February 16th 2018: Hiking Northeast

I started out this morning in the town of Southborough, going for a hike at the Beals Preserve, where the path I took from the end of Red Gate Lane is shown below in pink.

Not bad views of the ice pond and other water bodies here, although it was really foggy.

From here, it was on to the town of Marlborough, going for a hike at the Sheep Falls Brook Conservation Area. The trail here goes around the Boston Scientific campus, and as there were control gates on site, I was forced to use the Assabet River Rail Trail access the area. The path I took here from the end of Sasseville Way is shown below in pink.

I have been to this part of the rail trail before,

with the scenic views here, though with a layer of fog this morning.

The water bodies in the area itself were nothing to speak of though.

From here, it was on to the town of Bolton for a hike at the Danforth Conservation Area. The path I took here from Danforth Lane is shown below in pink.

Not bad views of the water body here,

but perhaps there is no need to hike to see it from Danforth Lane.

The next hike in town was at Annie Moore, where the path I took here from 98 Annie Moore Road to get to the supposed hilltop overlook here is shown below in pink.

Nothing to see here though.

The last hike in town was at the Rattlesnake Hill area. The paths I took here to get to the lime quarry here is shown below in pink.

I initially tried to get to the quarry from the Harris Farm Road way, which is actually private property, and failed to find a viable path. Thankfully, I was successful entering from the 220 Main Street entrance.









Pretty interesting ruin of a lime kiln,

as well as the quarry pond.

From here, I headed to the town of Stow for my next hike at the Delaney Wildlife Management Area. I have been here before in the past, but I wanted to check out a few water bodies I missed on my previous trip here. This time around, the path I took is shown below in pink.

As always, beautiful views of the main attraction itself.

The new areas I visited today had their appeal too.

After the long hike, it was time for my next hike at the Gardner Hill area. The path I took here from Heritage Lane is shown below in pink.

The water body here was nothing of note though.

From here, it was on to the town of Maynard

St. Mary's Indian Orthodox Church

for a hike at the Glenwood Cemetery. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

A little overgrown, with nothing much to show for it.

Next, it was on to the town of Acton,

Exchange Hall

South Acton MBTA Station

9 Central Street

going for a hike on the newly completed part of the Assabet River Rail Trail, which I have not visited before. The paths I took here is shown below in pink.

Not bad views of Fort Pond Brook Reservoir.

With that, I decided to call it a day after so many hikes, stopping by China Ruby, an Americanized Chinese restaurant in Maynard for some General Gao's Chicken (with Pork Fried Rice).

Not the best, but at least the chicken was a little crispy.

For dinner, I decided to grab dinner in the town of Oxford at Oxford's Casual Dining. From the name of the place, I was expecting it to be a hole in the wall, but apparently it is the top restaurant in town, and pretty fancy at that.

I got the Steak Chimichurri (LIGHTLY SEASONED, CHAR-GRILLED AND SLICED FLANK STEAK - DRIZZLED WITH AN ARGENTINIAN STYLE PESTO (MADE WITH FRESH CILANTRO, OREGANO, PARSLEY, & SPICES) SERVED WITH RICE AND FRIED PLANTAINS),

and although I wished it had more sauce, it was actually pretty good. Will definitely be back some day.