June 9th 2024: Water Bodies in Sutton

 Today, while having some time, I went to check out some water bodies in Sutton.

Sibley Reservoir, 102 Burbank Road

 

Cogan Pond, 56 Armsby Road

Schoolhouse Pond, 43 8 Lots Road

Adams Pond, 146 West Sutton Road

Arnold Pond, 236 West Sutton Road

Some dried up, but not too bad for water bodies in Sutton. I hear the dams are going to be removed though.

June 8th 2024: Spending the Day in Marlborough

 Today, we started out with a drink from Smoothie King in Marlborough,

getting the Strawberry Bluegurt Blitz (Strawberries*, Greek Nonfat Yogurt, Apple Blueberry Juice Blend, Dairy Whey Blend, Multivitamin Enhancer).

Not bad for a refresher. Next, it was lunch at Bao Bap Restaurant, a Japanese chicken katsu place nearby.

We got the Chicken Katsu Curry Fries (Crispy fries tossed in Shichimi, topped with chicken katsu, golden curry sauce, fried egg and scallion),

the Brothless Ramen (Refreshing with BROTHLESS RAMEN, ponzu sauce, chashu pork belly, cabbage salad, fukuzinzuke),

and the Golden Pork Bao (Golden and crispy on the outside, savory on the inside, fried pork bao are a delightful fusion of textures and flavors, serve with gochujang sweet and sour sauce)

Pretty good, although the ramen was just so-so, but the crispy buns and chicken really made up for it. My other half even liked the Japanese curry sauce.

Next, we went a few stores down to An Nam Vietnamese Grill, which has definitely moved from the Bao Bap location.

We got the Sea Salt Cream Mousse Iced Coffee,

which I have to say is a pretty interesting concept.

From here, we decided to take a walk around Williams Lake, which now has a boardwalk built across it. The path we took here is shown below in pink.

What a way to bring visitors into the town. Nice views on the boardwalk, although the walk itself took longer than I thought it would.

With that, our final stop for the day was at the Dunkin' Donuts nearby, getting the Kiwi Watermelon Refresher

and the French Cruller.

A good end to a day spent in Marlborough.

Recommended Places to Visit: Spencer

Recreation
Parks
O'Gara Park
95 Valley Street

Luther Hill Park/Lake Whittemore
End of Park Street

Beaches
Brooks Pond
Brooks Pond Road between Washburn Drive and Oakham Road

Hiking

Recommended:
Midstate Trail

15 Bond Street

Spencer State Forest
Howe Pond Road near Lyford Road

Sibley Farm
150 Greenville Street

Burncoat Pond Wildlife Sanctuary
Polar Springs Road

Spencer Depot Rail Trail

75 South Spencer Road

Water Bodies
Watson Millpond

74 GH Wilson Road

Cranberry Meadow Pond
Cranberry Meadow Road between Jolicoeur Avenue and Briarcliff Lane

Browning Pond
Browning Pond Road near Browning Pond Circle

Thompson Pond
Thompson Pond Road between Westland Drive and Oak Lane

Stiles Reservoir
Chickering Road between Styles Avenue and Wilson Avenue

Sugden Reservoir
~50 Lake View Drive

Muzzy Lake
Maple Street and Adams Street

Buck Hill Pond
McCormick Road, 42.289366, -71.988072

Moose Hill Reservoir

510 Moose Hill Road

Architecture

Monuments

Bemis Memorial Park
West Main Street near Podunk Pike

Soldier's Monument
~193 Main Street

Vietnam Memorial Park
80 South Spencer Road

American Legion Post 138
175 Main Street

Places of Worship

Mary Queen of the Rosary Parish
60 Maple Street

First Congregational Church
207 Main Street

St. Joseph's Abbey
167 North Spencer Road

Hillside Baptist Church
472 Main Street

First United Methodist Church
161 Main Street

Schools
Wire Village School
60 Paxton Road


Town Facilities

Town Hall
157 Main Street

Richard Sugden Library
8 Pleasant Street


Historical Buildings
Old Fire Station
~157 Main Street

Old Building
239 Main Street

Old Ragsdale Kia
324 Main Street

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Breakfast
Kosta's Cafe
31 Pleasant Street
Recommended Dishes:
Hash Crepe Supreme

Deli
Five Loaves Bakery
13 Mechanic Street
Recommended Dishes:
Grilled Ham and Cheese

Western
Black and White Grille
206 North Spencer Road
Recommended Dishes:
Ribeye Surf and Turf

Spencer Country Inn

500 Main Street

Recommended Dishes:

Steak Au Poivre

Chicken and Shrimp Cajun Alfredo

Chicken Noodle Soup

Mexican
Mexicali Grill (chain)
117 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Mexicali Chimichanga


Tried:
Japanese
Yamato Asian Bistro and Sushi (chain)
62 West Main Street
Recommended Dishes:

California Roll

Spring Roll

Shrimp Tempura

Bento Box

Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken Pad Thai

Vegetable Fried Rice

House Green Salad

Chinese
Chef Sau
148 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Sesame Beef

Hot and Sour Soup

Pork Fried Rice

Chicken Fingers

Breakfast
Charlie's Diner
5 Meadow Road
Recommended Dishes:
Eggs Blackstone

Dessert
Dippin Donuts (chain)
292 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Maple Glazed Donut

June 7th 2024: Water Bodies in Leicester and Spencer

 Today, I was in Spencer,

Watson Millpond, 74 GH Wilson Road

going on a hike at Spencer State Forest to find a water body I missed before. The path I took from 136 Charlton Road is shown below in pink.

Pretty nice view of the water body here, minus the bugs.

