Showing posts with label Lincoln. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lincoln. Show all posts

Sunday, January 19, 2014

January 19th 2014: Exploring the Town of Saugus

After a late night last night, I woke up a little later today. I had a meetup brunch to go to at Ryle's Jazz Club in Cambridge, so I decided to visit the towns of Lincoln,
Council on Aging
Somerville
Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1330 Broadway
and Winthrop
Donovan Beach, Brookfield Road and Pleasant Street








before finally heading back into Cambridge.

The band was already playing when I arrived at the bar restaurant, and they were pretty good.
The Parisian French Toast (filled with Brie, Fig Preserves, with bacon and fresh fruit on side) I got was amazing as well.
The fig jam went so well with the cheese and the toast. Simply heavenly. It was made even better when the band played "Isn't She Lovely", originally by Stevie Wonder. After a great brunch, it was back to sightseeing, this time in the town of Saugus. 
Family United Methodist Church
Marleah E Graves Building





Town Hall
War Memorial, Main Street and Central Street














First Congregational Church
St. John's Episcopal Church









Pilgrims Church of Boston
Hawke's Pond, Walnut Street and Gianna Drive
Walden Pond, Walden Pond Avenue and Walden Terrace









Birch Pond, 315 Walnut Street
Griswold Pond, 117 Sweetwater Street










2nd Lake, 10 Lake Dam Road







Spring Pond, 59 Lake Dam Road

Vitale Park

The most interesting part about this town is the restaurants that line Route 1, called the "Restaurant Row".

There is Kowloon Restaurant, a pretty massive and upscale Chinese restaurant named the largest Chinese dining complex in America, 

with really nice decor both inside and outside.











There is Kelly's Roast Beef, which has carousel horses,

marine fish tanks 

and even a scary clown face that used to be from an old carousel on Revere Beach.

Other interesting things to see here include a giant cactus outside the now defunct Hilltop Steakhouse,
an orange dinosaur located inside Route 1 Miniature Golf,
the "Leaning Tower of Pizza" at Prince Pizzeria,
and the old Jin Asian Cuisine restaurant at 20 Bennett Highway, modeled after the Forbidden City and set on top of a hill.

I definitely do want to go back and try out the food at these restaurants some day.

I then headed into Malden, passing by the North Shore Assembly of God along the way,

to get some pizza takeout from Catalina's Pizza, getting a California Pizza (Eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, broccoli & artichoke hearts), which wasn't really that great at all.

I think I need to stop getting sun dried tomatoes on my pizza.

It was at this point that I realized that I had an appointment for dinner with friends at Trattoria di Monica, an Italian restaurant in the North End area of Boston. I had missed out on eating here a week ago, so I decided to take my friends here to make up for that.

This place, like most other Italian restaurants in the area, is pretty small, though nicely decorated, so I was glad I had made a reservation beforehand.

For appetizers, we got the Conchiegle (Little Neck Clams, chorizo sausage, fresh tomato), and my friends both got the Fettucine con Pollo Marsala (Sauteed chicken with mushrooms, red onions and prosciutto in a Marsala wine sauce over fettuccine) while I got the Gnocchi di Spinaci al Ragu di Maiale (Spinach and ricotta gnocchi in a braised pork ragout).
Conchiegle
 
Gnocchi di Spinaci al Ragu di Maiale











Fettucine con Pollo Marsala
The chorizo was a little too strong in flavor in my opinion, while my gnocchi was just so-so. The marsala wasn't too bad, although it felt a little simplistic to me. Overall, with all the good Italian restaurants in the area, I won't put this one high on my list.

After dinner, it was time for dessert, where my friends wanted to go to Finale in Cambridge. Like the past few times I was here, they decided to get the 9-Piece Dessert Sampler, as well as a bottle of Genesis Riesling 2011 wine.
Genesis Riesling 2011
9 Piece Sampler
 













The dessert was good as always, and I made a fool of myself eating the desserts my friends did not like in one big bite.

Unfortunately, all of us had to get up early tomorrow, so we had to call an end to the night early.

I had a pretty fun weekend to say the least. Hope it will be the same next week.

