October 9th 2023: Spicepepper Garden, Acton

 Today, we decided to have dinner at Spicepepper Garden, a Chinese restaurant in Acton,

getting the Ma La Lamb (spicy and numbing),

the Peapod Leaf with Garlic Sauce

and the Zha Jiang Pork Noodle Soup.

Although we had a nagging suspicion that the "lamb" was actually pork, and the bean sauce for the noodles was a little intense, overall not too bad a meal here actually.

Recommended Places to Visit: Acton

Recreation

Water Bodies
Ice House Pond
131 Concord Road

Lake Nagog
558 Great Road


Biking
Assabet River Rail Trail
Maple Street and Stow Street

Waterfalls

Powdermill Dam

End of Old High Street

Events
Kite Flying Festival


Parks

NARA Park
25 Ledge Rock Way

Gardner Field

530 Massachusetts Avenue

Jones Playground

54 Martin Street

Goward Playground

486 Main Street

Arts Performances
Theatre III
250 Central Street

Candlepin Bowling
Acton Bowladrome
257 Main Street

Museums
Discovery Museum
177 Main Street

Acton Historical Society

300 Main Street

Hiking
Recommended:
Grassy Pond Conservation Land
Nagog Hill Road near Main Street

Nashoba Brook Conservation Land
~45 Davis Road

Acton Arboretum
10 Taylor Road

Will's Hole Bog
End of Nagog Park Drive

Assabet River Blue and Green Trail

311 Old High Street

Tried:
Pratt's Brook Conservation Land
119 Parker Street

Stoneymeade
45 Stoneymeade Way

Great Hill Conservation Land
54 School Street

Guggins Brook Conservation Land
Massachusetts Avenue and Birch Ridge Road

Jenks Conservation Land
390 Central Street

Nagog Hill
Nagog Hill Road, 42.500387, -71.439134

Robbins Mill Conservation Land
78 Canterbury Hill Road

Architecture

Schools
Raymond J Grey Jr. High School
16 Charter Road

Merriam Elementary School

11 Charter Road

Monuments

Davis Monument
Concord Road and Wood Lane

Places of Worship

St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish
89 Arlington Street

Church of the Good Shepherd
164 Newtown Road

South Acton Congregational Church
35 School Street

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church
472 Massachusetts Avenue

Faith Evangelical Free Church
54 Hosmer Street

Acton Congregational Church
12 Concord Road

West Acton Baptist Church
592 Massachusetts Avenue

St. Matthew's United Methodist Church
435 Central Street

Historical Buildings
Old St. Elizabeth's Church
543 Massachusetts Avenue

Country Manor Plaza
276 Great Road

Exchange Hall
2 School Street

Mill Place Condominiums
9 Central Street


Town Facilities

Town Hall
472 Main Street

South Acton MBTA Station
4 Central Street

Acton Water District
693 Massachusetts Avenue

Acton Memorial Library

486 Main Street

Fire Department Station 1

7 Concord Road

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Chinese

Spicepepper Garden

36 Great Road

Recommended Dishes:

Ma La Lamb

Peapod Leaf with Garlic Sauce

Zha Jiang Pork Noodle Soup

Seafood

Atlantic Sea Grill

77 Great Road

Recommended Dishes:

Berry Moscow Mule

Clam Chowder

Shrimp Scampi

Soup and Lobster Sandwich

Western

Le Lyonnais
416 Great Road
Recommended Dishes:
Chicken Livers
Vegetable Soup
Meringue with raspberry and vanilla ice-cream

Rapscallion Table and Tap (chain)
5 Strawberry Hill Road
Recommended Dishes:
Blackened Chicken
House Salad
Salmon Burger


Tried:
Breakfast
Spruce Street Cafe (closed)
5 Spruce Street
Recommended Dishes:
Brian Bridgesx
Napoleon
Donuts
Lemon Cannoli
Hazelnut Cannoli

Legend Cafe

5 Spruce Street

Recommended Dishes:

