September 13th 2013: Lunch in Shirley, Dinner in Holliston

Today at lunch, I decided to head out to the town of Shirley for lunch at Piccolino's Restaurant, a typical bar restaurant at 4 Mill Street in town. I passed by a few places in town along the way.
 At the bar, I ordered the Seafood Chowder for soup, the  Hawg Wings (tender pork legs grilled with Spicy BBQ sauce) for appetizers, and the Vermont Burger  (0.5lb Angus burger topped with hickory smoked bacon and Vermont cheddar) with seasoned fries for my main dish.

The chowder was alright I guess,

 while the legs were actually pottery tender and went well with the BBQ sauce.

Unfortunately, there was no sauce on the burger, which made out really plain and I had to salvage it with ketchup.

Overall, not a place worth coming back to for the food.

After work, I decided to head into the town of Holliston for dinner, passing by the town of Millbury,

New Creation Baptist Church

then going to find the historic manmade cave in Upton at the Upton Heritage Park at 18 Elm Street, which I missed out on the last time I was here. This time, I managed to find it.

 The "cave" itself was pretty small, but strangely devoid of any wildlife, so I wasn't bugged in any sense of the word the whole time I was inside taking pictures of the round enclosed space in the dark.

Heading in

Totally dark inside

the inside of the cave

Inside looking out

From here, I visited Fiske Millpond on the corner of Fiske Mill Road and Pond Street,

before I headed into Hopkinton to visit Sandy Beach on the shores of Lake Maspenock at the end of Hayward Street.

I also visited the Ice House Pond at ~66 West Main Street.

Finally it was time for dinner at Casey's Publichouse in Holliston. Again like at Piccolino's, another typical bar restaurant. Here, I had $40 to spend, which meant having to get a lot of food, including the French Onion Soup (Home Made Onion Soup baked under a crouton with Swiss Cheese), the Grilled Blackened Kielbasa (butterflied smoked kielbasa, dusted with blackened seasoning and served with horseradish sauce), the Jamaican Jerk Wings, the Pub Burger (2 8oz All Angus Beef Patty grilled to your preference, topped with 4oz of our smoked pulled pork, applewood bacon, BBQ sauce, coleslaw and cheddar cheese with sweet potato hand cut fries) and finally the Oreo Pie (Vanilla Ice Cream and Ground Oreo Cookie served in Pie Crust). 

French Onion Soup

Grilled Blackened Kielbasa

Jamaican Jerk Wings

The Pub Burger

Oreo Pie

The soup was just alright, while the wings were disappointingly bland. The kielbasa was salty, but pretty good, especially with the horseradish sauce, while the burger was pretty massive and I could hardly finish it at all. The sweet potato fries were really soggy though. Thankfully, the dessert helped to salvage the meal, but my impression of the place is already set. Definitely not for me.

Recommended Places to Visit: Upton

Recreation

Water Bodies
Pratt Pond
Westboro Street and Hopkinton Road

Fiske Millpond
Fiske Mill Road and Pond Street

Parks
Upton Heritage Park
18 Elm Street

Paintball

Fox 4 Paintball
159 Milford Street


Beaches
Kiwanis Beach
End of Kiwanis Beach Road


Hiking
Peppercorn Hill Conservation Area
~53 Crockett Road

West River Reservoir
13 Dairy Avenue


Architecture

Monuments

Town Common
North Main Street and Milford Street

Places of Worship
Immanuel Chapel
38 Hopkinton Road

United Parish of Upton
Church Street and Main Street

Holy Angels Catholic Church
1 Milford Street

St. Gabriel the Archangel Church
151 Mendon Street

Schools
Memorial Elementary School
69 Main Street

Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School
65 Pleasant Street

Nipmuc Regional High School
90 Pleasant Street

Town Facilities
Town Hall
1 Main Street

Town Library
2 Main Street

Historical Buildings
Spaightwood Galleries
120 Main Street

August 5th 2013: Dinner at Shanghai Gardens, Attleborough

Today after work, i decided to use my Groupon at Shanghai Gardens, a Chinese restaurant in Attleborough.

Before that, I decided to sightsee a little until daylight ran out, passing through Shrewsbury,

Flint Pond, 30 Hartford Turnpike

and Grafton.

Fisherville Pond from Riverview Park,
176 Providence Road

In Upton, I first went to hike at Stefan's Farm. The rough path I took here to try to find the water body here is shown below in pink.

The path in the woods was pretty simple, but whenever I entered the fields, the darker green patches on the map, they were pretty overgrown and hard to distinguish. Unfortunately, the water body was well hidden as well, causing me to bypass it and head into the next field. I realized I was lost, but thought I had not yet passed the pond, so I tried to find an alternate way through the woods, which was a really rough path to traverse. It was only when I started turning south that I finally realized where I was and backtracked all the way back, when I finally found the really small pond, hidden behind a bunch a trees so I could not get to it. What a waste of my time here.

