March 11th 2022: A Few Hours in Rhode Island

Today, with the snow still melting, I decided to head south to Johnston RI,

Antioch Chapel,
2117 Plainfield Pike

Cranston RI,

Dhamagosnaram Buddhist Temple,
2870 Plainfield Pike

Holy Apostles Catholic Church

Cranston Bible Chapel

Scituate RI,

Hope Village Green,
88 Main Street

Stillwater Christian Fellowship

Hope Elementary School

Hope Library

Coventry RI,

Rick and Dee's

Knotty Oak Baptist Church

Lofts at Anthony Mill

St. Vincent de Paul Church

Quidnick Baptist Church

Coventry Fire District,
571 Washington Street

Trestle Park,
Washington Street and Edward Street

Our Lady of Czestochowa Church

and finally West Warwick RI.

Centreville Mill

Christ the King Church

Church of St. Therese of Lisieux

Emanuel Lutheran Church

West Warwick Police Memorial,
New London Avenue and New London Turnpike

First Baptist Church

15 Nestor Street

Old St. Mary's Church

Christian Hill Community Church

Before leaving West Warwick, I stopped by Fresh Homemade Donuts in town for a quick bite, getting a Red Velvet Donut, which was actually pretty good, especially with the frosting, and crispy too.

After finally leaving Rhode Island for the day, we decided to head to Dah Mee, a Korean restaurant in Natick serving Thai and Japanese food as well.

We got the Momokawa Silver (Oregon), which was alright for a Japanese drink,

the Dok Bok Ki (stir fried spicy rice cakes, fish cakes and scallions),

the Duk Man Du Guk (homemade dumpling soup with rice cake, egg, scallion and mushroom),

the Thai Noodle Soup (Thai style noodle soup, beansprout, fried onion and garlic)

and the Bul Go Ki (marinated sliced beef and Dah Mee special sauce).

The Korean dishes were not bad, although the Thai noodles were nothing to speak of. Overall, I think there are better Korean places around.

For dessert, we decided to head to Acai Dot Com, a small cafe serving acai bowls in a sketchy part of Framingham at 102 Irving Street.

We got our Acai Bowl with strawberries and pineapples.

Nice presentation, and pretty good acai too. Won't come back again due to the limited menu though.

Recommended Places to Visit: Johnston RI

Recreation

Fruit Picking

Wicked Tulips Flower Farm

90 Brown Avenue

Water Bodies

Oak Swamp Reservoir
2368 Hartford Avenue

Hawkins Pond
38 Winsor Avenue

Parks
Cricket Field
15 Riverside Avenue

Johnston War Memorial Park
1583 Hartford Avenue



Hiking
Recommended:
Snake Den State Park
142 Brown Avenue

Tried:

Snake Den Farm
90 Brown Avenue

Johnston Town Forest
20 Memorial Avenue

Architecture

Places of Worship

Our Lady of Grace Church
4 Lafayette Street

Trinity Assembly of God
2119 Hartford Avenue

St. Rocco's Church
927 Atwood Avenue

St. Brigid's Catholic Church
1231 Plainfield Street

Johnston Seventh Day Adventist Church
2693 Hartford Avenue

Greater Rhode Island Baptist Temple
671 Greenville Avenue

The King's Tabernacle Church
500 Greenville Avenue

Saint Robert Bellarmine Church
1804 Atwood Avenue

Antioch Chapel

2117 Plainfield Pike

Commercial Buildings

Lighting and Design by J and K Electric
1253 Hartford Avenue

Historical Buildings

Old Belknap School
509 Greenville Avenue


Schools
Brown Avenue Elementary School
14 Brown Avenue

Town Facilities

Municipal Court
1600 Atwood Avenue

Town Hall
1385 Hartford Avenue

Restaurants

Tried:

Italian

Reali's Fine Italian Cuisine

79 Putnam Pike

Recommended Dishes:

Scallops Esposito

Chicken Marsala

Pizza Palace

1583 Plainfield Pike

Recommended Dishes:

Barbecue Chicken

March 5th 2022: Second Time at Anzio's Brick Oven Pizza, Northborough

 Today, we decided to have lunch at Anzio's Brick Oven Pizza in Northborough, which I got take out from in the past.

