Indian Grocery Stores in and around Boston MA

The website below has a big list of Indian grocery stores in the suburbs of Boston. I will write reviews as I visit them.

If you visit and want to write reviews, send me comments and I will post it.

http://www.thokalath.com/massachusetts/grocery_stores.php

Happy Shopping!

Trip to Hampton Beach, NH

Hampton Beach at Hampton Beach State Park in New Hampshire is considered one of the top cleanliest beaches in US. As per Natural Resources Defense Council, it's one of the top 5-star beaches (http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/ttw/ttwmap.asp)

To get there, put in 80 Ocean Blvd Hampton, NH in your GPS and it will take you right on ocean front. The real nightmare is parking. I recommend parking to the right of children's playground, because the beach is nicer with no rocks. As you go to the left of the playground, the terrain gets more rockier in the water.

To get away with parking frustration, either leave early morning or get into one of the parking lot and stand with your "hazard" lights of the car ON and wait for someone to leave. Trust me, you will always find a spot in 15 minutes (if you are lucky :))

The parking payment is now automated with central meter parking booths at several places. You punch in your parking space number with #, enter coins, bills or credit card and it will let you print receipt which you can put under your windshield of your car.

Tip: To recharge your parking ticket, put money in the machine 5 minutes before the expiry time or you will loose the previous money. The machine takes the time you put money as the starting time and calculates the time after, thereby erasing the time left. $1 USD gives 45 minutes of parking at Hampton Beach.

http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/hampton-beach-state-park/

Enjoy Summer to the fullest and keep hydrated !

Walden Pond Reservation

With a little advance planning, you can make your visit to Walden Pond more enjoyable. The park is open from 8 am to sunset, which varies with the season. Once you are here stop by the Visitors Center (year round) where park staff can help plan your visit. The address of the Visitors Center is 915 Walden St., Concord; tel: 978-369-3254.
Visitors are welcome to swim, picnic, hike, use canoes and rowboats, fish, cross-country ski and snowshoe. For more info- http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/planYourVisit.htm

I strongly recommend you call the visitor center before heading out and the reason is the number of visitors is limited to no more than 1,000 people at a time. So, instead of seeing the sign "Walden Pond will re-open at 3:00pm", call them in advance.

Trip to a Sculpture Park and Museum

If you are looking for a good weekend outing/picnic with your kids on rolling woodlands and lawns that has sculpture park and museum, Decordova is a magnificent place to visit.

It's a part sculpture park, part museum, part school and part picnic ground. The kids will love different sculptures that are made of different materials- bronze, steel, glass, cement, wood, tree, and more. You will be surprised to see materials that can be used to make a sculpture.

It has about 80 different sculptures. A 4 floor museum with a nice walden pond overlooking cafe` is a good way to take lunch with your kids.

http://www.decordova.org/

51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln, MA
(781) 259-8355

Hiking the Monadnock

Ever dreamt of climbing on top of three thousand feet mountain? If you are looking for a great mountain hike in the Boston area, I would strongly recommend Monadnock Region. It's for starters and professionals both. It not only gives you feel for just walking on the dirt and forest trails, but also gives you little taste of rock climbing. The worst part is not the ascentbut the decent from the summit to the parking lot.

So, two weeks ago, on a nice, dry, sunny Saturday, we went to Monadnock State Park in New Hampshire. We reached there around 10am (bummer). I recommend you reach there at around 7am and hike the mountain while it's still cooler. The summit height is 3615ft and you start from 1358ft at the traihead.


I recommend you take White Dot trail (1.9miles) while going up and White Cross trail (2.1 miles) coming down.


I strongly recommend you take enough water for yourself and keep yourself hydrated to avoid muscle cramp and fatigue (ask me!:). Also take a small first aid kit and food (power bars, snacks, sandwiches). The summit view is mind blowingly awesome. Take your camera (not the Tripod).

Also, take on a nice hiking back-pack.


On the way back, take rest every 10 minutes, drink enough water. I really mean it, unless you want to visit an ER! :)


Cool websites for Monadnock:


http://www.qcc.mass.edu/brink/Trav-rec/mt_monad/about_mt.htm
http://www.qcc.mass.edu/brink/Trav-rec/mt_monad/mmwhite.html

Enjoy and have a Safe hiking!

Indian Groceries

If you are living in Merrimack Valley region, and looking to buy good indian groceries, check out the following:

Palika Bazar
(978) 441-1505
1290 Westford St, #J
Lowell, MA 01851 Get directions
Cross Streets: Between Parkhurst Rd/Drum Hill Rd and Technology Dr
Review: Good Vegetables and Dry groceries at Reasonable Price. Rest, I don't recommend.
Recommendation:**

East-West Foods
(978) 459-3663
1717 Middlesex St # 4
Lowell, MA 01851-1161Get directions
Very Next to ISSO Swaminarayan Temple
Review: Very Expensive and messy store. Hard to find things. Not Organized. I don't recommend.
Recommendation:*

Raja & Rana's Indian Market
(781) 272-3808
232 Cambridge St
Burlington, MA 01803 Get directions
Cross Streets: Near the intersection of Cambridge St and Skilton Ln
Review: Ok Indian store in the region. I recommend for dry groceries. Prices are reasonable.
Recommendation:***

Nature Trail

If you are a runner, walker or a biker and love nature, you must visit this trail that spawns across several towns with total of 25 miles. It's still in developing phase with first phase of 7 miles complete.

Visit the website for up-to-date information on construction status.

http://www.brucefreemanrailtrail.org/

Here is another good site to search for trails.
http://www.trails.com/trailfinder/browsebymap/?statecode=MA