Backyard and Abroad

lindymegan's photostream

2011-12-22T12:14:00.001-05:00

Travels thus far in full Photographic Glory

Hello to Berlin

2011-12-22T12:09:00.002-05:00

Reading the history of a place you're visiting always does make it a bit more exciting and meaningful. Four years ago when I was headed to Berlin, I was reading 'The Fall of Berlin 1945'. The vivid descriptions of fighting in the last year made the visit to the Reichstag all the more impactful.

Now I'm reading 'Berlin Diary'. The journals of a radio correspondent stationed in Berlin beginning in 1934. It's about the run up to the war and the thick of it, before America entered into the fray.

Agh, the haunted-ness of Berlin. It was delightful to hear the stories of the Danish coming together to outwit the Nazis and save lives when I was in Copenhagen. It’s a horror reading about the slow fall into destruction of Germany. How stupid the people were at first to allow democracy to be done away with, and then how complacent they were to allow war to start again. One ray of niceness is that Berliners tended to be a bit smarter than the rest, having the highest number Communist party members (hence anti-Nazi), voting in the largest numbers against the Furhrer in elections, not wanting war, most listening (illegally) to the BBC, trying to hold on to their days of debauchery between the world wars. And of course, now the new Berlin, united in Democracy, holds that period of their history in shame and aims to create a new path. That's why the city is so exciting, alive, artsy.

Most disgusting is the use of propaganda. The outright lies of politicians. Is it so far off to call what Fox 'News' and the Republican party does the same? One is to uphold a dictator, the other is to promote a regime that makes them more money. The National politics of America really does disgust me hugely. How can one say that the rich can't afford to pay more taxes and the stimulus didn't work when most economists (at least the ones not paid by the Republicans) say otherwise? How can they say that global warming isn't caused by human activity when every scientist (and usually they themselves a few years ago) say otherwise? And even sillier things like Obama is a Muslim, or gay parents make their kids gay.

It's a bit more believable to think that the Germans swallowed everything Goebbels was selling when you think a good percentage of Americans are swallowing what Fox sells them, even when there are other sources available to negate them. (Factcheck.org anyone?)

In any case, I'm still excited to go. Would have rathered Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome, or anywhere else warmer, but somehow Berlin was by far the cheapest ticket on the menu, so away we go.

Time to brush up on my German . . . .

CPH Memories

2011-12-12T11:59:00.001-05:00

So yes, the one reason and one reason only I was in Copenhagen was the blog CopenhagenCycleChic. And yes, it was worth it. Turned out to be quite an expensive trip and a bit unnerving since no American credit cards work over there, but some of these should turn out to be funny stories in a year or so, no? Here's my memories in list format since I'm a bit lazy, being on vacation and all:

Nørrebro Brewhouse

Funny mustachioed bartender, drinking with Danish designer, leaving all the glasses on the table, riding on the back of the bicycle, then loosing the bicycle : (

Free tour with an Irish Guy

seeing the oldest street, being the only American on the tour, the rich Aussie girls in min-skirts and berets, 'What am I going to show you next? . . . Oh yes!", Nyhavn ships getting stuck, Amelie palace and the guard stories, stories of the Danish resistance to the Nazis, the opera house support of Chistiana

Little Mermaid

Getting locked in the bathroom

Christiana

A nice dreaded guy on a bike showing me the way to the gate, walking alone on the ramparts, stampeding horses, petting dogs

Vor Frelsers Kirke golden tower staris

Nørrebro

Bike shopping. . . to replace the one I lost

80% of children being in snowsuits, even though there was no snow

Peacefulness fo Kongens Have and Botanisk Have and the rows of trees

Assistends Kirkegard

H.C. Andersens and Kirkegard's graves, a forest-like atmosphere with plants growing across graves, people going for walks, biking to work, pushing strollers around the graves

Being part of bike rush hour : )

Bikeing Slotsholmen at night

the tower of Børsen

København Museet free!

Getting to my bus two hours to early and then heading here, the exhibit on trash

The 16 hour bus ride there and home . . . and the ferry!

Back in Belgium

2011-12-08T09:54:00.000-05:00

Yipes! Three months flew by fast, and here I am, in Belgium with Chris. Living in a sparse, artless room that's best used for meditation (because there's not much room for anything else). We've finally figured out how to angle the twin mattress and move it away from the floor so we can sleep somewhat comfortably.

We've settled into a sort of routine. I work most of the day at a nearby bar with free internet, sipping one beer very slowly. Chris is off to class, reading or writing. I nip out to walk down a street I've never been down before. Today it was the Groot Begijnhof - a 13th century monastic community of women. Another day it was the M Museum. Another we wandered through the Christmas Market and ate chocolate.

Overall it's a pretty sweet deal to get paid to be in a foreign country. (Thank you generous vacation package!) More travels soon . . .

Vacation Report Back

2011-08-07T13:46:00.004-04:00

Well, our trip was even better than I hoped. Perfect amount of bikes, beer, and climbing on boulders. Highlights:

-Every single brewery in Fort Collins: Cooper Smith, Equinox, New Belgium, Odell's and Funkwerks. Why couldn't FC be in the Northeast? I'd take weekend trips there all the time. Too bad there's not much else to do in the city besides go to the plethora of breweries. (Perhaps that's why people drink so much there.)

-Wildlife in the Rockies. There was so much! Elks galore, coyote pups playing with their mom, pikas gathering wildflowers; they popped up on every walk, hike and drive.

-Bike shares in Denver and Boulder. In Denver, it made carrying luggage a cinch. In Boulder we did a ride down the Boulder Creek, which was beautiful and overflowing from the rain. It was nice not to have to have total withdrawal from biking on vacation. Though Fort Collins didn't have bikeshare, I got my fill of looking at bikes. New Belgium bikes and bike parking were all over the city!

Beer, bicycles and babies

2011-07-10T11:36:00.006-04:00

Our week long, long-awaited summer vacation has begun! Friday, we did the always familiar flight to the Denver airport. I always did look forward to our yearly training in Denver and vacation in Aspen, despite the freezing cold weather of December. But after a frustrating stint working on the election in Colorado Springs, I vowed never again to go to Colorado.

Then Chris' sister had a baby and, well, family wins out. We designed a vacation around seeing the newborn and our big loves (well, some of these are mine) - craft beer, bicycling and National Parks.

Colorado is a different place in the summer. I suppose the snowy mountains and Colorado always had been linked in my mind. Now I have a new picture to replace it. Dry heat, flash hail storms, bicycling wide avenues, great beer and Red Rocks.

After dropping our bags off at the Public Interest Network offices and got ourselves a B-cycle. They are absolutely adorable bikes, with a bit of a Schwinn influence and a big basket. We used them to easily bike between breweries and pubs.

First stop was Fresh Craft, a restaurant with a long beer list. Then off to Breckenridge Brewery, which had an amazing imperial IPA. Next on to Great Divide, which had a great tap room set up. Just $3 for 3 tastings and all the proceeds go to charity. Unfortunately all their beers seemed to be trying to hard and were far too malt-forward. Lastly we checked out Flying Dog. Getting their 10 minutes before opening, and feeling the altitude a bit, we sat down on the sidewalk outside. But the opening bartender instead let us in while he set up the bar space and immediately brought us a tasty rare brew. A shy german shepherd greeted us too and we got a great introduction to a brewery whose motto is "Good people drink good beer." The founder of the brewery lived next to Hunter S. Thompson and all their label art is by an artist that worked with Thompson, which leads to an imaginative, grotesque bunch of labels.

While Friday was all about beer. Saturday was all about hanging out with Chris' family. We got a lot of baby and puppy time in - both of which need a lot of attention. We also got to take them out for a hike in Red Rocks. Amidst the pine-covered mountains, Red Rocks stands out. It looks like it should be in Arizona, but these rocks are naturally here outside Denver. In the middle of one of the rocks they've made an amphitheater, which looks like it would be an amazing place to see a concert. Instead during the day it becomes a workout locale for local fitness-buffs. No wonder Colorado is the most fit state in the nation. If I could run up and down the stairs in this beautiful place, I might be a bit more fit too. (Or at least I'd balance out the beer drinking.)

Next up on the vacation menu is Boulder. See you there!

New Boston-focused Blog

2011-05-13T20:36:00.002-04:00

I've been pondering and planning this for a while and finally launched it, Beantown on the Cheap.

I know everyone's a writer these days, and readers are hard to find, but I've wanted to have a 'maketable' blog for a while. My adventures home and abroad keep me connected with friends and family far-flung, but as of late, I've become an expert on Boston. Boston, cheaply that is. Yes, I'm a cheapskate. I've made career choices in my life that give me enough money to be comfortable, but not drop big bucks having fun. I think there's a lot of others in my boat. (Though the boat surveyed is mainly the non-profit office where I work.)

Beantown on the Cheap will be the place to easily find my free & cheap events calendar (just scroll down to the bottom), get weekly updates on the hottest events and my tricks for seeing Boston like a cheapskate year round.

So if you live in Boston, or are planning on checking out my fine city sometime soon, make sure you follow Beantown on the Cheap. If you want to stay abreast of my personal adventures in this city, and others (summer vacation season is coming up soon after all) stay tuned here.

And hopefully see you soon in either case!

A Perfect Birthday (long) Weekend

2011-03-20T19:55:00.006-04:00

Since I was marking my third decade on the planet, I decided to fill a long weekend with my favorite things. Strangely one day did involve a brown-paper package and lovely enough, the silver-white winter melted into Spring on Thursday. (Sound of Music fans will get those.)

Thursday was devoted to the sliver of Irish heritage that is no doubt somewhere in my blood from my father's side and definitely in my name (Megan Ryan) from my mother. Starting at noon with a great round of drinks at Stoddard's. We first attempted to test as many of the Harpoon specials that were on cask. Then another. Then (like last time) our waitress kept misinforming us about what beers were available. So the barkeep came over, looking straight out of a 1910's fancy downtown Boston establishment, and offered us a round on him. It pays to be smarter than your waitress, a lesson I relearn on Sunday.

St. Patrick's Day continued as we joined in the revelry at Faneuil Hall then drinking for free at Harpoon. We wrapped up the night with my favorite dish and local dinner joint - eggplant parm and Bella Luna.

Friday was brutal. 8 straight hours in the kitchen. Our first all-grain brew. Then more apps then you could shake a stick at for my evening shindig. Our first all-grain batch, a rye, will likely be low in alcohol and have a slight hint of burnt sock. (Our grain sock burnt to the bottom of the pot.) Oh well. What started off with hard work ended with many good friends gathered round the table at the Haven, being served kelp-chocolate beer by our local Scotsman.

Saturday, back to me time. I took a leisurely ride down to the Haymarket. If there's two things I love, it's slow cycling and Boston's Haymarket: the number one source for cheap produce. Some steals to be jealous of: ginormous bag of mixed greens for $2, 5 nectarines for $1, very large bunches of basil for $1, bags of onions for $1. I biked back on home with my load and then took myself out to get some pad thai and read a book I just got from the library. (Pad Thai and books are on my favorites list.) We ended the night with a bottle of cava and the best mussels I've ever had in my life at the bar at Bon Savour down the street. (Cava and mussels, also on my favorites list.

Sunday, more favorites: A belly dancing class at the adult dance school. A parade in Southie for St. Patty's Day.

Lastly, I donned my new red dress and Chris took me out to a very fancy, very expensive restaurant (with a Groupon). If you are in Boston, you must go to Aquitane. Without a coupon you can make it affordable by going 5:30-6:30 and doing a three-course, beat-the-rush menu for $30. It's worth triple every penny you spend. And when you're turning thirty, there's no better reason to spend every penny.

In a hot New York weekend

2011-03-05T16:42:00.005-05:00

New England's smushed-togetherness lends itself well to quick weekend trips. So last Saturday we roused ourselves at 6 in the morning and drove to New York City. An old friend and co-worker and her husband were gracious enough to host us in their Manhattan-sized apartment.

I almost forgot how tiny those one-bedrooms are! It's now been 10 years since I lived in New York and now the 'home' feeling has really faded. I'm over it. I'll always enjoy visiting, but I'm grateful for the pace of a smaller city like Boston.

With little preparation we headed out. First stop: Heartland Brewery for lunch. We talked them into letting us do a full flight of 9 beers (note the extra glasses in the middle). One outstanding brew was the Quad - 10 grains, 10 hops, 10%.

Next up: The MoMA. Excellent stuff. We probably spent a little too long there, since by the 3rd hour or so, my brain wasn't registering things as much. I might take a little virtual tour at Google Art Project to remind myself everything I saw.

One thing about New York that baffles me is the rate at which restaurants open up and close down. So it was with blind faith that we took a bus 70 blocks down to 2nd St. and 2nd Ave. to go to a French-Russian restaurant I remembered from eons ago. All I remembered about the place was the strange combo of ethnicities and the beautiful ceiling - painted black, layered with white Christmas lights, and then fake palm fronds over that gave the impression of being under a jungle canopy at night.

In any case, Anyway Cafe, was there, open and delicious. (And they served Lithuanian beer!)

The rest of evening was a little awkward as we decided one thing after another was too expensive $15 art house films, $25 jazz clubs, $5 bad beers. We eventually settled in at the Blind Tiger which had an astounding 30 excellent beers on tap.

Sunday we all made the necessary stop over at Veselka, an old Ukranian Diner I worked to graveyard shift at in college. I forewent brunch and got the vegetarian deluxe platter of pirogies, kasha, borscht, stuffed cabbage and a latka. As good as I remembered.

We wandered across Manhattan the rest of the day - Chelsea Brewing Company, Chelsea Market, High Line park, the Natural History Museum. It was almost too much for some weekend, but still, I didn't feel rushed.

We ended our weekend with a trip to another old stomping ground from college the Daryl Roth Theater. We were lucky enough to get 1/2 tickets to the new De La Guarda show: Fuerza Bruta. 6 years after working there, I only remembered one of the staff. But the big black box theater, the lights, the water, it all was the same. Letting loose in that show 4 times a week during college, was certainly better than any therapy I could have had.

That's what New York is for: a little let loose, eat exotic, walk about, culture-filled weekend therapy session. And I feel great.

Awesome trip to Benelux - Nailed it!

2010-12-18T16:50:00.005-05:00

I read an article about how the preparation and anticipation for a trip brings you almost as much pleasure as the trip itself. Well, in this case I had a scant three weeks to get ready.

I busied myself ordering Lonely Planet Encounter guides for Belgium and Amsterdam. (I highly recommend the Encounter series: a bit of history, the main tourist attractions and just enough restaurants to feed you described in a pithy manner. Plus, they fit in your pocket.) I read The Undutchables (Did you know the Dutch are incredibly forthright?) and subscribed to newsfeeds from Belgium and the Netherlands (which consists a lot of how their soccer team is doing). I pre-bought tickets to the biggest museums which ended up saving us a lot of time at the Anne Frank Huis and money at the Rijksmuseum (1/2 price for ING bank card holders).