Recommended Places to Visit: Lincoln

Recreation
Water Bodies
Flint's Pond
70 Sandy Pond Road


Parks
Museums
deCordova Scuplture Park and Museum
51 Sandy Pond Road


Hiking
Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary
208 South Great Road


Architecture
Places of Worship
Town Facilities
Public Library
3 Bedford Road

Town Hall
16 Lincoln Road

Council on Aging
15 Bedford Road


Historical Buildings
Codman House
36 Codman Road

Pierce House
17 Weston Road


Restaurants
Highly Recommended:
French
AKA Bistro
145 Lincoln Road 
Recommended Dishes:
Hamachi Sashimi
Foie Gras Torchon
Confit de Canard
Char de L'Artique
Creme Brulee
Chocolate Ganache

Saturday, January 18, 2014

January 18th 2014: Playing Badminton in Waltham

This morning, I had a meetup event to play badminton in the town of Waltham at Massachusetts Table Tennis and Badminton Club (MATTBC). Before that, I headed to the town of Boxborough to check out the water bodies at the Cisco campus,











and take a little hike at the Flagg Hill Conservation Area. The path I took here is shown below in brown.
 There wasn't much to see on the trail itself though, and good views of Flagg Hill Pond could be obtained going on Windermere Road anyway, without a need for hiking. The pictures I took here of the pond follow.









With that, I was done with Boxborough and on to Warner's Pond in the town of Concord
before heading to the town of Lincoln.
Flint's Pond, 70 Sandy Pond Road









Town Hall, 16 Lincoln Road
Pierce House










Finally, I decided to head into Waltham.
Brookline Bank

I was feeling really hungry, so I decided to get a quick meal at Wilson's Diner, a small town breakfast place where they cook the food right in front of you in town.

I decided to get the Hot Chocolate and the Special Omelette with Greek Locanico and Feta Cheese.
Hot Chocolate
Greek Locanico and Feta Cheese Omelette













The hot chocolate had mini marshmallows in it, while the omelette was somewhat interesting, although the feta cheese made it a little sour. Remind me never to have feta cheese in an omelette again. Overall, nothing too special about this place except that it's Greek oriented.

From here, it was on to badminton and table tennis. Do take note that no black soled shoes are allowed here, as the owner will not allow you to play if that's what you have on.

I haven't played either sport for a long time now, so it was good to know that I still had some skill in badminton, although my table tennis needed a lot of refreshing. It was still a fun time with friends though, and somehow I wasn't even that tired after a few hours of playing.

After the workout, it was time for lunch, and we went to Mulan, a Chinese restaurant in town. We ordered a lot of food, getting the Spiced Beef, the Salted Crispy Chicken, the Sauteed Bean Curd Sheet with Bamboo Shoot and Black Mushroom, the Shredded Pork with Baby Bamboo, the Sliced Lamb with Scallion, the Stir Fried Peapod Stem with Minced Garlic, the Beef with Leek Wrapped in Pancake, the Chicken Casserole, the Fish Filet with Chili Pepper, and the Grilled Taiwanese Sausage.
Grilled Taiwanese Sausage
Fish Filet with Chili Pepper








Chicken Casserole
Beef with Leek Wrapped in Pancakes








Stir Fried Pea Pod Stems with Minced Garlic
Sliced Lamb with Scallion








Shredded Pork with Baby Bamboo
Sauteed Bean Curd Sheet with Bamboo Shoot and Black Mushroom








Sauteed Crispy Chicken
Spiced Beef








The food was simply excellent, to say the least, not to mention the company. We also got a delicious complimentary sago dessert after the meal.
After lunch, everyone decided to go home because of the snow storm that was ongoing. I decided not to do that, heading instead to Cambridge to check out Jerry's Pond at 349 Rindge Avenue
and the Broad Canal, where there were nice views of the West End area.














From here, it was on to Quincy, where I managed to visit a few places before the sun finally went down for good.
Old Temple Beth El
Wesner Hall, Woodward School








For dinner, I decided to get it at Kagawa Sushi Bar and Restaurant, a Japanese place with decent decor in town.
With my Groupon, I ordered a lot of food, getting the Spicy Lobster Miso Soup, the May Flowers (in pretty flower shape, tempura crunch, fresh salmon with ikura on top of inari and cucumber base), the Tuna Sushi Pizza (cucumber, tempura crunch, tobiko and spicy mayo on top of crispy fried rice bed) and the Shrimp Kagawa Home Made Pancake (Japanese Style pancake with vegetable, egg).
Spicy Lobster Miso Soup
May Flowers
Tuna Sushi Pizza









Shrimp Kagawa Homemade Pancake
Of all the dishes, I was only really disappointed with the pancake, which not crispy, felt soggy, and did not taste fresh. The rest of the food was pretty good, although nothing too impressive in terms of taste or presentation. Overall, I still have yet to find an amazing Japanese restaurant in Quincy to date. With that, I headed to my friend's place in Quincy for a night of fun and playing poker, which I seemed t do well at at first, then eventually lost everything due to bad luck. Oh well, it was still a fun day of playing badminton and hanging out with friends. Can't wait to do this again next week.