Recommended Places to Visit: Orange

Recreation

Skydiving

Jumptown
80 Airport Street


Water Bodies
Packard Pond
100 Fryeville Road

Tully Pond
279 Tully Road

Williams Pond
North Main Street and Wheeler Pond Road


Beaches
Lake Mattawa
Holtshire Road and Beach Lane

Hiking
Recommended:
Kiwanis Bicentennial Park

195 Holtshire Road

Tully Mountain

End of Mountain Road

Tried:

North Pond Ridge Trail/Chestnut Hill

50 Chestnut Hill Road

Architecture

Monuments

Memorial Park
South Main Street and Water Street

Places of Worship

Orange United Methodist Church
104 South Main Street

Central Congregational Church
93 South Main Street

First Universalist Church
31 North Main Street

Mission Covenant Church
53 Pleasant Street

Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church
62 Cheney Street

Community Church of North Orange and Tully
48 Main Street

New Life Christian Fellowship
349 South Main Street

Schools
Mahar School
507 South Main Street


Town Facilities

Police Department
400 East River Street

Fire Station #1
18 Water Street

Town Hall
6 Prospect Street

Wheeler Memorial Library
49 East Main Street

Historical Society
41 North Main Street

Parent Child Development Center
167 South Main Street


Historical Buildings
Old Central School
34 North Main Street

540 South Main Street
540 South Main Street

Old Tully Fire Station
90 Royalston Road

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Western

Boiler Bar and Grille
245 Tully Road
Recommended Dishes:
Boiler Room Club
Thai Shrimp Toast
Smoked Short Ribs Tacos

Fireside Bar and Grill
435 East Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Fireside BBQ Steak Tips

Tried:
Western
Herrick's Tavern
207 Daniel Shays Highway
Recommended Dishes:
Spinach and Garlic Ravioli


Dessert
202 Grille and Restaurant
207 Daniel Shays Highway
Recommended Dishes:
Muddy Sneakers


Breakfast

Equus Restaurant
217 East Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Bruce Pile

Chinese

Tea House Restaurant
326 East Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Hunan Crispy Beef

April 17th 2017: Getting Lost in Warwick

I started out this Patriot's Day in the town of Hubbardston, Checking out the Mason Brook Falls at 42 Healdville Road, which was going strong today.

Next, it was on to the town of Petersham

Brooks Woodland Preserve

for a hike at the North Common Meadow, where the path I took is shown below in pink.

Nothing much here though,

And the pond was overflowing its banks this time of year.

From here, passing through Orange,

540 South Main Street

it was on to the town of Warwick,

Wheeler Pond, 997 Orange Road

To look for the Hockanum Hill Overlook Trail on Hockanum Road. I had some trouble finding the trailhead,  so I asked a local resident for some help,  and he was able to point me in the right direction. The problem was, there are apparently many trails in this area,  and I failed to heed his words that there would be a sign at the right place,  choosing to head into the first trail I saw, walking down the wrong way,  going on and on without finding the supposed view until I reached the road way on the other side,  only to realize I had not been on the right trail. I walked the road all the way back to my car.  On further searching,  I finally found the right place with the sign and a small parking area. The actual trail itself was short and steep heading uphill, to a view that was just alright,  being mostly covered by the treetops.

From here, I went to check out Gales Pond at the southern end of Gale Road,

Then went on to my next hike to find the Kidder Falls. Once again, with few clues about where the trailhead is, I went down the Metacomet Monadnock Trail from Old Winchester Road, only to realize I was only moving further away from where the falls were supposed to be. Apparently they have rerouted the   trail. Retracing my steps, I checked my notes carefully, and finally found the right Road to go down, a dirt Road closer to the junction with Robbins Road and Old Winchester Road, where I could immediately hear the sound of the falls roaring on Kidder Brook. In my hurry to get to the falls, I took the trails that seemed to Lead me closer to the falls,  but close to the end,  I found I had to bushwhack a little too get to the falls. It was worth the effort though.

