February 28th 2018: Getting Lost in the Thayer Memorial Forest, Lancaster

Today, while heading back to work, I passed through Clinton,

Congregation Shaarei Zedeck

then Lancaster,

College Church of Seventh Day Adventists at Atlantic Union College

where I tried to explore the Thayer Memorial Forest. The paths I took are shown below in pink.

I first tried to enter the area from the area of the old Covenant of the Cenacle

but was immediately told that I was trespassing, and advised to head to the Bull Hill Road entrance on the left, but the area was so overlogged that I decided not to enter by that way as well. Instead, I decided to try to enter from the Old County Road side, but found an entrance on the junction of Highfield Drive and Highland Road, and somehow found my way to the water body here. Nothing much to look at though.

On the way back, I got lost again, exiting the area on the right side of Bull Hill Road instead, and decided to walk all the way back to my car along the road.

Not coming back to this mess of an area for sure.

Recommended Places to Visit: Lancaster

Recreation

Golf
Lancaster Golf Center
438 Old Union Turnpike

Beaches
Spectacle Pond
End of Fire Road 4

Water Bodies

Bartlett Pond
Main Street near North Main Street

White Pond
230 White Pond Road

Fort Pond
20 Old Lunenberg Road


Festivals
Bolton Fair
318 7 Bridge Road

Cruise Night
1543 Lunenburg Road


Hiking
Recommended:
Dexter Drumlin
~198 George Hill Road

Pellechia Conservation Area
Lunenberg Road, 42.481937, -71.684089

Tried:
Thayer Memorial Forest
299 Bull Hill Road

Turner Pond Conservation Area
131 Kevala Road

Parker Family Woods
Goss Lane

Cook Conservation Area
Lunenburg Road

Architecture

Monuments

Town Common
Thayer Memorial Drive


Places of Worship

First Church of Christ Parish
725 Main Street

Immaculate Conception Church
809 Main Street

Evangelical Congregational Church
793 Main Street

Village Church of Seventh Day Adventists
75 Sawyer Street

Southern New England Conference of Seventh Day Adventists
34 Sawyer Street

College Church of Seventh Day Adventists at Atlantic Union College
337 Main Street

Town Facilities
Thayer Memorial Library
717 Main Street

Fire Station 2
283 South Main Street

Schools
Dr. Franklin Perkins School
971 Main Street

Atlantic Union College
338 Main Street

South Lancaster Academy
198 George Hill Road


Restaurants

Highly Recommended:

Breakfast
Michael's Bridge Diner

56 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Little Bear's Monte Cristo

Sandee's
162 Main Street

Recommended Dishes:
Boston Benedict

Tried:
Dessert

Kimball Farms (chain)
1543 Lunenburg Road

Lancaster Golf Center
438 Old Union Turnpike
Recommended Dishes:
Frappe

February 24th 2018: Lunch at Scollay Square, Boston

After shopping at the South Shore Mall in Braintree,

we decided to get some dessert at Yocha in Quincy, getting the Ying Yang and the Peach Milk Tea.

Pretty good stuff as always from this place.

From here, it was on to lunch at Scollay Square, a pretty nice bar restaurant in the heart of downtown Boston.

With my deal, we got the Mushroom Flatbread (oven roasted mushrooms, thyme scented duxelle, fontina, truffle oil),

the Grass Fed Beef Sliders (gouda, balsamic glazed onions, lemon dressed greens),

the Oven Roasted Beet Salad (red and yellow beets, field greens, laura chenel goat cheese, cider
vinaigrette, pecan bread croutons with steak tips),

and the Bread Pudding (raspberry & white chocolate custard, vanilla sauce, whipped cream) for dessert.

The pizza was not bad in terms of flavor, although it was a little on the burnt side. The sliders were pretty good though, as was the salad with the steak tips, although we were initially having trouble finding the buried beets. Unfortunately, the dessert was a little underwhelming. Overall though, a pretty good meal here.

Before we left Boston for good today, we decided to go check out the original Cheers Restaurant, located within the Hampshire House,

as we have been catching up on the show recently. Not much like the show though, since it was filmed almost entirely on the other side of the country in LA.

February 21st 2018: Dessert from the Bean Counter, Shrewsbury

We decided to get some dessert from the Bean Counter, a cafe in Shrewsbury which I visited a long time ago, getting the Red Velvet Cup

and the Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake.

Sinful deliciousness, on a similar level with Gerardo's.

February 20th 2018: Burger Lunch at Peppercorn's, Worcester

We decided to grab lunch at Peppercorn's in Worcester today, getting The Atlantic (Fried haddock, tomato, superfood coleslaw, American cheese, garlic aioli, brioche bun)

and the West Coast Prime Burger (Avocado, tomato, monterey jack cheese, cherry peppers, asiago fresca dressing).

Pretty good offerings from this place, as always.

February 19th 2018: Takeout Lunch from Sabor Criollo Restaurant

Today, I decided to grab takeout for lunch from Sabor Criollo Restaurant, a cafeteria style Dominican restaurant in Worcester that used to be Vietnam Cafe, which I visited a long time ago.

 Definitely not the best, but at least it was filling.

February 18th 2018: Lunch Buffet at The Curry House, Franklin

After a day of shopping, we decided to stop by The Curry House, an Indian restaurant in Franklin that has taken the place of Franklin Cafe, which I visited a long time ago.