From here, it was on to Leicester,

Henshaw Pond, 155 Henshaw Street

Where I stopped by Tatnuck Farms Creamery

getting a Southern Peach Milkshake.

Pretty good end for a day of checking out water bodies in LEicester and Spencer.

Recommended Places to Visit: Leicester

Recreation

Parks

Town Common
Paxton Street and Washburn Square

Towtaid Park

Church Street and Towtaid Street

Farms

Cooper's Hilltop Farm

515 Henshaw Street

Waterfalls

Greenville Pond
~713 Pleasant Street


Water Bodies
Smiths Pond

Gerald Court

Kettle Brook Reservoir #2
Mannville Street and Paxton Street

Kettle Brook Reservoir #3
~530 Paxton Street

Sargent Pond
1230 Main Street

Waite Pond
~85 Manville Street

Clark's Mill Pond
~137 Baldwin Street

Lynde Brook Reservoir
End of Reservoir Street

Kettle Brook Reservoir #1
Mulberry Street and Chapel Street

Burncoat Pond
End of Town Beach Road

Cedar Meadow Pond
395 Rawson Street

City Pond
~81 Chapel Street

Rochdale Pond
~1066 Stafford Road

Bouchard Pond
Pine Street near Charles Street 

Henshaw Pond

155 Henshaw Street

Hiking

Tried:

Shaw Pond (private)

65 Watson Street

Southwick Pond

Walbridge Road near Cutler Road, Paxton

Frank Cooke Forest

250 Manville Street

Architecture

Monuments
Leicester Lions Park
Main Street and Bottomley Avenue


Places of Worship

Leicester First Congregational Church
1 Washburn Square

St. Joseph's Church
759 Main Street

Leicester Church of Christ
2 Church Place

Christ Episcopal Church
1089 Stafford Street

Greenville Baptist Church
674 Pleasant Street

Leicester Unitarian Church
5 Washburn Square


Schools
Becker College
964 Main Street


Town Facilities

Leicester Public Library
1136 Main Street

Town Hall
3 Washburn Square

Police Department
90 South Main Street

Restaurants

Higly Recommended:
Breakfast

Uncle Jay's Twisted Fork

509 Stafford Street

Recommended Dishes:

Hot Chocolate

Shrimp Scampi Omelette

Twisted Benedict

Tried:
Breakfast
B Law's Diner (closed)
15 South Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Egg Cheese and Bacon Sandwich
Hot Chocolate

Farmhouse Diner
15 South Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Mac and Cheese

Mike's Donut Shoppe
1181 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Honey Dipped Donut

Pleasant Street Diner
310 Pleasant Street
Recommended Dishes:
The Jason

Tiny Tim's Cafe

1137 Stafford Street

Recommended Dishes:

Hash

Italian
Northeast Pizza (chain)
1205 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Sweet and Sour Chicken Pizza
Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Dressing Pizza

Uncle Sam's Pizza
1072 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
BBQ Pit Pie
Pastrami Hot Sub

Dessert
Wicked Wings and Ice Cream
15 South Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Spicy Ranch Wings
Sticky Sesame Wings
Spicy Fried Pickles
Sundae

Tatnuck Farms Creamery

55 Marshall Street

Recommended Dishes:

Southern Peach Milkshake

Western

Castle Restaurant
1230 Main Street

Eller's Restaurant
190 Main Street, Cherry Valley
Recommended Dishes:
Clam Chowder
Triple Sec Ravioli

Joe's Drive-In Restaurant
1673 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Veggie Burger

Hot Dog Annie's
244 Paxton Street
Recommended Dishes:
BBQ Hot Dog

Barber's Crossing (chain)
861 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Flowering Onion
Lobster Roll

Yankee Pot Roast

BBQ Texas Beef Ribs

Chicken Marsala

Castle Cantina Tapas Bar and Restaurant

1230 Main Street

Recommended Dishes:

Tostones Rellenos

Aguacate Rellenos

Del Mar Paella

Papajotes

Karol Corner Take Out
610 Pleasant Street
Recommended Dishes:
Chicken Marsala

Rochdale Burgers, Subs and More (closed)
610 Pleasant Street
Recommended Dishes:
Spicy Thai Peanut Wings
Steak, Cheese, Mushrooms, Pepperoni Sub

June 2nd 2024: Hub Hall, Boston

 Today, before picking my father-in-law up from the airport, we decided to check out the new Hub Hall, a food court attached to the TD Garden in Boston.

We had wanted to try out the ramen from Momosan Morimoto,

but the grille just happened to be out today, so we had to settle for the Eel and Avocado Roll (barbecue eel and avocado),

which was just alright. We'll try the ramen next time. 

Not being satisfied, we next got the Plate (chicken gyro, pita and dip, charred eggplant) from Greco Truly Greek

then the Spicy Mac and Cheese (our homemade mac and cheese, crispy bacon, hot italian cherry peppers made with 5 cheeses)

and the Linguini with Alfredo (chicken, broccoli and toasted breadcrumbs) from Cini Linguine Pasta Bar.

Finally, we got some Chocolate Gelato from Vita Gelato.

Sadly underwhelming for a day of food in Boston.

June 1st 2024: More from Kinzen, Marlborough

 Today, after attending the karate Boston Open, 

which was held at Fore Kicks in Marlborough,

we decided to have lunch at Kinzen, a ramen place in Marlborough. This time around, we got the CHASHU RICE BOWL  (Stir-fry cha-shu ( marinated braised pork belly), bean sprout, corn, wood ear mushroom and scallion.)

and the MISO RAMEN    (Miso pork broth with cha-shu pork belly topped with beansprout, wood ear mushroom and scallion).

I have to say, the stir fried pork belly was really a delight to eat, and a large portion too. Good stuff from this place as always.