July 22nd 2013: Dinner at Blue Angus Cafe, Dracut

Today after work, as I had to go to the town of North Reading to get back my binder of information from Sports Spirits and Steaks, where I left it behind last night, I decided to use another Groupon for dinner at Blue Angus Cafe in the town of Dracut. After getting my binder, I passed by a few places in town

Martin's Pond Union Baptist Church

Martin's Pond from Clarke Park

as well as the town of Andover,

Faith Lutheran Church

exploring the eastern side of the Phillips Academy

Memorial Bell Tower

Borden Athletic Complex

Bulfinch Hall

Phelps Stadium

before realizing I had no more time to spare, and was forced to head to Dracut immediately.

I arrived at the bar restaurant in time before the kitchen closed, and was able to order fairly quickly, getting the Popcorn Shrimp for appetizers, which you can't go wrong with unless you don't know how to use a deep fryer,

 the Blue Angus Steak Tips which were pretty good, although the fries were a little soggy,

and the Strawberry Short Cake a la Mode for dessert.

This dessert was a little strange as it uses a biscuit to sandwich strawberries  in between. The saltiness of the biscuit did not go well with the sweet strawberry syrup, though the strawberries and ice cream themselves were pretty good.

Overall, an average experience, with yet more leftovers to bring home. At least I got my binder back. Hope they did not steal any of my groupons.

Recommended Places to Visit: North Reading

Recreation
Beaches
Clarke Park
61 Burroughs Road

Architecture

Monuments

Town Common
Park Street and Haverhill Street

Places of Worship

Trinity Evangelical Church
105 Haverhill Street

Martin's Pond Union Baptist Church
4 Cogswell Road

Schools
Batchelder School
175 Park Street

Town Facilities
Edith O'Leary Senior Center
157 Park Street

Flint Memorial Library
147 Park Street

Police/Fire Department
150/152 Park Street

Commercial Buildings
Reading Cooperative Bank
170 Park Street


Restaurants

Tried:
Western

Sports, Spirits and Steaks
178 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Garden Chili
Buffalo Bleu Chicken Skins 
Coconut Shrimp
El Tiante Chicken Fajita Torpedo
6 Layers of Chocolate Cake

July 21st 2013: Dinner at Sports, Spirits and Steaks, North Reading

After a long day of doing food truck stuff, I decided to go have dinner at Sports, Spirits and Steaks, a bar restaurant in the town of North Reading.

Before that, I decided to do some sightseeing in the town of Melrose, heading first to Lewis Monk Memorial Park, which has views of Ell Pond.

Next, I went on a short hike up to High Rock, the trailhead located at the end of West Hill Terrace. The rough path I took, due to the presence of so many side trails that I had to just focus on going up and up and up to get to the rocky outcrop with a decent view of the Boston skyline, is shown below in pink.

The views from the top follow.

From here, I headed into Lynnfield, visiting a few places

Pillings Pond,
~538 Summer Street

Messiah Lutheran Church

before heading into North Reading, visiting a few more places there

Trinity Evangelical Church

Reading Cooperative Bank

Edith O Leary Senior Center

Flint Memorial Library

Police/Fire Department

Town Common,
Park Street and Haverhill Street

Batchelder School

before finally heading for dinner. The restaurant itself was pretty void of people when I arrived. I got down to ordering immediately, having a lot of money to use on my Groupon. I got the Garden Chili (ground beef, beans and Southwestern spices, Topped with shredded cheese, sour cream and a stack of tortilla chips) for my soup, the Buffalo Bleu Chicken Skins (Crispy potato skins topped with a delicious blend of buffalo chicken, shredded cheese & bacon bits baked to a golden brown and drenched in homemade bleu cheese dressing) and Coconut Shrimp (Crispy shrimp tempura, lightly battered and rolled in fresh coconut shavings, served with secret dipping sauce) for appetizers, the El Tiante Chicken Fajita Torpedo (Chicken tenderloins with tomatoes, peppers, onions & fajita spices, covered in Cheddar & Monterey Jack cheeses) for my main dish, and the 6 Layers of Chocolate Cake (Colossal layer upon layer of dark, moist chocolate cake sandwiched between the silkiest smooth chocolate filling and topped with chunks of chocolate) for dessert.

Garden Chili

Buffalo Bleu Chicken Skins

Coconut Shrimp

6 Layers of Chocolate Cake

El Tiante Chicken Fajita Torpedo

The chili was a little too sour for my taste, while the shrimp and Potato Skins were pretty good. I had originally ordered the Red Sox Steak Tip Torpedo, but got the chicken one instead, which I did not like at all because of the onions and peppers in it. Due to the lateness of the night, I decided not to complain about it as I did not want to wait any longer for food, and I was already pretty full by now anyway. The cake itself was way too intense for me as well. Not a good experience overall, and I had tons of leftovers to take home.

Moreover, after leaving the place for home, I have since realized that I left my precious binder back at the restaurant. Guess I need to go back there again tomorrow.