May 2nd 2015: Salsa Dancing at the Havana Club, Cambridge

I started out early today in the town of Danvers, going for a hike at Proctor Farm. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

Nothing much to see here though.

I went for breakfast next at Kayla's Diner in Peabody. This place is pretty nicely decorated, although I have to say the menu is pretty simplistic.

I got a Hot Chocolate as always,

and a Sun Dried Tomato Omelette (sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, fresh basil).

Not bad actually, although I should stop getting feta in my meals.

From here, I headed into Beverly for my first proper hike at Norwood Pond. The path I took here from Elnew Avenue and Norge Road is shown below in black.

The views of the pond were pretty good today.

My next hike was at the JC Phillips Nature Preserve, located inside 801 Cabot Street. The path I took here is shown below in pink. 

There were okay views of Wenham Lake here,

but not as good as at Norwood Pond.

I headed into Wenham next,

Wenham Lake, 52 Cedar Street

heading to the Grand Wenham Canal. When I realized that there was a path running alongside the canal, I decided to explore it a little, going on the right side from 84 Cherry Street. The views of the canal were beautiful today,

except that my trek was cut short as there was an exit path for the water on this side of the canal, and there was no way for me to proceed over to the other side.

It was a blessing in disguise though, as I had to head back anyway to be on time for my brunch meeting with friends at the Tap Trailhouse in Boston. I guess I'll have to trek the left side of the canal next time.

I got to the bar restaurant just in time, and was in fact one of the earlier people to arrive.

When it came time to order, my friends got stuff like the Johnnie Cakes (Vermont maple syrup, cinnamon butter)

and the Brioche Coffee-milk Battered Stuffed French Toast (cranberry-berry compote, toasted almonds, whipped cream, maple syrup).

I decided to get the Lobster Omelet (house cured bacon, spinach, farmer’s cheese, home fries, anadama toast), despite having gotten an omelette earlier, as nothing else seemed that appealing to me.

It was definitely the better of the 2 I've had today. I also got to try the French Toast, which was tasty because of the coffee batter, and the Maple Sausage Links my friends could not finish.

Overall, a pretty good meal. I might check this place out for dinner some time in future.

From here, I headed to Newton to check out the Newton Taiwan Day which was going on at the Hyde Playground.

It was mostly food here, including rice dumplings,

although I did stay to catch some of the performances,

With that, I headed to Arlington to check out the Arlington Historical Society, where the curators gave me a tour of the Jason Russell House. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take any pictures here.

After leaving the small museum, I headed to Burlington, where I checked out the Overlook Park at the end of Edgemere Avenue, which had only partial views of the Boston skyline due to the tree cover,

and did a small hike around the water bodies at the Seven Springs Conservation Area, located in and around a residential development, the Arborpoint at Seven Springs.

With that, I called it a day for sightseeing, going to get some food from Fruitberry Frozen Yogurt and i-Pizza Cafe, where they prepare pizza within 5 minutes using a conveyor belt oven.

With my deal, I got a Frozen Yogurt

and 3 pizzas, namely the Meat Lovers (Red sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, meatballs, sausage, red onions)

the Pesto Pie (pesto, tomatoes, bell peppers, olives, red onions, artichoke hearts, feta cheese)

and the Chicken Tikki Pie (chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, red sauce, mozzarella, onions and peppers).

The yogurt and the meat pizza weren't too bad, although I hated everything on the Pesto one, and the peppers on the Indian pizza. What a waste of money. At least it was a deal.

To end the day, my friend and I went to the Havana Club in Cambridge for a salsa dancing session. 

We needed a bit of a refresher with the class, but as it got pretty hot during the dance party later, we called it a night and headed home. Pretty productive day in my opinion.