Showing posts with label Canton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canton. Show all posts

Sunday, May 31, 2015

May 31st 2015: A Day of Fun South of Boston

My friend and I started out today in the town of Canton, visiting a yard sale at the Canton High School before heading for breakfast at the Ruta Raw Juice Bar. Our original intention had been to go to the Amber Road Cafe right next door, But as it had a long waiting line, we changed our minds and we're walking away when we noticed the existence of the nice cafe we ended up going to.

For drinks My friend got the Pick Me Up (Carrot, ginger, apple, lemon), While I got the Raspberry Cream Smoothie (Raspberry, Blackberry, Mango, Yogurt).

My drink was pretty good, though a little on the sour side.

For food, my friend got the Nutella Banana Crepe

While I got the Lobster Roll (bacon, Arugula).

Pretty delicious stuff. Not sure why the negative reviews on Yelp. Although one of the waitresses was Pretty grumpy.

After our brunch, We wanted to walk around town for a bit, but as it started to rain, we decided to head into Norwood, where we were to have our Jewelry making class with Luke Adams Glass Blowing Studio.

I have been here a few times in the past for glass blowing sessions, but this was the first time I was making jewellery here, although I have done this kind of jewellery making before in Needham.

When we finally got started with the class, I decided to make earrings, while my friend decided to go with a Pendant. 

We were provided with several boxes of different coloured glass,

and the tools provided were similar to the ones I used in Needham.

Eventually, we got our pieces ready for the kiln, although the finished pieces can only be picked up a week later.

This is in stark contrast with what I did in Needham, where the pieces were done a few hours after we sent them into the kiln. Still, it was interesting to learn how to differentiate between the metal coated side of a piece of coated glass, by pressing the tip of a pen against the glass. If the reflection touches the pen, that is the coated side of the glass.

Leaving the place, we were on our way to the Franklin Park Zoo when we happened to pass by Legacy Place in Dedham and decided to go there instead, a blessing in disguise as it was to start raining for the rest of the day soon after.

We decided to get some food from Genki, a Japanese restaurant with branches in Brookline and Boston as well.

We settled for appetisers, getting the Coconut Punch drink,

The Naruto (Shrimp, crab stick, avocado, Flying fish roe rolled in cucumber with spicy mayo on top),

The Salmon Mushroom Soup (salmon, mushrooms and Broccoli served in Salmon broth)

And the Grilled Salmon Salad (Grilled Salmon, flying fish roe, crab stick, Spicy mayo and Scallions served with special sauce).

Everything was really good, especially the soup which was a joy to drink, and the sauce for the Salad, along with the vinegary sweet flavour of the cucumber Roll.

I even got a sip of the drink, which tastes very much like Yakult back home.

After lunch, we got some chocolates to bring home from Chocolate Therapy, the Framingham branch of which I have been to in the past, and then went for a bowling session at Kings, where I lost to my friend, even though I was using my own ball. I blame the lack of positioning doors on the lanes for that, although my friend would think otherwise.

Finally, we went to watch the romantic comedy "Aloha" at the Showcase Cinemas De Lux Legacy Place next door. I did not think that it was that good a movie though.

As we headed for home, we happened to pass by a Fried Chicken Place in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston, my friend had a sudden craving for buttermilk chicken, so we resolved to go have some. Unfortunately, every place we tried to go to was closed tonight, and when we finally found parking on Washington Street in the South End area, we decided to walk to Boston Chops nearby, but along the way, as it was raining, cold and windy, we dodged into The Gallows instead, pretty much by accident as my friend had thought we had already reached our destination. It's a good thing we did though, as this pretty chic place 

actually serves Nashville Style Fried Chicken (cayenne brown sugar glaze, wonder bread, pickles), which we absolutely had to get, of course.

Really Crispy and delectable, though really Spicy as well.

