My sister Aliza and I have a yearly tradition of spending Halloween/pre-Halloween weekend together. It has been a couple of years since she and her husband, Rich, have visited. and the BF and I were so happy to have them visit!
They stayed in Concord at the Old Colonial Inn last time and they loved it (Rich is very allergic to cats and can’t stay at the house), so they scheduled a repeat visit.
Our must-do activities include a visit to Wilson Farms and a walk around Walden Pond. We had a fantastic dinner at Artistry on the Green a few years ago, and we scheduled a repeat of that as well.
I LOVE Wilson Farms at Halloween. Their pumpkin and gourd selection is so extensive. 
And, as far as cider donuts go, these are the BEST that I have ever had. And it is the ONLY time all year that I will eat a donut. The cinnamon sugar combined with the hot donut is unbeatable. 
The produce at Wilson is fantastic, as are the baked goods, the cheese shop and the prepared foods.
We have had extremes of weather at Walden Pond. One year, it snowed when my sisters and I were together. This year, people were swimming and the leaves hadn’t turned! I’ll take that over snow!
We took our time walking the loop, taking pictures of the site and of nature.
Sister time in nature!
We had a great experience at Artistry on the Green a few years ago. Unfortunately, we didn’t find it as good this time around. My sister and I have a limited diet because we don’t eat meat, but the menu had some options and we figured we could work with it.
It took over 20 minutes to get a water refill. I asked our server twice and we ended up having to get the hostess to refill our water. Really?
Below was the squash salad. Where was the squash?
The clam appetizer did have squash. It was was delicious.
The scallop dish was a main course. Call me old fashioned, but I think that paying $40 for THREE SCALLOPS is ridiculous. Especially since I asked the server and he said there were 4 scallops. The pumpkin was somewhat filling and the flavors were good, but I was angry because I specifically asked the question and got an incorrect answer. I called the server over on his and he said that it was at the chef’s discretion. He took credit for the miscommunication and comped us dessert.
My poor boyfriend, who prefers a good grilled steak to fine dining, does not like duck or lamb and felt that the steak was not a good cut, so he ordered the cod. It was maybe 3 oz cooked, and also a bout $30. I have eaten at places like Le Bernadin and Mention, so I get paying a lot for smaller portions if the food is exceptionally prepared. It was by all accounts average.
The highlight of the night was the dessert- a red wine poached pear and wine sorbet with an olive oil cake. This was by far the star of the evening.
We ended the night all smiles after an exhausting day. Even if the meal was not the top notch experience that we had a few years ago, we still enjoyed all being together for a nice night out.
I can’t believe that it’s almost Thanksgiving! I am looking forward to more family time!
xxoo, PF