Recommended Places to Visit: Holliston

Recreation

Water Bodies
Weston Pond
2050 Washington Street

Factory Pond
146 Woodland Street


Biking
Upper Charles Rail Trail
59 Chestnut Street

37 Cross Street

Hiking
Recommended:
Frank A. Rees Trail
~470 Gorwin Drive

Tried:
Wenakeening Woods
59 Summer Street

Poitras and Daniels Conservation Areas
Hollis Street near Mellen Street

Parks

Stoddard Park
Stoddard Park Road

Water Bodies

Houghton Pond

32 Westfield Drive 

Linden Pond

22 Linden Street

Beaches
Lake Winthrop
Stoddard Park Road

Architecture

Monuments
Large Rosary Beads

101 Summer Street

Places of Worship

St. Mary's Church
8 Church Street

Fatimah Shrine
101 Summer Street

St. Michael's Episcopal Church
1162 Highland Street

First Congregational Church

725 Washington Street

Christ the King Lutheran Church
600 Central Street

Schools
Sam Placentino Elementary School
235 Woodland Street

Historical Buildings

Old Cutler School

59 Hollis Street

Old Metcalf Pump House
Washington Street near Summer Street

Upper Charles Rail Trail
126 Woodland Street

Holliston Dental Associates

746 Washington Street

Town Facilities
Town Hall
703 Washington Street

Fire Department
59 Central Street

Holliston Public Library

752 Washington Street

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:

Dessert
Gaetano's Bakery
412 Washington Street

Recommended Dishes:
Boston Cream Pie
Strawberry Shortcake
Ricotta Pie
Pistachio Macaron

Breakfast
Pejamajo Cafe (closed)

770 Washington Street
Recommended Dishes:
Ham and Vermont Gruyere Crepe
Roasted Chicken Crepe


Tried:

Western
Casey's Publichouse

81 Railroad Street
Recommended Dishes:
French Onion Soup
Jamaican Jerk Wings
The Pub Burger
Grilled Blackened Kielbasa
Oreo Pie

Jasper Hill Cafe and Bistro

770 Washington Street
Recommended Dishes:
Iced Mocha Latte
Ham and Veggie Soup
Mushroom and Swiss Burger

April 21st 2023: New Places from Ashland to Hopkinton

 Today, on the way home, we passed through Ashland,

The Residence at Valley Farm

then Holliston,

Houghton Pond,
32 Westfield Drive

Linden Pond, 22 Linden Street

Holliston Dental Associates

Old Cutler School,
59 Hollis Street

checking out the Holliston Public Library.

We then headed into Hopkinton,

EMC Park

going on a hike at Braim Farm, where the path we took to check out the cranberry bog here is shown below in pink.

Absolutely nasty looking water body though. With that, we called it a day for exploring new places. Pretty productive I must say.

June 20th 2022: Checking a Few Stretches of the Upper Charles Rail Trail

 Today, after passing through Westborough, 

George S. Kariotis Center,
75 North Drive

Old Lyman School

we stopped by the Upper Charles Rail Trail in Milford which I visited once in the past, trying to check out the water body near the junction of Cedar Street and Jacob Lane, but there was nothing much to see here.

We then went to another section of the trail in Holliston at 37 Cross Street,

heading eastwards to get to Phipps Tunnel under Highland Street. Nice tunnel.

With that, we called it a day for checking out parts of the rail trail I have not been to before.

February 8th 2019: Dinner in Ashland, Dessert in Holliston

Tonight, we decided to go back to Noodle City in Ashland to try out their other dishes.

This time, we got the YUM YUM NOODLE SOUP (Another traditional Thai Hot & Sour Noodle Soup, served with fresh rice noodles topped with bbq pork, ground pork, jumbo shrimp, beans sprouts, cilantro)

and the Tomato Ramen (umami packed vegetarian broth,served with fresh temomi noodles, a rustic hand kneaded ramen noodle, Topped with scallions, crispy onions, crispy garlic and roasted corn), with braised pork chashu and crispy pork belly.

