June 12th 2014: Dinner at Ricardo's Cafe Trattoria, Lowell

I had to leave work early today to get my scuba gear for the coming weekend of open water diving in Chelmsford. After doing so, I decided to do some hiking in Andover, passing by the Monastery of St. Clare in town,

heading to the Merrimack  River Reservation at 57 River Road. I walked to the back of the Greater Lawrence Technical School to find the trail, but I was clearly in the wing place, although somehow I managed to find small pathways that eventually led me to the right path. From here the path I took to explore various parts of the trail are shown below in pink.

There were some okay views of the river, but not many as I walked the long distance into the peninsula, which became increasingly overgrown as I tried to venture to the end.

Eventually reaching the end with no nice views of the river to be had, I headed back out to the bridge and took the other path southwestwards, which was supposed to bring me into Lawrence, but the trail got lost in the Andover Place Apartments, and I ended up walking the road back to my car. From here, I decided to drive to the end of Old River Road, parking at the Wyndham Boston Andover before making the trek to the trail, which is near the I-93 Bridge, which wasn't much to look at, however.

While I was walking under the bridge, I was even a little apprehensive that someone would jump out and mug me. Back at my car without issue, I headed to another stop at the end of Brundrett Avenue, where there was a gate blocking my car's path to the pumping house. When I reached it on foot, I actually thought the water coming from the pump was actually a waterfall.

Heading to the river, there were only partial views of Pine Island in the middle of the river.

By this time, it had turned pretty dark, so I had to give up my conquest of the area, vowing to come back soon, heading to Ricardo's Cafe Trattoria, an Italian restaurant with a pretty retro feel in the city of Lowell.

I liked the decor a lot, but I could not say the same for the food, unfortunately. The Mushroom Ravioli soup I got was way too herby in taste for me,

while the Veal Ricardo II (with shrimp, prosciutto, artichokes with madeira demi glaze, and splash of heavy cream, served over pasta) tasted weird as well.

Only the Lemon Raspberry Italian Cheesecake was pretty good.

I really wanted to like this place, but the food just spoilt it all for me.