A Stroll in Belmont

Kate and I took advantage of a pleasant Sunday to go walking around one of outer Boston's gems, Belmont. You can't find too many towns of this size that still have a vibrant town center built around a stand alone Macy's. It is surrounded by historic buildings, beautiful homes, and quaint New England churches and town office buildings. We began our day with a nice lunch at the Stone Hearth Pizza Company. They make thin crust pizzas and pride themselves on using organic and locale ingredients. The menu made several boasts about various things they do to be "green". The interior is cheerful and warm while exuding a touch of that hipster/yuppie look that so many places embrace these days. Kate and I ordered a banana pepper and sausage Pizza, which was good, although the banana peppers tended to overwhelm the taste. We also ordered some flat bread seasoned with Parmesan cheese and garlic. We asked for some sauce to go with it (apparently they don't usually serve it with sauce), which they provided without extra charge. The sauce was probably the best thing about Stone Hearth. It was evident that this was freshly made from tomatoes, and it had a very rich taste lacking any hints of tin or overwhelming spice which all too often reside in Pizza Parlor sauce.

Following this we made our way to the Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. We had a nice time here walking around easy nature trails through the woods. There was a 4 dollar entry fee for non Belmont residents, which honestly seems a little much considering this is essentially a patch of woods with a few beaten down trails. I was glad to pay, figuring it went for a good cause. That being said, this is far from the most picturesque location for nature lovers in greater Boston, and most others are free.

After this we went to Beaver Brook Reservation in Belmont. This was a great little park consisting of some trails around a couple of ponds connected by cascading waterfalls. The ponds appear to have been artificially created for mills in the 19th century. Only the dams and some ruins remain. There were some nice picnic areas there, although anyone who uses them may find themselves keeping company with many ducks and geese. A separate portion of the park that Kate and I didn't visit contains various recreational facilities, including tennis courts, a ball field, a playground, and wading pools.

We ended our day with a couple of drinks from CVS, and some Mrs. Field's cookies.

I'll have one day of work this week and then Kate & I will be off for our Spring vacation. And it is really, really needed. It was originally planned as a long weekend away for Patriot's day (A Massachusetts Holiday). Initially we were going to take advantage of the Give a Day, Get a Day plan from Disney for volunteer work we did earlier this year. However, once we started looking at prices, even with the free pass to the park for a day, it was going to be sort of expensive with flight, car rental, and hotel, and then after the day at Magic Kingdom or Epcot we were struggling to find much to do with our time other than to go lounge on Cocoa Beach. While that certainly wouldn't be a bad thing, spending several hundred dollars to do it just wasn't appealing.

San Francisco has always been some place I'd wanted to go, so on a whim we looked it up. We found some amazing deals through travelocity, (they don't seem possible!) probably because their state is on the brink of bankruptcy. Originally we had only planned on going Thursday through Monday, however it actually turned out to be the same price for flight and hotel to add a couple days (I try not to question things like this). In San Francisco we don't have to rent a car because of mass transit, and the walkable nature of the city, that saves a lot of money. (Car rentals have really gone up over the past few years-pretty much doubled.) We have quite a few fun items on our itinerary including Alcatraz, Chinatown, Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and of course the cable cars and Lombard St. Oh... and the taco trucks! I can't wait to visit them! We decided to rent a car one day and go to the Muir Woods which is a Redwood Forest nearby as well as check out Point Bonita Lighthouse. So for less money than the alternative we'll get to go exploring again, and I get to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I'll be sure to get pictures and blog per usual.