February 28th 2022: La Scala Ristorante, Randolph

 Today, while in the town of Randolph, we decided to have dinner at La Scala Ristorante, a pretty cosy Italian restaurant in town.

We decided to get the Shrimp and Clam Napolitano,

the Veal Verdicchio (tender veal prepared with mushrooms and artichokes in a white wine and butter sauce)

and the Tiramisu for dessert.

Really good tasting food, although the food dishes were tending toward the salty side, granted that it would be mitigated with pasta. At least driving all the way out here wasn't that much of a waste of time.

February 23rd 2022: Spending Time in Natick Mall, Natick

 Today, we spent some time at the Natick Mall in Natick,

checking out the new Level99

and Dave and Buster's arcades.

The Level99 area is an interesting concept, will be back when our little one is older.

For food, we got the 4 Piece Chicken McNuggets® Happy Meal (t four tender Chicken McNuggets® made with white meat with kid-sized World Famous Fries and a side of Apple Slices. Reduced Sugar Low Fat Chocolate Milk Jug),

and the Filet-O-Fish® Meal (classic fish sandwich meal made with wild-caught Alaskan Pollock on a regular McDonald’s bun, served with our World Famous Fries® and your choice of an icy soft drink).

Much more expensive these days with inflation.

Not satisfied with our meal, we headed over to Tous Les Jours, 

getting the Green Tea Cloud Cake,

and the Vanilla Cream Donut.

Overall, a good day spent at the Natick Mall.

February 22nd 2022: Revisiting Prospect Park, Shrewsbury

 Today, I decided to revisit Prospect Park, as I realized that there was a garden here I did not see the last time I was here, a long time ago. I happened to find the gate open so I drove up the hill this time around. The path I took to get to the garden and back is shown below in pink.

The garden itself was pretty run down, but still something to look at here.

February 19th 2022: New Restaurants in Boylston and Brookline

 This morning, I started out with breakfast at Chefee's 1921 Diner in Boylston, which has taken over from Claudette's 1921 Diner, which I visited a long time ago. I got the Meatloaf and Eggs (Chefee's homemade meatloaf and gravy, three eggs any style, home fries and toast),

Pretty tasty actually. Not bad I must say, the meatloaf and homefries being crispy as well.

Later, after being in Boston for the day,

City Place

getting a Matcha Latte

from the Tatte Bakery and Cafe location at 399 Boylston Street.

we decided to check out the Soup Shack location in Brookline. We got the Thai Iced Tea,

the TONKOTSU RAMEN (Pork broth, sesame oil, Cha-shu pork (Marinated Braised Pork Belly), menma (Japanese bamboo), nori, wood ear mushrooms, shredded red pepper, black garlic oil and scallions.)

and the TAN TAN MEN (Pork broth, spicy ground pork, spicy sesame oil (Rayu), Cha-shu pork (Marinated Braised Pork Belly), bok choy, bean sprouts, nori, sesame seeds and scallions.)

Really good flavor, with fatty pork belly. Can see why they have multiple locations.

February 18th 2022: Hiking in Hopkinton and Ashland

 With the ice finally melted on the ground, I decided to venture out today for hikes, first at the Hopkinton State Park in Hopkinton and Ashland, where the path I took to check out water bodies in areas I have not been to before is shown below in pink.

Nice views of the stream beside the Grebe Trail, but nothing much of note in the Long Trail area.

From here, it was on to the Brook Hollow Conservation Area in Hopkinton, where the path I took here to get to the Martha Foster Overlook is shown below in pink.

No views to be had here though from the overlook.

My last destination for the day was Ashland State Park in Ashland. I have been to the beach area before in the past, but did not explore much further. This time around, the path I took is shown below in pink.

Really nice views of Ashland Reservoir,

especially from the dam area.

With that, I called it a day for hiking, heading into town to grab a quick bite from Marathon Deli. 

I got the Smoke House (Chicken fingers, cheddar & gouda, hickory bacon & tangy BBQ sauce),

which was a tad on the dry side. Not coming back again for sure. At least it was a pretty fruitful day for hiking.