Joshua B.'s Profile

This is a review for the large playground across the school driveway, near the baseball and soccer fields. The playground includes two sets of swings, three slides, a dome shaped jungle gym, plus other structures for bigger kids and young ones too. It's a large playground and worth our short drive from Hudson. The ground is covered in wood chips which seems to be the popular ground cover.

People have been generally friendly, so I'd recommend that you check it out if you want a new place for your young ones to play.

Surprisingly, this restaurant was not on Yelp, and I could find very little in terms of listings, a web site, or reviews elsewhere, so my wife, our 1 year old, and I decided to check it out on a Sunday evening.

The outward appearance is good. The restaurant is located in a small plaza. Inside is very basic and could have used some picking up and vacuuming. That is really my only negative comment because everything else was fine.

Surprisingly, a youngster took our order. He turned out to be the owner's son, Daniel, and he was full of personality. I found him to be delightful and didn't mind at all that he hung around and told us stories about Chinese puzzle rings.

My son had the Vegetable Friend Rice. Unfortunately there is no brown rice available. The owner tells me there isn't a demand for it--sometimes days can go by where it's not requested. Come on Hudson diners, let's eat more healthy and request brown rice!

I had Bean Curd Szechuan Style which was boiled tofu with veggies in a great tasting (if a bit salty) spicy brown sauce.

My wife had House Special Two-Side Crispy Noodle which was the standard friend egg noodle under shrimp, pork and vegetables. After getting the dish, which was presented very nicely, my wife wished they were different noodles. She is used to Crispy Pad Thai at Thai restaurants and LOVES those noodles.

These people are very friendly and are Hudson residents. It would be good to see more people in the dining room so we'll be back to support.

Open only Thursday - Sunday. Staff are friendly but when I asked, "What should I order that's cooked low and slow?" the first person didn't understand what I was talking about. Another person behind the counter said everything. I ordered beef ribs, pork ribs, and pulled pork.

Let's talk about best first. The pulled pork was really flavorful. It was actually hot and spicy! Really different from any pulled pork I've had before. But I can't say it tasted smokey.

I ordered my ribs without sauce to make sure I could give the smoke job a fair review.

The pork ribs were smoked but not long enough. More of short, charcoal session. No smoke ring.

The pork ribs were tough and not terribly meaty. Again, not smoked long enough. Same type of charcoal taste.

The taste of the ribs compare to the outdoor pit, M & M Ribs, also in Dorchester.

Personally I prefer my meat cooked over wood fire, low and slow.

Here are a few reasons why, in my estimation, this Lowe's location is better than busy, congested locations like Framingham. Since Hudson's Lowe's sits atop a hill away from the road, and since there is currently only one other open business there (BJs), both the access road and parking lot are uncrowded. Spaces are large enough to park comfortably and you won't have to compete for a space.

Inside, there's plenty of room to shop and staff willing to help. I think because this store is in a smaller town with less shops, there's just less foot traffic.

Lowe's is off Rt. 62 which is just off Rt. 495.

I live right in town and it's awesome to have a big superstore like Lowe's and not have to deal with lots of people fudging with the shopping experience.

This is the former Fort Devens Sudbury Annex. To me, White Pond is the main attraction, but there are no trails that follow around the perimeter. However, a couple of the trails allow you to get close enough for great views.

As of now, the refuge is free. The refuge center is only open Thur, Fri, Sat, and Sun. Inside there's a great little theater where a recorded narrator tells of a dark night out, listening for animals. Great for kids but entertaining to adults too.

I purchased a used car from this dealership and my experience could not have been better. My sales person was Joe Shell. I was trading in an old, high mileage 1997 Honda Civic and I told Joe that if trying to get rid of my old car would complicate things, I'd gladly leave it out of the equation. He told me that it's actually a smoother process when there is a trade-in because it's easier to transfer plates than go through the process of getting new ones. He even called an third party dealer and secured a fair deal for my trade-in sight unseen.

I had just a few specific models in mind that I was looking for (Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Hyundai Elantra), and although none of the makes were affiliated with his dealership, he agreed to be on the lookout for me. Within a week, he called to tell me about a trade-in that was pending, a 2007 Honda Civic with only 29,000 miles. Yes, he even faxed me a CarFax, showing the car was clean. He actually understated the car, saying the body/paint was average for a 2007. When I saw the car, it was definitely far better than average. It was beautiful outside and in. Even though the car was in excellent condition, I still got it for $1,500 under Kelly Blue Book value private seller estimate.

I live about 45 minutes from the dealership and Joe was mindful of my drive, so after I had accepted delivery of the car on premises, a few days later my wife dropped by to pick up the registration. Joe had a $29 check made out to me to compensate me for the inspection, knowing I was opting to get my inspection sticker locally so I wouldn't have to make another trip to the dealership.

