March 26th 2021: A Hike and Dinner in Ashland MA

 Today, I decided to take the rest of the day off and go on a hike at the Hopkinton State Park in Ashland with the family. The last time I was here was perhaps over a decade ago, when I first started writing this blog. This time around, we went from the reservoir side as shown below in pink.

Very windy today, but beautiful views of Hopkinton Reservoir along the way,

 at Hopkinton Beach,

and at the dam itself.

The water was flowing pretty well today,

although the swimming pond was a little dry today.

After heading back to the car, we decided to head into town to check out Erica's Ristorante, an Italian restaurant in town with a pretty interesting menu,

of which we got the Blood Orange Mojito (Bacardi Silver, Blood Orange Purie, Mint Simple),

the Linguine with Shrimp and Scallops (asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, light cream, basil)

and the Tiramisu for dessert.

The drink was a little too alcoholic for me, although the pasta and cake were really good. Understandable that this is one of the better restaurants in town.