Why Did the Rusty Scupper in Acton, Massachusetts Have to Close?

It always seemed strange to me that a restaurant in landlocked Acton, Massachusetts would be named after a oxidized hole in a ship's side meant to carry water overboard from a deck.

Such is the case with the Rusty Scupper, but it turns out that this very good restaurant located in Nagog Park (a mixed use destination) was part of a chain through several states. You'd never know it, as the Rusty Scupper felt more like a cozy neighborhood tavern than a generic, corporate-conceived eatery.

I ate at the Scupper a handful of times and each visit required a wait. The seafood, steak and chicken dishes were really good and the dark, comfy surroundings overlooking a pond enhanced the overall experience. It seemed like a very social type of place where many locals and staff all seemed to know each other. Living in other towns, I didn't know anyone in Acton but that didn't stop the staff from being nice to me. For the record, I was nice to them, too.

The Rusty Scupper closed in the early 1990s.  It then became ScupperJack's which was just as good as the Rusty Scupper. ScupperJacks closed in 2011, and is now called the Red Raven.

Too bad the Rusty Scupper went overboard and drifted away from the suburban Boston restaurant scene!

The Neptune Room in Hyannis, Massachusetts

Does anyone remember the Neptune Room at the Hyannis Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts? It was sort of an upscale type of place that, to the best of my recollection, got three stars in the Mobile Travel Guide. So, it had to be good, right?

At eight-years-old, I was rather skeptical of this place -- first feeling uncomfortable about a restaurant with the name Neptune right next to airplanes flying high into the sky.  Were those planes really headed for a U.S. destination, or could it be an itinerary to the dark, cold and windy climate farthest away from the sun in the solar system? At 2.9 million miles from the earth, it might have been possible, however, to get there sooner than successfully navigating the Hyannis rotary into the downtown.

The Neptune Room didn't meet up to my hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue chicken and blueberry pie criteria. I am sure the Neptune Room pleased adults with sophisticated culinary tastes, but not a kid with no interest whatsoever in daring and creative food combinations created by some highfalutin chef.

Some restaurants leave a mark on people, but, ultimately, I left a mark on the Neptune Room with an all-day sour stomach finally expressing itself. I guess, on that particular day, I was a little puke, literally and figuratively, to the staff at the Neptune Room!