.

Nearby was the entrance to the Mount Misery hiking area. I could only find parking at the corner of Lake Street and East Goulding Street. The path I then took from here is shown below in pink.

It was a nice walk in the woods, but there weren't any views at the top of the hill.

After the hike, it was time to head to Quincy, where it was low tide, and I wanted to see if I could get to Raccoon Island from the Edgewater Drive Beach at 198 Edgewater Drive.

Thankfully, the path to the island was pretty clear, and the beach itself was beautiful today as well.
The sand path leading to the island was still damp, and had sea snails of all sizes sprawled all over.

I just hope I did not kill too many on my way to the island.

The island itself was pretty rocky and difficult to walk around, but I managed somehow, skipping around the tidal pools to take pictures of the views all around, especially of the towns of Hull and Weymouth.

I noticed little white spots on some of the rocks,

and they turned out to be barnacles.

On the way back to the mainland, I wandered into some quicksand like conditions, which almost made be stuck in the sand with each step I took, getting harder and harder to pull my boots out of the sand together with my feet. Thankfully, I was able to make it out of there.

From here, it was on to Nut Island, located at the end of Island Avenue. This place has lovely views to say the least, especially of the Boston skyline, and is easily accessible by car.

Next, it was on to McKinnon Park at Chapel Street and Central Avenue, a small private park overlooking Parkhurst/Perry Beach on 5 Bayswater Road, with a view of the Boston skyline.

The beach itself was okay, a bit more run down than the better ones in town.

Passing by a war memorial on Sea Street and Manet Avenue,

I headed to the Rhoda Beach at the corner of Rhoda Street and Rockland Street, which was really small, made larger only due to low tide.

Heading to the Norton Road Beach next, I passed by the Rock Island Cove Salt Marsh on Rhoda Street and State Street,

which had birds of prey nesting in towers set up for that purpose.

The staircase access to the Norton Road Beach is pretty hard to find, located at the junction of Wampatuck Road and Norton Road. I am not even sure if it is private or not.

Merrymount Beach on Shore Avenue and Victoria Road is definitely private though, and it is one of the more scenic beaches here.

Finally, it was time for lunch at The Half Door, a relatively small bar restaurant in town.

For appetizers, I got the Buffalo Style Half Door Wings(Crispy chicken wings) and Homemade Onion Rings,

and my main dish was the Chicken and Steak Tip Combo (Cajun Style).

My wings were pretty disappointing, although the onion rings weren't bad. Thankfully the chicken and steak were done pretty well, as were the fries that came with it, the spicy cajun sauce making it even better. Overall though, not a place I would bring my friends to.

After lunch, I decided to go check out the Old House at Peacefield, which is part of the Adams National Historical Park, which I have visited before, but it was not yet open for the season then.

This time, I was able to join a tour of the Stone Library

and the house itself, the exterior of which was under construction.

Throughout the tour, we were regaled with stories about the famous Adams family who lived here, 2 members of which served as US presidents in the past.

After leaving the place, I headed toward the town of Weymouth, happening to pass by the USS Salem, which is currently closed to the public due to repairs at the pier.

In Weymouth, I visited the King's Cove Park at 94 Bridge Street, which is actually pretty scenic.

Next, I passed by a few buildings in town

Fire Station #1, 195 North Street

Pilgrim Congregational Church

before heading to the Abigail Adams State Park, which had nice views of the ocean.

Finally, it was time to head back into Quincy, where I had a meetup event for karaoke at JazzMoon Karaoke.

It was a little hard to find the place, which is located in a corner of a strip mall.

I have to say, the song selection system here is really terrible, being all in Chinese and computerized, which thankfully I can read, and an absolute lack of songs in the first place. Somehow, we still managed to have an extremely fun time.

After our karaoke session, a bunch of us headed to dinner at Grand Chinatown Restaurant at 21 Billings Road in town. I was here a long time ago, and today would be my second time. We got the Black Pepper Beef,

the Crispy Salted Squid,

the Roasted Chicken,

the Sauteed Peapod Stems,

the Vermicelli Clams,

the Walnut Shrimp

and the Claypot Fish Filet.

A pretty good meal with friends, to say the least, along with the complimentary bowl of red bean soup after the meal.

After dinner, we headed to Yocha nearby for some more dessert. On my friend's recommendation, all of us got the Yocha (mango puree, mango slices with tapioca, pomelo and tofu pudding).

It was really good, but way too filling after a while, although I still managed to finish everything.

I should have packed it up to go like my friend did. Oh well. 

With that, an enjoyable day of walking at the beach and karaoke came to an end. Tomorrow, Providence RI.