January 24th 2014: Dinner at the Harvest Grille, Sterling

Today after work, I decided to check out the Harvest Grille in the town of Sterling for dinner. This place is kinda small, although it seems pretty popular with the locals, as it was completely full by the time I left.

After looking at the menu, the only thing that interested me was the Seafood Trio (Scallops, Shrimp and Haddock), which I decided to get Cajun style, with kale salad on the side, which I chose because I overheard another table saying it was good. The meal also came with a soup, so I decided to go with the Mushroom and Tarragon Soup.

Mushroom and Tarragon Soup

Seafood Trio with Kale Salad

The soup was pretty tasty, if not for the occasional stick of tarragon that got in the way of my enjoying the soup. The seafood was pretty fresh as well, and the kale salad was up to expectations as well.

Overall, given the popularity of the place and that I enjoyed my meal, I'll give this place a recommend, but only if you are in Sterling. I think the decor could be better though.

Recommended Places to Visit: Sterling

Recreation

Kids

Davis Family Fun Adventures
145 Redstone Hill


Water Bodies
Stuart Pond
Justice Hill Cutoff near Farm Road


Beaches

Sholan Park
30 Hall Avenue


Architecture

Monuments

Town Common
Main Street and Meetinghouse Hill Road

Places of Worship
First Church in Sterling
6 Meetinghouse Hill Road

Sterling Seventh Day Adventist Church
29 Maple Street

St. Richard of Chichester
4 Bridge Street

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Western:
Harvest Grille
27 Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Seafood Trio
Kale Salad
Mushroom and Tarragon Soup


Tried:
Breakfast
Over Easy Cafe
4 Johnson Road

May 15th 2013: Dinner at Sawa Asian Cuisine and Lounge, Gardner

Today after work, I decided to head to the town of Gardner for dinner at Sawa Asian Cuisine and Lounge, a primarily Chinese restaurant in town.

Before the sun set though, I decided to visit a few places first, passing by Stuart Pond in Sterling,

and a few places in Leominster including the Grand View Country Club which had great views from the top of the hill,

Bartlett Pond,
Wachusett Street near Elm Street

Grand View Country Club,
454 Wachusett Street

View from Grand View Country Club

Fall Brook Reservoir,
~100 Wachusett Street

before going to the Living Stone Foundation in Leominster first to check out the stone monuments engraved with Christian sayings strewn all over the place in a somewhat disorganized manner. Pictures follow.

The Main Building

The next destination town on the list was Fitchburg

Crossroads Community Church

Fitchburg Church of the Nazarene,
800 South Street

St. Francis of Assisi Church

before I headed into Ashby to find the Trap Falls located within the Willard Brook State Forest on Townsend Road near Bernhardt Road, which were pretty beautiful as you can see from my picture below.

From here, I spent the rest of the day sightseeing in Ashburnham,

Ashburnham Community Church,
84 Main Street

St. Anne's Church,
162 Center Street

Apostolic Lutheran Church

People's Church

Winchendon

Bethany Bible Chapel

and finally Gardner before heading to dinner.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
634 Pearl Street

Old First Lutheran Church,
209 Lawrence Street

Logos Church, 9 Wasa Street

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Old Church, 122 West Street

Big Red, 95 West Street

First Bible Baptist Church

Sacred Heart of Jesus Church

Mission Street Congregational Church

Bethany Baptist Church

The restaurant is located within a strip mall, and okay decor wise.

After looking at the menu, I decided to get the Beef Negimaki (Grilled and sliced pieces of beef with scallions, and cheese, served in teriyaki sauce) for appetizers, and the Thai Mango Beef for my main dish.

Beef Negimaki

Thai Mango Beef

Both were presented pretty well, but flavor wise, they were just okay, especially because there were scallions in the Negimaki.

With that, my short but productive sightseeing trip in northern central Massachusetts after work came to an end.