April 19th 2015: Showing My Friend Around Northeastern Massachusetts

I started out today with a hike at the Harold Parker State Forest, located in the towns of Andover, North Andover and North Reading. The paths I took here is shown below in pink.

I started out at the Lorraine Park Campground in Andover, checking out the really small beach at Frye Pond.

Next, I hiked in the Bear Pond area, although there was nothing much to see here. The rest of the ponds in the Andover area had better views thankfully.

At this point, I decided to take a break from hiking, heading to the small town diner, Nan's Cafe in North Reading, for breakfast. I got a Hot Chocolate and the Irish Style Eggs Benedict (home made corn beef hash),

which was pretty good, the hash not being the typical type you would find elsewhere.

After breakfast, I headed back into hiking, first at Bradford Pond in the North Reading area,

then at the water bodies in the North Andover section.

Finally done with my hike here, I visited a few other places in North Andover,

Mill Pond, 186 Stevens Street

Stevens Pond

going on a hike at Weir Hill, where the path I took is shown below in pink.

I had to walk on an old railroad trail

on my way to the viewpoint, which had pretty decent views westward.

I then made my way to the airplane beacon, which wasn't much to speak of, before heading to the shoreline of Lake Cochichewick and walking along it until I got back to the start.

Not a bad hike here.

With that, I headed into Cambridge for a brunch event at Puritan and Company. Nice modern atmosphere, but not much variety in the menu. I finally went with the Grilled Sirloin Steak and Eggs (hollandaise, potatoes, toast),

which was really tasty, the beef going really well with the hollandaise sauce. Overall though, there are other places around with more stuff on the brunch menu. I might come back to try their dinners though.

After brunch, I went to pick my friend up for a day of sightseeing on the North Shore, starting with the Salem Maritime National Historic Site in Salem, where we realized how windy and cold it was.

Next, it was on to Lynch Park in Beverly, where we enjoyed walking around the garden there and catching the view from the beach here.

We decided to grab food at this point, going to Organic Garden Cafe in town for some vegan food. I have been here before, and this time we got the Coconut in the Husk drink,

the Pure Pad Thai (kelp noodles, bean sprouts, vegetables, basil and scallion in almond butter sauce w/ 'roasted' almonds),

the Onion Rings (thinly sliced by hand and tossed with a dressing of sunflower, sesame, flax, olive oil, lemon, garlic and spices then 48 hours until crisp)

and the Sampler (sunseed croquettes with pad thai sauce and Thai Cashews, falafel, chevre and crackers, bomblette (almond, brazil nut, and veggie omelette, quinoa).

Everything was pretty good, although I am still not a fan of coconut water, most of which my friend had, while some stuff on the sampler plate tasted a little weird. The onions, which I usually don't like, were surprisingly tasty, even though my friend did not like it.

We were pretty full though and had to pack everything to go in the end.

Our day was not over though, as we headed into Manchester to check out the Singing Beach, where we did not stay very long due to the chilly wind. Beautiful beach though.

From here, we headed to Winthrop to see the planes fly over Coughlin Park, then to Deer Island to watch the sunset.

In East Boston, we checked out the planes taking off from Constitution Beach, then went up to the Orient Heights area to see the Madonna, Queen of the Universe National Shrine and the giant cross on the hill, as well as the views of the city down below, before heading to Revere to watch a Korean movie "Twenty", a coming of age movie for 3 boys and their love lives at the Showcase Cinemas De Lux Revere. Pretty funny, and a perfect end to a fun day of sightseeing with my friend.

November 9th 2014: Time Spent North of Boston

I started off this morning in Arlington, going for a small hike at Mount Gilboa, located at the end of Park Place.

Unfortunately, there weren't much views to be had here,

and although I could see glimpses of the Boston skyline, there are definitely much better views nearby.

I headed into Waltham next, where I happened to pass by the Gann Academy,

where there was a view of the water tower atop Mackerel Hill.

I decided to go explore it on a whim, finding the map of the place online. The rough path I took here is shown below in pink.

There weren't any views at the water tower itself,

though on a recommendation from a biker that happened to pass by, I headed the other way to find a clearing, where there were okay views.

I walked to Trapelo Road from here, and all the way back to my car.

From here, it was on to my meetup brunch at The Mad Raven in town. This bar restaurant was pretty understaffed for a busy Sunday morning, and we waited awhile between each order. Thankfully we had company and good conversation to while the time away. I got the Steak Tips and Eggs (hearty portion of tips served with three eggs any style, home fries and fruit),

while my friends got the Chicken Cordon Bleu (Baked chicken breast, stuffed with ham, swiss cheese and spinach, served over sausage stuffing and gravy),

the Irish Breakfast (Traditional Irish breakfast with two eggs any style, Irish rashers, bangers, baked beans and home fries. Served with toast)

and the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Panini (Bacon, scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese stuffed into a panini sandwich and grilled. Served with home fries and fruit).

My steak was cold because of the waiting for everyone else's food to be cooked, my toast wasn't even toasted, and they also forgot the fruit on my plate. Thankfully, my steak was cooked perfectly.

Overall though, everyone agreed that they won't be coming back.

From here, I decided to head to Nahant to finish my sightseeing there.

The views of Forty Steps Beach at 393 Nahant Road were beautiful today, although there were more than forty steps leading to the beach. I guess they did not know how to count, or the water levels have changed since they named the beach and had to add more steps.

Canoe Beach is smaller and right next door, separated by a pile of rocks from Forty Steps.

I next tried to find Swallow's Cave, but only found a view of Bass Rock from someone's backyard.

I decided to give up and check out the Northeastern University Marine Science Center instead, where the views from Lodge Park were beautiful.

I decided to give finding Swallow's Cave another go, finally finding a path leading to it at the end of Swallow's Cave Road.

I spent some time here

trying to traverse the slippery rocks covered in seaweed and barnacles to get to the cave without getting my shoes wet, and somehow I did it.

The inside of the cave was nothing much really,

although it was still cool to be in it, and the views from here of Boston in the setting sun were pretty good too.

With that, I was done with Nahant for now, and headed to Salem to finish off the rest of the daylight hours.

St. Anne's Church

Irzyk Park,

Fort Avenue and Lee Fort Terrace

Here, I went to check out the House of Metal Creatures, located at 5 Blaney Street.

The metallic sculptures here were pretty interesting, to say the least.

After leaving Salem with the sun completely gone, I headed to Winthrop for dinner at the Kasbah Restaurant, a pretty nicely decorated Moroccan restaurant in town, which has a Hookah lounge in the back as well.

Sadly, this place was totally empty, even though the Tagine Kasbah (lamb Braised, with dried prunes, apricots and caramelized onions, sprinkled with sesame seeds and toasted almonds)

was actually pretty good, although it did not fill me up.

This place would probably do better in a better location.

Still feeling hungry, I decided to get some pizza from Nick's Place nearby, getting the Meat Lover's Pizza and Lamb Tip Salad.

While waiting for my second meal, I decided to go check out the froyo place in the area, Yosogood, getting a kiddie sized Creamsicle Froyo, which was pretty good.

It was then a good time to go get my pizza

and salad

both of which was pretty good, especially the lamb tips, which were cooked pretty well considering it only took about 10 minutes to get both done, and the place had a lot of orders coming in tonight.

With that, a fun day spent north of Boston came to an end. Back to work tomorrow.