December 8th 2017: Going West

I headed west today, starting with a hike at the Patch Conservation Area in Worcester. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

The views of the reservoir were pretty good,

but the waterfall at the dam was the best thing about this place.

Patch Pond itself was nothing to look at though.

Next, I visited the beautiful Buck Hill Pond on McCormick Road in Spencer

before heading for my next hike at the Wendemuth Meadow Preserve in North Brookfield, where the path I took here to explore the fields here is shown below in pink.

Great views of the fields here.

Next, West Brookfield,

Copper Lantern Motor Lodge

for a hike at the Pynchon's Grist Mill Preserve. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

The road was under construction, but thankfully the trailhead was still accessible. A decent hike to get to the pond here,

and with Lake Wickaboag nearby,

perhaps not worth the trip.

Because of the road construction, I had to go the long way around to get to my next destination, the Frohloff Farm in Ware. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

The views of the surroundings were just alright,

with decent views of the water body here,

but the way to the supposed overlook was pretty hard to traverse, and there was nothing much to see at the supposed location itself.

Next, I headed into Belchertown,

Swift River Wildlife Management Area, East Street

Recreation Department

American Legion Post 239, 66 State Street

going for a short walk at Lake Wallace, which was really more of a swamp.

At this point, I was feeling hungry, and decided to check out Almeida's Country Cafe, a diner nearby,

getting the Clam Chowder and Battered Cod Fish Melt Sandwich (battered cod fish and American Cheese grilled on white bread with tartar sauce).

Pretty good meal for a hungry guy, and cheap too.

After a good lunch, I decided to call it a day for hiking, choosing to visit several museums instead, firstly the Nash Dinosaur Tracks Shop in Granby, which was more of a shop than a museum.

The Hampshire College Art Gallery in Amherst was more for showcasing students' artwork as well.

Finally, the University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMass Amherst was pretty small too.

Not a good day for museums.

For dinner, we ventured into the town of Hudson to check out the Horseshoe Pub, a bar restaurant which I have apparently been to a long time ago in the past.

This time, we got the Pub Chicken Wings (roasted, then crispy fried chicken wings tossed in teriyaki sauce)

and The Gardner (grilled marinated portabella mushroom, roasted red peppers, baby spinach, roasted Tuscan Tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella cheese piled on a grilled herb and olive focaccia, drizzled with sundried tomato vinaigrette).

The wings were just alright, although being pretty crispy, although the veggie burger was pretty tasty because of the vinaigrette. Overall, still alright by me I guess.

Wanting to try something new in town, we went to the New City Microcreamery, an ice cream place nearby, where they apparently make ice cream using liquid nitrogen.

We got the Vegan Chocolate Avocado flavored ice cream, which apparently is made with coconut milk instead of cow's milk, and hence I wasn't really a fan of it. Overall though, looks like a pretty popular place, even in the winter.