Recommended Places to Visit: Southbridge

Recreation

Water Bodies
Carpenter Pond
Snow Street and Martin Street


Hiking

Westville Dam
End of Marjorie Lane

Architecture

Monuments

War Memorial
~24 Elm Street beside Fire Department

Town Common
Crystal Street and Mechanic Street

Dresser Memorial Park
Main Street and Walnut Street

Felix Gatineau Statue
Main Street and South Street

Places of Worship

Central Baptist Church
256 Main Street

Elm Street Congregational Church
61 Elm Street

St. Nicholas Albanian Church
126 Morris Street

Sacred Heart Church
30 Charlton Street

St. Michael's Romanian Orthodox Church
16 Romanian Avenue

Southbridge Methodist Church
449 Main Street

Notre Dame of the Sacred Heart Parish
61 Marcy Street

St. George Greek Orthodox Church
55 North Street

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
446 Hamilton Street

St. Mary's Church
263 Hamilton Street

St. Hedwig Church
29 Summer Street

New Vision Church
364 Main Street


Town Facilities

Jacob Edwards Library
236 Main Street

Fire Department
24 Elm Street

Town Hall
41 Elm Street

Southbridge Hotel and Conference Center
14 Mechanic Street

Police Department
1 Mechanic Street

Lasalle Conference Center
444 Main Street


Historical Buildings
Southbridge Savings Bank
253 Main Street

The Arc
100 Foster Street

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Austrian

Vienna Restaurant and Historic Inn
14 South Street
Recommended Dishes:
Tafelspitz

Tried:
Breakfast

Fedele's Coffee Shop and Restaurant
13 Central Street
Recommended Dishes:
Hot Chocolate
Steak and Eggs
Corned Beef Hash
Kielbasa

December 1st 2013: Sightseeing in the Fog

Today, despite the gloomy weather, I decided to head out to do some sightseeing. Not having any specific plans, I decided to head out west this time, visiting Paxton

Kettle Brook Reservoir #4,
Reservoir Drive near Pleasant Street

Illig's Pond, 19 West Street

and a few places in Spencer, including the Sugden Reservoir Dam, which I visited in the dark the last time I was here.

Sugden Reservoir

O'Gara Park, 95 Valley Street

Muzzy Lake,
Maple Street and Adams Street

Vietnam Memorial Park,
80 South Spencer Road

I also visited the Luther Hill Park, located at the end of Park Street, which has a pretty decent beach and a disc golf course. Unfortunately, it is only open to Spencer residents.

before deciding to hike a little at the Spencer State Forest. The paths I took to view the water bodies here is shown below in pink.

I tried to find the water body to the right at first, but ended up getting lost and heading back to my starting point. I gave up at this point, and decided to view a little more of Howe Pond. Here are some pictures I took while I was here.

From here, I headed into the town of Charlton to visit some water bodies.

Railroad Pond,
New Spencer Road and Old Spencer Road

Wee Laddie Pond, 65 Gould Road

Little Nugget Lake, 69 Nugget Drive

Hultered Pond, 57 Northside Road

Finally, I decided it was time for some brunch at Fedele's Coffee Shop and Restaurant, a small town breakfast place at 13 Central Street in the town of Southbridge.

After looking at the menu, I decided to get a cup of Hot Chocolate, the Steak and Eggs, and a side of Corned Beef Hash and Kielbasa.

Hot Chocolate

Steak and Eggs

Kielbasa and Corned Beef Hash

The food was actually really good, especially the meats, and I surprised myself by finishing everything I got. I surprised the restaurant owners as well.

After lunch, I visited a few places in Southbridge,

The Arc

Carpenter Pond,
Snow Street and Martin Street

then headed into Sturbridge for a bit

Cedar Pond Recreation Area

Pistol Pond, 310 Charlton Road

Long Pond, 37 Champeaux Road

before finally calling it a day for hiking. From here, I decided to try the Cedar Street Grille in town for dinner. This place actually looks pretty upscale, and the menu was pretty interesting as well.

For food, I decided to get mostly appetizers, namely the Pork Belly (crispy fried pork belly, apple & beet puree, maple drizzle), the Crazy Dates (stuffed dates, bacon, goat cheese) and the Pumpkin and Sausage Mac and Cheese.

Pork Belly

Crazy Dates

Pumpkin and Sausage Mac and Cheese

All the dishes were very well presented. Both the pork belly and dates were scrumptious, but the most amazing of all was actually the Mac and Cheese. I never knew pumpkin could go so well with it.

That was not the end of it though. For dessert, I decided to get the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Tart (Coffee Bean Creme anglais, fresh whipped cream).

Its not like the overly sweet pecan pie I am so used to loving, but the tart was still good.

Overall, this is definitely the best restaurant I have been to in Sturbridge to date, hands down. A definite must try for anyone in town, especially if you are stopping by on the way back from a car ride to NYC. I should have come here yesterday.

September 19th 2013: Dinner at Vienna Restaurant and Historic Inn, Southbridge

Today after work, I decided to head to Southbridge for dinner. Before that, I visited a few water bodies in the town of Leicester.

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

The Vienna Restaurant itself is located within a quaint little inn, with not much table space, but thankfully there was still a table for me.

I decided to get the Tafelspitz (Austrian slow simmered beef roast with fresh horseradish cream and Spatzle) which came with pretty good starters with pate, biscuits and cheese, and a house salad with a tasty raspberry vinaigrette.

Starters

House Salad

Tafelspitz

My dish itself was pretty good as well, especially with mixing all the components on the plate together, although the beef was a little dry at times.

Overall, due to the quaintness of the place and the uniqueness of the cuisine, I think I shall give this place a recommend.

March 13th 2013: Dinner at Veritas, Sturbridge

Today, I got off work early, so I decided to do some sightseeing before the sun set for good, passing through Sutton,

First Congregational Church

Town Hall

St. Mark's Church

First Baptist Church,
659 Central Turnpike

St. Anne's Church, 31 Main Street

St. John's Episcopal Church

Douglas,

Mumford River Lodge,
Depot Street and Cottage Street

Lower Hunt's Pond Dam,
Cottage Street and Main Street

First Congregational Church of Douglas

Second Congregational Church,
289 Main Street

Simon Fairfield Public Library

Town Common,
Common Street and Main Street

Webster,

Faith Assembly of God

St. Joseph Basilica

St. Louis Church

Iglesia la Restauricion, 7 1st Street

Southbridge,

St. Hedwig Church,
29 Summer Street

New Vision Church

Quinebaug CT,

Quinebaug Seventh Day Adventist Church

and finally Sturbridge,

Town Hall, 308 Main Street

Joshua Hyde Public Library

Federated Church of Sturbridge and Fiskdale

St. Anne's and St Patrick's Church

where I decided to use my groupon at Veritas, a Western restaurant situated within a home, the main dining area being on the second floor.

There was hardly anyone in the restaurant tonight, so I did not have to waste much time to take my seat and order. I decided to get the Escargot appetizer (sautéed in a white wine & sage cream sauce on Roquefort crostini), and the Sauerbraten (German pot roast Rupprecht’s way. Red cabbage, sweet & sour sauce and spaetzle) for my meal.

Escargot

Sauerbraten

While the escargot was pretty tasty, the sauerbraten was too sour for my taste, and the pot roast a bit too dry. The spaetzle was interesting to me though, having never tried it before, thinking it was scrambled eggs at first.

For dessert, I decided to get the Cream Suchard (light chocolate mousse), which was really well presented, and tasted as good as well.

With that, I headed home for the day, happy with my findings for the day.