Other things we got were the Out of Control Poutine (Hand cut fries, fresh cheese, gravy with Brussels sprouts and Bacon)

And the Pulled Pork Corn Muffin ( jalapeño Pepper Jelly, avocado, pickled red onion).

Both were excellent as well, especially the Corn muffin with jalapeño flavour, although we could not finish the huge portion of fries given.

Overall, I'm really glad that we stumbled onto this place, and that we had a really fun day.


Thursday, April 23, 2015

April 23rd 2015: Meals in Foxborough and Canton

After work today, I headed into the town of Foxborough to use my deal at Saga Hibachi Steakhouse and Sushi. Pretty nice decor, but pretty uninteresting menu.

I went with the Beef Sukiyaki Udon

And the Millenium Roll (Spicy Lobster, spicy Crabmeat, avocado topped with fresh scallop, jalapeño, tobiko).

The Noodles were nothing to speak of, Although the sushi was tasty with a kick to it.

I proceeded from here to Canton, stumbling onto the new park in town, the Farnham-Connolly Memorial Park at 899 Neponset Street.
My next meal was at Pete's Place Bar and Grill, a typical sports bar at 614 Washington Street in town. Typical bar fare too, of which I decided to go with the Mixed Grill (Grilled Steak Tips, Turkey tips and Chicken Breast, served with potato and vegetable).
The white meats were both dry, and the steak itself was a little drier than I would have liked it too. Not a place I would have come back to anyway, although they had trivia going on tonight.




Recommended Places to Visit: Canton

Recreation
Cemeteries
Knollwood Memorial Park
321 High Street


Parks
Farnham-Connolly Memorial Park
899 Neponset Street


Water Bodies
Bolivar Pond
~165 Bolivar Street

Forge Pond
618 Washington Street

Silk Mill Pond
Old Shepard Street and Messinger Street

Shepard Pond
221 Washington Street

Reservoir Pond
110 Pleasant Street


Golf
Ponkapoag Golf Course
2167 Washington Street


Skiing
Blue Hills Ski Area
4001 Washington Street


Museums
Mass Audubon Visual Arts Center
963 Washington Street

Milton Art Museum
900 Randolph Street

Blue Hills Weather Observatory
2995 Washington Street


Hiking
Recommended:
Signal Hill
End of University Road

Ponkapoag Pond
2167 Washington Street


Architecture
Places of Worship
St. Gerard Majella Parish
1860 Washington Street

United Church of Christ
1541 Washington Street

First Parish Unitarian Universalist
1508 Washington Street

Schlossberg Memorial Chapel
824 Washington Street

St. John the Evangelist Church
700 Washington Street

St. James Lutheran Church
214 York Street

Christ's Ambassador's Ministries
2390 Washington Street


Town Facilities
Canton Junction T Station
Beaumont Street and Sherman Street

Town Hall
801 Washington Street

Public Library
786 Washington Street


Historical Buildings
Canton Historical Society
1400 Washington Street

Canton Viaduct
Neponset Street and Walpole Street

Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate
2468B Washington Street



Restaurants
Highly Recommended:
Japanese
Gourmet Garden (chain)
95 Washington Street
Recommended Dishes:
Grilled Chicken Satay Salad
Phil's Amazing Special
New Wave Maki


Breakfast
Ruta Raw Juice Bar
635 Washington Street
Recommended Dishes:
Lobster Roll
Nutella Banana Crepe
Raspberry Cream

Kelly's Place
110 Washington Street
Recommended Dishes:
Steak Tip Benedict
East Coast Waffle


Tried:
Western
Carter's Sports Grill
601 Neponset Street
Recommended Dishes:
Homemade Loaded Potato Skins
Mixed Grill

Canton Junction Sports Pub
399 Neponset Street
Recommended Dishes:
Cheese Fries
Spicy Pterodactyl Wings

Pete's Place
614 Washington Street
Recommended Dishes:
Mixed Grill

Junction Bar and Grille (closed)
601 Neponset Street
Recommended Dishes:
French Onion Soup
Chicken Carbonara


Mediterannean
The Chubby Chickpea
588 Washington Street
Recommended Dishes:
Sampler
Hummus

Sunday, November 16, 2014

November 16th 2014: Finishing Up Brockton

I started out today heading to the Boston area, where I had a meetup brunch at Devlin's Restaurant, located in the Brighton area of town.

