I started out early this morning in Marblehead, visiting a few beaches
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Gas House Beach,
End of Gas House Lane
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Redd's Pond,
Pond Street and Russell Street
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| Stramski's Beach, End of Stramski Way |
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Grace Oliver Beach,
Beacon Street and Crowninshield Road
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before going on a hike at the
Steer Swamp. The paths I took here to explore all the viewpoints here are shown below in pink.
Only Black Joe's Pond was worth looking at, and thankfully I was able to find my way after getting a little disoriented in the top half of the area.
I next visited Fountain Park at 51 Orne Street, which had awesome scenery.
I could not get onto
Crowninshield Island, as it was still high tide at this point.
Thankfully, I was getting hungry by now, so I headed into the downtown area to try to find something to eat. I first went to
The Muffin Shop, where I decided to just get a Peach Muffin, which was actually pretty tasty and Crispy.
Not satisfied, I went next to
Haley's Wines and Market Cafe close by, where I settled for
a Breakfast Burrito (black beans, egg, pepperjack, housemade salsa, bacon)
and a Hot Chocolate.
The food was just okay though.
I resumed my sightseeing afterward,
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Fort Beach,
Franklin Street and Front Street
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checking out the views at
Crocker Park
and at
Fort Sewall.
I then went on a hike at the
Hawthorn Pond area, where the path I took is shown below in pink.
The pond itself was nothing to look at though.
At this point, I decided to head into Lynn to check out the
GAR Museum, which happened to be open at this time. A pretty cool place, where they put up pictures of Civil War veterans who have passed on the walls of the main hall, and no confederates are allowed in. Pictures I took here follow.
It also has one of the few remaining confederate flags left in the world.
After leaving the museum, I headed to lunch at the
Flying Saucer Pizza Company in Salem. This cafe like place is Sci-Fi themed,
all the way down to the place mats
and even the takeout boxes.
I decided to go with a Creamsicle Float,
the Ender Pizza (
evoo and chopped garlic, Saucer cheese blend, Cajun chicken, bacon, broccoli, scallion, sweet habanero sauce)
and the Silurian Pizza (evoo and chopped garlic, Teese cheddar, mac n' Teese casserole, kale, sundried tomato).
The Ender was pretty good, although the Silurian tasted downright weird.
Overall, this pizza place is worth checking out because of its quirkiness. Just don't get mac and cheese on your pizza.
I headed back to Marblehead at this point, hoping to be able to get onto Crowninshield Island while the tide was still low, and thankfully it was. Pictures I took here while on the island follow.
It was interesting to find a decorated christmas tree along the way.
Thankfully, I left just as my path back was about to get submerged by the tide.
From here it was on to
Chandler Hovey Park,
where the
Marblehead Light Tower is located as well.
After climbing the rocks at
Castle Rock Park,
I headed for a hike at the
Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, where the path I took is shown below in pink.
Unfortunately, there was nothing much to see here.
As the sun set, I decided to go for one more hike at
Ware Pond, where the path I took is shown below in pink.
Once again, nothing too impressive, but at least better than Hawthorn Pond.
Finally, I decided to call it a day for sightseeing, heading into Swampscott for dinner at
Nguyen's Vietnamese Cuisine and Sushi Bar. This place has to be the nicest Vietnamese place I have been to to date.
For food, I got the
Swampscott Roll (Shrimp tempura, cream cheese, asparagus topped with baked kanikama salad, tempura crunch, mozzarella cheese, masago, and scallions dressed with white sauce and kabayaki glaze)
and the
Clay Pot (Salmon simmered in a sweet and savory caramel sauce on top of a Vietnamese traditional clay pot, served with a side of white rice).
The sushi was actually really tasty, while the salmon was good too, although the saltiness of the broth got to me after a while and I had to stop eating it.
Overall, not a bad place to eat at in Swampscott.
At this point, I decided to head into Boston to join my friends at the New Year's Eve fireworks on the Boston Common.
Unfortunately, by the time I parked my car, the fireworks had already started, so I had to take pictures from where I was in South Boston.
By the time I got to the park, the fireworks were already over, but I decided to walk around anyway and take pictures of the ice sculptures and other stuff set up for the New Year.
I finally headed to Hei La Moon, where all my friends were waiting for food to come, but as it never did, we decided to give up after an hour or so of waiting, and headed to New Golden Gate instead, where we got our food much faster this time around.
After dinner, a group of us went to my friend's place, where we waited for the fireworks at midnight.
Not a bad way to end the year. Hope next year is better though.
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