By time I got there I was ready with lists of things to do, beers to drink and sites to see. That said, I'm a pretty laid-back traveler, so if we end up having a two hour lunch because we're playing with the cute dog at the bar - totally fine. I did run out of time to see visit some breweries that were on my list and resistance museum, but I didn't have many regrets other than those. Plus, I got a lot of good sister time, which is rare these days when we live nine states away.

Highlights:

-Belgian beer Every beer was an epiphany! We sought out the best beer joints and delighted, drank everything that the bartender recommended it. Ah the trappists! Back home, sadly each bottle goes for $4-8, but at least I can relive a bit of the experience. Our biggest mind-f* was Cantillion, where they ferment the beer spontaneously from yeast in the air!

-Belgian food From the chocolate shops to fancy restaurants with fireplaces, to dog-filled pubs where no one spoke English. I enjoyed every morsel. One of my favorite meals was my last at Le Circus - where I chose beer from a 15 page menu, enjoyed a big chunk of vegetarian lasagna which watching a 1980 David Bowie concert.

-Brussels Christmas Market Brussels' Grand Place was recently voted the most beautiful square in Europe. Fill that with a holiday market and tree. Add in a lightshow on the palace every hour and what you get is really spectacular.

-Bikes in Amsterdam I subscribe to H.G. Wells thought that "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle , I no longer despair for the future of the human race." So I was in absolute heaven in Amsterdam. I could have sat for hours just watching all the Chic Cyclists. Instead Katie and I rented bikes and joined them.

-Boats in Amsterdam Our first night in Amsterdam, we oriented ourselves to the city on a cheap boat tour. At night the canals are lit beautifully. You also get a perfect view into the house boats that line the canals, decorated in perfect ikea style, and filled with families eating perfect dutch dinners. If there's anything I like better than bikes, it's water.

-Dancing I haven't had that great of a dancing high in America in a while. Our night out dancing with a live band in Brussels with Madame Mustache was fabulous.

-Amsterdam Brewery Tours Our first was Da Prael. Located in an old 17th century canal house, Da Prael is part brewery, part non-profit. It employs several dozen people with mental disabilities and teaches them skills. The two of us had our own tour guide, who was incredibly enthusiastic, if not confused as to how to English speaking girls found their brewery. We chatted with the brewers, tasted green beer out of the tanks and got to climb up ladders to look inside the brew kettles. Our second brewery, Brouwerik 'IJ wasn't nearly as tasty, but it was in a windmill and had a fun guide.

-Museums We spent almost no time in churches, but what trip to Europe is complete without some museums? Unfortunately the Rijksmuseum, which houses the Dutch masters, has been under construction, so the selection we saw was limited. Van Gough was excellent. But the best had to be the Musical Instruments Museum. It's housed in a gorgeous art-deco glass department store. When you enter, you're given wireless headphones and as you step in front of each instrument case, you hear the instruments. There's also a cafe on the top floor with reasonably priced gourmet food and gourmet views to match. (Check out the website to see views of the building.)

And of course, the Ann Frank House was an experience. It was moving and well-curated. At the end you could do an interactive video experience which would pose complex societal questions and ask you to vote. (Like is it okay to racial profile if the round-up actually found most of the people were illegal immigrants?)

Damn, Amsterdam!

2010-12-10T12:24:00.003-05:00

Well, let's just say if you combine, bikes and water, you get my ideal city. This is perhaps one of the reasons I loved living in Miami so much. But I've found that even in colder weather, I enjoy the speed of a bike and the lapping of waves.

I've many pictures and more to elabotate on further, but for those of you reading at home, yes Amsterdam and Brussels are all that they're made out to be - and more.

In Brussels we partook in wonderful food and drink. We endulged in an amazing home-grown beer at every meal and at different 'Brown-Bars' every night. Every single one was spectacular. We toured a brewery that does not add yeast or sterilize it's equipment, but rather allows the yeast in the unique micro-fauna of the air to make their beer. The spiderwebs weren't for show - they were to catch the bugs flying about! We ate pralines and fabulous meals and walked through spendid old squares.

Amsterdam seemed to have more to say - the architecture is wonderful and all jives. With more canals than Venice, every other street is a view to more of their beautiful buildings. We've had good pancakes, and some beer. (The breweries here are colorful, but no where near as good as Belgium.) The highlight has been the easy-breasy riding of bikes around in well-marked lanes.

I always do remark that bike riding is the most efficient mode of transportation in Boston and here, the people have realized this en masse. I could spend days watching all the beautiful people on their beautiful bikes.

Or just being one of the beautiful people myself . . .

Yes, please!

2010-12-03T20:51:00.005-05:00

What do you say when your mom offers to send you to Amsterdam to take care of your sister?

Yes, please!

Thank you Katie for being 'nervous' about traveling Europe by herself. Thank you mom for loving Katie so much to send me with. And thanks Dad for making the money to make it all happen!

So that's it now, I'm off to Brussels for 4 days and then 4 days in Amsterdam. I'm super proud of my ticket-deal skills. A bunch of surfing got me $600 tickets. (That's a bit more than it cost to fly to Hancock, MI for Thanksgiving.) And just as nice, my four hour lay-over is in Philly, where I'll meet my parents for lunch. Hopefully they'll let me pick up the bill.

My bag is packed (one carry-on), my guide books are bought (Encounter series from Lonely Planet), and my ipod is loaded up (lots of Rick Steves).

I've got a few must-dos on the schedule - Anne Frank House, Van Gough Museum, Belgian beer, chocolate, ice skating. What else should I add?

Karma, Boston style?

2010-11-08T10:11:00.005-05:00

I had an awful morning. Biking has become not only part of my daily routine, but something I love and do to feel connected to my city. So when I lost my headlamp - my only light and way to hold on my hat in this god-awful weather and make it possible to bike - I was pissed. After a frantic 15 minutes tearing apart the house, I found it under a pile of coats in my car.

But then one mile into my ride, pedaling face first into the wind, I regretted biking. It was cold, I was barely going 5 mph and my pants and feet were soaked. I wished I hadn't found my g-d headlamp.

So the Gods send me a sign. Gah-dunk. I get a flat tire. Thankfully I'm just 4 blocks from a bike shop. I park my bike out in front (it's not open yet) and walk the last mile to work in the rain. I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love, so on my way I do what the character, Liz, does when things go wrong. I pray, or sort of. I'm not the God believing type. I offer up an apology to the thing overseeing the karmic balance of the world.

I'm sorry I crazily ransacked my house in search of my headlamp.

I'm sorry I regretted biking to work.

I'm sorry I'm acting as miserable as the weather.

I made it to work, wet and cold, but at peace, and what happens when I check my voicemail? I've won an in-office massage party for me and 7 co-workers. I call the massage center back. They'll come by any day we'd like and give us chair massages in the conference room.

Thank you, universe.

I'm on Rick Steves (again!)

2010-11-01T20:38:00.002-04:00

We taped this back in March, but it finally aired this weekend on public radio stations. You can download the episode on itunes or windows media.

A year ago I got on an episode to ask about where to celebrate Day of the Dead. This time we talk about my trip, in particular about connecting with locals as a woman.

I even made the episode notes:

The Lunatic Express; Open Phones: Travel Discoveries

Airdate: October 30, 2010

Program 223

Carl Hoffman describes his experiences traveling on the most notorious, over-crowded trains, planes, busses and ferries from India to the Andes and listeners share their own travel discoveries and suggestions for seeing the world.

Listen to the entire show (Windows Media)

Additional Links:

Carl Hoffman's website
Caller Megan recommends reading the collection of women's essays called "Mexico: A Love Story," edited by Camille Cusumano, and published by Seal Press
Caller Jeff recommends reading Graham Robb's book "The Discovery of France," published by W. W. Norton, winner of the 2008 Ondaatje Prize

Last time I got to pick a free book for being on the show. Here's hoping they can ship a copy of Rick's Netherlands guide before my December trip!

Fall has Come to Boston

2010-10-31T21:01:00.001-04:00

A free food & wine event lured us out to Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain last weekend.

More Deal Sites

2010-10-31T12:23:00.007-04:00

Groupon started it all and then the flood came - Living Social, CoupMe, BuyWithMe. My personal opinion is that Groupon is still king, but here's an update on more coupon sites and which are still worth it.

Prepare yourself, there's a lot! Just be careful you don't overdeal it.

Groupon - Still the best. Still the most well presented. And now with the Groupon app, the easiest to use.

Living Social - Almost irrelevant now. Many deals are out of Boston, and they have way to many coupons for Brazillian blowouts (weren't those declared toxic?) and yoga classes.

CoupMe - They often have really amazing massage deals, but the rest of the deals are bunk.

BuyWithMe - Getting better and the cool thing is that their deals often last a week, so you can sit on it and decide if it's really worth it.

DigDeals - Great rotating sale of actual gift certificates that get mailed to you. Not a big selection, but always quality places.

Yelp Deals - Just launched this week. Not sure how frequent they're going to be or how good, but the first deal was $50 for a massage. Not bad.

Bloomspot - A higher end deal site, like stays at a French country inn, or limo rides.

Eversave - Most deals tend to be in the suburbs. Lots of spa deals.

KGB Deals - Questionable name. They had $6 movie tickets on sale, but now it looks like they haven't officially launched in Boston yet.

DealOn - Not launched yet.

Zozi - Local, National and Travel deals for around the world. They mostly sell hotel coupons and deals for activities like kayaking in Baja or photography classes in Boston.

Plum District - Mostly geared towards moms, but recent deals have also included Target gift cards and Bruegger's Bagels.

Tippr - Looks like they just steal deals that others have done.

Homerun - Well designed site. Looks like most of their deals are for small things like a $2 pitcher of sangria at Tasca or a $2 glass of wine at Davide's.

Dealster - Many are outside of Boston, but there's some amazing deals like $30 for 4 oil changes.

DealsforSchools - Some decent deals, like $30 for two facials, hair cut and pedicure. Bonus is that part of the proceeds go to schools!

Sites that bring together all the deals:

More on Vermont

2010-10-31T11:40:00.003-04:00

I couldn't get enough of Vermont, so I went back again this weekend.

Okay, I had to go for work. Not normally would I inflict on myself 3 1/2 hours of driving by myself without needing to. I spent most of my waking hours working. But nonetheless, it was a good trip.

Most of the week was spent in Burlington. My work last week was mostly canvassing, my work consisted of long walks amidst the gorgeous autumn trees. I made sure to get to American Flatbread to have some Zero Gravity beer. Still the best brewery I've encountered yet. Sadly they don't carry six-packs, but I did grab a case of Rock Art and Trout River.

We also got to stay at a friend's parents house in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Vermont. It was practically like staying at a retreat center. It was also the same place we camped out at after my friend's wedding party there. It was nice (and warm) to be inside too! Here's some pictures from the wedding to give you an idea of just how gorgeous it was . . .

Discovering Vermont

2010-10-11T21:26:00.002-04:00

VT Weekend

Chris and I take Columbus Day Weekend off to discover Vermont. We find out - it's great! Click above for the photo tour. Warning: we took a lot of pictures of beer.

A Weekend on the Waterfront

2010-10-03T18:41:00.004-04:00

It's really easy to forget that you live on a waterfront in Boston. Its a bit out of the way for those of us that work downtown or even Back Bay. Thankfully, for those of us with bikes, it's just a quick jaunt down to the water. With the big dig behind us and the Rose F Kennedy Greenway freshly green, there's no more pleasant place to be than the harbor.

First event on the water was Friday's Harpoon Oktoberfest which turned out to a

lso be under water. The event was held outside their waterfront breweryThere were three tents, with pools of water between them and rain pouring down. We tried to run between the raindrops, but without much success. So our pints had some Boston rainwater, but by the third we didn't notice. We were busy noticing the amazing German oompah band and folks in chicken hats.

Saturday I volunteered at the Boston Local Food Fest with Corporate Accountability, gathering petitions for their Think Outside the Bottle campaign. Right on the waterfront outside the Children's Museum we were afforded a beautiful view of downtown Boston across the water. We also got a ton of local, amazing food. This was the best free stuff event I've ever been too and I loaded up on samples of cheese, chocolate, crackers, pita, salads, apples and more.

But really, the waterfront is great even without big hullabaloos. Plenty of park benches and greenspace abound. Perfect for picnic lunches during the work week, or wine and cheese while watching the ships pass by at night.

Fall Adventures

2010-09-26T20:21:00.014-04:00

It's been quite a few weeks here in Boston! The weather has swung back and forth between cold and hot.

Last Saturday we were left cold at Jacob Wirth's when Harpoon didn't show to give out free tickets to Oktoberfest and liter steins as promised. Thankfully we did get some excellent beer and german food and our complaints on facebook got us our tickets and stein. So now that they've made it up to me, I encourage you to become a friend of Harpoon. They have lots of free events and card holders get into Oktoberfest for 1/2 price. Go here to register.

This week I also snuck a tour to the Just Beer Brewery in Westport on the South Coast. I happened to drive past this sign on my way to a meeting.

Well, I had to stop on my way back. Just Beer is a fairly new brewery. The owners have been making wine for a while, and decided they needed something to drink during football games, I suppose. I tried for ales and the standout was their Harry's IPA. I bought myself a growler.

This weekend was JP Open Studios, always a fall highlight. We saw a lot of good and bad art, drank a lot of free wine and checked out sweet JP apartments. I really got a kick out of checking out others' gardens too. These guys gave me some great ideas.

We ended Saturday with a trip to the Amesbury Brew Fest, which was filled with strange red-necks and some decent beer. A good $15 spent overall.

For some extra dough you could get inside this thing and ride down the mountain.

Cops were on hand to flirt with, I mean keep the peace.

A big Red Sox fan.

By the end things devolved quite a bit. We knew it was time to hit the road.

Boston Ahts

2010-09-08T21:41:00.004-04:00

Well, Boston is no Paris. We don't have the Met like New York or the Getty like Los Angeles. But Boston has 'ahts'. Yes, that's arts with a Boston accent.

This weekend is the annual Boston Ähts Festival. The event takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Christopher Columbus Park. (Just plug in 105 Atlantic Ave., Boston, MA into google maps.)

I haven't been before, but their website looks pretty cool. Their acts range from indie folk rock to ballet to New Orleans R&B. There'll be visual art from glassblowing to ceramics to metalworking with a lot of hands-on demonstrations. I'll definitely checking it out in between the Greek Festivals. (Somerville and Brookline)

And that's not all Boston is doing to celebrate the Ahts. Check out the Public Art Boston website they've got a great map you can download with all the public art like old statues, murals and modern installations. Lastly, another great resource is the Boston Open Studios Coalition - there's a lot! Though of course my favorite, of course, is JP Open Studios. It's totally homey and has lots of great snacks. It's September 25th -26th, so mark your calendars and I'll see you there.

