Today, I had a Livingsocial deal appointment to go on a sailing tour in the
Boston Harbor with
Come Sail Away Now, but before that, I headed to the town of Burlington to do some sightseeing. Pictures of some of the places I visited before going hiking at the
Sawmill Brook Conservation Area follow, including the town common area on Center Street and Bedford Street.
 |
| Town Common |
Finally, I headed to the Sawmill Brook Conservation Area, located at the end of Sawmill Road. This road is actually a dirt road, so I parked along Mulberry Lane nearby instead, walking along Mill Street toward Sawmill Road. The path I took here is highlighted below in pink.
I walked all the way to Clapp's Mill Dam, but unfortunately there was nothing to see here. There was a large puddle in the road along the way however, and I managed to take pictures of frogs peeking out from the water surface.
With that, I decided that there was not enough time to hike any more, so I headed to the town of Stoneham instead to continue my sightseeing there until the time ran out. The places I visited follow,including the town common area on Winter Street and Central Street.
 |
| Town Common |
 |
Stoneham Square,
Main Street and Central Street |
Finally, it was time to be off to the
Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston for my sailing adventure. The allocated meeting point was beside the
Tavern on the Water. While waiting to board the sailboat, I walked around a little to take pictures of the Flagship Wharf area.
 |
| The wharf area |
 |
| The Tupelo Honey |
Finally, it was time to board the boat, the Tupelo Honey. The weather was perfect for sailing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience sailing in the Boston Harbor, especially when I was allowed to sit up near the front of the boat. Pictures I took while sailing of the Boston downtown area and other sights follow.
 |
| The Mast |
 |
| Instrumentation on the yacht |
 |
| On the Yacht |
 |
| The Sails |
 |
| Piers Park, 95 Marginal Street |
 |
| While at the front |
 |
| Riding the wake of another boat |
 |
| Airplanes on the runway |
 |
| Words in the Sky |
 |
| Mohegan Sun Ad |
When we finally docked again, I was really hungry as I had not had anything to eat yet, so I decided to use one of my Livingsocial deals at Friend's Pizza in Somerville, another typical pizza joint. I had $16 to spend, so I got a drink and the most expensive pizza they had, which was the Moda de Casa, a pizza filled with mozzarella cheese, chicken, bacon, calabreza (sausage)
, ham, broccoli, boiled eggs, palm, cream cheese, corn, peas and oregano. It was actually pretty good I have to say.
 |
| Moda de Casa |
After lunch, I headed back toward Stoneham to visit the
Stone Zoo. Along the way, I passed by Straw Point on South Street near Pond Street, where there are nice views of Spot Pond from here.
Another view of the pond was along Pond Street close to where the Stone Zoo is.
To be honest, Stone Zoo was a little bit of a disappointment, with few animals and not much shows, although I did manage to catch sight of a playful river otter, flamingoes with their chicks, and a white-cheeked gibbon baby with its protective mom. Pictures of the animals I saw here follow.
 |
| Model Bald Eagle Nest |
 |
| Black Bear |
 |
| Llamas |
 |
| Snow Leopard |
 |
| Caribbean Flamingos |
 |
| Inca Tern |
 |
| African Spur Thighed Tortoise |
 |
| Great Hornbill |
 |
| Kookaburra |
 |
| Black and White Colobus Monkey |
 |
| Barn Owl |
 |
| White Cheeked Gibbon Baby |
 |
| Protective mother |
 |
| Playful River Otter |
 |
| Black Necked Crane |
 |
| Rabbit inside Markhor Exhibit |
 |
| Markhor |
After finishing my tour of the entire zoo, I headed to
Whip Hill Park at the end of Whip Hill Road. The path I took here to try to get views at the overlook point is shown below in pink.
Unfortunately, there were no views to be had, and the pond in this area was also dismal.
 |
| Pond at Whip Hill Park |
Done with Stoneham except for the
Middlesex Fells, I decided to take a short break with another deal at the Daily Scoop at 232 Main Street in the same town, where to spend $10, I had to get a double scoop of Orange Sherbet ice cream in a waffle cone, and a Snickers Frappe Float, which were both pretty good, but filled me up before dinner with my friend at
Chez Henri in Cambridge.
 |
| Orange Sherbet Waffle Cone |
 |
| Snickers Frappe Float |
Along the way to Cambridge, I passed by the
St. Clement's Church in Medford.
In Cambridge, I managed to find a parking spot near the
Lesley University Sears Building at 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, and took pictures of the old
North Avenue Congregational Church next to it as well.
 |
| Lesley University Sears Building |
 |
| North Avenue Congregational Church |
Finally meeting my friend at the restaurant, which I had thought was pretty high class, the place actually only looked slightly above average. He ordered a glass for Chardonnay for me, and we got 3 dishes to share among ourselves, namely the soft shell crab salad special, and medium rare steak frites.
 |
| Chardonnay from Napa |
 |
| Soft Shell Crab Salad |
 |
| Wood Grilled Squid |
 |
| Steak Frites |
To be honest, the only thing that was decent to me was the soft shell crab salad. The steak was a little too dry for my liking, since I always get rare steak nowadays, and the squid was bitter with charred bits on it.
I don't think I will come back here again, and my friend, who is an ardent food critic, definitely won't.