Blueberry Muffin

Wildeberry Smoothie

Raspberry Croissant

Western
Po's Ribs and BBQ
344 Great Road
Recommended Dishes:
Beef and Vegetable Soup
Ribs and Crabcake Combo

July 17th 2021: A Day Out in Acton

 Today, we decided to spend a day in Acton, 

Gardner Field

Merriam Elementary School

Jones Playground

Powdermill Dam,
End of Old High Street

Acton Memorial Library

Goward Playground

Acton Fire Department Station 1,
7 Concord Road

Going for breakfast at Legend Cafe, a small town cafe in the West Acton area of town.

We got the Blueberry Muffin.

the Raspberry Croissant

and the Wildeberry Smoothie.

The croissant was a little too sweet for my liking, although the smoothie and muffin were pretty good. Still can't beat the muffin from Jordan's Furniture in Avon though.

From here, I ventured in Maynard to check out the Assabet River Rail Trail bridge there at the end of Florida Court,

then back into Acton for a hike at the Assabet River Blue and Green Trail, where the path I took is shown below in pink.

Nice views of the Assabet River from the long boardwalk here.

After the hike, we decided to get lunch at Atlantic Sea Grill, a high end seafood restaurant with a market section. We got the Berry Moscow Mule (Absolut berry vodka, mixed berry puree, fresh lime juice, fresh mint, ginger beer),

the Steamers (broth, drawn butter),

the SOUP & LOBSTER SANDWICH (Fresh lobster salad, toasted croissant, mixed greens, served with a bowl of Clam Chowder)

 and the SHRIMP SCAMPI (shrimp, garlic butter, white wine, tomatoes, and scallions).

Very fresh seafood, great drink, especially the soup, which was richer and perhaps with wine added to it as well.

With that, a great end to a day of exploring the town of Acton.

July 28th 2019: Peaches and Kites

This morning, we went to Smolak Farms in North Andover to pick peaches. Pretty good ones at that.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to head to NARA Park in Acton for the Kite Flying Festival occurring there.

We did not fly any because we had to buy one to do so, so we just walked around to see the goings on.

For dinner, we headed to Rapscallion Table and Tap, a bar restaurant in town with a small dining area.

For food, we got the Blackened Chicken (Seasoned thighs, mango rice- diced mango, cilantro, braised collard greens),

the Salmon Burger (Panko-breaded fresh ground salmon, shallots, capers, lemon zest, fresh herbs, lettuce, tomato, housemade avocado aioli) and House Salad (Apricot sherry vinaigrette, carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions).

The chicken looked burnt, but instead it was just peppery, with sweet collard greens and interestingly flavored mango rice. The salmon burger was pretty good too, along with the salad. Can see why this place was full of people by the time we left. With that, an end to a day of peaches and kites.

July 19th 2019: Discovery Museum, Acton

Our first stop today was at the Bigelow Free Public Library in the town of Clinton to pick up a museum pass. Pretty old inside.

Our next stop was the Discovery Museum in Acton. This place has been totally renovated since the last time I was here.

A pity our little one did not really know how to interact with the exhibits.

For dinner, we headed into Arlington to Sabzi, a Mediterranean restaurant serving Persian cuisine.

We got the Doogh (non carbonated mint flavored yogurt drink),

The Mast-o Khiar (yogurt and cucumber dip)

And the Persepolis (Combination of one Kubideh (select ground beef combined with sumac, onion and house seasoning) and one Jujeh Barg (saffron and citrus marinated medallions of chicken breast) skewer.

Unfortunately none of the food was to my liking, the drink too sour, the dip too bland, the food just meh, although my other half thought the food was delicious.

For dessert, we decided to check out Bubble Nation nearby,

getting the Match Red Bean Pudding

and the Barista's Feast (matcha slushy with red bean).

The dessert was not bad, although we have realized that the pudding was the same as the one we had at Daikanyama in Newton, coming from SAMA in Boston.