Today, I wanted to go check out the
New England Pirate Faire, held at the
Pioneer Village 1630 in Salem.
Before that, I checked out a few places in Lynn,
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| Flax Pond Park, End of Towns Court |
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Flax Pond Rest Area,
Euclid Avenue and Maple Street
|
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| Floating Bridge Pond, 50 Western Avenue |
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| Frog Pond, End of Larchmont Street |
going on a hike at the
Lynn Woods, where the path I took to explore part of the reservation is down below in pink.
I visited Breeds Pond first,
then hiked to Dungeon Rock,
where there were no views due to the trees. I have just realized that there is a tunnel here, and I totally missed out on out. Next time I guess.
From here, it was on to the Stone Tower,
where there were decent views even though the tower was closed.
The southern side of Walden Pond was next,
before the ascent to the Steel Tower,
where the Boston skyline can be seen, even though there is no ladder access to the top of the tower itself.
At this point, I decided that it was time to head to Salem, so I found the shortest route back to my car.
When I got to
Forest River Park, I was still early, so I decided to head to
Bagel World nearby for some breakfast, getting the Roast Beef and Smoked Turkey Egg Bagel,
which wasn't too bad, although I'm not a big fan of bagels.
I passed by a Viking statue at
Salem State University
When I finally arrived back at the Pioneer Village, the fair had started.
I walked around for a bit,
The first performance I caught was by the One Eyed Jacks, skilled at playing the bagpipes.
The music was so-so, but I really liked it when they started teaching the audience about how the bagpipe works.
Pretty interesting stuff.
Other performances included the main play for the event,
and a pair of dueling fools.
There was even a man who was really good at making Disney Princesses.
After finally leaving the fair, which I think is more for kids, I decided to check out Forest River Park for a bit.
Moving on, I checked out a few more places in Salem,
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David J Beattie Park,
4 Webb Street
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Dead Horse Beach,
Memorial Drive and Restaurant Row
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staying for a bit at the
Salem Willows Park, which has an amusement park area in addition to the park and beach here.
The mini-golf place
Castle Creek Adventure Land was pretty nice too.
Finally, I decided to head into Peabody for lunch, passing a few places
before reaching the
Mike and Lill's Black Sheep Pub and Grill, a pretty modern looking bar restaurant in town.
I decided to go with the Baked Cheese Tart (with white balsamic tomato jam, ricotta and parmesan cheeses, fresh herbs baked in a flaky crust) for an appetizer,
which wasn't too bad, especially with the jam, while the Gorgonzola and Bacon Baked Scallops (in a creamy butter sauce with a crumb topping served with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables) I got for my meal was pretty good as well.
Finally, I had to try their S'Mores in a Jar (graham cracker base, gooey brownie, roasted marshmallows) dessert, which had melted marshmallow overflowing from the jar.
Delicious, but it became too intense after a bit, and I had to call it quits.
I spent the rest of the day in town,
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| Leather City Commons, 73 Lowell Street |
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Peabody Historical Fire Museum,
38 Rear Felton Street
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heading for a hike at the
Brooksby Farm,
which has a bit of a zoo to it as well.
The gates to the hiking area were all closed,
although I did find an area where the fence was collapsed a little, so I used it to enter the area. Hope I was not trespassing. The path I took from here is shown below in pink.
The apple trees were growing all around me,
but more importantly the views were actually pretty awesome.
There was even a garter snake in the grass.
The water bodies here were nothing to look at though.
I had to get out the same way I came in, and thankfully no one really noticed. From here, it was on to the
Independence Greenway area,
where the path I took from the Crystal Lake trailhead to Lt. Ross Park to check out the water bodies here shown below in pink.
Pictures of the various water bodies here follow.
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| Crystal Lake |
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| Elginwood Pond |
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| Lt. Ross Park |
Other water bodies I visited in town after leaving the bike path follow.
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Devil's Dishful Pond,
65 Lake Street
|
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| Winona Pond, End of Butternut Avenue |
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Craig Pond,
75 Corwin Street
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Fountain Pond,
Spring Pond Road and Emerson Avenue
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Lakeshore Park,
Fairview Avenue and Lakeshore Road
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Finally, it was time for dinner at
Toscana's, a pretty nice Italian restaurant in town. I decided to get the
Baked Mozzarella (Fresh mozzarella wrapped with Prosciutto di Parma served warm over wild mushroom sauce)
and the Lobster Fondue (Lobster meat, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes baked in a creamy parmesan base. Served with crostini bread) for appetizers,
and the Lobster Risotto (Creamy risotto infused with fresh lobster meat, sweet corn and lobster broth) for the main dish.
The mozzarella was really exquisite, especially with the mushroom sauce, as was the fondue, which had a decent sherry taste to it as well. The risotto was heavenly too, although I ended up having it to go. Never would have discovered this place without a deal.
After dinner I headed to the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers
to watch 2 movies at the AMC Loews Liberty Tree Mall 20 theater, namely "Lucy" and "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes". Both movies were pretty good, with pretty interesting concepts. Go watch them.
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