Back in Boston

2010-09-06T19:08:00.007-04:00

I'm back settled in Boston after a long summer of travel, some chosen places, some not. And last week on the hottest day of the summer, we moved. Not far, just a mile away. It was still hard work in the heat and my back is still a bit thrown out. But the new apartment is absolutely lovely; just a block from the best restaurant in JP and equidistant to two T lines.

I've missed most of the summer festivals, unfortunately, but I promise to keep up even better my Boston of the Cheap calendar. Here's a few of the delights I've taken in since I've gotten back:

Swimming at Blue Hills National Park

Lunch at the Clover Food Lab in the Rose Kennedy Greenway

View from Nira Rock, a Boston urban wild

View of the historic Shirley Eustis House from the public orchard there

Labor Day tour of Harpoon

Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you

2010-08-20T07:53:00.013-04:00

Well obviously, I'm no professional blogger, which is why three weeks later I'm posting about my vacation. But I need to wrap this up, since so many exciting things are going on back here in Boston.

We spent two more days in the Smokies - hot and humid, without a shower, I really felt like we were roughing it, until you end up sitting in traffic on Newfound Gap Road with all the day tourists. Off the roads and in the woods, you could still feel like you were alone, one of the first settlers, or a Cherokee, for that matter.

We made sure to get some more local beer in in Bryson City - Nantahala Brewing Company - and headed North again on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Our next stop was Shenandoah, a place of fond childhood memories. (Though when I asked my mom what she remembered about the park she said, "Rain, lots and lots of rain.") But while we heard NPR reports of massive lightening storms and tornadoes in the DC area, we were blissfully unaware of any disturbance up in the high-elevation meadows of Shenandoah.

While the views weren't amazing, it was the minutiae that drew us in. Our campground at Big Meadows was surrounded by dozens of hiking trails. Within ten minutes of arriving to the park we saw a bear (and ended up seeing 5 on our stay). Our camping site was a 'walk-to' meaning that you had a several yard walk back to the site, which left us blissfully secluded. (Unlike being next to giant RVs with generators in the Smokies.)

I also loved that we had a touch of civilization. Shenandoah was a resort area back in the early 1900's and wasn't made into a park until FDR. So the lodge is still there, it may be run by Aramark, but it has charm.

A big window overlooking the valley is lined with rocking chairs. A bar downstairs featured local musicians at night. And, best of all - wifi. My favorite part was seeing the rows of backpacks outside the fancy restaurant on the ground. This must have been the first nice meal and shower folks who've been hiking the Appalachian trail had for a long time. Part of me wanted to hike the trail, but a bigger part of me wants to use my vacation days in Europe.

We took advantage of the ranger-led hikes, doing three of them. We spent a good time grilling the twenty-something ranger about life in the Service on the way down Hawksbill Mountain. Turns out it's not too unlike canvass directing. Low pay, you have the freedom to get transferred each season, you become an expert in each park you work in, you work outside. It might have been another good career path for me.

Even when leaving, the park charmed us with one last baby bear along the road.

So long, Shenandoah!

Through the Smokies

2010-08-16T07:33:00.009-04:00

Leaving the urban sprawl behind, but not the heat we arrived in Appalachia. First stop was Sylva. A cute little town in the foothills. Destination: brewery. Heizelmachen was our first. Located in a small store front, the husband and wife team, the former from the Black Forest of Germany, own this tiny operation. Perhaps the tiniest brewery I've ever seen, a chill college student poured our eight brews and furnished us with great Bavarian pretzels. Filling our keg would be tempting, but we already have learned that beer doesn't keep too well in our trunk.

Sylva is apparently a budding brewery town. We also got a chance to try to new brews at Sapphire Brewing Company, which has the cutest setup that feels like you're hanging out at someone's house. (It probably is.)

Leaving our empty mugs, we headed into the park. First hurdle was the Cherokee Indian Reservation. No casinos here, just Bingo night, and a ton of tourist stands selling moccasins, tomahawks, and dream catchers.

You enter the southern end of the Smokies through a meadow, in a valley surrounded by lush, high mountain slopes. Our campground was just a few miles in. We realized we were back in the South with the number of trailers and RVs parked around our site. Gangs of children cruised the streets on bikes and generators hummed. Almost every license plate was from North Carolina. Cooking that night the neighbors, who were rarely seen outside of their RV, were super-friendly and gave us a whole plate of fried potatoes, hush puppies and catfish. How Christian of them!

Chris put it best when he said that Smokies was best on the macro level (and Shenandoah on the micro level). Drives can be long through the park, and sometimes you even sit in traffic, but the views are gorgeous. The first night we try to go to a ranger program in Cades Cove, which ends up being an hour and a half through the park. We give up half-way on the drive and just stop to watch the most gorgeous sunset I've ever seen that hasn't been over an ocean.

Afterwards we decide to keep going to Gatlinburg. Imagine: you drive for over an hour through complete wilderness. You look out on either side of the road and see nothing for as far as you can see. Then all of a sudden - boom - you're right in the middle of Hick-ville Disneyland. Stand-still traffic, neon signs, fat people in fanny packs strolling down the street, tourist traps like a wax museum and house of horrors. We park as soon as possible and started over to the one place that might be the one tolerable place in town: the Smoky Mountain Brewery. I get distracted by an outdoor bluegrass band accompanied by the chickenman.

I didn't get this one on tape, but we also saw the four curly-haired, pig-tailed, gingham-dressed tap-dancing children. But we finally did make it in. The sampler was $8 and an astounding 10 very creative beers. We walked off the buzz afterwards through the neon-lights and slowly made our way back to the other end of the park.

Our next day would include even more miles in the car, but a bit more adventure.

Hotlanta

2010-07-27T16:08:00.008-04:00

Emerging from the South, we hit Atlanta next. Which is more city, than South. Though I did notice more gals in high-heels and hairsprayed do's than I'm used to.

Atlanta has by far and away the best breweries made for hanging out. A few days a week both the Red Brick Brewing Company and Sweetwater Brewery hold open houses. For $7 and $8 respectively we got a glass and several drink tickets. Plenty enough to get you buzzed. Red Brick also had entertainment and Sweetwater had a nice outdoor patio. And to boot, the beer was great!

We used our daytimes as real vacation time. We swam, read books, generally lazed about. Didn't do lick of sight-seeing in the city. But it was nice to relax, drink good beer and catch up with my sister. Overall I really did like the city a lot and despite being far from the ocean, I think I wouldn't mind living there.

But soon we were off to our next stop: the Great Smoky Mountains.

Honky Tonk!

2010-07-27T15:56:00.005-04:00

We were lucky enough to be hosted by a couple I hosted from couchsurfing not too long ago. Tim and Theresa did an amazing job showing us around town in their cool, new mini cooper. First stop was the Parthenon. Yes, that's right, the Parthenon. Nashville made it for their 1897 Centennial Expedition and they liked it so much, they kept it.

Today is houses a small art collection and a giant statue of Athena. We strolled the Centennial gardens, zoomed around the city to see the skyline view, and 'shopped' the museum of Dolly Parton.

We landed in a great honky-tonk bar that would be exactly what you'd picture Nashville to be like. Somehow it managed to retain an air of authenticity, despite being on what I'm sure was the tourist strip. Cowboyhat-clad old men sat at the bar next to tattooed young punks with faux-hawks. Some girls in daisy-dukes and some men with popped collars. It was hard to stereotype the crowd.

So we didn't. We drank our local, Yazoo Beer, listened to the music and enjoyed the fried food and company.

Huge Caves

2010-07-27T15:13:00.004-04:00

As you might imagine, internet connection on the road is splotchy. Especially when you're in the Great Smokies. Here's an update from Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah.

After two days of driving, beering and boating, we reached Mammoth Cave. Less beautiful than other caverns I've seen, but far more abuzz with history and stories. Its also, of course, mammoth. We got the tip off to buy our tickets early. Surprisingly, you can only enter with a guide, and tours cost $10-$45 a pop. We picked the Violet City lantern tour. For some reason, hicks like to name places 'City' even if its just a general store and a bar at a crossroads (Bryson City, Cave City, etc...)

Our ranger guide was an old local Kentuckian. Who liked to make you think about your place on the planet. My favorite spot was the ceiling that looked like you were looking at a night sky from inside a gorge. The fires that folks that lived in the cave years ago blackened the ceiling, leaving just small flecks of the original sparkly white stone. Ralph Waldo Emmerson, a Concordian, wrote a poem about it; he was so inspired.

That night as the real stars were coming out, we arrived in Nashville.

More Beer, More Driving

2010-07-22T20:54:00.003-04:00

First stop was Ellicotville Brewing Company in Fredonia, NY. Next stop Barley's Smokehouse in Columbus, OH. Good ribs, according to Chris and I ate the macaroni salad and beer for breakfast.

Third brewery was Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus in a historic old building downtown. We were wowed by the building, the bar and my favorite brew of the week - Mogabi. Amazing. Its a cross between an IPA and a hefeweizen. (!)

Last drive by brewery is Brownings in Louisvile at Slugger Field. Nothing too special, but they do have shiny gold tanks and a sharp Pale Ale called 'She-Devil.'

Still driving . . .

I'm on a BOAT!

2010-07-22T20:40:00.004-04:00

I freaked out a bit when the GPS led us right to a ferry! We tried to steer around Lake Champlain and I finally got the GPS to take us over Bridge Road.

Well, turn out Bridge Road doesn't exist - its a ferry. Turns out the ferry is free and 'leaving right now.' We drive on and sail out. Chris is a bit skeptical at first.

But we ended up loving the ride. We were off in New York, back on the back-roads on to the next stop.

Beer and Driving

2010-07-22T12:18:00.002-04:00

We've attempted to space apart our driving and beer as much as possible and take turns. Our first day of vacation was actually a lot of work - four hours of driving followed by 6 hours of volunteering. Chris spent most of it in the sun, lifting heavy kegs for the brewers. Comparatively my job was easy - filling tasting glasses with stacks of drink tickets and handing them to festival-goers. Not only did the hard labor earn us a free tickets to the last session of the festival, but we also got free pint glasses and a t-shirt.

The weather was beautiful for our session - crazy clouds, gorgeous sunset over the lake and mountains. Two rainbows appeared in the sky as we turned away from the Dieu du Ciel and everyone oohed at the same time. Somehow the beer tastes better when the sky is beautiful.

Unfortunately the weather turned on us. Just as I was about to trade in my last ticket for a beer, the show closed down as lightening shot across the skies. We ran back to the car just in time.

Vermont Brewers Festival

2010-07-17T13:34:00.002-04:00

I'm volunteering at VT Brewers Fest - vacation starts!

The Month of Travel

2010-07-14T08:35:00.004-04:00

I love travel. Everytime I step into a bus station, train depot or out of my car at a gas station in the middle of nowhere I get a thrill.

So I'm lucky that work not only makes me travel, but allows me to. This month I'm on the road for two weeks helping out in canvass offices -- Amherst, Cambridge and New Haven. No where super exciting, but pleasant breaks from the routine.

Tomorrow is when the excitement starts! Chris and my two week National Park (& Beer) road trip starts tomorrow.

First up - Burlington, Vermont for the VT Brewers Festival. We'll be volunteering during the morning shift to earn our free beer in the evening. Follow along at my beer tracking site to see what beers we drink here and along the whole way.

Next stop is somewhere in the middle of Ohio where we'll likely sleep in our car. But then comes Mammoth Caves and Nashville.

The whole itinerary is here. Perhaps I'll see you along the way?

View Nation Parks Summer Tour in a larger map

Longest Days of Summer

2010-06-21T21:10:00.003-04:00

I thrive on sun. I need it for survival. Now that I live in the upper part of our hemisphere and working an inside job I find myself craving the shiny orb. So that means weekends I am out all day. (Much to the horror of my dermatologist.)

My day started off greeting the sun by sunbathing at 6am in the park across the street. Its a good time to sunbathe in Boston since you'll draw less gawkers. In Miami you still would get harassed by the boys who stayed up all night at the clubs partying and then wanted to see the sunrise.

A long bike ride with a stop over for a tasting at Marshall's Fenway Farmstand.

My day ended at the Jamaica Pond watching the sunset. Not as dramatic as Santa Monica, but still nice.

Sunday there was another festival right across the street in the Southwest Corridor. The Green Roots Festival drew a fun bunch of hippies and bikers for a ride to benefit Bikes Not Bombs, based right here in Jamaica Plain. They even had a great little race for the tykes (and adults who thought they could fit on a tricycle.

Afterwards I headed over to the first free outdoor swing dance in Copley Square. They'll be happening every Sunday from 1-4pm this summer. I wished they had started before it got so damn HOT, but it was still a blast. Next time I wear as little as possible and bring a towel to wipe the sweat off. This was probably a better workout then the gym.

My bike home from the dance was slow and arduous. But I'm glad I made it. We ended the sunny weekend with a heavy thunderstorm and a summer bbq. Drinking watermelon beer and munching on potato salad and grilled tuna I wondered how much better the summer could get. What's your perfect summer weekend?

Boston Beer Wek

2010-06-19T15:15:00.005-04:00

Quick on the heels of American Craft Beer Week came Boston Beer Week - a celebration of beers inside the 495 beltway (and a few others too). Events were not quite free, but still fun and a good excuse to go out drinking.

First up was the Kinsale for Allagash for a 'meet the brewer' event. Funny, we couldn't find the

brewer. But we did have a delicious bottle of Victor Ale for less money than its being sold at the liquor store.

Tuesday we attempted a beer bike tour. I convinced Chris and Colleen to bike to work, which is an extraordinary feat in itself. At 6 we biked over to Atwood's Tavern, a classy neighborhood spot. We downed some Smutty Nose and flattered their brewers. We then crossed back over the river to the Otherside Cafe to meet the Troeg's brewers. We did a ten beer sampler and had some of the best beer we'd ever had, and we've had a lot! By then we were pretty silly tipsy and saddled ourselves up to the brewer's table to have a full pint of their Sunshine Pils and talk shop with the guys. The bike ride home was slow and careful.

Wednesday I managed to get into the Sam Adams open house for free beer paired with molasses cookies. By Thursday I wondered if we could keep going . . . and we did.

Free beer at Champions Bar. Champions, located in the Marriott has got to be the worst touristy,

loud bar. Too bad. But this is where the beer was. Another 'meet the brewers' event, this time it

was the Harpoon guys. Strangely enough it was three of us and two random old dudes that showed. More beer for us! It was basically just pitcher after pitcher of free beer. I felt like telling other folks at the bar there was a table with free beer over there, but there was no one that looked worth hanging out with. We capped the night off with fondue and the house beer of Brasserie Jo, summery Hopla.

By the weekend we were shot. I spent Friday through Sunday catching up. But oh, what a lovely week.

