Saturday, March 14, 2026

Recommended Places to Visit: Northbridge

Recreation
Golf
Shining Rock Golf Club
91 Clubhouse Lane


Mini-Golf
West End Creamery
481 Purgatory Road
Water Bodies
Swans Pond
~481 Purgatory Road

Whitins Pond
Carr Road and Purgatory Road

Linwood Pond
670 Linwood Avenue

Carpenter Reservoir
321 Carpenter Road

Arcade Pond
Arcade Street and Main Street

Riley Pond
196 Castle Hill Road

Riverdale Pond
50 Riverdale Street

Meadow Pond
306 Douglas Road

869 Quaker Street

Museums
Northbridge Historical Society
17 Church Street

1 Memorial Square

Dams
Fish Pond Dam
Carr Road and Purgatory Road

Linwood Pond Dam
670 Linwood Avenue

Whitin Mill Dam
~23 Douglas Road
Hiking
Recommended:
Lookout Rock
Quaker Street between Forsythe Farm Road and Wolf Hill Road

Shining Rock
386 School Street


Architecture
Monuments
War Memorial
Providence Road and School Street

Whitinsville Common
Church Street and Linwood Avenue


 Places of Worship
Schools
Northbridge Middle School
87 Linwood Avenue


Town Facilities
Whitinsville Social Library
17 Church Street

Whitinsville Post Office
44 Church Street


 Historical Buildings
Cotton Mill Apartments
17 Douglas Road

Whitin Mill
~23 Douglas Road

Whitinsville Bank Building
8 Linwood Avenue

Aldrich School
14 Hill Street

Old Whitin Machine Works
~3 Whitinsville Road

Old Centre Congregational Church
Benson Road and Hill Street

Linwood Mill Apartments
670 Linwood Avenue

Riverdale Mills
130 Riverdale Street


Restaurants
Highly Recommended:
Western
Maison de Manger
670 Linwood Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
Pulled Pork with Slaw Crepe
New England Clam Chowder

Tried:
Breakfast
Peg's Diner
87 Church Street
Recommended Dishes:
Grilled Cheese


Deli
The Green Plate 
167 Church Street
Recommended Dishes:
Coleslaw
Buffalo Chicken Salad Wrap


 Italian
Northbridge House of Pizza
2225 Providence Road
Recommended Dishes:
Meat Lovers
Hawaiian

Seafood
74 Providence Road
Recommended Dishes:
Clam Chowder
Clam Cakes
Banana Split


Western
Rockdale Grill
91 Clubhouse Lane
Recommended Dishes:
Saute Shrimp

 Jube's Family Restaurant
1227 Providence Road
Recommended Dishes:
Mr. Potato Head
91 Providence Road
Recommended Dishes:
Hawaiian Martini
Mediterranean Chicken


 Thai
Divine Thai
123 Church Street
Recommended Dishes:
Winter Shrimp
Chilli Duck
Divine Fried Rice
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March 14th 2026: Revisiting the Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center, Northbridge

 Today, after another delicious meal at Nan Xiang Express in Shrewsbury, this time getting the Beef Scallion Pancake,

the Braised Beef Noodle Soup 

the Spicy Beef Soup Dumplings and Chicken and Shrimp Siu Mai.


From here, it was on to the Whitinsville area of Northbridge to visit the Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center, which has moved from Grafton since the last time I visited. Much nicer and bigger now.











The little one had fun running around the museum on a scavenger hunt, so overall it was a good day revisiting this small museum.
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Sunday, March 8, 2026

Recommended Places to Visit: Southborough

Recreation
Museums

Parks
Fayville Park
Central Street and Winter Street


Hiking
Recommended:
Crystal Pond
~9 Crystal Pond Road

Breakneck Hill Conservation Area
~74 Breakneck Hill Road

Beals Preserve
End of Red Gate Lane

Clemmon Street and Nichols Street

Tried:
Turenne Wildlife Habitat
11 Walnut Drive


Water Bodies
Sudbury Reservoir
Maple Street and Framingham Road

Architecture
Monuments
Town Common
Common Street and Main Street


Town Facilities
Police Department
19 Main Street

25 Main Street


Schools
St. Mark's School
25 Marlboro Road


Historical Buildings
Old Firehouse Plaza
5 Main Street


Places of Worship
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
27 Main Street

