April 30th 2014: Dinner at Meadhall, Cambridge

Today after work, I had a meetup dinner at Meadhall in Cambridge. Before that, I decided to do a pizza run at Nick's Place, a pizza takeout place in Lexington. I got the Sweet and Spicy Chicken Ranch Pizza (Chicken in sweet Asian chilli sauce, ranch dressing),

the Honey BBQ Steak Tip Sub,

the Ziti Shrimp Alfredo (Shrimp, Ziti, Alfredo Sauce, with garlic bread)

and a Pastrami Sub.

The food was actually pretty good, the sweet chilli sauce being an interesting touch to the pizza, and the steak tips were pretty flavorful as well. I couldn't eat too much of it though, with more to come in Cambridge.

I've heard a lot about the Meadhall and all its beers, so today was my chance to check it out. This place is pretty nice for a bar restaurant, although I kinda thought there would be much more types of beer for it to earn its name. For the purpose of being here, I got the Downeast Original Cider, which was pretty good for a non-drinker like me.

For food, I decided to just get appetizers, getting the Housemade Sausage (Duck Sausage, German Potato Salad, Coarse Mustard Jus)

and the Steak Tartare (anchovy, capers, coddled farm egg, crostini). 

I wasn't expecting the beef to be totally raw, along with the egg as well, but it was still pretty good, although I had to share the big portion with someone else. The sausage was delicious too, although the mustard sauce was a little too sour for me. Overall, this place is actually pretty decent, although I hear it is always packed on the weekends.

April 29th 2014: Dinner at A Taste of Vietnam, Leominster

Today after work, I decided to try to find the vista again at the East Waushacum Overlook area in the town of Sterling, having missed it the last time I was here. I managed to find it this time, and the rough path I took is shown below in black.

The view of East Waushacum Pond was pretty decent.

The next hike I went on was at the Wekepeke Conservation Area, located on Heywood Road near North Row Road. The path I took to see the beautiful water bodies is shown below in black.

Pictures I took of the serene area with a few waterfalls follow.

It was on to Leominster from here, where I decided to head to Barrett Park, which I have visited a long time ago. I had not been able to find the waterfalls before, but better equipped this time around, I decided to give it another try.

The paths I took here is shown below in pink.

My first venture into the area failed to yield any results, the stream I thought contained the waterfall looking more like a dried out riverbed. I decided to go find the airport beacon on Gardner Hill first, and though I got a little disoriented, I eventually found it at the top of the hill.

Back on the ground, I passed by Colburn Pond on the way back to the waterfall area to try to find it again.

This time around, I decided to take a different path, as well as check out some areas I had not been to. I found the brook this time, and followed it finally to the waterfall, which was actually pretty nice.

By the time I left the park, it was almost totally dark. Time for dinner, which I decided to have at Taste of Vietnam at 814 North Main Street in town.

The moment I pulled into the parking lot, I had a feeling that I have been here before, and even more so when I entered the small restaurant. It would probably have to be long before I started recording my travels. Regardless, I decided to stay, getting the Ca Salmon Chien Sot Ca Chua (Grilled Salmon in a traditional Vietnamese tomato sauce), a traditional dish done using salmon.

It was pretty good actually, the salmon being crispy and going well with the sauce. Glad I decided to stay.

April 28th 2014: Dinner at the Warehouse Bar and Grille, Boston

Today after work, I had a meetup dinner to go to at the Warehouse Bar and Grille in the Financial District area of Boston. Before that, I decided to grab some takeout pizza for my lunch tomorrow from Rock City Pizza, a pizza takeout place with a relatively large dining area in the Allston area of town.

I got the Blanco Hawaiian Pizza (Pizza Cheese, Pineapple, Bacon and Brown Sugar),

the Chicken Pesto Supreme Pizza (Pizza Cheese, Pesto, Tomato and Chicken),

Cajun Fries

and the Steak Tip Caesar Sub (12" Sub Roll, Caesar, Steak Tips and Romaine).