Aquitante Group

2010-06-15T12:09:00.004-04:00

My latest love? The Aquitane restaurant group. I've particularly been in love with Gaslight since they donated to a silent auction I was running, but considered myself too poor to actually eat a meal there. Enter in Yelp. Gaslight was opening their patio and asked Yelp to hold a kick-off party. I got in and so Gaslight and I were finally introduced. It started off with very little food, but a very generous open bar, a great little jazz quintet and beautiful weather. After a few drinks our stomach began growling for food and we decided our feet didn't want to go anywhere, so we got ourselves a table and had one of the best meals I've ever had in Boston.

Then the parents came and I got to try Metropolis' $30 three-course menu. (Wine included!)

So that's it, I don't think I need to search anymore the perfect restaurants on this side of the river. And really, they aren't as pricey as I thought. Try the $30 three-course, have your dining partner get an entree and then just split the appetizer, dessert and wine. There, that's nearing affordable. And while they advertise this special as being 5:30-6:30 in all their restaurants I got it a 8pm on a Saturday.

Locals v Tourists

2010-06-14T15:31:00.001-04:00

Locals and Tourists #14 (GTWA #7): Boston
Originally uploaded by Eric Fischer

The locals vs tourists distinction has been in the zeitgeist a lot as Summer vacations ramp up. Last week the Improv Everywhere gang got featured for drawing lanes on the sidewalk to keep tourists and New Yorkers separate. Here's a map showing where locals and tourists take pictures in Boston. Nice to see our lovely Jamaica Pond featured in blue.

Blue Hills . . . Brewery

2010-05-31T20:14:00.001-04:00

By now, you know I love beer. I also love parks. So what happens when you combine beer and parks? Blue Hills Brewery!

Just a few minute drive past the Blue Hills State Park in a barely marked industrial complex you'll find this unassuming brewery. The place is small, I mean small. The 'tour guide' hanging out at the bar pouring from a few bottles. We got to try Watermelon Ale, Red Baron Ale, two kinds of IPA and Extra Pale Ale. We had to cajole the guy giving us our pours into giving us some history and tell us about the brewery. Turns out they're just about a year and a half old and run by one of the brewery suppliers for the northeast. They just do one tank at a time. And they hand-bottle everything. Here's the actual bottling equipment:

Growlers are only $9 here (vs $11-20 at the corner store), so the drive becomes totally worth it.

They also do four events a year. Check out their next event on my Boston on the Cheap calendar on July 10th: Summerfest. Music, beer, and beautiful blue hills . . .

The Groupawn Comes to Beantown

2010-05-28T15:56:00.003-04:00

The Groupawn is arriving tonight in Boston. I've had fun living vicariously through his blog as he has given up every single worldy possession and given a stack of groupons to live off of for a year. (Oh if I didn't have life commitments.)

Let's see what he does! Maybe something from the Boston on the Cheap calendar? Maybe the Helicopter tour from today's groupon?

Days that stand out.

2010-05-26T14:09:00.004-04:00

"When we look back on our lives, what will remember are the crazy things we did, the times we worked harder to make a day stand out."

-Donald Miller in A Million Miles in A Thousand Years

Its true - the days where everything went right, when I laid on a beach all day or went to bed early aren't the days that stick in your head so well.

And what life is worth living if nothing you ever do sticks?

Its not just that things must go awry for us to remember them, though I have plenty of memories I look back and laugh at, its the days where I went out of my way to make it different. Maybe that's why travel is so satisfying. Everyday on a trip you're working harder to make the day stand out.

But I can do the same thing when I'm at home. After reading this passage on Saturday I baked some crackers, bought some cheese and took Chris on a bike ride up to a little-known mount in the city with a great view of Jamaica Plain. The uphill bike ride wasn't cake, but the hard work to get to the top made the view icing.

I promised myself to keep working harder to make my days stand out.

Free Tastings . . . of Alcohol!

2010-05-19T09:11:00.005-04:00

This weekend I wrote about free food tastings. This week has also become one big alcohol tasting fete!

Last night I was inducted into the Secret Sherry Society. Which actually isn't so secret. Masks were provided, but most of us decided to show our own face. Not only did we get unlimited cocktails and shots, but also tasty tapas and a flamenco show! (Who knew sherry was Spanish?)

Tonight take your pick of events.

Friends of Harpoon Open House 6-8pm (Friends of Harpoon card or email required)

Scotch Tasting at Mantra 5-7pm

Boogaloo Event with free drinks at Salmagundi 5:30-9pm (password is Boogaloo)

Wine Tastin at rialto all night

More events abound at my Cheap Boston calendar.

Tastings Weekend

2010-05-13T19:02:00.002-04:00

Free tastings galore this weekend! First up . . .

Marshall's Fenway Farm Stand is a pretty new fresh produce joint right next to Fenway, which I'm sure makes shopping hell on game days. No worries, it's an away game on Saturday.

This Saturday, 12-3:00 catch tasty samples at the stand--pies, icecream, pita chips and spreadable fruits. Sounds like a full lunch to me!

Cheese Cellar always has super classy events, with knowledgeable staff and often art too. This Saturday 1-4:00, store-owner, Kathy, will feature condiments. We're talking plum butter, pickles, hot sauces, olive bruschetta and more. Not lunch, but certainly will get your tastebuds going.

See more tastings and events going on this weekend at my Boston on the Cheap Calendar.

Luck of the Irish

2010-05-09T13:29:00.003-04:00

Only my name is Irish, but I seemed to have been touched by their luck. Just this week I won another contest. I recommend you get on the Daily Dig list yourself. It's funny, but I can't even find a link on the Weekly Dig website for this amazing deal-bringer. Here's the link from my email. Each day you'll get news on a couple events going on in town. The Weekly Dig often has tickets for the event you can score by being the 11th person to email them, or in my case, emailing them a name of a song from Jesus Christ Superstar.

My two tickets for Jesus Christ Superstar were in the orchestra and worth $186! That, and Ted Neely, who originated the role of Jesus in the movie was starring in it. (You don't even have to be a theater geek to appreciate that.)

Our pre-theater dinner was at Jacob Wirth's, a great downtown German restaurant with an excellent beer list. And our meal was $25 off, thanks again to the Weekly Dig. Check out Dig Deals to snag your own coupon for JW's and other local restaurants. Hot tip: forgo the shipping charge and waiting for your gift certificate in the mail. Email Amanda @ the Weekly Dig dot com. You can pay for your deals in cash and pick them up from their studio near the South End.

Happy cheap weekend adventures - I'm off to the Lilac Festival.

Free Weekends

2010-05-02T22:39:00.002-04:00

Spring in Boston means free stuff galore. Keep your eye on my Boston on the Cheap calendar for future free stuff. Here's a sampling of my recent adventures.

Free doesn't get much better than free sailing. That's right, the hi-brow leisure activity which normally costs hundreds for lessons (let's not even talk about actually buying a boat), was free last weekend Courageous Sailing offered free trips around the Boston Harbor with a barbecue on the dock.

Monday I enjoyed the Museum of Fine Art, which has an extror extraordinarily dinarily high admission fee of $17 for free. The museum was celebrating it's annual event, Art in Bloom, in groups submit floral arrangements inspired by art in the museum. Yes, it's just as strange as it sounds, but really I'm there to see the art anyway. The new Tomb exhibit was amazing and well worth dodging the flowers for.

The world is practically your free oyster when you have a bike--any beautiful day turns into a bike ride into an event in itself. Friday I rode around the historic North End, picking up produce, fresh fish and spices for the weekend bbq. My search for phyllo dough led me to the Golden Goose on the waterfront. They had the phyllo dough I needed and a free wine tasting, hosted by a Southie-type, whom you'd expect to know about types of Miller than the Lorraine region of France. I topped off the beautiful day with a near free meal alfresco, thanks to my Groupon.

Saturday was Wake Up The Earth Festival - over 30 live acts of musicians, dancing, circus performers and all manner of hippie craziness right out our front door. I started off the day, though, with a free tour of orchards in Boston by Bike, which showed where I can get free fruits all summer long. Only the rhubarb is pickable, so far, but stay tuned for updates as I venture out picking in a few months.

Beer Lists

2010-04-25T18:27:00.005-04:00

Want to check out all the beers Chris and I have drank on our last two trips? The count is at 109 in seven days of traveling.

Find the lists here.

Ending impressions of Montreal

2010-04-25T10:47:00.002-04:00

Jean Talon Marche

2010-04-25T10:28:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite things in any city, whether I'm in my backyard or abroad is shopping in markets. Montreal's Jean Talon Marche was a winner. We snagged a giant bag of carrots for $4, massive portobello mushrooms to cook for our hosts, cheap cheese and bread for a picnic lunch and the best crepes I've ever eaten in my life.

Beer is Pretty

2010-04-25T10:27:00.002-04:00

Our collection of half pints at Dieu du Ciel.

Canadian Apparel?

2010-04-25T10:20:00.002-04:00

Look familiar? This clothing store called 'Made in Canada' is exactly like American Apparel! Same concept, same look. I got myself a nicely-fitting t-shirt for $12. (Canadian, that is.)

North of the Border - Brewpub Extrordinaire

2010-04-20T21:42:00.007-04:00

Patriot's Day is a great excuse to get away from the patriots in Boston and to our more sensible neighbor up north--Canada.

So Chris and I loaded up our day bags, a six-pack of Boston's Harpoon for our hosts and a tag-along from craigslist. Our first stop: Burlington to drop off our carpooler.

We took the opportunity to quench our thirst at, what else, a brewery. Vermont Pub & Brewery is the state's oldest craft brewery and the 2nd oldest on the East Coast at a measly twenty years. (I wonder what Germany's Hofbrau Munchen would say to that?)

Next stop was an hour long wait at the border. Given that last time I went to Canada I flashed my driver's license and sped through, this must be a product of our new security. By the time we made it to Canada, though the air had warmed, paradoxically and the sky had cleared.

Though Izzie, my GPS, doesn't allow one to put in Canadian addresses (which scared us for a moment), I was able to find our hosts' location by zooming in on the city and pointing to where I wanted to go.

Our crashing place for the weekend, found on couchsurfing.com, were perfect hosts, giving us recommendations for authentic bars and reviews of local brew-pubs before heading out to their own BBQ.

Make sure you add these places to your must-drink lists for when you visit Montreal:

Bily Kun - a dark spot, decorated with mounted ostrich heads, and staffed barely-english speaking waitresses. This was the only non-brewpub on our trip.

Vices & Versa - another spot, that looks like it would be dark, except the Canadians were playing on a massive flatscreen and causing everyone to hurl curses at the tv. They brew their own beer there and had a great selection of local brews too.

The Trois Brasseurs - A French owned chain, with locations only in Quebec and France. They're design was industrial classy, the bartender was wicked friendly and helpful and the beer was basic and mighty well-done

Brutopia - A friendly pub in the touristy section of town, we hoped to catch a bluegrass show that was listed in the paper as starting at 5pm . . . but we ended up having to leave at 6:30 before they started playing

Helm - Probably the most mind-blowing drinks of the trip. Chris and I had received our sampler of brews, and Francesca and Julien lifted their glasses to toast and we were confused. 'Shouldn't we wait until you get your drinks?' I asked, looking at their clear, still tall glasses of water. Well, it wasn't water, it was cider. Completely clear, still-looking cider. They were the confused ones when we told them that our cider is always brown. Hmmmm . . .

Dieu du Ciel - Our last bar was a nice, sunny corner spot with a long, long list of home-brewed beer. We ended up making our own sampler of lots of small glasses of stuff . We enjoyed our last few hours in the city, soaking in the sun and beer, watching the dozens of biking commuters whiz by.

Day Four Report Part 2: Even Lobsters Love Guinness

2010-03-18T21:54:00.010-04:00

We made it to Geary's with a bit of time to spare. Curtis was our friendly tour guide. We start the tour with a fresh-as-it-gets glass of Hampshire Special Ale - straight out of the tank!

This tour was by far the best of the trip. We took a leisurely 45 minutes to stroll through the brewing process. Here's bottling. . .

We got to check out the yeast doing it's work in the vats. . .

Curtis gave us every opportunity to ask questions and by the end I felt like I was ready to tote my own brewing kit home and get started. Really fascinating though was the story of the brewery business. Anyone who's been around a while can tell you the story of craft beer. Back in the 80's it was a sad time for American beer. There wasn't much taste to it. (Couldn't that be said for most stuff in the 80's?) Since prohibition, when there used to be breweries on every block in most cities, most never rebounded and instead we had mega companies like Coors and Budweiser adding as much water as possible to make beer as cheap as possible.

The two entrepreneurs to break the trend were Jim Koch, Sam Adams founder, and D.L. Geary. Both brewer's companies started taking off. Then each made a critical decision. Jim invested in marketing, Geary in really nice brewing equipment.

The rest is history. Sam Adams beer is now shipped all over the country and you're lucky to find Geary's at your specialty liquor store. Both beers I really appreciate, but there's something about Geary's flagship pale ale that is just so crisp and flavorful. It is now my go to beer for bringing to parties.

And now for something completely different. . .

Allagash! A Belgian-style brewery right down the street from Geary's. Starting off with a tasting we were led around the brewery (for the first time in safety goggles) to check out their process. I'm a big fan of wit beers, made with wheat instead of barley and it was nice to have a beer so totally different then the other 60 or so we'd had up until this point. (The list was starting to get mixed up in my head.)

Allagash started making Allagash White, Dubbel, Trippel, but now they even do crazy stuff like Belgian-style Porter. (I'm sure the monks would scoff at this.) They encourage their staff to experiment and when a batch isn't quite right for shipping to stores they'll send out an email to their listserv and have a special edition beer sale for one day. Usually its all gone in a few hours!

After all this drinking we were in need of some food . . . and more beer. We headed into downtown and what is apparently a popular hangout, Gritty McDuff's. Solid pub food, a round of beers, including Scottish Ale, of course and friendly people. A little tipsy, I was dropped off at the Portland office of my non-profit and the rest of the crew sobered up for the drive home.

Yes, all good beers come to an end. With 77 tastings under our belt (perhaps literally now, too) I knew that the journey wasn't over. We had just hit up one small corner of the country, there were more beers to be downed. Along the way, we'd discovered that good beer is about good brewers. Its about place, and pride in one's craftmanship. It's about experimenting and taking risks.

And yes, it's about getting drunk. - Cheers!

Rick Steve's Radio Show

2010-03-18T09:43:00.003-04:00

It's turning out to be an annual event that I get on Rick Steve's radio show. If you don't know Rick Steves, get to know him. His books Travel as A Political Act and Postcards from Europe are good intros, and if you're on your way to Europe anytime soon, his guidebooks are the best. He has his own PBS show and an NPR show.

So how it works is that they record a whole bunch of shows over a three day period a few times a year. They send out to their listserv the guests and topics and ask you to submit a question. If they like yours they'll let you know what time to expect a call. Then you get to be on the show!

