September 11th 2013: Stargazing at the BU Coit Observatory, Boston

Today after work, I learnt that there is a Public Open Night every Wednesday to view the night skies using telescopes at the Coit Observatory on the Boston University campus. However, as there was a chance that the event might be canceled due to cloudy skies, I had to take a chance in heading to Boston tonight, so I decided to head to the town of Lexington to have dinner at Via Lago, a cafe by day and somewhat fine dining restaurant by night, and wait for notice that the event was still on or not.

For food, I decided to get the Pan Seared Sea Scallops (potato carrot cake,  Grand Marnier sauce) for appetizers,

and the Local Grown Zucchini and Parmesan Risotto (with sun-dried tomatoes and sauteed chicken medallions) for my main dish.

Although the scallops were pretty small in proportion, the dish had good presentation, and even better taste.

It was so tasty that I even are the scallions that came with the dish. It also made me hungrier in anticipation for my main dish. Unfortunately, the risotto was a little disappointing, though still pretty good, with the chicken being a little dry.

I then ordered the Cookies and Cream (assorted fine cookies with vanilla ice cream) for dessert to try to salvage the meal, but it wasn't much to speak of either.

Overall, I'll put a recommend on this place, only because the menu looks very creative, and the food was actually not too bad.

By this time, the event had been given the all clear to proceed for the night, so I headed to Boston. After finding parking nearby, I entered the campus building at 725 Commonwealth Avenue, only to realize that the stairway only led up to the 5th floor and not the roof. After some more exploration, I somehow managed to find the stairway up to the top.

There were already a lot of people lining up in front of the three telescopes to see the 2 stars that were not visible with the naked eye, even in the midst of the patchy clouds tonight. Unfortunately, the night was too dark to take pictures of the telescopes, and I did not want to use my flash to disturb other people's enjoyment of the view. I did manage to take pictures of the city from up here though.

I'm glad I discovered this nice activity to do with friends, although I hope the next time, the skies would be clearer.