I then went further down the old Metacomet Monadnock Trail,  not being able to find the supposed viewpoint North of the falls. At this point I decided to call it a day for hiking,  embarking on the long drive home,  stopping by Captain Bob's Drive-In, a Hot Dog place in Princeton which is apparently also the home of the owner, where I got a Hot Dog.

Nothing special though.

I then headed back into Worcester to get some takeout from Choose and Mix, which we were just at last week.

This time, I got the Galbi (Korean barbecue ribs) and Sweet Chicken Wings.

The ribs were really delicious,  although the wings were soggy after the trip home.

Oh well, after getting lost twice in Warwick today, that's Nothing.

December 18th 2014: Exploring Wendell in the Morning

I started out this morning in the town of Wendell,

Wendell Town Hall, 4 Center Road

Old Church,

Morse Village Road and Center Road

Town Common,

Wendell Depot Road and Morse Village Road

Tyler Pond,

Lockes Village Road and West Street

Bowens Pond, 276 Wendell Depot Road

Diemand Farm

going for a hike at the Fiske Pond Conservation Area. The path I took here is shown below in pink.

There were several nice views of the pond,  especially from the side trails here.

Next,  it was on to the Wendell State Forest for another hike, although I only had time to explore the bottom half. The route I took to explore Ruggles Pond and Wicketts Pond is shown below in pink.

Pictures of Ruggles Pond

and Wicketts Pond follow.

After getting back to my car, I headed toward home, spotting the Fireside Bar and Grill at 435 East Main Street in Orange along  the way, deciding to stop there for lunch. A family style bar restaurant,

I decided to just get the Fireside BBQ Steak Tips (Marinated steak tips grilled, tossed with bacon, mushrooms and finished with Sweet BBQ sauce),

Which was actually delicious because of the sauce, bacon mushrooms and succulent meat.

After work, I headed to the Randall Library in Stow, where some material of the Stow Historical Society are on display. Pictures I took here of the exhibits follow.

I had to go to the Best Buy in Marlborough to buy a new camera, because I dropped mine this morning at work down four storeys of stairs, causing it to be non functioning after the fact, obviously. What are the chances, seriously, considering it was a shockproof camera. Oh well.

As a result, I decided to grab pizza from Classic Pizza II in town, getting the Portuguese

and the Brazilian Pizzas.

What I did not know was that both pizzas had onions in them,  which really ruined my appetite for them. This day really didn't turn our well for me after all. Hope tomorrow will be better.

August 15th 2014: Dinners in Orange

Today after work, I headed north first into Royalston,

Little Pond, 18 Warwick Road

Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church,

123 South Royalston Street

then into Orange

Packard Pond, 100 Fryeville Road

Tully Pond, 279 Tully Road

Williams Pond,

Wheeler Pond Road and North Main Street

Parent Child Development Center

Old Tully Fire Station, 90 Royalston Road

where I decide to give the Boiler Bar and Grille a second try.

Thankfully, their entire menu was available this time around, but as I wanted to check out Herrick's Tavern in town as well, I decided to just get the Thai Shrimp Toast

 and the Smoked Short Ribs Tacos.

Both dishes were absolutely not what I expected. The shrimp was made into a Thai style paste and fried together with the bread to make it crispy. The seaweed salad was an even bigger surprise. Simply excellent though. I wasn't expecting much from the tacos, but the sauce on it was simply amazing. Glad I came back here for a second time, confirming my suspicions that this place is the real deal.

Heading to Herrick's Tavern, the menu in this bar restaurant was contrastingly relatively uninteresting. I decided to get the Spinach and Garlic Ravioli (roasted garlic and spinach stuffed ravioli finished with a garlic and herb cream sauce), 

which wasn't too bad, but nothing compared to my earlier appetizers. Looking forward to ziplining in New York tomorrow.