Along with the Mango Lassi we got,

the buffet spread was pretty good, consisting of things like Tomato Soup (Cream of tomato cooked with exotic Indian spices),

Cucumber Salad, Garden Salad (Fresh garden vegetables (tomato cucumber, red onions, carrot) and greens tossed in lemon and herbs, served with Indian or Italian dressing), Vegetable Pakora (Fresh marinated vegetables deep fried in a chickpeas batter), Vegetarian Samosa (Homemade turnovers stuffed with diced potatoes and peas or seasoned minced lamb), the Chicken 65 (chicken in a medley of spices), Goat Curry (Pieces of goat meat cooked with onion, ginger and freshly ground spices), Chicken Tikka Masala (Boneless white meat of chicken marinated in yogurt with herbs and spices, grilled to perfection in tandoor), Balti Kadai Paneer (Homemade cottage cheese simmered with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and freshly ground spices), Chana Masala (Chick peas cooked gently with onions, tomatoes and herbs), Navrattan Korma (Nine selected vegetables with nuts and fruits cooked in a cream sauce), Tandoori Chicken (Spicy Chicken marinated in masala yogurt. baked in tandoor until tender and juicy), Garlic Naan (Freshly baked bread with a touch of garlic and cilantro), Rogini Naan (Freshly baked and buttered bread), Gulab Jamun (Homemade cheese balls dipped in honey) and Kheer (Indian rice pudding).

Really good stuff. Can see why they have another location in Chelmsford.

Later on, we were at the Natick Mall, and we decided to get some tea to go from David's Tea, getting the Green Passionfruit (green tea, pineapple and passionfruit) drink.

No sugar, but still flavorful. Pretty good  and creative tea here, better than Teavana.

February 17th 2018: Hiking in the Southeast

I started off today heading southeast to the town of Hopkinton for my first hike at the Whitehall Woods, located on Foxhollow Road. No need to hike here to view the water body here though.

From here it was on to another hike close by at Tamarack Farm. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

Pretty decent water bodies here actually.

From here, it was on to the town of Holliston, to visit the Upper Charles Rail Trail in Holliston, where I checked out the portion from Chestnut Street,

and the Wenakeening Woods area, where the path I took here is shown below in pink.

The water bodies in both areas were nothing much to look at though.

Next, the New Chicken Brook Trail in Medway, where the path I took from Adams Street is shown below in pink.

Not too bad a water body here actually.

The Medway Community Farm was next, the path I took from the entrance at 50 Winthrop Street is shown below in pink.

Chicken Brook was nothing to look at from here, and the paths here were hardly discernible too.

From here, I passed through Wrentham

Crocker Pond, 198 Boston Providence Turnpike

on the way to Foxborough

Lane Homestead

for my next hike at the Governor's Meadow. The path I took to get to the supposed viewpoint is shown below in pink.

I tried to get there from Laurel Tree Drive, but could not find the trailhead in the private property here. Instead, I went to find the entrance on Daniel Carpenter Court. Thankfully, I found it this time, although there was nothing to see at the viewpoint.

My next hike in Foxborough was at the Neponset Reservoir, which I visited once before. This time, I went from the Chestnut Street side, the path I took being shown below in pink.

As always, a beautiful view of the reservoir here.

Deciding to take the easy way out, I walked along the railroad track here back to my car.

From here, it was on to my next hike at the Greeley's Pond area, where the path I took here from 50 East Foxboro Street is shown below in pink.

Pretty nice pond to say the least.

Next, I headed for another pond hike at Beaumont Pond, where the rough path I took here is shown below in pink.

Not bad views, although I got a little lost near the pond's edge for a bit due to the confusing trails or lack thereof here.

From here, I ventured into Mansfield

Mill Pond, 497 East Street

before heading back into Foxborough for some pizza from Antonia's Italian Cuisine,

getting the Basilico (Sun-dried tomato, mushroom, grilled chicken basil, garlic sauce & mozzarella) Pizza.

Disappointingly bland though.

I proceeded for more hikes in town, visiting Wolf Meadow, where the path I took here is shown below in pink.

There weren't any good views of the wetlands here though.

Next the Cocasset River Recreational Area, which I visited a long time ago. This time, I went for a little hike to find the water body here, the path I took being shown below in pink.

Sadly, there was a fence around it, and there were no viable paths to approach it directly either.

From here, it was back to Wrentham to continue my exploration of the Wrentham State Forest. The paths I took here to try to find the various water bodies I missed out on before is shown below in pink.

I was in the Minnehaha Pond area first, where there was a nice waterfall in the remains of the dam.

I next went to try to find the water body in the south, but failed to do so because of the myriad of paths here, and the map I had was not to scale. I somehow made it to the brook, but could not find a way across. At this point, I decided to give up and head to the last water body north of here, though there was nothing much of note here.

With that, I decided to call it a day for hiking, heading to Connie's Rustic Kitchen and Tavern for dinner. A pretty nice bar restaurant,

with interesting starters of foccacia bread and chips.

I got the SHORT RIB SHEPPERD PIE (Root vegetables in a rich beef broth and mashed potatoes)

which was actually pretty good. Might come back here someday. With that, my day of hiking in the southeast was at an end.