August 27th 2016: MA, CT and NH in a Day

I started off today in Douglas MA, visiting the Douglas Historical Society, which used to be a convenience store a century ago.

Next, it was into Thompson CT, visiting a few places

Little Pond,
21 Lakeview Street

Langers Pond,
Wilsonville Road and Riverside Drive

Before embarking on my first hike in a while on the Air Line State Park Trail. The path I took here to get to the Tri State Marker demarcating the point where CT, MA and RI meet is shown below in pink.

The marker itself wasn't much to look at,

although there is a hermit's cave here.

At this point, I decided to grab a bite,  heading to Monte Bianco Restaurant, a simple looking Italian place in town.

I got the Crab Cakes (delicately crunchy on the outside and velvety smooth on the inside, served with remoulade sauce and Chipotle drizzle, accompanied by fries, spicy coleslaw and Crispy spinach),

which was really tasty, although a little pricey in my opinion.

Heading back into MA, I stopped by Cakettes, a small cafe bakery to get a small box of Cakettes (a marriage of cupcakes and truffles).

As delicious as they look.

From here, it was on into Brookline NH,

Fine Lines Auto Body

Checking out the lighthouse by Potanipo Pond,

And then Amherst NH, where we chanced upon the LaBelle Winery, the nicest winery I have seen to date.

To top it off, the tour was free as well.

Cool to learn that the vines here are grown upright to maximize sunlight exposure, and the nets are to prevent against birds getting to them.

Finally, Manchester NH,

City Hall

City Hall Plaza Tower

Amoskeag Falls

Jefferson Mill

where we walked around the Mall of New Hampshire,

grabbing a delicious Buffalo Chicken Signature Pita (mushrooms, tomatoes, carrots, blue cheese blend, buffalo ranch sauce)        

from Extreme Pita, located within the food court here, before heading to the Verizon Wireless Arena

to watch Cirque du Soleil: Ovo.

I have to say, it was much better than Amaluna, which I watched a while back.

With that, a day of being in CT, MA and NH, including a step or 2 in RI, finally came to an end.