Last year I got a call while I was down working in Connecticut. I got on the Mexico City show and got to ask a quick question, heard a long answer and then said goodbye. This year we ended having a discussion about my travels in Mexico in general - cheap cooking classes, a collection of short stories by women I read that inspired me to connect with people and male machismo. Turned out to be a good several minute talk.

So I'm unsure which show I'll be on, but all the more reason to make sure you're listening to every episode!

There's still time to be on yourself. Check here for the recording schedule for today and tomorrow and comment to get on. (You'll get a free book for participating.)

Day Four Report Part 1: Must all good beers come to an end?

2010-03-16T23:44:00.006-04:00

Our last day of the trip, we nailed out of the ballpark. We started up early, and got some great recommendations from the Quimby House owner. He was an obvious lover of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park and gave me the best route to see the park despite the many winter road closings. His farewell was warm, if not a bit confused sounding: "Thanks for visiting Bar Harbor . . . in the Winter."

We set off on an hour drive through the park. Not all of us had hiking boots, so serious trail blazing was out of the question, but we caught some beach time. I remembered doing star-gazing at this same beach as a kid and trying to swim in the water, which apparently doesn't get above 50 degrees in the winter. I don't even want to imagine what it's like right now.

Still beautiful though. . .

We next started driving back down to Portland, and decided to map out the rest of the day. Should we rush and get more brewery tours in? Hang back maybe hit up a pub or two?

Our Good Beer Guide says you have to call ahead for Geary's tour, so we make some phone calls. I got put on hold for a while for Geary's waiting for, what turned out, the secretary to call a brewer and ask him to come in to do a tour. "How's 3:30 work for you?"

We looked at the clock. We could make it happen . . .

Free Lonely Planet Book

2010-03-16T18:18:00.004-04:00

Lonely Planet has a great deal going on right now. Buy any book and get the California Trips Guide for free through March 19th. Lonely Planet probably makes the most comprehensive traveler-centered guides I've ever used. I haven't checked out the California Trips book yet, but I've been thinking of buying the New England Trips book which features a Fall Foliage Tour, Literary New England and the White Mountains Loop. Now's the time!

Click here for more info on the deal.

Day Three Report: Mt. Desert Island is reached

2010-03-09T10:41:00.006-05:00

Day three was a bit of a missed connections day. Puritanical values still hold sway in New England, or perhaps it's just labor laws, so many places were closed for Sunday. We unsuccessfully attempted a few breweries, but ended up at a homey bar on the waterfront munching on free popcorn and beer that actually cost money for once. . . at 11am.

By the time we made it to Bar Harbor we were thirsty again, so after several failed attempts at closed storefronts, we swung into Geddy's. Geddy's just happens to be the biggest tourist trap restaurant on the island. It also happened to be open.

They also served me the biggest surprise of our trip - a bad beer! Puffin Pale Ale was absolutely disgusting, or should I say tasted like Bud Lite. Well, same thing. The waitress overheard my complaint and kindly brought me a new beer. The beer still remains a mystery. We don't know who the brewer is and I while I do remember seeing Puffin Pale Ale t-shirts at the Kennebunk Brewery, there doesn't seem to be anything on their website indicating they brew the stuff. Perhaps no one's interested in taking credit for this crappy stuff.

Full of beer, we went and bought more beer at the liquor store. Then we spent a good while hanging out at our luxurious Quimby House Inn. I think we were the only folks staying there, if you don't include the crazy cat that liked to hang upside down off the banister.

We soon got tired of drinking and headed over to the Jack Russell's Steak House and Brewery. Their beer was from the Maine Coast Brewing Company and the four beer sampler was so delightful, we decided all to get one. Some beers and apps later, we were ready to crash. This vacation was getting to be hard work, having to remember one beer from the next!

Beer Tour 2010 in Photos

2010-03-08T22:35:00.001-05:00

Beer Tour reunion (all are invited) at my place, coming soon . . .

Day Two Report Part 2

2010-03-05T19:52:00.008-05:00

We drove straight to Shipyard as soon as we got into the city, making the 3pm tour by a minute. Shipyard's tour was free and started off with a Jibber-Jabesque video, followed by a quick tour of the facilities. It was big, not Redhook big, but larger Smuttynose for sure. We also spied boxes for the other beer they brew - Peak Organic, Seadog, etc. (These guys really do brew every beer in Maine!) The last 20 minutes were in the tasting room, where we got generous samples of four of their beers, which it turns out we mostly drank down in Kennebunk.

Our tour guide was pretty awful commenting at some point that she doesn't really like beer and drink wine. But the beer was free. We also learned some interesting stories. The master brewer for Shipyard learned in Britain and brought back a recipe for non-traditional English bitter ale. Shipyard is the only brewery licensed to brew the recipe and they can't even put their logo on it. That's why there's a big ol' wort-hog on the label and no sign on Shipyard. It's damn fine beer and thankfully can be found back home at my local liquor store.

Next stop was Sea Dog Brewpub whose mascot is an awfully cute puppy with a sailor's yellow rain-hat. Their restaurant is a chain; there's a few locations in Maine and their South Portland location certainly felt a bit chainy and was located in a strip-mall, surrounded by a parking lot.

The beer there was certainly geared towards the masses. The beer list was pretty extensive with 10 different beers in the tasting for just $10. Some struck us as silly (Blue Paw Wheat Ale and Rasberry Wheat) and others were well done (Owls Head Light Ale and Old East India Pale Ale). The spinach dip was superb however and happy hour specials were just $3 a pint.

On to Sebago. You might think we couldn't drink any more beer, but oh, we could. We found ourselves a little unable to eat, but we happily downed some excellent beer. Chris and Adrian had the Stout aged in a bourbon cask, while Colleen and I opted for something lighter: Hefeweizen and Runaround Red.

While posting a gorgeous picture of the stout on facebook I noticed an update from a friend that lives in Rhode Island and whose couch I, once upon a time, crashed on for a summer.

"Jodie Goodnough is in Portland. Maine, I've missed you so."

I called. Our conversation was something like this:

Hey are you in Portland?

Yeah.

I'm in Portland.

No way.

What are you doing?

Eating dinner.

Where? I'm eating dinner.

I looked up to see Jodie in the doorway. She was downstairs at the same restaurant.

So I guess we picked the right place to end the night.

UMass - Mexico City Time Warp?

2010-03-05T19:15:00.005-05:00

I've been in Amherst recruiting at UMass this week and at times I feel I'm in a Mexico City timewarp. The warmest way to get to the Campus Center where I had a table was to go through the Student Union, up and down stairs and round a twisted way of hallways. At one point the hallway goes by an open area with a mural and statue. . .

much like the winding walk I would do to transferring between the pink and blue lines I would do everyday in Mexico City. Half way through the crazy hectic tunnels you'd pass an Aztec altar they unearthed when they dug the subways out.

And the mural is reminiscent of those that cover public spaces all over Mexico City. This famous one of Diego Rivera's is in a museum, but the Mexico University campus has several that look just like UMass.

So neither are exact reflections, but pleasant suprising reminders of an ancient city and a pleasant vacation.

Day Two Report Part 1

2010-02-27T09:58:00.005-05:00

Our second day of Beer Tour was a slow meander up the Maine coast. We land first in Kennebunk at the Federal Jack's Brewery at 11am.

Oddly the power went out just before we got there and the staff apologized they wouldn't be able to cook anything. "That's okay: we're just here for the beer!" we replied. So no problem, we got seated and delivered two orders of the sampler. Oddly most of the beer was from Shipyard Brewery. Chris dutifully took notes of all our tastings. Favorites of the group were the Brown Ale and Chamberlain. I loved the taste of the 'Taint Town a British bitter. (Read the story of Taint Town here.) Taint town unfortunately was the only beer not sold in the gift shop; it was only available in the bar.

Next stop was Biddeford-Saco. On an island between the two towns is a charming repurposed industrial complex with the Run of the Mill Public House and Brewery.

This was my favorite brewpub on the trip. A dark interior with rustic wood everywhere, the big windows opened up to the water. The food was amazing. The cooks weren't thrown off by my request for a reuben vegi burger. The beer was cleverly named: Alewife Ale, Bug Lager, Smelt Camp Strong Ale, Impact Pale Ale, and Cassk Kickin IPA. Folks were fans of the Alewife Ale and Tarbox Cream Stout.

Our trick to making friends everywhere was to announce that we were on a beer tour. The staff were all helpful in making suggestions for our next stop and we learned a bit about the politics and economics of breweries in Maine. Apparently the 'cute and local' Shipyard owned a lot of the breweries we were planning on visiting. Whenever a brewery wasn't doing too well Shipyard would buy it up. Or if a brewery grew past it's capacity they'd give their recipe to Shipyard to brew.

Well, there went our quaint little brewery fantasy. Turns out Shipyard owns Seadog, Casco Bay and Kennebunk. (Later in their brewery we'll see Peak Organic boxes in their brewery too.)

After Saco it was just another hour to Portland. . .

We've made it safely back to Portland for beer tasting three of today.

2010-02-22T16:19:00.002-05:00

Day four Checkin

Day One Report

2010-02-21T17:12:00.004-05:00

Well I've finally taken this book for a spin. Colleen, Adrian, Chris and I have headed up the Eastern Seaboard for Beer Tour. First stop was lovely Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The schedule was tight: we did a tour at Smutty Nose, then Redhook and finished it off at the Portsmouth Brewery.

Smutty Nose has been our favorite so far. A real microbrewery, you could tell these folks really care about their beer. With no interest on taking over the entire market, the owner has turned down offers to pair up with a distributor to go big, favoring having control over his beer and brewing process. They offer unlimited samples before and after the tour.

Next up was Redhook. Redhook it turns out is a bit of a traitor to many craft-beer enthusiasts. Several years back they sold 33% of their company share to Anheuser Busch to pair distribution with them. Now they're one of the top beers in the country, but some think at a sacrifice to their beer. I didn't find it too lacking. For $1 we got a tasting glass and a tour with a old hippie. (And I'm not just being prejudice here. The guy was wearing tie-dye and was a former Berkley resident.) It was very Sam Adams-styled. Quick tour with lots of scripted jokes finished with lots of beer at the end. And this time no only 3 beers a tasting rule. We drank it up!

We ended the night at the Portsmouth Brewery with a flight of eight beers and a free pint courtesy of a coupon from the Smutty Nose Brewery. Desert was a delicious milk stout with a shot of vanilla stoli dropped in . . . mmmmmm.

Day One Count: 17 beers

More reporting to come . . .

Day Two checkin

2010-02-20T18:07:00.002-05:00

A quick hello from Sebago Brewery!

Day One of Brewery Tour

2010-02-20T09:39:00.002-05:00

Just about an hour North of Boston you'll hit the
land of 'Live Free or Die'. Free from the puritanical 'no happy hour' and only 3 tastes per tour rules, we drank it all down at Smutty Nose, Redhook and the Portsmouth Brewery.

Romantic Boston

2010-02-14T13:19:00.004-05:00

What cities come to mind when you think romantic? Paris? Buenos Ares? Savannah?

Certainly not Boston.

But Boston can have it's moments. Here's my picks for romantic places around town this Valentine's Day.

Arnold Arboretum

During the Winter season, it's a cold desolate place, but when the lilacs are in bloom and the grass is green, this is a great romantic place to have a picnic. Better yet, sneak off the path on the hills in the woods for some alone time.

South End side streets

Wander down Boston's South End side streets, peek in windows and imagine the life you could lead if you had the money to live in these brown stones shaded by trees.

Charles River

Water is romantic. I believe Venice proves that. So get away from the joggers and stroll the bridges above the pools near the Hatch Shell to be Boston's own Venice.

Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum

Link arms with your lover and stroll through the decadent house and gardens imagining you're in the romantic Victorian era.

Boston Harbor

After dusk when the boat signals glitter and the office building lights make a pretty picture, Boston's harbor is an excellent place for a picnic. Plenty of benches offer perches, just pack your corkscrew, some wine and cheese.

Griggs Park

Carved out by a glacier eons ago, Griggs Park in Brookline with it's gardens and weeping willows is a lovely place to stroll with your partner.

North End

When the moon hits your eyes like a big pizza pie--that's amore. What better place to have a romantic dinner or get serenaded by an Italian Stallion (see above) then the little Italy of Boston? The Jersey Shore has given guidos a bad name, but old school Italians know how to do amore. Every restaurant is guaranteed to be candlelit and playing romantic music.

New Discount Site!

2010-02-10T22:04:00.003-05:00

If you know me, you know how I get excited about Groupons (and Living Socials, CoupMes and BuyWithMes).

Every day new deals in my inbox, so good I can barely control myself from clicking 'buy'. So tempting, in fact, that this month I've put the kibash on buying these things for 28 days.

That's why it's so hard to resist this new site I've discovered: Dig Deals.

$50 Bella Luna giftcard for $25

$50 Jacob Wirth giftcard for $25

$50 Otherside Cafe giftcard for $25

And countless other restaurants that I know now that I must try. Arrrg!

One good thing is that they aren't delivered to your inbox, so no daily temptation at least.

Events at MIT

2010-01-27T21:36:00.005-05:00

College was great for free stuff. I joined the Commuters Club, International Students Club and the 8 Minute Abs Club. I wasn't a commuter, a foreigner or in possession of ripped abs. I was in it for the free food and fun events. My only weekly expense running the NYUSwings! Club? Brownie mix and milk.But now that you're out of college, what to do? I luckily have a college ID without any dates and a youthful complexion, so I save a lot of money on tickets for shows and museums. But there's more. I'm in Boston--this is college central. One of the best for events I've found is MIT.

That's right. The university of uber-nerds is actually a hub of social activity and free food. I suppose I've known this for a while. I've been a big fan of the Wednesday night free swing dance.

But there's also free tango dancing, movies and more. One of my favorites this year was the F.A.T. (Friday After Thanksgiving) event where 35 teams produce Rube Goldberg contraptions that are linked to create a chain reaction. You got to check out the video here.

A full events calendar is online at the MIT website. Sure a lot of events are MIT students only, but I doubt they'll check or just say you left your ID in your dorm room. (Better figure out the name of a dorm I suppose.) Here's some favorites: Annual Hummus taste-off (tomorrow), Fried Rice Iron Chef (tonight), MIT Charm School (this weekend). I'll be putting my favorites on my events calendar.

Yelp Karma?

2010-01-20T08:55:00.004-05:00

I go posting about how great yelp is and then just a day later they end up using a quote of mine in the Yelp weekly review!

'Boston Cheese Cellar in Roslindale is "the only store you actually want to be smelly," yelps Megan S, who finds she's "always free to taste any of the dozens of cheese they have in house." '

Make sure you get out there to celebrate National Cheese Lover's Day today!

Yelp!

2010-01-17T16:16:00.005-05:00

Yelp, is no longer the sound a dog makes, it's the sound of twenty-somethings writing mini-reviews of their most favorite and hated, restaurants, stores, salons, and just about anything else these days. If you're not on Yelp you are probably not going to the best bars, the cheapest eateries or the tastiest restaurants. Worse yet, you could be going to dull, over-priced places with bad service.

