It was nice to have a long weekend. The highlight was going to see the Providence Bruins take on the Hartford Wolf Pack yesterday. I got an unbeatable deal from the Bruins Web site - four tickets, four hot dogs and four sodas for $44. After buying snacks, we could barely go to the movies for $44.

I hadn't been to the Dunkin Donuts Center in a number of years. As a kid, I used to go there all the time to see the Rhode Island Reds, the New York Rangers affiliate in the American Hockey League. I also went to numerous Providence College Friars basketball games, Harlem Globetrotter games, the circus, concerts and other events. I even saw the Celtics there a couple of time during the Cowens/Havlicek era in the '70s.

Even though we were only a couple of rows from the top of the arena, the seats were great. Unfortunately, the P-Bruins didn't play so well, giving up three goals in the first period. They never caught up, losing the game 4-1 in front of a crowd generously estimated at 9,196. It was very entertaining, though, and the kids loved their first pro hockey game.

We did have a couple of bad dining experiences this weekend. The first was at the new Metro 9 Steak House in Framingham. This was a belated Valentine's Day dinner for me and A. The steakhouse was supposed to be a local alternative to the big Boston steakhouses, so we decided to try it out.

The food wasn't so much bad as disappointing. Everything was very plain and lacked flavor. I have had better steaks at the Outback for half the price.

Our second disappointing meal was after the Bruins game last night. I found out that a famous Providence BBQ joint, StickyFingers, had reopened. It had been closed for a while and I discovered that it had reopened. StickyFingers was a favorite of A's and mine, so we decided to go.

Again, we had a disappointing meal. I had the pulled pork sandwich, and it was runny and tasteless. A. had a BBQ chicken sandwich and it was so overcooked she could barely cut it. She sent it back and a second one was much improved. The service was slow even though there were only a few customers that evening. It was sad to see a place that used to be really great fall so far.

So, there are two places for you to avoid. There are much better choices for your money.