This time around, we did not get pizza at all, getting the Sangria (chianti, limoncello, Triple Sec, Imported Blood Orange Juice, Club Soda, fresh orange and lime),

the Caesar Salad (Romaine lettuce tossed in caesar dressing, topped with garlic croutons and shaved parmesan cheese.),

the Wings (five boneless wings. Sauce choice: mango habanero),

the Cotoletta Alla Bolognese (Milk-fed veal pounded thin, dredged in parmesan, eggs and breadcrumbs simmered in a prosciutto and fontina marsala cream sauce with fresh Casarecce pasta)

and the Tiramisu (Layers of spongecake soaked in espresso and mascarpone cream and dusted with cocoa powder) for dessert.

Really good food, especially the chicken which wasn't just breaded with flour. Unfortunately, our little one would not have any of it except for the dessert. Oh well, all the more for us then.

 

February 28th 2022: La Scala Ristorante, Randolph

 Today, while in the town of Randolph, we decided to have dinner at La Scala Ristorante, a pretty cosy Italian restaurant in town.

We decided to get the Shrimp and Clam Napolitano,

the Veal Verdicchio (tender veal prepared with mushrooms and artichokes in a white wine and butter sauce)

and the Tiramisu for dessert.

Really good tasting food, although the food dishes were tending toward the salty side, granted that it would be mitigated with pasta. At least driving all the way out here wasn't that much of a waste of time.

February 23rd 2022: Spending Time in Natick Mall, Natick

 Today, we spent some time at the Natick Mall in Natick,

checking out the new Level99

and Dave and Buster's arcades.

The Level99 area is an interesting concept, will be back when our little one is older.

For food, we got the 4 Piece Chicken McNuggets® Happy Meal (t four tender Chicken McNuggets® made with white meat with kid-sized World Famous Fries and a side of Apple Slices. Reduced Sugar Low Fat Chocolate Milk Jug),

and the Filet-O-Fish® Meal (classic fish sandwich meal made with wild-caught Alaskan Pollock on a regular McDonald’s bun, served with our World Famous Fries® and your choice of an icy soft drink).

Much more expensive these days with inflation.

Not satisfied with our meal, we headed over to Tous Les Jours, 

getting the Green Tea Cloud Cake,

and the Vanilla Cream Donut.

Overall, a good day spent at the Natick Mall.

February 22nd 2022: Revisiting Prospect Park, Shrewsbury

 Today, I decided to revisit Prospect Park, as I realized that there was a garden here I did not see the last time I was here, a long time ago. I happened to find the gate open so I drove up the hill this time around. The path I took to get to the garden and back is shown below in pink.

The garden itself was pretty run down, but still something to look at here.

February 19th 2022: New Restaurants in Boylston and Brookline

 This morning, I started out with breakfast at Chefee's 1921 Diner in Boylston, which has taken over from Claudette's 1921 Diner, which I visited a long time ago. I got the Meatloaf and Eggs (Chefee's homemade meatloaf and gravy, three eggs any style, home fries and toast),

Pretty tasty actually. Not bad I must say, the meatloaf and homefries being crispy as well.

Later, after being in Boston for the day,

City Place

getting a Matcha Latte

from the Tatte Bakery and Cafe location at 399 Boylston Street.

we decided to check out the Soup Shack location in Brookline. We got the Thai Iced Tea,

the TONKOTSU RAMEN (Pork broth, sesame oil, Cha-shu pork (Marinated Braised Pork Belly), menma (Japanese bamboo), nori, wood ear mushrooms, shredded red pepper, black garlic oil and scallions.)

and the TAN TAN MEN (Pork broth, spicy ground pork, spicy sesame oil (Rayu), Cha-shu pork (Marinated Braised Pork Belly), bok choy, bean sprouts, nori, sesame seeds and scallions.)

Really good flavor, with fatty pork belly. Can see why they have multiple locations.