Since Yelp I've only had fantastic meals, drinks and massages.

Here's why Yelp isn't just another Citysearch:

1. The writers are snarky, clever, irreverent and often hilarious. These aren't Zagat's reviews here or even a Lonely Planet tour book. Each person has their own style and it's usually well-written and brutally honest.

2. The map feature is pretty cool - see what top-rated eateries are around where you are. Want somewhere else? Just drag the map over and new places pop up.

3. You can 'bookmark' places to try later and put notes with it. "To Try: Masa Note: $1 tapas on Thursday."

4. Many businesses offer Yelper's discount. Say you saw it on Yelp and at Blu you get 30% off your lunch or $15 off your Thai bodywork session at Boston Thai Yoga.

5. Events and community are also key on Yelp. Waste some time trolling the message boards to see some funny drama. Check out user-posted events like Paper-Rock-Scissors Tournaments. And if you're in the Yelp Elite Squad you get invited to free events put on by local stores and eateries where they wine and dine you to get your 5 star rating.

6. The reviews are usually right on. Folks are encouraged to use their real name and photo and write truthfully. There's also a ton of folks on the site. There's a graph that shows you how many people gave it 1, 2, 3, etc. stars and the average rating. So in the end you get a pretty good picture of if the place is worth checking out.

Hop on Yelp and be sure to friend me!

Highlights from Holiday Happenings

2010-01-02T14:11:00.005-05:00

This is the first year that I skipped our paid vacation to Aspen. After my 3 week trip to Mexico I decided I'd had enough of planes for a while. And no matter--I planned a week full of exciting (and cheap!) events while most in the office were gone.

First off was the new Harpoon Beer tasting at the Kinsale and trying out Minibar's cocktails and Aspen-like interior decorating and fireplace.

The next day I organized a group to go the Wine Bottega's chocolate and wine tasting (free) and dinner in the Italian North End (not free).

More free booze on Thursday at Albert Winestein's tasting.

Then Friday I went to the Lexington annual Handel's Messiah. Now on it's 49th year, this is certainly the best sing-a-long Messiah there is. Many people there have been going, 10, 20, 30, event 40+ years! There was an air of camaraderie and a somewhat dorky love of singing aloud. At one point the bass singer finished a particularly good solo and I found myself grinning and nodding. I happened to look around and almost everyone was smiling and nodding in appreciation.

I spent Christmas at home in South Jersey, which is always a unique sensory experience. I spent most of the weekend being shuttled between relatives and family friends' homes. Because my father drove, I usually slept through the rides. It was if I'd magically awake in another strange house. Windows were small and it was dark out, so it was if the outside never existed--just funny knick-knacks, TVs always on and different people's wedding photos.

I'm used to being very aware of my environs. Up until recently I'd bike to work. Thursday I walked the 2 miles to the grocery store in the snow (safer than driving), stopping in shops and the library along the way. You notice the new art hanging in the gallery. You say hi to neighbors and you pet others' dogs. You notice a house's new paint job and feel the immediacy of the wind and weather.

The car to house, to car to house routine got a little surreal after four days. It's almost as if the state of New Jersey didn't exist, just a few folk's homes--and cars.

This week I returned to Boston with a vengeance. Went to Redbones for a beer launch. The wait was one cold, cold hour outdoors and the keg was kicked by the time we made it in, but the free appetizers of corn fritters, fried catfish, shrimp made a fine dinner. Partied perhaps a little too hardy for New Years with our home-made glögg.

I made up for January 1st's day of sloth with early morning sledding today, followed by more sloth.

Do holidays get any better than this?

Mmmm . . . cake.

2009-12-21T17:10:00.004-05:00

This weekend was a snowy cold one, so it was mostly indoors. Friday's cheap event was the annual Lexington Handel's Messiah Sing-a-long. Going on for nearly 50 years, there were dozens of folk that had been coming for over a decade. Two ladies had been coming for over 40 years! No wonder it was the best chorus I've ever heard; these people were well-practiced.

Looking for Cheap Events in Boston? Look no further!

2009-12-17T20:43:00.007-05:00

Berlin for Beginners

2009-12-07T18:22:00.006-05:00

From time to time I hear that a friend is going to one of my favorite destinations. My skills as the finder of all things good and cheap do extend out of this country. I am excited to help point them in the direction of the best, cheapest, and most inspiring things to take in in town. Let me know if you ever would like me to write a mini-guide for you. For Libby and Mary J, here's a Berlin Primer.

My first tip is to pack warmly! But you probably knew that, no?

First, stop by a hostel on the City Spy list to pick up a Mr. Gordonsky's City Spy Map. It's funny, useful and fits in your pocket. It was a valuable reference for me in many European cities. Do this right away!

Do you like art? Well, free museum day is Thursday. 4 hours before closing time everything is free. I think Pergamon Museum was my favorite--it had a giant Athenian temple. Most of the museums are on MuseumIinsel (Museum Island) so you can hit up most in the 4 hours.

I went through an WWII obsessive phase when I was younger, so Berlin to me was also the place of so many unbelievable stories from my youth. But Berlin made them all come alive. If you're into WWII, I highly recommend Checkpoint Charlie--one of the places where folks would cross between the East and West. Outside is often an American and German soldier (or actors, rather) and the museum is full of objects and stories of the people that tried to escape and resist. I read The Fall of Berlin 1945 right before I got there and I recommend the book to get you in the mood.

The East Germany Museum isn't free on Thursday, but is a new, well-done look at life under communism.

You must go to the Reichtag Building. This is Germany's parliment. It was in use until 1945 where it was one of the last stands of Hitler's Youth. Needless to say, the building was pretty bombed out. As soon as the Wall came down, Germans rebuilt the building and is now in use again as the parliment. Today Germans and tourists alike can tour the top of the building for free which now has a beautiful glass dome. You can look down on the desks of the representatives, symbolizing that Germans are now watching their government and will not let anything like the Third Reich happen again. Get there early as lines can be long. Buy some currywurst, a favorite Berlin snackfood to eat while you wait.

Only thing better than cheap is Free Tours! We took a free tour from a student--they work for tips and therefore, work hard. It was really wonderful and probably the most educational and entertaining thing I did on my whole trip.

Get your passport stamped in East Germany. Over where the hostel boat is, is the last longest stretch of the Berlin wall. Follow it down for a bit and you'll find a tacky gift shop, that will stamp your passport with the DDR (Democratic Deutschland Republic) mark. The boat also has a bar on it, which is quite swanky if you need refreshments.

Also nearby the hostel boat is the Friedrichshain & Kreuzberg districts, which are hip and up-and-coming. Filled with youth, artists and Turks there are beautiful city streets to get lost in and cheap restaurants abound with not a tourist in sight. For other hip neighborhoods and restaurants check out this great article in the New York Times about hidden dining spots.

Overall Berlin is just about as perfect combination as you can get. The city is easily navigable and cheap. It's a hot spot for radical politics and artists. This city is full of history and trying to remember it, so as not to repeat it. But at the same time it is trying to reinvent itself to leave all that nastiness behind. So double wrap that scarf around your neck, pick up your beer (I recommend the Heffeweissen mixed with banana juice, a Berliner favorite) and start exploring!

Be a Winner!

2009-12-07T15:36:00.006-05:00

So your chance of getting in a car accident, plane accident or getting struck by lightening are better than winning the lottery. But your chances of winning travel and local contests? Very good!

This weekend I did the JP Holiday Stroll and collected 10 different stickers from local businesses to be entered in a raffle. It was either bad advertising or the cold rain, but each of the dozens entrants won. I think I got the best steal with a $50 Ten Tables gift certificate. On Thursday I'm going to a concert courtesy of Berklee School of Music.

So far I've won a 70 lb (and worth 70 British pounds) World Atlas, a book on Australian wine, pocket guides for Beijing and Madrid, and how-to books on surfing, snorkeling and skiing from DK Travel. I've won a USA tour book from Lonely Planet. Rick Steve's Travel as a Political Act, from Rick Steves. . . and more! Most contests require you do a bit of writing, like reviewing your favorite restaurant on DK Travel, or answering a survey for Lonely Planet. But nothing so difficult. Here's a few recommendations of places to try your luck:

Friends of Harpoon: You get nifty little card that gets you discounts at a few bars and shows, but you can also enter drawings to go to special tastings. I attended the wet hops beer unveiling there this fall with 50 other invited guests.

Berklee School of Music: Sign up for the newsletter and you get info on all the upcoming shows (sometimes free), but they have contests to win tickets. This Thursday I'll be attending a Mark O'Connor concert for free!

Hostelworld.com: Another newsletter with good stories, and a contest every month to win a stay at a hostel. (Suppose you still have to get to the hostel, usually located in Europe, somehow.)

Lonely Planet Newsletter: Again, good stories each month, special deals, and answer one travel trivia question to be entered in a drawing to win a book each month. Right now if you sign up for the newsletter, you are entered in a contest to win $10,000 worth of travel.

Travel DK: These guys make the inspiring, yet awful in use colorful eyewitness guidebooks. But, they do have fabulous prizes. I've won 3 times already! By sumitting a new highlight for a city, or designing your own city guide with their program you are entered to win prizes every month.

If you do win, let me know!

The Proverbial Cherry on Top

2009-12-07T08:38:00.004-05:00

On Tuesday I flew out of quaint and quiet San Cristobal straight back into the devil's mouth--Mexico City. The flight was uneventful. Though I saw an interesting news story on the tv at the airport about a woman falling in the path of what looked like the orange line in Boston!)

I had reserved the cheapest room nearest to the subway line that would get me back to the airport the following morning--which turned out to be right next to the main square, the Zocalo. A complete 180 from my wide-eyed marveling on the train when I arrived 17 days before, I rode the subway head down, ipod on, not even blinking at the pda and shady sales going on around me. I emerged in the Zocalo. It looked like at any minute a massive rock concert would be starting and children everywhere had glowing toys resembling quidditch balls that they'd fling into the air and let fall back down gently.

I dropped off my luggage, and ate the free dinner of butter and cheese coated spaghetti. I met some Israelis who informed me that the square chaos was a celebration of Mexico's Revolution Bicentennial and recommended it. I headed back down to the square.

What followed was the most spectacular spectacle that ever was created by man. Better than the Boston Pops Fourth of July, better than the Mummer's Parade, even better than Disney World.

This video does the most justice to the show, but really you had to be there. It's hard to describe what happened but I am now convinced Mexico is the greatest country on Earth.

Well, convinced during the duration of the 15 minute show. At the very least, Mexico City has lost my deep loathing and instead redeemed itself as a visit-worthy city.

I went to bed early and steeled myself for 16 hours of travel the next day.

Done with Tanning and back to Culture

2009-11-29T21:48:00.005-05:00

Even after four days of lathering on the sunscreen, I had a mighty awful burn in some awkward spots. I gave up the idea of horse back riding my last day and instead renting a chair and umbrella, ordered a big plate of seafood and took in the surfing competition on the main beach. My stomach was still recovering from whatever it is that makes us gringos sick, so I still didn't consume more than one beer the whole week. Which is hard when you're surrounded by fun-loving (and very good looking) Aussies and Kiwis back at your hostel cooking up fresh caught fish on the barbie every night trying to get you to party.

After four days I could have stayed the rest of the trip and diligently worked on my tan, but two things spurned me on: the thought of having to take a bus back up to Oaxaca and the joyful fact that I had a direct flight from Tuxtla to Mexico City already bought. I hopped on a first class bus and made the 11 hour, very comfortable trip to San Cristobal.

I can't even remember the first thing that made me first look at San Cristobal. Even before I left I wasn't sure if I was going to make it that far. I am so glad I did. The hostel was perfect. My $5 US a night room was empty almost the whole week. Breakfast was on the house. The living room was stocked with about a hundred bootleg DVDs and best of all two new puppies were allowed free range of the courtyard. It was like a second home.

I continued my practice of busy sight-seeing and soaking in sun during the day and laying low at night. My trip-long sickness preventing me from partying up could be considered a blessing and a curse. I'm sure it saved me a lot of money and drama, but I missed out on a lot of fun, I'm sure.

Days in San Cristobal were dreamy. I did a horse-back riding trip to a tiny village inhabited by natives whom had kicked out the Christians years ago and instead used the pew-less church for healing ceremonies and ground-level worship on beds of pine needles. I hiked up to churches perched above the town. Mostly I wandered the charming streets eating churros and shopping the wears of the highly talented artisans.

While there were a handful of tourists, most looked Mexican, but you could tell that before the swine flu/drug war media craze this place was a haven for both the American hippies looking to get in on the Zapatista revolution and yuppie travelers. Excellent restaurants catering to vegetarians abounded and I caught an artsy, political flick at a restaurant/language school/cinema.

It was a wonderful last stop on an 18 day tour and if there's one place I'd return to, it's San Cristobal.

Bus Ride from Hell . . . to Paradise

2009-11-29T21:17:00.007-05:00

Now the distance between Oaxaca and Puerto Esconido looks about the same as Philly to New York City, which would take any sensible driver 2 hours. There are two buses you can take from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido: the first class bus for about $35 takes the flat, newer highwaysaround the mountains and takes 8 hours or the second class bus for $17 that cuts right through and takes 5 hours. Given this info, which would you take? Second class, right there with you.

Ehhhh! Wrong choice. I am no elitist. Hell, I had slept on the floor already one night on this trip, but this was a scary bus. It took off as the sun had just set. Extra passengers stood in the aisle, holding on to the back of my seat for one hour as the contraption (nearly a bus) zig-zagged up the mountain range. Each and every settlement along the roads had put in a tope, or speedbump, bringing our demon-speeding bus to a screeching crawl.

My alarm went off at 1am, what should have been 20 minutes before arrival, but the minutes, then the hours ticked by.

The view out the window was jungle flying by to the right. Then jungle flying by to the left as the bus wound very narrow pot-holed roads. Our soundtrack was that creepy Bach organ fugue, followed by Carmina Burana and then . . . the Nutcracker Suite. Was this a nightmare or dream? For the next four hours I was wide awake thinking I'd miss my stop.

I didn't, at 4:30am we arrived. My hostel's guard let me in, pointed to a bed and I collapsed.

I awoke to paradise. A walled in set of houses that all seemed to run together surrounded a quiet pool. A bridge ran over the pool and let to hammocks and lounging chairs. Palm trees were everywhere. Nothing looked too well kept, but in my haze of little sleep it was a dream. I put on my suit, got directions and headed out to the nearest beach. My hostel was a ways away from the center of nightlife and a good walk to the beach, but oh what a beach. One of the more secluded, less traveled beaches, I found myself virtually alone, with a cove of blue and multiple sleepy little bars ready to hack a coconut for me and stick in a straw.

Now this was a vacation.