Before that, I stopped by Cafenation nearby for a Green Tea Latte

and a Nutella, Strawberry and Banana Crepe.
The latte was pretty good, while the crepe was alright I guess. There were lots of people here the whole time though. Pretty popular place.

As for Devlin's itself, I was expecting a regular bar restaurant, but it turned out to be quite fancy.
The mini-muffins we got for starters were pretty addictive as well.

The NOLA Shrimp (gulf shrimp, voodoo broth, grilled crostini) I got were really tasty too,
albeit a little spicy.

After brunch, I headed to Canton to visit the Blue Hills Weather Observatory. As the road access to the top of the hill, where the observatory is located is not open to public vehicles, I decided to hike up the Skyline Trail from the parking lot located to Little Blue Hill at 2995 Washington Street.

It was a pretty steep hike, although the views were simply awesome.
I somehow managed to find my way to the top, exhausted to say the least, but I was just happy that the observatory was open.
After paying the 4 bucks for the tour, I did not have to wait long before it started. I was first shown the room where over a hundred years of records were kept,
and then up one floor where people were actually working to collect weather data.
It was interesting to note that because of the degree of automation involved, people did not have to be stationed here 24-7. Finally, it was up to the roof itself, where there were multitudes of anemometers perched all around,
and the views all around were beautiful on this relatively clear day, with even Mount Wachusett visible in the distance.

It was cool to learn about such things like virga, the phenomenon where precipitation occurs high up in the atmosphere, but sublimes or vaporizes before it hits the ground due to varying temperature layers in the atmosphere.

It was also interesting to hear that if snow occurs in October, the winter would be relatively mild, while snow occuring in November indicates a stormy winter. With the 3 inches of snow that fell last week, I guess this means we've got more to come.

Heading back down the way I came, I took some more pictures while making my way down slowly on the steep and treacherous path.
After finally getting back to my car, I decided it was time for my next meal, this time in the town of Weymouth at Memphis Joe's BBQ, a bar restaurant.

I decided to get the Burnt Ends Sandwich (crispy Kansas style brisket ends, smoked 14 hours, chopped and simmered in tomato based BBQ sauce on a brioche roll with cheddar cheese)
















and the Southern Fried Fish and Chips (deliciously seasoned and southern fried, served with fries).
There wasn't anything amazing about the food though.

From here, it was on to the town of Brockton for the rest of the day. I first headed to the Brockton Historical Society, which thankfully was open today. It was interesting to note that Brockton was a place for making shoes.
I then headed next door to the Brockton Fire Museum, where a volunteer showed me around the place. It was interesting to know how people dealt with fire in the old days, especially when there was no phone, with the use of bells, call boxes, and horns.
A pretty educational tour. I'm just glad firefighting has become so much more advanced than before.

After leaving the museums, I explored the rest of Brockton
Word of God Church
St. Patrick Church
First Evangelical Lutheran Church
Gethsemane Seventh Day Adventist Church
Fire Station #2, 945 Main Street
Old House of Prayer Church of God,
948 Main Street
House of Prayer 5
Warren Avenue Baptist Church,
1153 Warren Avenue
Trinity Baptist Church
Campanelli Stadium
Finally, with the sun set for good, I decided to head to King Fried Chicken for dinner. This fast food place is located beside a gas station at 158 Montello Street in town. I got the Snack Box (2 pieces chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuit)
Not too bad, though nothing extraordinary.

With that, I was finally done with the town of Brockton. Nothing much of note here except for the DW Field Park.