October 8th 2011: Acton, Concord, then 2nd time up Mount Wachusett, Princeton

I continued my sightseeing in Acton this morning, heading to the town common on Concord Road and Wood Lane.

Acton Town Hall

Acton Town Common

Acton Congregational Church

My first trail of the day was Grassy Pond Conservation Land. The parking area can be found on the left along Nagog Hill Road moving away from Main Street. Do not confuse this with the parking area for Nagog Hill Conservation Land, which is closer to Main Street and on the right. The route I took here is highlighted below in black.

I took the red trail from the parking lot to the fork with the yellow trail, and I followed the left path all the way to the blue trail leading to Grassy Pond, which was the highlight of this trek. Pictures of Grassy Pond and the bridge leading out to it follow.

From the bridge, I headed down the other half of the yellow trail back to my car. The next place I headed to was Nashoba Brook Conservation Land, the parking area being at around 45 Davis Road. The route I took is highlighted below in black.

I basically walked the entire yellow loop trail, passing by several great views of Nashoba Brook and Robbins Mill Pond. Pictures follow.

Overall, I would say that Nashoba Brook is a nice place for a morning walk in the woods.

The last place I went to today in Acton was North Action Recreation Area (NARA) Park. This is a beautiful park with many recreational areas including a beach, ball fields and an amphitheater. Pictures I took here follow.

My next town of visit was Concord. I had to meet up with a few friends for lunch, so I decided not to embark on any more hiking trails before then. I first visited a place along the Concord River, the South Bridge Boat House, from which you can rent canoes or kayaks to traverse the river. It's hard to find parking in this area, but there are beautiful views of Concord River from here.

South Bridge Boat House

Concord River

The next place I went to was the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, which had a few interesting sculptures out on its lawn.

The Main Building

The Annexe

Next on the list was the Concord Museum. This is the museum detailing the history of Concord with focus on its involvement in the American War for Independence in the 1770s. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take many pictures of the place, even with a $10 admission fee.

Concord Museum

Museum Courtyard

Cat's Cradle Game Instructions

Native Algonquin tools

Then and Now

Before heading to the town center, I visited several other interesting buildings in town.

Concord Public Library Fowler Branch

Trinity Episcopal Church

Harvey Wheeler Community Center

West Concord Union Church

Alcott School

Concord Free Public Library

New Church of Concord

At the town center on Main Street, Lexington Road and Lowell Road, there were several monuments and historical buildings of interest.

Concord Town Hall,
22 Monument Square

La Pieta Statue

Monuments in Monument Square

Holy Family Parish

First Parish Church

First Road in Concord

Downtown Concord

War Memorials

Wright's Tavern

After this it was time to head back for lunch with my friends at Not Your Average Joe's in Westborough, which has a very good bread and olive oil starter because they add cheese and peppers to the oil. From my friend's apartment at the Fountainhead, it had a very good view of the surroundings.

After a great lunch, we went to Mount Wachusett in Princeton. This time, the group decided to use the Old Indian Trail to head up the mountain. The route we took is highlighted below in pink.

Once at the summit, I took a few more pictures to add to those I had taken a few weeks ago.

We then headed down to the other great viewpoint like before, where I took better pictures this time.

We then headed down the road to the ski slopes. I was able to take a picture of Harlow Outlook, but the view from there was still nonexistent.

At the ski slope, we spotted a young porcupine grazing by the roadside. It was the first wild one we had ever seen, so we were quite fascinated by it. We had to back away quickly at one point though, because it seemed to become on alert and the spines were standing up.

The views from the ski slope were spectacular as always.

With that, we headed back to Westborough to have dinner at Sapporo Korean BBQ and Sushi Restaurant. My friends absolutely loved the food there, especially the Volcano Roll and the Avocado Ball sushi dishes.