Oaxaca in Color

2009-11-09T17:22:00.004-05:00

The Ruins of Monte Alban, set high in the hills above Oaxaca City

A weaving cooperative outside the city

Oaxaca Institute for Culture displays alters from regions across the state

Celebrators pose

A woman offers shots of tequilla as she sits by her alter

The finale of a dance production put on barefoot in the dirt against the backdrop of the city´s cathedral

Go South!

2009-11-09T16:41:00.004-05:00

It was advice given to me on my last night in New York before flying out. I should have listened right away. Mexico just gets better and better (and cheaper) the further south you go. I was charmed by Oaxaca. As soon as I arrived I signed myself up for the first tour. I was tired of do-it-yourself and wanted to be escorted around a bit.

Despite being one of the most popular times to visit Oaxaca (Day of the Dead) our tour was not the embarressing tour bus group of 40 people or so led by a shouting woman holding her umbrella high to make sure her ducklings were following. A van picked me up at the hostel with a mere 6 others and our visits to the ruins of Mitla, the Tulle tree (possibly oldest in the world) and a textile weaving cooperative were uncrowded and all worth it. I found fast traveling companions in the two germans in the backseat with me and two older ladies from the West Coast in front.

Delighted by the cheapness and relaxed tours I decided to do more. I signed up for a cooking class and a visit to Monte Alban, some of the best ruins left in Mesoamerica. I was delighted to find myself the only one signed up for both.

The private cooking class turned into a hangout session with the young chef´s friends that worked at the hostel. While learning the 20 ingredients that go into mole, I also learned about the life and times of being young in Mexico. The eldest girl had recently married. She and her husband were in school studying sustainable tourism. In order for her to share his scholarship they needed to be married. So, he had proposed over the phone and they were married the next day. It was fine, but not what she wanted. She also longed to be out of Mexico City, away from the pollution, but that is where all the good schools and jobs were. It´s not the first time I had heard the story, my host in Mexico City also had had no desire to get married and have kids and wanted out of the city. Mexicans all don´t fit our preconceptions.

The rest of the time, I wandered the old colonial streets and spent my evenings gawking at Dias de los Muertos festivities -- now a strange blend of indigenous belief that the dead come back for a night to commune with their families, the Christian celebration of All Saint´s Day, and the American tradition of dressing up scary and partying. Here the celebrations last 4 nights, with people getting dressed up, multiple bands in the streets, and alters honoring the dead everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean the entire Zocalo, every hotel, every store, every restaurant and school.

My fourth day I tried to get an early bus to Puerto Escondido, but found tickets sold out until 8:30pm. No matter; I spent one more afternoon wandering, catching a cultural tour show on the plaza and then steeled myself for what was supposed to be a 5 hour bus ride to the coast. . .

Restarting in Oaxaca

2009-11-02T13:37:00.002-05:00

Mexicó city had been rough. Going from serene, fall foliaged, bikable, Boston--barely a city, really--to the 2nd largest megatropolis in world is shocking. Even my brief overnight stay in NYC before the flight didn´t prepare me for the people shock. It doesn´t help that Mexico City is actually a city upon cities, with falling apart infastructure and not designed for a newcomer.

I have two kinds of the Mexicó City in my head--the beautiful museums, the ruins exposed next to the Zocalo, in the subway stops and in the hinter land, the delicious quesadillas, the murals, political discussions with my host. Then there´s the waking up at the crack of dawn with my host, always being lost, the drenching rain, the confusing and crowded subway, getting very very sick. The two images now seem to balance eachother out, so that I don´t much like or dislike the place. But sitting in the bus station, I was ready to get out and start an acutal vacation.

Finally out of the ring of Mexicó City´s smog, the skies were bright blue, and the fields of marigolds were in full bloom, being sold on the side of the road for Day of the Dead festivities.

As the bus pulled through the narrow Oaxacan streets I hit the reset button in my head. And arriving at a suprisingly spotless hostel I found my reservation (made at an internet cafe in the station right before my bus pulled out) was in good standing. My simple baguette dinner felt fine in my stomach and the city museum was free and open late for the Day of the Dead. My head hit the pillow soundly that night after my first hot shower with shampoo in ages, very, very soundly. I was finally on vacation.

Unedited, untitled, raw mess of photos here. Try guessing what the pictures are for fun.

Holá Again Warm Weather!

2009-10-27T10:52:00.002-04:00

My trip to Mexico could be described as my attempt to hold on to the warm weather for a bit longer . . . or a desire to understand a place that the media chooses to keep putting down . . . or a cheaper consolation prize for not being able to afford to go back to Europe.

It's all these things. But it's certainly not a vacation. So far my trip has had many moments where you just have to say 'okay' and go with it -- Your host has one key and needs to leave for work at 6am? okay. The waiter again brings you meat? okay. You get on an express train to the stadium by accident? okay. You loose your atm card? okay.

That is not to say that I'm not glad that I'm here or that it's a completely mindbending experience to take the Mexico City metro at rush hour or see thoroughly intricate Day of the Dead alters or be forced to accelerate your 5 weeks of Spanish classes to the equivelant of 2 years in order to get through the day.

It's awesome, but I woner if the pain in my stomach is the food or the stress.

Goodbye Warm Weather, Goodbye Bike Rides, Hello Cold

2009-10-20T20:58:00.003-04:00

Perhaps it is a bit cruel to go on vacation to a higher latitude, but the locale was not in my control. While beautiful this time of year, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine were best experienced from a window last week. It was the first time I had really experienced fall in a while. With the election last year, Barcelona before that and 2 years in Miami, noticing foliage being anything other than green has been half a decade past due. I'll admit it, mountainous drives through the reds and oranges were pretty, but all that ends when it's 34 degrees and sleeting on you.

Here's my homage to wonderful warm weather events gone by:

Wake Up the Earth Festival, Jamaica Plain

Revere Beach, Revere

First Thursdays, Jamaica Plain

Walden Pond, Concord

Lantern Festival, Forest Hills

Blue Hills Brewery and State Park, Milton

Minuteman Bikepath, Arlington

(too busy biking to take pictures)

St. Anthony's Festival, North End

Whale Watching, Gloucester

Riversing, Cambridge

Honkfest, Sommerville

Elite means I'm better than you.

2009-10-01T14:15:00.006-04:00

Watch out dining establishments in Boston - I am now a Yelp Elite Squad member. One bad meal and you are crushed. Conversely, I will shower love and praise on my favorite restaurants and shops. Coincidentally, this induction does include free food events.

Elite Squad is just a few rungs below New York Times' food critic and above anonymous blogger.

A Week of Nature Porn

2009-09-28T21:08:00.002-04:00

I barely watch tv, what with my rabbit-eared ten year-old set in my living room not having the best picture, but even I know about the new Ken Burns documentary series--National Parks: America's Best Idea.

It's astoundingly beautiful and has already made me pull out my USA guide and start planning trips. I highly recommend to start watching if you haven't yet and try your hand at this week's lonely planet National Parks contest.

Ode to the Charles

2009-09-22T21:38:00.004-04:00

Now I know to start inviting folks earlier. Going it alone wasn't so bad though, in fact I loved the community vibe.

Riversing is put on by a local band of merry-makers who also run pub sing-a-longs a few times a year. This is the sixth year they've done Riversing in an attempt to create new traditions and build community. There's an amateur choir, a few professionals, a white-haired, spectacled man in a white tux that leads the whole thing and then a few hundred people that join in song.

Joggers still out of breath from their run. Women with popped collars singing in high sopranos. Older men with raspy baritones. Children holding hands and spinning in circles while they sing. Moms singing to their babies. College students singing, yet trying to be cool. Bikers still with their helmets on, balancing their bikes and reading the lyrics in the program.

We all sang our odes to the River. No need for worshiping any omnipotent God or celebration of any special battle. Just people coming together, thankful that they live in such a place where these kind of things can happen, where there's a river and parkland that people work to conserve and that the summer was good and the autumn has arrived.

In between songs we heard poems about rivers. As one poet spoke the line "a flock of geese flew overhead." a flock of geese appeared in the dimming light and flew overhead, swinging back to settle down on the bank opposite us to watch the show. The crowd oohed. More staged magic occurred as the event closed with us serenading a saxophone who had come on a boat with a giant puppet moon and sun. Circling near the shore, we alternated between our voices, his riff and a low bowing of the cello.

Some photos from the evening:

Riversing

Leave the Cahr at Home for visiting Southies

2009-09-17T22:42:00.004-04:00

Monday of Labor Day weekend was another bike-full day. I pulled out my Walk Boston book and biked the South Boston tour. When you think working class Boston, The Departed, that retahded accent: you're thinking South Boston. Once a not-so-nice neighborhood. It's rising in status considerably as the yuppies who like being close to the center have moved in and renovated homes.

It's also really hilly, so my calves got quite a work-out. First was one of the highest points in Boston: Telegraph Hill. The site of where Washington ordered a cannon to be placed and how we won one of the first battles of the revolution. You can see how close the neighborhood is to downtown from this point, and the water that surrounds the neighborhood. How did they get that cannon up here anyway?

Next stop: Castle Island. Not technically an island anymore and nothing like a castle. Our kind Southie guide gave us a free tour of the fort and all it's history since the Revolutionary War.

The fort has a big park around it . . . with lots of lovely people enjoying the holiday. It reminded me a bit of Montjuic in Barcelona, until I saw these two lovely ladies.

Definitely America. You can see here how the park curves around. Castle Island is now a park and beach with a ring of land around it--perfect for biking of course.

I ended my Southie adventure with a pint at the bar where Good Will Hunting was filmed, chatting it up with a local on a work break about home prices in the area and in Miami.

All in all, a beautiful day, a good workout and an authentic Boston experience.

Many minutes on the Minuteman

2009-09-17T21:12:00.004-04:00

Third installment of my labor day weekend now that I'm through with some of the days' labor.

After a late night at the Donkey Show on Friday and a long day looking for whales and checking out the brewery on Cape Ann on Saturday. I was ready for some time alone. I took the T out to Alewife and rode the Minuteman Bikeway out through Arlington, Lexington and to Bedford. The trail is wooded and generally away from civilization, with nice little interludes through downtown Arlington and Lexington. The ride didn't take very long and once I got to Bedford and hit up their little old-timey railroad display I felt like I could go anywhere. I started planning cross-country trips in my head.

Back in real life, I decided to bike as far as Concord, another 5 miles. Concord, the town where Paul Revere rode through warning revolutionaries "The British are coming!" (I have new respect for how far they walked now!) I had an an amazing crab cake sandwich at the Main Street Cafe. A decidedly non-chain bar, coffee shop meeting place, the Main Street Cafe, does not allow cell-phones or laptops (take that Panera's!). I read books at the fabulous local, independent book store and had ice cream at the Bedford Depot. Nothing beats homemade ice cream after a 16 mile ride.

I hopped on the commuter rail back to Cambridge. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with this idea. The front of the car I was in was packed with bikes. I slept all the way back to Porter Square and didn't even get charged. I had another 5 mile ride back home and stopped to run errands along the way.

A lovely day in all. I'm really in love with my bike. It's my gym, my transportation, my meditation. Nothing has been better than bike riding lately, and I know that come first snow-fall in Boston, there'll be a huge a hole in my life.

For now, I'm taking advantage.

View Larger Map

A map of my ride.

Day Trip to the Cape, Cape Ann that Is

2009-09-11T23:23:00.008-04:00

Everyone knows about Cape Cod--Kennedy's, cranberries, beaches. Cape Ann is Cod's northern counterpart. Lesser known, but no less beautiful and interesting.

To be truthful I didn't know much about Cape Ann until I went. I had bought a whale watching coupon for $20 on groupon. Then I got excited after I saw this article in the New York Times on the North Cape.

Labor Day weekend traffic got us off to bit late of a start--no where near as bad as traffic going to Cape Cod though! We had lobster rolls at Morning Glory Cafe over looking the bay and the Man of the Sea statue. (side note: The Man of the Sea overwhelmengly was voted by residents to be the image put on the back on the quarter for Massachusetts, yet was passed over because it was not a National site. It's owned by the city. And beloved by everyone.)

Whale watching is a simple business. You take a boat out and point to whales for your customers. Cape Ann Whale Watch does this fairly well. We saw a lot of beautiful whales. The trip is run by whale scientists who are not great showmen, but have a lot of knowledge. . . And they sell really cheap boxed wine.

Continuing on the booze trail we went next to the Cape Ann Brewing Company. Now this is something I'd love to have in my neighborhood: a homey bar with a brewery in the back. Your choice of seats--rocking chairs, bar stools or long benches. We did the full tasting, which might have impared my first time playing Yahtzee since grandma was alive.

Colleen's Yahtzee was just fine.

Now I'm reading The Last Fish Tale by Mark Kurlansky to learn more about this fascinating blue-collar beach town, which is still home to enclaves of immigrant communities from the Portuguese Islands Azorea to the western part of Scillily. It also is one of the last true local fishing ports left in America, which is now being threatened by overfishing. I hope for the sake of the fish, the whales, the folk of Gloucester that we figure it out.

Explore Your Backyard!

2009-09-11T17:25:00.006-04:00

I hate the word 'Staycations': the idea that folks don't have the money or time (or imagination) to actually take a real vacation, so they take a few days off and vacation at home.

All these blogs that love the idea of staycations need to get out a bit more.

Websites like Supereco recommend going to the library, investigating a local farmer's market and trying a new restaurant. I'm of the mind that you should be doing all these things already. If you need a staycation to check books out of the library, shop at a farmer's market and try a restaurant then something is wrong. Even I work 60 hour weeks and manage to fit these things in.

Home and Garden magazine recommends planning a tv night or gardening. I wonder what these writers do when they go on vacations. Consumer Reports gets a little more edgy recommending train rides and going to museums. Again, one should do these things in normal life.

So this labor day weekend I refuse to label my activities as a 'Staycation.' What I had was a series of backyard adventures.

Friday's adventure started out with a picnic after work in front of the Harvard libaray. We wildly brown bagged a few bottles of wine and snacked on some cheeses. I got a few giggles from students when I recycled the bottles at the library when we were done.

As usual I found a coupon code for our entertainment for the night: (hint: the code is MANIA) Donkey Show. Regularly priced tickets at $28 were just $14 for us. And before you freak, it's not that kind of donkey show, well, not really. Donkey Show is Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream set to disco in a disco. The show happens all around you and with you. Glittery, scantilly clad, gay boys dance around and bring you into the action. The characters are wildly dressed in spandex and roller skates or orange polyester suits and afros. After the show we stuck around and danced for another hour. I forgot how fun silly 70's music could be.

That guy behind him is just an unsuspecting audience member. Perhaps not so unsuspecting, though? His outfit is pretty wild too.

