November 16th 2014: Finishing Up Brockton

I started out today heading to the Boston area, where I had a meetup brunch at Devlin's Restaurant, located in the Brighton area of town.

Before that, I stopped by Cafenation nearby for a Green Tea Latte

and a Nutella, Strawberry and Banana Crepe.

The latte was pretty good, while the crepe was alright I guess. There were lots of people here the whole time though. Pretty popular place.

As for Devlin's itself, I was expecting a regular bar restaurant, but it turned out to be quite fancy.

The mini-muffins we got for starters were pretty addictive as well.

The NOLA Shrimp (gulf shrimp, voodoo broth, grilled crostini) I got were really tasty too,

albeit a little spicy.

After brunch, I headed to Canton to visit the Blue Hills Weather Observatory. As the road access to the top of the hill, where the observatory is located is not open to public vehicles, I decided to hike up the Skyline Trail from the parking lot located to Little Blue Hill at 2995 Washington Street.

It was a pretty steep hike, although the views were simply awesome.

I somehow managed to find my way to the top, exhausted to say the least, but I was just happy that the observatory was open.

After paying the 4 bucks for the tour, I did not have to wait long before it started. I was first shown the room where over a hundred years of records were kept,

and then up one floor where people were actually working to collect weather data.

It was interesting to note that because of the degree of automation involved, people did not have to be stationed here 24-7. Finally, it was up to the roof itself, where there were multitudes of anemometers perched all around,

and the views all around were beautiful on this relatively clear day, with even Mount Wachusett visible in the distance.

It was cool to learn about such things like virga, the phenomenon where precipitation occurs high up in the atmosphere, but sublimes or vaporizes before it hits the ground due to varying temperature layers in the atmosphere.

It was also interesting to hear that if snow occurs in October, the winter would be relatively mild, while snow occuring in November indicates a stormy winter. With the 3 inches of snow that fell last week, I guess this means we've got more to come.

Heading back down the way I came, I took some more pictures while making my way down slowly on the steep and treacherous path.

After finally getting back to my car, I decided it was time for my next meal, this time in the town of Weymouth at Memphis Joe's BBQ, a bar restaurant.

I decided to get the Burnt Ends Sandwich (crispy Kansas style brisket ends, smoked 14 hours, chopped and simmered in tomato based BBQ sauce on a brioche roll with cheddar cheese)

and the Southern Fried Fish and Chips (deliciously seasoned and southern fried, served with fries).

There wasn't anything amazing about the food though.

From here, it was on to the town of Brockton for the rest of the day. I first headed to the Brockton Historical Society, which thankfully was open today. It was interesting to note that Brockton was a place for making shoes.

I then headed next door to the Brockton Fire Museum, where a volunteer showed me around the place. It was interesting to know how people dealt with fire in the old days, especially when there was no phone, with the use of bells, call boxes, and horns.

A pretty educational tour. I'm just glad firefighting has become so much more advanced than before.

After leaving the museums, I explored the rest of Brockton

Word of God Church

St. Patrick Church

First Evangelical Lutheran Church

Gethsemane Seventh Day Adventist Church

Fire Station #2, 945 Main Street

Old House of Prayer Church of God,

948 Main Street

House of Prayer 5

Warren Avenue Baptist Church,

1153 Warren Avenue

Trinity Baptist Church

Campanelli Stadium

Finally, with the sun set for good, I decided to head to King Fried Chicken for dinner. This fast food place is located beside a gas station at 158 Montello Street in town. I got the Snack Box (2 pieces chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuit)

Not too bad, though nothing extraordinary.

With that, I was finally done with the town of Brockton. Nothing much of note here except for the DW Field Park.