The sub wasn't too bad, while the two pizzas were actually pretty good, especially the slightly sweet Hawaiian pizza. Only the Cajun Fries were a little disappointing, being a little soggy.

The Warehouse itself is a pretty chic looking bar restaurant.

When everyone finally got settled down, we decided to get some appetizers. My friends got the Fried Clam Chowder,

Sweet Potato Tots and Smokey BBQ Chicken Tenders,

while I decided to try the Gator Bites (Cajun Style, Remoulade),

which apparently is made out of real alligator meat.

I got to try some of my friend's soup, and I have to say it is both an interesting concept to use fried clams in chowder, and the best clam chowder I have had to date, with the mashed potatoes being another unique touch to the dish. Gator meat is pretty interesting as well, having a slight chewy texture to it. The tots were excellent as well, something I have not had in tater tot form before.

For food, most of my friends got the Warehouse Burger (ground sirloin, arugula, vine ripe tomato, cheddar cheese, cherry smoked bacon, potato roll), while I decided to get the Feta and Watermelon Tower (mixed greens, fresh mint, white balsamic vinaigrette),

thinking that the presentation of the dish would be interesting. Unfortunately, it just looked like a regular salad.

I'm not even that much of a fan of feta cheese. I definitely should have gone with something else. Overall though, I have to say this place has some interesting stuff on the menu, and I wouldn't mind coming back here again.

April 27th 2014: Deep Sea Fishing in Hampton NH

My friends and I woke up really early this morning to head to Hampton NH, where we were to embark on an all day deep sea fishing trip with Al Gauron Deep Sea Fishing and Whale Watching. It was raining just a little this morning, but everyone thought nothing of it, excited at the prospect of catching big fish out in the ocean. I grabbed a Ham Egg and Cheese Sandwich from Al Gauron's Luncheonette along the way.

Our fishing boat, the White Star,

was moored in the Hampton Harbor,

and after everyone had got onto the boat and tied their rods to the side of the ship,

 we were off.

They had to pull up the bridge for us to pass through.

After passing under the bridge,

the boat sped up,

leaving the land far behind. That was when things started getting bad, as the seas were choppy and constantly rocked the boat. I thought I would be alright, and seemed so for quite a while while my other friend immediately started vomiting a few minutes into the wild ride. Unfortunately, at one point, the food I had eaten this morning at my friend's place suddenly decided to escape my stomach back into my mouth, and things went downhill from then on.


By the time the boat slowed down and buckets of squid bait were placed out beside the rods,

I had already thrown up almost everything left in my stomach, but it did not get any better. I struggled to do some fishing, hooking the squid to the line,

then putting the rod out to sea and controlling the descent of the weighted line into the water after releasing the catch, using a finger on the reel to control the descent. No need for casting like in lakeside fishing. After lowering the line, it was then time to wait for the fish to bite.

Unfortunately, I could only do this for about 10 minutes before I started vomiting again, and I gave up for the rest of the trip. My friend wasn't affected, thankfully, and he was able to catch 2 fish, one of which he had to throw back into the ocean because it wasn't big enough to be kept according to government regulations. The other people were more skilled at this, and all day long they kept catching all sorts of stuff, as the boat moved from spot to spot, like Mother-in-Law Fish (cabezon),

cod, which has a white lateral line,

haddock, which looks like cod except that it has a black lateral line instead,

and Acadian redfish, which have poisonous spines and must be handled carefully.

I was just relieved when we finally headed back for home, and the fishermen started cutting up their catch, especially the redfish.

Strangely, the boat ride back was much smoother, and eventually I got a little better, enough to take this picture of the rainbow as we arrived back at the harbor.

I was still a little woozy, but I managed to drive my friends back home, then headed home myself, too sick to do anything else for the rest of the day. All I can say is, deep sea fishing is definitely not for me. I don't know how I am going to fare in scuba diving in the coming weeks.