April 15th 2012: Meeting Up with Friends in Boston and Framingham

This morning, I decided to do some sightseeing before going to meet my friend for lunch in Boston. The first place I went to was the Wright Woods in Concord. The entrance to it is located at the start of Fairhaven Road. The rough path I took here is highlighted in pink below.

I tried my best to follow the path to head to Fairhaven Bay, but there were so many side trails that I ended up having to rely on my compass to head me in the somewhat right direction. When I finally neared the shoreline though, there were only partial views of the bay from where I stood atop the slopes facing the bay.

I almost gave up trying to reach the shore until I happened to spot the trail by the shore of the bay. I had to trespass a little on private property to get there, but with that, I was finally back on the track indicated above. From here, I took several pictures of Fairhaven Bay.

With that I walked the path all the way back to my car, and headed to my next destination at the North Street Pits in Lexington. The path I took after parking at the lot at the corner of North Street and Adams Street is highlighted below in pink.

The large pond here was pretty scenic, and there were several waterfowl enjoying themselves in the sunny weather. Pictures of the pond  and the wildlife follow.

Spot the fish

Canadian Geese

Next, I headed to the Arlington Great Meadows in the same town, the parking area located at the end of Sheila Road. After parking at the side of the road on Circle Road nearby, the path I took here is shown below in pink.

There were few things of note in this area, except for the views of the meadows and the boardwalks themselves.

Red-winged Blackbird

The Boardwalk

After entering onto the Minuteman Bikeway, Peeper's Pond on the right attracted my attention a little, partly because of the turtles sunbathing there.

When I finally entered the residential area on Fottler Avenue, I decided to take my time walking along the streets back to my car, taking pictures of the flowers along the way.

When I finally returned to my car, I realized I still had some time before meeting up with my friend, so I headed to Arlington to visit a couple of churches.

St Paul's Lutheran Church

St. Camillus Church, 1175 Concord Turnpike

Across the highway from where I was I happened to spot a huge church like building atop a hill, which turned out to be the Boston Massachusetts Temple (Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints) in Belmont.

Statue atop the church

I was going to be late for my appointment with my friend, so I hurried to Boston, where I parked my car at the Boston Common Garage before heading to Hei La Moon in Chinatown to meet my friend.

We ordered several dimsum dishes, and my friend, who is a budding chef and a food connoisseur, said that it was the best dimsum he ever had, even better than in New York.

With that, I hung out with him a little more after lunch, taking pictures of flowers along the way, and at the Home Depot within the Parkway Plaza Shopping Center at ~1100 Revere Beach Parkway in Chelsea.










I realized I had to buy a bike for a practice ride I have tomorrow morning, so I was forced to leave my friend, and headed to the Dick's Sporting Goods within the Dedham Mall in Dedham. Before doing so, I decided to walk around the Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden for a bit to enjoy the spring weather as well as to make the $11 parking fee a little more worth it. Pictures I took here follow.


















































At Dedham Mall, I ended up spending over $500 bucks on getting a comfort bike, a helmet, a bike lock, a bagpack to carry my water, and a pump for my wheels.

With that, I was about to head home with my bike tied to my new bike rack when my friend called on me to have dinner with her at Top Shelf Restaurant in Framingham. I had been to this restaurant before, enjoying the seafood chowder and the lamb chops. My friend had already ordered the Top Shelf Nachos and Chicken Bruschetta Special, so I decided to just get the Fried Matzo Balls with Bacon, not feeling too hungry somehow. My friend also got the Berries and Cream Dessert

Chicken Bruschetta

Top Shelf Nachos

Fried Matzo Balls with Bacon

Berries and Cream

This time round, I felt that all the dishes were only so-so, however, failing to spark any excitement in me, although the dessert was pretty good. This was probably due to my constant anxiety that someone would steal my bike from where it was outside the restaurant, and I had to constantly leave my seat to go check on it.

Thankfully, I reached home after dinner without incident.