August 9th 2026: More Hiking in Grafton, and Biking in Hudson

 Today, we were back in Grafton,

Perry Hill Park

Brigham Hill Community Farm

this time revisiting the northern part of the Potter Hill Meadows area, where the path we took here from the end of Bay Colony Circle and from Brigham Hill Road is shown below in pink.

Nothing much to see in the Rita Martin Preserve side, 

and we entered far to the left of our intended entrance at the P and S Williams Conservation Restriction, getting a little disoriented until I finally figured out where we were. The water body that we were looking for here was unfortunately a little dried out.

Not a great time hiking in Grafton these past two days.

Later in the afternoon, we went biking at the newly constructed part of the Mass Central Rail Trail, from 14 Wilkins Street in Hudson

 to the junction with the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Sudbury.

Really tiring chasing after the little one with only a scooter, but very smooth ride overall.

Recommended Places to Visit: Stow

Recreation

Rock Climbing
Gravity Rock Gym
4 Marlboro Road

Golf

Butternut Farm Golf Club/Wheeler Pond
115 Wheeler Road

Parks
Tuttle Field and Community Garden
Tuttle Lane, 42.446365, -71.478937

Fruit Picking
Carver Hill Orchard
101 Brookside Avenue

Small Farm
184 Gleasondale Road

Honey Pot Hill Orchards
138 Sudbury Road
Recommended Dishes:
Apple Cider
Apple Cider Donuts

Water Bodies
Fletcher's/Flannagan Pond
9 Box Mill Road

Minister's Pond
290 Great Road

White Pond
581 Sudbury Road


Beaches

Pine Bluffs Recreation Area/Lake Boon
289 Sudbury Road


Museums

American Heritage Museum

568 Main Street, Hudson

Hiking
Recommended:
Delaney Wildlife Management Area
Harvard Road near Delaney Road

Tried:
Gardner Hill
Heritage Lane

Spindle Hill
Wheeler Road

Heath Hen Meadow Woodland
Boxboro Road

Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge

680 Hudson Road, Sudbury

Whitney Field

226 West Acton Road

Red Acre Woodland

108 Red Acre Road

Assabet Overlook Conservation Area

Joanne Drive and Forest Road

Captain Sargent Conservation Area
147 Red Acre Road

Architecture

Monuments

War Memorials
Great Road and Hartley Road

Places of Worship

Union Church of Stow
317 Great Road

St. Isidore Church
429 Great Road

First Parish Church of Stow and Acton
353 Great Road

Town Facilities
Massachusetts Firefighting Academy
1 State Road

Randall Library
19 Crescent Street

Schools
Stow Center School
403 Great Road


Historical Buildings

The Collings Foundation
137 Barton Road

Stowaway Inn
271 Great Road

Gleasondale Industrial Park

501 Gleasondale Road

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Deli
Emma's Cafe (moved to Sterling)
117 Great Road
Recommended Dishes:
"Adult" Grilled Cheese


Breakfast
Nancy's Air Field Cafe
302 Boxboro Road
Recommended Dishes:
Pecan Sticky Toffee Pudding

June 18th 2025: Company Outing at Nashoba Valley Winery, Bolton

 Today, after passing through Stow,

Butternut Farm Golf Club

I had a company outing at Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton.

I got the Bolton Orchards Sparkling Apple Cider,

the Shibby Italian Ciabatta

and Chocolate on Chocolate (rich, moist, all-natural dark chocolate cake, a bittersweet truffle center and delectable deep chocolate frosting are finished with a pure dark chocolate coin) and Vanilla Bean (moist, buttery vanilla cake filled with a Madagascar vanilla bean cream and finished with a buttery vanilla bean-flecked icing and a jaunty white chocolate coin) cupcakes.

There was way too much bread on the sandwich, although the drink and cupcakes were pretty good. Not too bad for a company outing.

November 30th 2024: Spend the Day with the Little One

 We started out today with a bite at the Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell in Hudson, getting the KFC Tenders, Cantina Chicken Quesadilla Meal (cantina chicken quesadilla, crunchy taco, medium drink, guacamole and sour cream).

Pretty decent flavor to start the day with. 

From here we started exploring Sudbury,

Willis Pond

going on a short hike to find Cutting Pond, where the path we took from the intersection of Arboretum Way and Cutting Lane is shown below in pink.

Got a little lost here, 

but we found the canoe launch area in the end.

From here, it was on to the Captain Sargent Conservation Area in Stow, where the path we took from 147 Red Acre Road to get to the water body here is shown below in pink.

Nothing special though, especially being frozen today.

Finally, we passed through Harvard 

Eldridge Pond/Elizabeth Brook Reservoir,
29 Eldridge Road

on the way to dinner at the 110 Grill in Berlin,

getting the Kid's Chicken (Chicken tenders, white rice, French Fries)

and the 110 Cuban (Slow Cooked Pulled Pork, Sliced Ham, Swiss Cheese, Honey Mustard And Fried Pickles, Served On Griddled Thick Ciabatta.).

Delicious as always from this place, and my little one ate all the food on the plate for once.

September 2nd 2024: Hiking in Stow, Playground in Hudson, Dessert in Marlborough

 Today, we started out with a hike in the town of Stow at the Assabet Overlook Conservation Area. It was a little hard to find the trailhead at the junction of Forest Road and Joanne Drive, but eventually we did based on the instructions on the signboard. The path we took here is shown below in pink.

Nothing much to see here though.

From here, we went to spend some time at the playground belonging to Mulready Elementary School in Hudson,

then headed to the Marlborough location of Ben and Jerry's for some dessert,

getting the strawberry flavor.

A good end to a day of traipsing through 3 towns.

June 16th 2024: Tanks, Strawberries and Mexican Food

 Today, two buildings at the American Heritage Museum in Stow were opened specially for the Father's Day weekend, so we went to check it out.

Nothing compared to the actual exhibits though.

Next, we headed to Tougas Farm for some strawberry picking, and of course we had to get a Strawberry Cheesecake Sundae at the end of it all.

For dinner, we decided to head to Agave Mexican Grill and Cantina, a relatively new Latin American restaurant in Marlborough.

We got the Agave Chimichangas (Two chimichangas with with shredded beef or shredded chicken topped with cheese dip. Served with rice and beans.)

and the ELOTES CALLEJEROS  (Roasted corn with mayo, queso cotija, tajin and lime.)

Pretty good, especially for a first time experience for my friend.

December 10th 2021: Three Short Hikes in Stow and Maynard

 I started today with a hike at Whitney Field in Stow, where the path I took from 266 West Acton Road is shown below in pink.

The water body here was nothing to speak of though.

Next, Red Acre Woodland nearby, where the path I took from 108 Red Acre Road is shown below in pink.

This time around, the small water body here was not even close to the trail.

My last hike for the day was at Vose Pond in Maynard, which was not so much of a hike as it was a slow drive along an unpaved Puffer Road behind houses. Even then, the pond itself was nothing much to look at, though better than the previous two today.

Disappointed, I called it a day for hiking, heading into Hudson for some Brazilian food from Gauchao Burgers, a hole in the wall place, getting the X-Tudo Burger (Bread, hamburger, egg, bacon, ham, mozzarella cheese, lettuce tomato, corn, potato sticks, mayo).

Pretty good burger. The only good thing about my day today.