After getting back to my car, I visited Pratt Pond at Hopkinton Road and Westboro Street in town,

and then tried to find the Upton Caves, an ancient manmade subterannean structure located at the new Upton Heritage Park at 18 Elm Street. I apparently went the wrong way, finding Mill Pond instead,

and gave up after walking around aimlessly on the paths I managed to find. I later found out my mistake a little too late, but I will be back here again in the near future.

The last town I visited was Milford,

Old P Gillon Building,
189 Main Street

Calzone Park,
Main Street and Beach Street

which has the Irish Round Tower in the middle of St. Mary's Cemetery at ~70 Cedar Street.

Finally, it was time to head into Attleborough. The restaurant itself has pretty interesting decor, with Chinese vases, paintings and lanterns all over the place.

With my groupon, I managed to order a lot of food, mainly appetizers, getting the Hom Sui Gok (fried sticky rolls with pork and vegetables), the Fried Wontons with Lemongrass, the Peking Duck Wrap Appetizer, and finally the Cantonese Style Sweet and Sour Pork.

Hom Sui Gok

Fried Wontons with Lemongrass

Peking Duck Wrap Appetizer

Cantonese Style Sweet and Sour Pork

The two dumpling dishes were actually pretty tasty, although the pork was way too sweet and dry, while the wrap was just so-so. Overall, unless you are really craving Americanized Chinese food, it is not worth the trip.

With that, I called it a day for sightseeing and headed home. I'm definitely going to find those caves some day, and I'll be armed with a torchlight for it.

February 17th 2013: Sightseeing in the Southern Suburbs of Boston

Today, I started out late because of the snow. I headed toward the Hyde Park area in Boston, passing through Upton,

Immanuel Chapel

Upton Town Library

St. Gabriel the Archangel Church

United Parish of Upton

Holy Angels Catholic Church

Milford,

Pine Street  Baptist Church

First Congregational Church

First United Methodist Church

Old South Main Street Fire Station,
~7 South Main Street

Holliston,

St. Michael's Episcopal Church

First Congregational Church

Medway,

Medway Community Church

and finally Franklin where I had lunch at another Indian restaurant, the Guru Bar and Grill, for the second day in a row.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 91 Jordan Road

This place is the first Indian restaurant that I've seen that has a proper bar area.

I had a lot to spend as always, so I got the Coconut Soup (Shredded Coconut Soup topped with dried nuts) for soup, the Shammi Kebab (Soft ground lamb melt in mouth patties cooked with exotic spices) and Panir Koliwada (Homemade finger-sized cheese marinated in spiced gram-flour batter and deep fried) for appetizers, and the Goat Musullam (Pieces of goat cooked in rich brown onion and almond sauce) with a side of Keema Nan (Leavened white bread stuffed with minced lamb, green peas, and baked in clay oven) for my main dish.

Coconut Soup

Shammi Kebab

Keema Naan

Panir Koliwada

Goat Musullam

I'm not a fan of coconut flakes, so the soup did not do it for me, while the cheese bites were just so-so. The Shammi Kebab was pleasantly good as the meat was literally melting in my mouth. The goat curry together with the naan was delicious as well. I'll put a recommend for this place for now.

From here, I passed through Wrentham,

Sheldonville Baptist Church

Foxborough,

Church of Emmanuel

Walpole,

Word of Life Church, 32 Main Street

and Norwood 

Trinity Community Church

on my way to the Hyde Park area in Boston.

Hope Baptist Church, 1916 River Street

Christ Church

St. Adalbert Church

William Barton Rogers Middle School

Hyde Park Seventh Day Adventist Church

Most Precious Blood Church

Hyde Park Library

Hyde Park Presbysterian Church

Greater Faith Worship Center

Next, it was on to the Mattapan area in Boston.

Zion Temple Holy Church,
79 Stanton Street

Church of the Holy Spirit

Rise/Gateway to Boston

St. Paul's Victory Christian Assembly of God

Faithful Church of God,
235 Woodrow Avenue

The Kingdom Church

St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Church

Finally, I headed into the Roslindale area in Boston.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,
79 Mount Hope Street

Sacred Heart Church Roslindale

Finally, there was no more light left in the day and I decided to head to Hopkinton to grab a pizza dinner from Mangia Neapolitan Pizza, a typical pizza takeout place. 

I got the Inna's Favorite Pizza (white pie with Thinly sliced prosciutto, fresh sliced figs, gorgonzola, with arugula and balsamic vinegar), the Bacon and Scallop Pizza with creamy Alfredo sauce, and the House Fries.

Inna's Favorite Pizza

House Fries

Bacon and Scallop Pizza

The pizza was just average at best. Oh well. At least I was able to explore a lot of places today despite the snow and wind.