Today, I had a
Samuel Adams Brewery tour in Boston, but as I had some time before that, so first I decided to head to the
Mill Pond Conservation Area, located at the end of Wellesley Avenue in Burlington. The route I took here, which was basically a walk around the reservoir which was pretty large, including a walk down the peninsula, where there is a rope swing to the water below, is shown below in pink.
Pictures of the rope swing and the reservoir from various viewpoints follow.
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| Rope Swing |
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| Duck and Ducklings |
I enjoyed my morning walk around the pond, but there were still more places to go to in the town of Woburn, so I headed to Rag Rock at the end of Hillside Avenue. The road up to the water towers here were gated as expected, so I took the only trail I could see, and came onto a clearing which had decent views of downtown Woburn and the Boston skyline as well.
I was about to call it a day here, but I had a feeling there was a better view somewhere close by, so I did a little more exploring, and found another path leading up the hill to the water towers, and it was here while walking around the fence that I found another path leading to a rocky area, where the views of the surroundings were simply breathtaking.
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| Downtown Woburn |
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| Boston skyline |
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| The Water Towers |
Finally satisfied with my find, I walked back to the water towers and down the road to my car. The next place I went to was
Horn Pond in the same town. The path I took here after parking on the corner of Arlington Road and Sturgis Street is shown below in pink.
Walking down Sturgis Street, I first passed by the Boat Launch area.
At Ice House Park, I took another view of Horn Pond.
Heading into the park proper, I passed by the Lagoon area, where there were turtles basking in the sun.
From this area, there is a nice view of the Causeway, a walkway which separates the lagoon from the pond.
As I continued walking here, I also managed to spot a downy woodpecker, and this time I was able to take a decent picture of it.
Moving past the Lagoon, I turned right at the junction to head to the right of the Cattail Marsh.
I walked around the marsh, then headed back to the end of the causeway. More views of Horn Pond follow as I proceeded toward Lions Park.
At Lions Park, there is a nice statue of a lion lying down here.
Moving on, I took yet more pictures of the pond from other peninsulas close to the water before heading up Horn Pond Mountain.
Up on Horn Pond Mountain, there were fantastic views of downtown Winchester and the Boston skyline as well.
Finally back on the ground, I walked the other way around the pond to get back to my car, passing by the
Scalley Dam and Old Foley Beach along the way.
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| Scalley Dam |
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| Ducks and Ducklings |
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| Old Foley Beach |
Finally back at my car, I decided it was time to grab some chow before heading for my brewery tour, so I used one of my Groupons for the
Meat Spot, a butcher shop/deli in Watertown. This place is definitely not a sit-down place, but as I had $20 to spend here, I got 3 sandwiches, namely the Prosciutto Lovers, Roast Beef Sandwich and Corned Beef Sandwich.
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| Roast Beef Sandwich |
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| Prosciutto Lovers |
All were pretty good, although I felt that the Prosciutto one was the best, with the seasoned meat being very flavorful.
On my way to the brewery in Boston, I passed through Brookline, deciding to stop and take pictures of two churches along the way. However, after only a few minutes, I came back to find a $25 parking ticket stuck to my screen. Just my luck.
After getting over my ticket, I finally reached the brewery, which is in a shady part of town I feel. I finally managed to find parking on a side street nearby after having one stolen from me by someone who drove straight into the spot which I had been waiting patiently for. I hate Massachusetts drivers, what can I say, and I am one of them too.
As it turned out, the brewery is so popular for its tours that the next available tour was 2 hours later, so we decided to hope onto Doyle's Express, a shuttle bus taking us to
Doyle's Cafe, the first bar in town to serve Samuel Adams beer back in the day. This bus comes equipped with a disco ball and music machine, clearly meant to be a
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| Shuttle bus to Doyle's |
At Doyle's, I decided to get a cup of Clam Chowder, which was pretty good, along with a glass of Brick Red Beer. I got a free pint glass in return for my effort to drink.
We had to rush at the end of our meal to avoid being late for our tour, but thankfully, the driver of the shuttle bus was very understanding and knew that we had to get back on time, so we did.
With that, the tour started. I must say that this was definitely the best brewery tour I've had so far, compared to the ones at
Pioneer Brewing Company in Sturbridge and
Wachusett Brewing Company in Westminster. At the start of the tour, we walked through a large beer can to get the the brewing area. The tour guide first gave us an overview of the various beer ingredients, allowing us to feel the grain and hops they use for the brewing process. It was interesting to note that Boston water, which comes from the Quabbin Reservoir, he then brought us over to the fermenters to explain the brewing process. Finally it was time for the complimentary beer tasting, where our guide taught us how to taste beer properly, gave us a complimentary glass, and 3 types of beer to taste, namely the Boston Lager, Summer Ale and the Brick Red. I had already had my fill of beer for the day, so I only sampled a little of each.
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| Start of the tour |
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| Talking about the various beer ingredients |
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| Complimentary Beer glass |
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| Fermenters |
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| Sampling free beer |
After the tour was finally over, it was back to sightseeing for me. I passed by
St. Angela's Church in town along the way.
Back in Milton, I visited some interesting places, including the
Milton Academy, where I happened to observe the rainbow effect from sprinklers,
Milton Landing which has decent views of the
Neponset River,
Turner's Pond on Central Avenue and Hinckley Avenue, and the
Governor Hutchinson's Field, where there were okay views of the Boston skyline.
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| Milton Academy |
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| Robert Saltonstall Gymnasium |
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| Ware Hall |
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| Apthorp Chapel |
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| Interesting Sculpture |
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| Rainbow effect from sprinklers |
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| St. Michael's Parish |
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| Milton Landing |
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| Boston skyline, Governor Hutchinson's Field |
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| Turner's Pond |
It was getting late, so I decided to head toward Walpole where my Livingsocial dinner was to be at, passing by a few places in Canton along the way.
It was time for dinner at
Jalapenos Grill in Walpole. I decided to try the Puerco en Salsa Verde, a stew of pork and potato chunks in salsa verde, along with a bowl of Sopa des Mariscos, a lobster based soup with shrimp, tilapia and swordfish. Both dishes were really good, in a pretty nice restaurant to boot.
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| Puerco en Salsa Verde |
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| Sopa des Mariscos |
I still had some money to spend on my deal, so I decided to get a dessert as well, the Tres Leches, a cake soaked in 3 different kinds of milk. The cake was a little grainy I guess, but the milk/cream covering it made it delicious.
With that, a great day of sightseeing came to an end.
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