City Spy

2009-08-30T15:51:00.005-04:00

I'm a big fan of tour books for the planning stages of a trip. Nothing gets my travel juices flowing more than a big eyewitness, full-color guide book. Reading novels taking place in my destination--I drool. But lug those thick hardcovers across an ocean--no way!

Instead I often rip out the pages you need or the Lonely Planet feature Pick & Mix, which lets you buy chapters of the books for cheap and print them out yourself.

The best on the ground resources, though, has got to be Mr. Gordonsky's City Spy maps. You can try reading it online, but I promise you the grammar and typeset will frustrate you. Instead check out their hostel recommendations and pick up a copy in the lobby. In person the maps are charming and quirky. The maps fold up easily to fit in your pocket and usually have the best, local low-down on where to eat, drink, party and stay. They even have a handy phrase guide. Handy phrases being "Who here would like to do a body shot with me?" or "Can you help me with my zipper?"

These things are obviously geared to the younger traveler, which makes them the perfect suplement to the Rick Steves guides.

So far Mr. Gordonsky covers Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, Krumlov, Prague, Riga, Vilinius, Wein and Wroclaw. And I'm starting my own Boston one soon.

Perhaps with better grammar though.

Eating for Less

2009-08-22T14:00:00.010-04:00

I'm definitely an expert on eating for pennies. There was my one week on the election last year I had grits 3 meals a day and there's my perfecting the ol' steal lots of food from the dining hall during college routine.

There's always the tension though--have a fabulous meal out on the town or save it for your next trip to Europe. However, part of experiencing your backyard and abroad is experienceing food. Here's some ways to break your PB&J habit and still save.

Groupon is the new, viral group-coupon. Everyday get a hard-to-believe deal on local businesses. My recent snags? $20 for $50 worth of sushi. $20 for $40 at the Savant Project. $15 for $30 at the Boston Cheese Cellar. They're such good deals you'll have to hold back to not buy them everyday.

Restaurant.com certificates are the most tacky, but the best deal. $25 of food certificates are just $10, but get on their e-mail list and you'll be alerted when even that low price is 50%-80% off. There's always some hitches on these things--having to buy two entrees, can't be used for alcohol, having to whip out this folded up print-out coupon at the end of the meal--but the price is right.

Sometimes a meal is made by the surroundings. Dining al fresco is a great way to feel fancy and foot-loose. Technically you could say it is eating out, but without the tipping. You pick the food. To keep it cheap I recommend a brie and bread. Feeling a little lawless? Pack a bottle opener, plastic cups and a cheap bottle. The locale depends on your city, but my favorites in Boston are the Franklin Cemetery, Blue Hills Park and the Harbor Walk.

Go ahead, feel a little chichi. Tastings might not fill you up, but you get to taste expensive wares for free. For a list of places near you type "free tasting" into yelp.com. My favorites in Boston are the Solera, Best Cellars and the Wine Gallery. It doesn't stop at wine--taste beer at Sam Adams or Harpoon's breweries or cheese at the Cheese Cellar.

Eating ethnic is usually more interesting and cheaper than eating out American. Go straight to the source--eating Chinese in Chinatown is infintely cheaper than PF Chang's. For the cheapest results choose dingy hole-in-the-walls or trucks.

Don't go out hungry. I kind of think of it like pre-gaming. Have a drink and some snacks before you go out. Then hit up an expensive place and share an entree.

I'll be the first to admit Restaurant Week isn't cheap, but its probably the only way you're going to be able to afford a meal at most of the restaurants on the list. Coral Gables to Houston are doing restaurant weeks now and many places have extended the 'week' to be one or two months long. Lunches are the best deal at around $25 for three courses and dinners run around $35.

Finally, you resist the need to eat out, by making eating in special. Get a fancy cookbook out of the library. Light some candles. Sit on the porch. Change it up and you won't feel so bad about staying in.

Showing off Boston

2009-07-25T21:45:00.003-04:00

For a few weeks each year I give up my relatively cushy job for a 70-hour work-week. My postings have fallen by the wayside, but that's not to say my adventures have. Even with 70 hours at work I use what time I have left to enjoy the sunshine that has finally graced us with it's presence.

Last weekend I had a chance to show off my city to my parents. I used this as an opportunity to eat out at fancy places I'd been eyeing the past few months--Harvest in Cambridge (divine!) and Ten Tables in JP (take it or leave it). It was also a weekend of small-world run-ins. This has been happening quite often actually. Two friends ended up getting a table directly next to us at Ten Tables. Waiting for our table for brunch at Centre Street Cafe on Sunday we ran into my highschool friend and her mom--turns out she just bought a house down the street.

Here's some sightseeing highlights:

Lantern Festival in Forest Hills Cemetery

Biking and shopping along Centre/South Street

Sam Adams Brewery tour (I've got quite the collection of free tasting glasses now.)

Sand sculpting Festival at Revere Beach

Top Ten Ways to 'Travel' in Your Own Backyard

2009-07-03T10:47:00.003-04:00

1. Sunbathe

Put on your swimsuit, pull out your beach towel and layout. It doesn't take too much imagination to picture your self on a beach somewhere--close your eyes, the sun is the exact same sun. The quiet woosh of the cars are waves. The birds? Well those are seagulls!

When your tan gets really fabulous and folks ask you where you just got back from vacation to, feel free to lie and say Aculpoco.

2. Eat foreign food.

I guarantee that unless you really live in the backwoods, you have some ethnic restaurants in your hood. Now eating pizza at the Upper Crust here doesn't count. Chinese joints with forks are nixed too. The more times that 'authentic' appears on the yelp review page, the better. Live music gets double points. Go to an Indian restaurant on a night they have a sitar player or when your local Mexican joint has a mariachi band.

An equal substitute would be to shop in ethnic markets for food--dip into one of those European markets or Indian groceries. If you can't understand the language of the shoppers, you're in the right place.

3. Take the train or bus to the last stop.

I'll never forget the time I took a train to another train to a bus and then walked a quarter mile to a park seemingly in the middle of nowhere--in Queens. I had the place to myself for the day as I hiked, crossed bridges, spotted egrets. There are dozens and dozens of the 'end of the lines.' Pick one and see what you find.

This picture here is not some National Park--it's the Hollywood Hills--see LA in the background (beneath the smog)?

4. Attend a cultural festival.

Every upstanding cultural group has festivals. The summer is the best. Week after week saint processions go down in the North End here in Boston. We've got Chinese Dragon Boat racing, the Puerto Rican parade, Bastille Day. Get yourself out on the street, bring your dancing shoes and some cash for all the great street food.

5. Hang out in an ethnic neighborhood

That said, don't think you need to wait for a holiday to experience another culture. Just go hang out there. Los Angeles is the best for this: they boast the most Mexicans outside of Mexico, the most Koreans outside of Korea, Samoans outside of Samoa. You get the picture. Each neighborhood is surprisingly distinct. I ended up getting my apartment in Koreatown last year. I learned to love kimchi, would drink pitchers of Hite, hang out in Korean-style coffee shops and party it up in the local Karaoke bars.

Perhaps your town doesn't boast a Korean-only 20 block radius for you to immerse yourself. But I bet there's a Chinatown with some cool shopping or a Hispanic neighborhood with killer arepas or pupusas.

6. Go to touristy places.

This is the opposite of going to cultural-hot spots, but nonetheless fun, and will put you right in the 'I'm a tourist' mindset. Take a guided tour. (Here in JP, our historical society offers free tours every Saturday.) Go on a harbor cruise. Go to the museum. Have a drink at Cheers.

For the love of God, however, please do not eat at Hard Rock Café, Johnny Rockets or Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. This will not make you feel like a tourist--just an asshole.

7. Get lost.

How many streets are in your city? How many do you actually walk down everyday to get to work--5, 6? Take a wrong turn and see where it takes you! Maybe you'll find a cute botique you never knew about or a creperie off the beaten path.

8. Show someone around.

There's no better way to force yourself to look at a city anew than to show someone around. They'll notice things you never have. It also gives you an excuse to act like a tourist. I never would have taken this picture if I wasn't hanging out without my mom.

9. Pretend!

Boston's not too far from the old world, so it's easy to walk some of the financial district on the way to the post office for work, pretending I'm off to a museum in Vienna. At Haymarket I pretend that I'm shopping at a Catalunyan Boqueria. Bike through the Fens and pretend they are Dutch canals. A little imagination and you can put yourself anywhere.

10. See with new eyes.

Part of that special travel feeling is seeing things for the first time. Retrain yourself to notice the details in your own city. Raising my line of sight just a bit, I saw the art-deco embellishments on buildings downtown I had walked by hundreds of time without wonder. Biking across the Harvard Bridge last night at dusk I saw the city's skyline from an angle and time of day I never had before and all of a sudden it was new and beautiful.

Travel Posters

2009-06-24T20:54:00.008-04:00

A great way to keep the travel dream going is decorating with travel posters. Nothing from this century is worth framing (see my earlier post on advertising), but the posters of yesteryear are gorgeous.

I just got my new shipment of posters: one of New York, Malibu and Santa Monica. Like kitchy t-shirts I only buy posters for places I've been or seriously plan on going (hence the NYC, Miami, Mexico and LA posters).

Some great websites to look for posters are:

www.art.com (e-mail me for coupon codes)

www.allposters.com (almost the same as art.com)

www.postergods.com (bad selection, but tons of $5 posters)

Museums also hold a great collection of vintage travel posters. Check out the Boston Public Library's collection at Flickr. Absolutely gorgeous!

Dreaming of Travel

2009-06-20T19:15:00.004-04:00

In general I think I've adjusted quite well to 'civilian life.' Being off the canvass has given me the time and leisure to explore hobbies, books and places that I never had the luxury for before. Today I biked to the grocery store and picked up ingredients to make french toast. I laid out on the grass and a read a book. And I just woke up from my beer-induced mid-adfternoon nap. (I think the free Sam Adams brewery tour might become a Saturday staple.) As I woke, this poem came into my head:

In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.

-Robert Lewis Stevenson

It's hard to say how much A Child's Garden of Verses influenced me as a child. I couldn't recite any of the poems now like I can nursery rhymes, but reading them now, they all come back vividly, and with the pictures that accompanied them in my book.

I think the book stayed with me mainly because I remember the tattered copy my mom gave me, saying, "This was my favorite book growing up." I took that seriously.

I realize today that the simple child wonderment at everyday simple things in the world is something I try to capture everyday and something that travel gives you. One of the things I lvoe most about traveling is the pure joy you get from doing everyday things in a foreign place: taking the train, speaking to a friend, going grocery shopping, even taking a shower. Everything is new and different.

I find myself able to reclaim that feeling at will now, the feeling of wonder as the season turns, noticing the arcitectural details that lie above my normal line of vision when I walk to work, turning down a different street than I normally would take to the grocery store.

I find myself staring at the big poster of the coast of France across from my bed.

Is travel my drug?

Some of R.L. Stevenson's dreaming of travel poems:

Well-read Weekend #10

2009-06-20T17:06:00.004-04:00

Most travel books adress the big W travel questions like Where? When? What? I doubt that the well-fed tourist cruise ship passenger or the stag-party attendee in Prague stops to ask Why?

It's a question worth asking I think. Why are there folks like Nomadic Matt that travel for years on end or endless websites detailing how to live life on the road? Why do we spend hundreds on luggage and havea whole genre of 'travel lit'?

I feel there's a whole load of tourists who fit into one of two categories: the travel to 'get away from it all' and the travel 'to see it all.' Neither strikes me as particularly good. If I wanted to get away from it all, all I'd need do is yank my internet cord out of the wall, turn off the cell phone and go lay in the park. Same rest, lots less money. Seeing it all means that you pack so much into your days, that yes, you might have seen the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa and a can-can show, but what do you know of Paris?

Rick Steves aims to make folks' travel political. Alain de Botton takes a look at why travel is good for the soul in The Art of Travel.

Mr. de Botton is a philosopher at heart. His other books: Status Anxiety, The Consolations of Philosophy, The Arcitecture of Happiness. The Art of Travel is a delicate weaving of philosophy, yes, but also personal narrative, history and art.

His essays take delve into all the feelings we go through when we travel, from the anticipation of departure to the sublime views of nature's grandeur. He looks at topics through a few lenses--first his own travels, then of great travelers throughout history, through art or poetry and then brings things back to apply to our own lives.

For anyone who is more interested in the experience in traveling and less in the checklist of sights or the amount of sun one can absorb, this book is for you.

Well-read Weekend #9

2009-06-06T09:18:00.006-04:00

A thouroughly useless, yet entertaining travel read, How to Make Friends and Oppress People. Has a sensible title, much like the Museum of Jurassic Technology. It sounds logical at first and then -- what technology during the Jurassic period? or wait, one should not oppress people!

It probably goes without saying that How to Make Friends and Oppress People: Classic Travel Advice for the Gentleman Adventurer by Vic Darkwood was written with a sense of irony.

Some favorite travel advice gems from the author:

On the best mode of travel:

"Women are hormonally prgrammed to be impressed by males who show a certain amount of dash, and in the modern world this commodity is usually made manifest by an impressively bushy moustache, a shiny red sports car or a large private income Right at the top of the dash stakes, however, is being the owner of a hot air balloon."

On improving your peripherial vision for driving:

"One of the best ways I have found of tgraining the eyes is to site for hours in a cinema with one's head turned sideways to the screen. . . Another good technique is to get a friend to drive a golf ball at you side on and attempt to dodge it."

But some of the fun is taken out when you know this advice is tounge-in-cheek. So perhaps the best advice comes from the many citations of actual travel books from the turn of the century.

"When talking to your Chinese boy you use Pdigin English. Here are a few words and their meanings; chop, chop, quickly; all same this, like this; man man, stop; no can cuttee, cheaper; no b'long plopper, that won't do . . . though round about, this baby mode of talk is tolerably successful."

"Should you be attacked by a mob in the East, hurt one of the crowd and hurt him quickly. The others will gather round the injured man and you will be able to slip away."

--The Happy Traveler, Rev'd Frank Tatchell 1923

"Every lady should, to my mind, know how to use a revolver. She may at any time be in China or some other country where there are savage natives . . . A lady can carry a revolver hidden for self-defence in many more ways than a man, owing to her draperis affording more places for concealment. Inside the muff is about one of the best places."

--Hints on Revolver Shooting, Walter Winans, 1904

Prepare to be amused and perhaps learn a thing or two about how to treat the natives.

Busy Busy Busy!

2009-06-05T19:41:00.001-04:00

It's been a while, I know. Since my last post I've been to DC, NYC, Montpelier--whew!

I'm looking forward to spending some time in the city. To make sure I don't miss a thing, I've started a google calendar with cheap to free events in Boston. You can find it here. Here's some highlights:

Cheap tapas in Roxbury every Thursday with live music

Fisherman's Feast in the South End in August

3 Levels of Dancing at the Liberty Hotel to celebrate Bastille Day

Gin, Rum and Vodka all made in Mass tasting at Blanchards

Outdoor Showing of Mama Mia