August 16th 2013: Cruise Night in Lancaster

Today after work, I decided to check out Cruise Night, an antique car show put on at Kimball Farm in Lancaster every Friday night in the summer time.

The show itself was just a congregation of old cars from the surrounding neighborhoods, as can be seen from my pictures below.

 Other than that, the emphasis was more on the seafood sold here, and the ice cream, which I got the Frozen Pudding flavor. It was okay I guess, tasting a little weird at times.

After seeing the show, I did some sightseeing in Lancaster,

White Pond, ~230 White Pond Road

Town Beach, End of Fire Road 4

Hudson

Bruces Pond, ~164 Apsley Road

and Marlborough, where I first went on a hike at Holt's Grove to find the old ice skating pond here. The path I took while here after parking at the Marlborough High School parking lot is shown below in pink.

The pond itself was small and nothing much to look at, although I managed to catch sight of frogs in the water.

Next, I headed to Ghiloni Park for a walk to see the water bodies there, taking the path shown below in pink,

walking around the basketball courts and soccer fields, which were full of people playing.

The water bodies themselves were mere puddles of water though. After leaving the park, I also visited Hager Pond at ~894 Boston Post Road East,

and the Jericho Hill Recreational Area at ~496 Brigham Street, where I climbed up the old ski slope there to catch the views from above.

The old ski slope

View from the top

Heading to grab dinner at the Bolton Street Tavern, a bar restaurant where I had a groupon to use, I found a family style restaurant which was pretty void of people this late Friday night.

For food, I decided to get the Potachoes (Fresh cooked sliced potato chips topped with melted cheese, bacon and scallions served with sour cream and salsa on the side) for appetizers, the Crock of Chili Con Carni Bread Bowl (Thick and Hearty topped with melted cheese served with nacho chips) for soup and the Mixed Marinated Grille (A combination of chicken teriyaki, marinated sirloin tips and barbeque shrimp, served with rice and vegetable of the day).

Potachoes

Crock of Chili Con Carni Bread Bowl

Mixed Marinated Grille

The potato chips were disappointingly bland, while the soup was just so-so as well, but my entree actually surprised me at how well it was cooked. The chicken was not dry as it usually is here in the US, and the beef was cooked just right for me as well. Unfortunately, I could not finish everything, so it's more leftovers for lunch.

Recommended Places to Visit: Lancaster

Recreation

Beaches
Spectacle Pond
End of Fire Road 4

Water Bodies

Bartlett Pond
Main Street near North Main Street

White Pond
230 White Pond Road


Festivals
Bolton Fair
318 7 Bridge Road

Cruise Night
1543 Lunenburg Road


Hiking
Dexter Drumlin
~198 George Hill Road

Architecture

Monuments

Town Common
Thayer Memorial Drive


Places of Worship

First Church of Christ Parish
725 Main Street

Immaculate Conception Church
809 Main Street

Evangelical Congregational Church
793 Main Street


Town Facilities
Thayer Memorial Library
717 Main Street

Fire Station 2
283 South Main Street

Schools
Dr. Franklin Perkins School
971 Main Street

Atlantic Union College
338 Main Street

South Lancaster Academy
198 George Hill Road


Restaurants

Tried:
Dessert

Kimball Farms (chain)
1543 Lunenburg Road

February 16th 2013: Exploring the Museums of Lowell, Spindle City

Today, I decided to make a day of exploring the various museums in the city of Lowell, nicknamed Spindle City.

Starting off early, I passed through Clinton,

Old St. Mary's Elementary School,
132 Franklin Street

Spanish Seventh Day Adventist Church

Prescott Mill Apartments,
24 Water Street

Lofts at Lancaster Mills, 55 Green Street

Faith Bible Baptist Church

United Church of Clinton

Trinity Lutheran Church

Clinton District Court

Bigelow Mills, ~467 Main Street

Lancaster,

Science Building,
Atlantic Union College

Preston Hall and Brown House

Founder's Hall

Miles Hall

Harvard,

Harvard Police

200 Ayer Road

and Pepperell.

Grace Baptist Church

Finally, I reached Lowell, and did some sightseeing before heading to Dracut for lunch at Kashin Garden, a Japanese restaurant.

United Teen Equality Center

Giant Water Tower,
Campbell Drive near Wedge Street

Dr. Gertrude Bailey Elementary School,
175 Campbell Drive

Chelmsford Street Baptist Church

Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer

St. Casimir's Church

First United Baptist Church

Iglesia Pentecostal Arca de Refugio,
60 Lawrence Street

Portuguese Seventh Day Adventist Church

Gateway Center, 10 George Street

Old Boston Maine Railroad Station,
Green Street and Central Street

Lowell Session Middlesex Juvenile Court

From here, I decided to head to Dracut for lunch, passing by a few places along the way.

War Memorial,
Sladen Street and Pleasant Street

Pleasant Street Dam, ~68 Pleasant Street

Kashin Garden is a pretty decently decorated place, with a Chinese-Japanese menu.

