April 11th 2014: Dinner at Autentica Mexican Restaurant, South Hadley

Today after work, I decided to head all the way to South Hadley to use my Groupon at Autentica Mexican Restaurant, passing by Beaver Lake Beach at 125 Babcock Tavern Road in the town of Ware,

the Cold Spring Country Club in Belchertown,

where I could not take pictures of the beautiful views of the surroundings the last time I was here as it was already too dark, and finally the Aldrich Pond Dam at ~74 Aldrich Street in the town of Granby,

which I could not take pictures of the last time I was here because it was all frozen over. The restaurant itself was really hard to find, being in a shopping mall area with two levels. It is pretty small and simple, definitely not what I expected, with clumps of dried chilies hung all over the place.

The food was pretty cheap too, making it hard for me to use my Groupon without ordering a lot, getting the Posole (white hominy corn in a red base with pork, side flour tortilla),

the Fish Tacos Dinner (Lightly sauteed Mahi Mahi, served w/ Hector’s original jalapeño cream sauce and Beans and Rice),

the Chorizo, Egg and Potato Burrito,

and even a Chocolate Cake for dessert.

The soup was pretty interesting with its specially prepared hominy corn, though a little bland. The fish tacos were just okay as well. The burrito was the best dish of all, being interesting as well with the potatoes in it. The cake was the most disappointing of all, clearly being really old and dry. Overall, perhaps not worth the journey.

April 10th 2014: Lunch in Worcester, Dinner in Acton

I decided to head out for lunch today at Miss Worcester Diner, a historical dingy small town diner in Worcester, getting their Meatlovers and Cheese stuffed French Toast. The thing that came was pretty huge and not quite what I expected,

but not bad overall, and I could barely finish it.

After work,  I took advantage of the lovely weather to go hiking in the town of Acton. My first destination was Pratt's Brook Conservation Land. After parking at the lot on Parker Street, the path I took to get to the water body here is shown below in pink.

The pond itself was nothing much to look at though.

The next place I went to was the Acton Arboretum. The place looks more like a garden from the Taylor Road entrance,

and the path I took to get to the ponds here is shown below in pink.

Not too bad, although I would probably come back when the garden is green again.

Finally, Stoneymeade Conservation Land, where I took a short walk, shown below in pink,

I couldn't really get close to the water bodies here though.

I passed one last place on the way to dinner

276 Great Road

at Po's Ribs and BBQ. I did not expect the clean place I came to, much less that it was owned by Chinese people, which gave me hope that this could be an upscale BBQ place.

Unfortunately, the Beef and Vegetable Soup (served with garlic toast)

and the Ribs and Crabcake Combo (Ribs and Crab Cake served with cold noodles and Coleslaw), were just average, if not less.

Despite the okay ambience, I'm definitely not coming back here after the disappointing dining experience.

April 9th 2014: Dinner at 404 Tapas Bar, Brookline

Today after work, I had dinner with a friend in Brookline, trying out the Mediterranean restaurant 404 Tapas Bar at 404 Harvard Street, which apparently is owned by the Khayyam Restaurant that has the same address as well, which I have been to in the past.

The bar itself was pretty nice,

but the entire place was devoid of people. We were soon to find out why.

We decided to get the Meat Quatro (Grilled Lamb, Grilled Steak, Lamb Merguez, Grilled Chicken) 

and the Mediterranean Swordfish.

Although both dishes were presented pretty well, the food itself was pretty terrible, with the fish being overcooked and not fresh, while the meat was a little bland at times as well. To say the least, we were in a hurry to get out of the place after finishing the food quickly.

My friend invited me up to his place in the 77 Adams Street Condominiums in Quincy, where he took me up to the roof. They have a pretty decent function room area here,

and the views from the top were pretty amazing, although I could not take much at night.

I guess I have to come back here sometime during the day next time.

April 6th 2014: A Short Tour of Cambridge, Then Hiking in Southern Central Massachusetts

On the second day of showing my friends around the Boston area, we first headed to Veggie Galaxy in the city of Cambridge for breakfast. I got the Harvard Square Burger the last time I was here, which is exactly what my friend got.

I got the Inman Square (Pickled Carrot, Basil, Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, Russian Dressing) Burger this time around,

while my other friend got the River Street Omelet (Roasted Eggplant, Caramelized Onion, Tomato Puree, Herbed Ricotta Cheese, Tarragon Basil Pesto) along with a Grilled Blueberry Muffin.

Once again, the vegetarian food didn't fail to impress me, and everyone gobbled up their food in no time.

After breakfast, I happened to remember that Toscanini's was nearby, so I decided to take my friends to try one of the best ice cream places in town. After sampling a few flavors, they decided to go with the Goat Cheese and Brownie flavor, which was pretty good.

From here, it was on to the MIT Museum. Since the last time I was here, most of the exhibitions had not changed at all, although I think these were different this time around.

At this point, my friends were tired of walking, so I drove them by the main buildings of MIT, then drove to Harvard, where they decided to check out Harvard Square on foot and touch the shoe of John Harvard, as well as try out some food truck fare from Chicken and Rice Guys. Our last stop of the day was the Harvard Medical School in Boston, at which point my friends decided it was time to head home back to NYC.

After seeing them off back home, I decided to take the opportunity to spend the rest of the daylight hours hiking. I headed to the Douglas State Forest in Douglas first, taking the path highlighted below in pink from ~130 Wallis Street to check out Wallis Pond.

The pond itself was actually pretty nice,

complete with a small waterfall.

Another water body in the area was the Whitin Reservoir.

I headed to Wallum Lake to try to find the beach, choosing to park behind the barrier and walking to it, only to realize that I could have reached it from the boat launch area, which I have visited in the past, by just walking past the barrier here. Not too bad a beach though.

I also tried to find Aldrich Pond, having a little difficulty finding the trail leading to it. The path I took to get to it from the Wallum Lake area is shown below in pink.

The pond itself was nothing much to look at though.

From here, it was on to the town of Sturbridge, where I headed to check out the Westville Lake Recreation Area. Pretty relaxing area by the river, to be sure of that.

I took a short hike at Hobbs Brook Recreation Area as well, although there wasn't much to see here though.

Finally, I decided to call it a day, and headed to Publick House Historic Inn nearby for dinner. This place serves as an inn too (as you can tell from the name), and the eating area was pretty rustic in a wood cabin sort of way. For food, I decided to go with the New England Baked Scrod (cracker crumb topping, lemon-dill sauce, rice pilaf and butternut squash), which came with a soup and dessert for just $8 more. For that, I got the Vegetable Rice Soup, and the Indian Pudding (a New England tradition, a sweet baked pudding, rich with cornmeal, molasses and spices, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream).

The starters themselves were interesting, with different sorts of breads, and even sticky buns.

The soup wasn't too bad, though a little sour as it was tomato based.

The fish was excellent, moist and flaky.

The dessert wasn't to my liking though, having too much spices and cinnamon to it.

Overall, not too bad a meal. With that, my weekend of being a tour guide finally came to an end. Back to work tomorrow.