Joe was straightforward throughout the process and was actually a lot of fun too. I'd recommend him and this location to buy a car.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much, initially judging the place purely on curb appeal, but inside is quite nice and neat, with items smartly displayed and categorized.

Owner Michael just opened this store earlier in the week. He buys at auctions and estate sales.

I left with 4 CDs, but there are also 8 tracks, cassettes, DVDs, stereo equipment, clothing, jewelry, video games, musical instruments, and gift items.

The owner was very friendly and hopes for a high merchandise turnover so he can keep showing his new finds.

Located next to the Marlborough Country Club Golf Course, this park includes a nature trail, protected state park, soccer fields, softball field, basketball courts, workout area, skateboard park with metal ramps, sandlot, and playgrounds. It's a great spot for a walk/workout after stuffing yourself at the Firefly's Sunday buffet brunch. In the summer, there are usually organized soccer games being played. There are dirt trails around the fields and a longer paved nature walk trail through the woods that I prefer. There are a couple ponds along the way where you might see ducks. You may also notice lots of bird houses along the walk. There is plenty of parking with two different lots, and people you pass along the way are generally friendly. Nice spot!

Some context: My wife and I have been attending this church since last year so I have a reasonably good perspective on the church and its people. I hope you find something useful.

Last year, my wife and I went on a serious local church search, partly because we want to have a regular place to worship and be involved, but to be completely honest, even more important to us, we wanted our yet unborn son to grow up with strong Christian influence and a youth program. We tried about five churches in Hudson and Marlborough, then based on a relative's recommendation, drove a bit further and tried Grace Baptist in Shrewsbury.

We wanted a multicultural environment, especially for our son and we had a hard time feeling really comfortable anywhere until we visited Grace Baptist for the first time. I appreciated the traditional worship. Although it is a mix between praise songs led by a worship team and traditional hymns, it still has a reverent vibe that I appreciate. The pastor's wife, Monica sings with the worship team that is lead by Jonathan, a young man with a great voice. Usually, before individual song selections are announced, Jonathan will quote a Bible passage relating to the song's message. As a special treat, another John plays the euphonium, a mellow brass instrument that sounds a lot to me like the trombone. The church has an excellent regular pianist that plays on an electronic keyboard with a decent simulated piano sound. Her solos during the offering are often quite moving.

Pastor Conway Campbell and his wife are originally from Jamaica. Their two boys are both starting to participate in the worship and are seemingly very musically inclined. One sometimes subs in on the piano and one plays drums via an iPad. Their daughter, along with most of the children, sing in an ensemble for special music programs. We hope someday our son can be a part of this, but for now he is only 4 months old. The church seems to have thriving youth program called Awana.

The pastor is a warm, gentle man that preaches directly from the Bible. After every sermon, he invites anyone who may be inclined to invite Jesus into their hearts. I have seen this done from time to time in church, but never every week. To me, this clarifies the pastor's intentions. He wants people to be saved. He has been exceptionally welcoming to my wife and I, and even visited our newborn son at our house a few days after he was born. We missed his hospital visit because my wife and baby were discharged early.

The church has Sunday School, morning service, evening service, and different youth and adult programs throughout the week. Our son has been well taken care of in the nursery by one of three different caring people that rotate every week. One woman, Jean, knitted him a beautiful winter outfit complete with hat.

A personal highlight to me has been the 4 times that different people have become official church members during different Sunday morning services. The candidates share their testimony in front of the church body and each time has been moving.

I hope I've touched on some of the different aspects of the church that you may have wondered about.

My wife, my brother-in-law, and I visited Pinball Wizard Arcade on the night of their two month anniversary. This is a very large, classic arcade featuring more pinball machines than I've ever seen in one place. The room is painted dark gray. Track lighting from the ceiling lights the room with just right subtlety, allowing the games to shine. With a huge amount of beautifully restored pinballs and video games, Pinball Wizard is already becoming world famous, rivaling the legendary Fun Spot in Laconia, NH which bills itself as "the largest arcade in the world."

I have never played an Addams Family game running so perfectly and displaying so beautifully. This experience plus playing Funhouse with a perfectly working Rudie and introducing it to my family and my relatives (who met us there) were the highlights of my night. Turns out that Skip is quite a player and could hardly be dragged away from Funhouse as the 10 o'clock closing got closer! Jeff was very into the Twilight Zone pin.

Both  Owner Sarah and Christina spent a lot of time with me, as they could see my enthusiasm and my big smile that never went away. Can we do this again tomorrow night mom?