First Community Church of Southborough
137 Southville Road

St. Matthews Church
105 Southville Road

Pilgrim Congregational Church
15 Common Street

St. Anne Church
20 Boston Road


Restaurants
Tried:
Dessert
Cold Stone Creamery (chain)
154 Turnpike Road
Recommended Dishes:
Strawberry Ice Cream


Diner
Mauro's Village Cafe (chain)
2 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes


Deli
The Vin Bin (chain)
154 Turnpike Road
Recommended Dishes:
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Subway (chain)
21 Turnpike Road
Recommended Dishes:
Rotisserie Style Chicken

359 Turnpike Road
Recommended Dishes:
Chai Cider and Fig
Hot Honey Chicken Sammie

Italian
Tomasso Trattoria
154 Turnpike Road
Recommended Dishes:
Tanglinieri Pasta with Beef Ragu
Meatballs

Southborough House of Pizza
5 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Five Alarm Fire!
Hawaiian
Meat Special


Latin American
Hola! Restaurante and Tequila Bar
154 Turnpike Road
Recommended Dishes:
Guacamole
Tacos de Asada
Chiles en Nogada

Western
Owen O'Leary's
50 Turnpike Road
Recommended Dishes:
Baked Stuffed Shrimp
Pot Roast
PU PU 4 U

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Recommended Places to Visit: Boxborough

Recreation
Water Bodies
Cisco
500 Beaver Brook Road

Flagg Hill Pond
Windermere Road near Flagg Hill Road


Ice Skating
Nashoba Valley ISI Skating School
34 Massachusetts Avenue


Museums
575 Middle Road

 
Parks
Flerra Meadows
Stow Road near Chester Road




Hiking
Tried:
Middle Road near Hill Road

End of Swanson Road

Flagg Hill Conservation Area
Windermere Road, 42.468318, -71.502520


Architecture 
Places of Worship
United Church of Christ
723 Massachusetts Avenue


Town Facilities
Town Hall
29 Middle Road


Restaurants 
Tried:
Latin American
Oscar's Burritos Mexican Restaurant
34 Massachusetts Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Hot Dog Quesadilla
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March 8th 2026: Historical Museums in Boxborough and Southborough

 Today, we checked out the Boxborough Historical Museum in Boxborough






and the Southborough History and Arts Center in Southborough.














Small town history museums, although Southborough was better. With that, we decided to get lunch at Nan Xiang Express in Shrewsbury, this time getting the Beef Tripe in Spicy Sauce (cold)
the Chive Shrimp and Pork Dumplings,

the Crispy Pork Chop Rice Bowl
the Crab Meat and Pork Soup Dumplings


and the Durian Puffs.

Other than the bones in the pork chops, everything was delicious as always, with fresh durian in the puffs. Probably coming back a third time soon.

Dessert was at MOTW Coffee and Pastries, getting the Honeycomb Bread,
 
which was interesting, but I didn't like the cheese aspect of it. Overall, glad we got to check off two more small-town museums off the list.


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Saturday, February 28, 2026

28th February 2026: Nan Xiang Express, Shrewsbury

 Today we decided to check out the new Chinese restaurant in Shrewsbury, Nan Xiang Express.

We got the Pan Fried Pork Buns (4 pc),
the Wontons in Spicy Peanut Sauce,
the Pork Soup Dumplings

and the Shredded Beef and Pepper Noodles (without soup).



Really delicious, best dumplings ever, despite the long wait, and still warm too.


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Sunday, February 22, 2026

February 22nd 2026: Dimsum in Quincy, Cake in Braintree

 Today, we started out with some Dimsum at Ming's Seafood in Quincy,


this time getting the Steamed Rice Rolls with Shrimp,

the Steamed Salty Egg Yolk Lava Buns,
the Crispy Pear Sticky Rice Dumplings,
the Singapore Rice Noodles (curry), Steamed Surf Clams with Minced Garlic and Vermicelli

and the Bean Curd Pudding with Boba.


The rice dumplings were interesting and tasty, while the noodles were a tad spicy, but the clams were not bad in taste. Otherwise, pretty gimmicky overall, and I have to say the standard seems to have gone down over the years.


Dessert was a Lemon Raspberry Cake (Gold cake with lemon and raspberry mousse filling) from Konditor Meister in Braintree.


At least we got something decent out of a long drive out.

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