The Thai noodles were a little on the sweet side, but still tasty, while the tomato broth was not too sour either. Delicious stuff again from this place.

For dessert, we decided to check out Gaetano's Bakery in Holliston.

We got the Boston Cream Pie, Strawberry Shortcake, Ricotta Pie and Pistachio Macaron.

Except for the macaron which had artificial pistachio flavor in it, the rest of the cakes were pretty decent, especially the cream pie. Not bad an Italian bakery.

A good night out for eating, to say the least.

February 17th 2018: Hiking in the Southeast

I started off today heading southeast to the town of Hopkinton for my first hike at the Whitehall Woods, located on Foxhollow Road. No need to hike here to view the water body here though.

From here it was on to another hike close by at Tamarack Farm. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

Pretty decent water bodies here actually.

From here, it was on to the town of Holliston, to visit the Upper Charles Rail Trail in Holliston, where I checked out the portion from Chestnut Street,

and the Wenakeening Woods area, where the path I took here is shown below in pink.

The water bodies in both areas were nothing much to look at though.

Next, the New Chicken Brook Trail in Medway, where the path I took from Adams Street is shown below in pink.

Not too bad a water body here actually.

The Medway Community Farm was next, the path I took from the entrance at 50 Winthrop Street is shown below in pink.

Chicken Brook was nothing to look at from here, and the paths here were hardly discernible too.

From here, I passed through Wrentham

Crocker Pond, 198 Boston Providence Turnpike

on the way to Foxborough

Lane Homestead

for my next hike at the Governor's Meadow. The path I took to get to the supposed viewpoint is shown below in pink.

I tried to get there from Laurel Tree Drive, but could not find the trailhead in the private property here. Instead, I went to find the entrance on Daniel Carpenter Court. Thankfully, I found it this time, although there was nothing to see at the viewpoint.

My next hike in Foxborough was at the Neponset Reservoir, which I visited once before. This time, I went from the Chestnut Street side, the path I took being shown below in pink.

As always, a beautiful view of the reservoir here.

Deciding to take the easy way out, I walked along the railroad track here back to my car.

From here, it was on to my next hike at the Greeley's Pond area, where the path I took here from 50 East Foxboro Street is shown below in pink.

Pretty nice pond to say the least.

Next, I headed for another pond hike at Beaumont Pond, where the rough path I took here is shown below in pink.

Not bad views, although I got a little lost near the pond's edge for a bit due to the confusing trails or lack thereof here.

From here, I ventured into Mansfield

Mill Pond, 497 East Street

before heading back into Foxborough for some pizza from Antonia's Italian Cuisine,

getting the Basilico (Sun-dried tomato, mushroom, grilled chicken basil, garlic sauce & mozzarella) Pizza.

Disappointingly bland though.

I proceeded for more hikes in town, visiting Wolf Meadow, where the path I took here is shown below in pink.

There weren't any good views of the wetlands here though.

Next the Cocasset River Recreational Area, which I visited a long time ago. This time, I went for a little hike to find the water body here, the path I took being shown below in pink.

Sadly, there was a fence around it, and there were no viable paths to approach it directly either.

From here, it was back to Wrentham to continue my exploration of the Wrentham State Forest. The paths I took here to try to find the various water bodies I missed out on before is shown below in pink.

I was in the Minnehaha Pond area first, where there was a nice waterfall in the remains of the dam.

I next went to try to find the water body in the south, but failed to do so because of the myriad of paths here, and the map I had was not to scale. I somehow made it to the brook, but could not find a way across. At this point, I decided to give up and head to the last water body north of here, though there was nothing much of note here.

With that, I decided to call it a day for hiking, heading to Connie's Rustic Kitchen and Tavern for dinner. A pretty nice bar restaurant,

with interesting starters of foccacia bread and chips.

I got the SHORT RIB SHEPPERD PIE (Root vegetables in a rich beef broth and mashed potatoes)

which was actually pretty good. Might come back here someday. With that, my day of hiking in the southeast was at an end.