For my $30 groupon, I decided to get all Japanese dishes, getting the Tuna Peppers (Tempura jalapeno, stuffed with spicy tuna topped with tobiko and special sauce) and the Inari Pillows (Fried bean curd skin stuffed with shrimp, kani, tobiko, avocado and spicy mayo) for appetizers, while getting the Kampyo Maki (Avocado, cucumber, ebi shrimp and kampyo wrap with soy paper topped with baked spicy scallop).

Tuna Pepper

Inari Pillows

Kampyo Maki

All the dishes were actually pretty good, although I guess I'm not much of a fan of green peppers. I'll put a recommend for this place in a small suburban town.

From here, it was back to Lowell for more sightseeing.

Merrimack River Valley House

Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church

Market Basket, 331 Fletcher Street

Holy Trinity Hellenic Orthodox Church

St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church

St. Patrick's Parish

Western Canal,
Lewis Street and Broadway Street

Mercier Multi Service Center,
21 Salem Street

Murkland Elementary School

Acre High School Apartments

Old St. Jean Baptiste Church,
741 Merrimack Street

Irish American Memorial,
Dummer Street and Market Street

Pollard Memorial Library

City Hall, 375 Merrimack Street

Cannon outside City Hall

War Memorials,
Merrimack Street and Arcand Drive

War Memorial,
Willie Street and  Fletcher Street

Smith Baker Center,
Merrimack Street and Dummer Street

St. Anne's Episcopal Church

Monuments, John F Kennedy Civic Center,
50 Arcand Drive

Lowell High School

Lucy Larcom Park,
French Street and Father Morrisette Boulevard

Tsongas Center in the daytime

The Worker,
Market Street and Shattuck Street

St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

Finally, it was time for the first museum of the day, at the Whistler House Museum of Art, the birthplace of painter and etcher James McNeill Whistler, who painted the famous "Whistler's Mother" painting. Whistler Park is right next to the house, but was totally covered in snow.

Whistler Park

I headed into the house and had to pay an entry fee of $5. This place is pretty small, but has some nice artwork, including a copy of Whistler's Mother.

Next, it was on to the National Streetcar Museum, which talks about the history of streetcars in Lowell as well as in the rest of the world. This place is pretty small too, although pretty informative as well.

Old Railroad Structure

Locomotive #410

Next it was the New England Quilt Museum, which was literally right next door. I had hoped that it would be about how quilts are made, but it was more just a collection of interesting looking quilts. Pictures follow.

A Woman and 2 gents

Sometime I can't Stand Myself

ArtFabrik

Town News

My next destination was the Boott Cotton Mills Museum at 115 John Street in the midst of the Lowell National Historical Park, passing through the Mogan Cultural Center, which had an exhibition about the Mill Girls of the time that Lowell was the Spindle City of Massachusetts.

Patrick J Mogan

Mill Keeper's Room

Typical Mill girl Meals

The Millgirl's beds

The Dining Room

Typical Mill Girl

The larder

Snowshoes

Barber Sign

Next to the cultural center is the Boarding House Park on the corner of French Street and John Street, a nice place with a lot of monuments, though covered in snow.

Boarding House Park

The Boott Cotton Mills Museum was close by, containing a huge weave room which was extremely noisy, and a small exhibition area about the textile industry in Lowell and its history.

Weave Room

A Loom

Converting wild cotton to weaving material

Spindles

Inside a Cotton Mill Operation

I still think the American Textile History Museum in town is better though. I spent the rest of the daylight hours wandering around Lowell and taking pictures.

Old Central Fire House,
134 Middle Street

Homage to Women, 148 Market Street

Bell, Central Street and Prescott Street

Old Central Market House,
45 Market Street

Morse Federal Building,
Middlesex Community College Lowell Campus

The Concord River

The Lower Locks, ~17 Warren Street

Bridge over Pawtucket Canal

Pawtucket Prism

Lowell Memorial Auditorium

Christ Church United

Immaculate Conception Rectory,
3 Fayette Street

Immaculate Conception Church

Massachusetts Mills Apartments,
150 Massmills Drive

Bridge Street Bridge over the Merrimack River

With that, I called it a day for sightseeing and headed to Burlington for dinner at The Mughals, a pretty nice little Indian restaurant in town.

Having some money to spend on my groupon, I got the Limca (Indian Lemon Lime Soda) for a drink, the Murg Ka Shorba  (Chicken soup with boneless chicken and spices) for soup, the Konju Pappas (Delicious kerala backwaters special prawns dish prepared in creamy coconut milk, tempered with curry leaves, mustard and dry red chillies) with a side of Peshavari Naan (Bread stuffed with crushed dried fruits, baked in Tandoor & topped with butter and coconut powder) for my main dish, and finally the Ras Malai (Gulabgoft cheese patty in thickened sugar syrup) for dessert.

Limca

Konju Pappas

Murg Ka Shorba

Peshavari Naan

Ras Malai

The drink was actually not bad at all, not too sour or sweet. My main dish with the naan was excellent, while the soup was just okay, and the Ras Malai is still not my cup of tea. 

With that, my day of exploring the museums in Lowell came to an end.