December 24th 2014: Exploring Chicopee in the Rain

I started out this morning with breakfast in Chicopee at the historic Al's Diner.

I decided to go with the Junk Pile Omelette (ham, bacon, sausage, cheese)

and a Hot Chocolate.

Nothing too special really.

After breakfast, I went for a hike at the Chicopee Memorial State Park. The rough path I took to explore the area is shown below in pink.

I headed first toward the wildlife viewing area, getting lost in the process, stumbling onto the Chicopee Country Club,

and only found my way with the help of GPS. There was nothing but marshland at the end though.

Making my way back, I crossed the Brook the first chance I got,  and carried on all the way along the border of the Westover Air Reserve Base, shrouded in fog,

to the reservoir area, where I made my way to the dam,

the bridge over the Lower Reservoir,

And finally the beach area

before walking all the way back to my car.

Not a bad hike, just stay around the water bodies though and do not venture North.

I spent the rest of the day in Chicopee,

Plantation Man

Lifepoint Church

St. Anne Church

Fairview School

Chicopee Church of God,

993 Chicopee Street

Church of the New Covenant

Iglesia Pentecostal La Senda Antigua

First Congregational Church

Aldenville Commons,

Grattan Street and McKinstry Avenue

Ste. Rose de Lima Church

St. Joan of Arc School

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church

Chicopee Falls Dam

First Central Baptist Church

Old St. George Church,

202 East Main Street

River Mills Senior Center,

5 West Main Street

Post Office

Chicopee Public Schools

Old St. Patrick Church,

319 Broadway Street

Chicopee High School

Old Chicopee Academy, 650 Front Street

Basilica of St. Stanislaus

Memorials,

Front Street and Bonneville Avenue

Chicopee Public Library

Szot Park, 687 Front Street

Old Holy Name School, 33 South Street

Old Chicopee Public Library,

31 Springfield Street

City Hall, 17 Springfield Street

Cabotville Industrial Park,

165 Front Street

Chicopee Center Canal Walk,

Front Street and Center Street

Holy Name of Jesus Parish

Christ's Community Church

Ames Privilege Apartments

With my final meal being at Munich Haus,  a German bar restaurant in town with pretty authentic German Polish food.

The starters of Potato Chips with Sour Cream were really delicious and I could not stop eating them,

With my $50 deal, I had to order a lot, getting the Munich Sampler (Fried cheese (imported Camembert German cheese), Sauerkraut balls, Pierogi (cheese and potato), Fried German Baby pickles,  Fried Colossal Shrimp, potato pancakes (sour cream, apple sauce)),

the Sautéed Mayland Blue Crab Cakes

and the Schnitzel Platter (jaeger (wild Mushroom sauce), paprika (diced onions, bacon, celery,  demi glacé and heavy cream), rahm (thick creamy sauce) schnitzel with red cabbage, Sauerkraut,  spaetzle)

for food.

All the dishes were really good, especially the Sauerkraut balls, the crab cakes and the schnitzel, although I was already done when the schnitzel arrived.

Even so, I somehow had space for dessert, getting the Heisse Himbeeren (hot raspberries over vanilla ice cream),

which was really good, the sourness of the raspberries going well with the sweet ice cream.

After my meal, I headed into Hadley to watch "Wild" and "Into the Woods" at the Cinemark at Hampshire Mall and XD. Before the movies, I decided to walk around the Hampshire Mall for a bit.

The first movie, about a girl trying to find herself by hiking through the dessert for a 1000 miles, wasn't too bad, but I did not fancy the second one, a Disney musical mishmashing several fairy tales together, resulting in an often illogical storyline.

With that, a productive day of exploring Chicopee finally came to an end. Merry Christmas everyone!!!