The Best Way to Escape the City (That’s Only a Train Ride Away)

Middlesex Fells is one of the best hidden treasures the Boston area has to offer. The Fells is a gorgeous nature reservation that straddles the borders of Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, and Winchester. Even though the park is walking distance from the Orange Line, its 2,000 acres of forest offers you a sense of tranquility that’s typically unreachable by public transit.

The Fells has a variety of different hiking trails. Depending on the trail you pick, you can enjoy a peaceful stroll through the woods or a 5 hour trek over rocky terrain (or anything in between). The Cascade trail leads you to one of the only natural waterfalls within spitting distance of Boston. I’ve read it’s best to visit the Cascade after a heavy rainstorm, but personally I found climbing a dried up waterfall to be a wonderfully exhilarating experience. If you’re a hardcore rock climber, you’ll be disappointed – it’s only 16 feet high – but for someone like me it’s just adventurous enough. I’ve also read that this is a popular spot for ice climbers, who like to traverse the frozen waterfall in the dead of winter. Other trails have cliff sides that are more suitable for “real climbers.”

Each trail I’ve been on has beautiful scenic views and great spots to stop for a picnic. The Fells is the natural habitat of plenty of animals including birds, turtles, and deer. It’s a wonderful place to visit during the summer, but I highly recommend going in the fall. Being in those expansive woods, surrounded by the bright red, orange, and yellow of autumn is beyond breathtaking. The Fells website has descriptions of each trail, including the trail’s difficulty, average hiking time, and most notable features. The website also has a detailed list of all the animals and plant life inhabiting the park. The Fells is the perfect place to go if you’re feeling stressed and need to unwind, or if you’d just like to pretend for a day that you live far away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

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Photo Credit: Becca Wier

The Right Way to be a Tourist in Boston

This past weekend, my folks came to visit me in Boston. I am not the biggest fan of tourist traps, but for them the more Boston Strong shirts and Paul Revere bobble heads they come across, the better the trip. I’ve been in Boston since my freshman year at BU, so as you can imagine I’m very familiar with all the local tourist hot spots; the Freedom Trail, the Boston Commons, Faneuil Hall, it’s all old hat. But this time around, we actually stumbled across a tourist trap that didn’t make me feel like a tourist.

After wandering away from Faneuil Hall, we came upon the Boston Harbor Cruises and bought tickets for a two hour sunset cruise. The sailboat we were on was 125 feet long and comfortably fit at least 100 people!  I had never been on a sailboat before – usually I am inclined towards speedier ventures – but the experience was quite enjoyable. You get the opportunity to wander around the boat, enjoy a beer from the cash bar, and chat with the captain and crew (who actually don’t spend the whole trip yelling random bits of trivia over a loudspeaker). The captain took us around the harbor and gave us a great view of the Boston skyline just as the sun was setting. The ride was pleasant and relaxing for anyone who likes the open seas.

If you have a visitor on their way who wants to experience historical Boston and you don’t want to walk the Freedom Trail for the 27^th time since you moved here, take them on an old fashioned sailboat ride!

Best Burger in Somerville

R.F. O’Sullivan’s has ruined me. Their burgers are so good, I can no longer enjoy a burger from any other restaurant. Everything else just pales in comparison. Each of their burgers is made with half a pound of ground sirloin (nothing beats high quality beef) and is cooked to perfection. O’Sullivan’s offers a variety of unique burgers, like the Chinatown burger, marinated in teriyaki sauce or the Blackjack, which is prepared with Cajun spices and topped with a tangy Creole sauce. If you’re old fashioned like me, you’ll go for something more like the J.D. burger, simply smothered in BBQ sauce and topped with cheddar. They also have the biggest potato wedges I’ve ever seen and really good onion rings. Just don’t go there if you’re in a rush. The place is always packed and they take their time making your burger, choosing quality over speed. You’ll be there a while but trust me, it’s worth the wait. Just warning you though, these burgers may inhibit your ability to eat burgers anywhere else; so if you’re planning on moving to another state or away from the red line in the near future, maybe it’s better to live in ignorance.

Zinneken’s: Belgian Chocolate Heaven

I was wandering around Harvard Square with a friend when we stumbled upon this tiny little waffle shop. We decided to stop in and were immediately pleased with our choice. The display case was covered in these beautiful handmade chocolates. They were so pretty you almost didn’t want to eat them – except that I wanted to try all of them. Somehow though, I resisted the temptation. I was here for waffles. I decided on the Liege style waffle – crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside – topped with bananas and strawberries, and found a seat by the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks the quainter side streets of Harvard Square.

Our server brought our waffles to us and I was stunned by their presentation. The waffle was overflowing with fruit toppings and drizzled with the perfect amount of Belgian chocolate. Like the little chocolate truffles on display, it was almost too pretty to eat – almost.  I took a bite and I was in heaven. These waffles are absolutely delicious.  I don’t pretend to be an expert on waffles, but according to my friend and the other reviews I’ve read, Zinneken’s has authentic Belgian waffles, unlike anything you would find at a diner or IHOP. The waffles were truly amazing. The rest of my conversation with my friend was strewn with intermittent praise and disbelief at how good they were. My only complaint is that they were a bit small for the price. I could have easily eaten two.

I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re looking for a meal (you will leave hungry), but it’s perfect if you’re looking for a mouth-watering snack or light breakfast. The intimate atmosphere and overwhelming amount of chocolate makes it a perfect date setting. It’s the kind of place I would take someone who was visiting from out of town or meet up with an old friend to catch up. Definitely worth trying!

Upper East Side Sanctuary

When you live in New York City, the possibilities are endless. At any moment, there are a hundred unique experiences you can be a part of. There are restaurants, concerts, bars, parades, and all sorts of shenanigans happening 24 hours a day. But when you’re a broke middle school kid, your prospects are much more limited. The fact is most places are less than thrilled about serving a group of loud kids who are going to buy the cheapest thing on the menu and loiter until they get kicked out. When I was in middle (and high) school, my friends and I overstayed our welcome at countless establishments all over the city. There was only one place we could go and never feel unwanted, and that was DTUT.

DTUT was a small coffee shop/bar on 85^th and 2^nd Ave. It had an eclectic mix of armchairs and sofas with local artists’ works hanging up on the walls. They had an amazing selection of desserts, but what DTUT was really known for was its S’mores and Chocolate Fondue platters, each of which was served with a miniature fire pit. My friends and I spent hours talking and roasting marshmallows at DTUT throughout middle school and high school. It was the perfect, laid back hang out spot in the city, until it went out of business in 2007.

Two weeks ago, I got a call from my friend Stacey. “It’s back!” she screamed “DTUT is back!!” At first I thought it was too good to be true. I was sure that after years of idealizing the place I would be disappointed in its replacement. Man, was I wrong. They may have moved a few blocks uptown, but they bought a whole new assortment of comfy couches and local art to hang on the walls, perfectly recreating the original atmosphere. And of course, they brought back the fondue and the S’mores. I can’t speak for the old DTUT’s nightlife, but I prefer the new place to any bar I’ve been to on the Upper East Side. When I went last weekend, there was plenty of seating and the music was playing low enough for you to have a conversation without having to scream. The drinks were a little expensive, but if you’re looking for an affordable drink menu you’re in the wrong neighborhood.

I often talk to my friends about the day when I’ll eventually move back to New York. We always hypothesize about the future, or at least the future without realistic limitations like income. Would I rather live in Greenwich Village or Chelsea? Do I want to raise kids on the Upper West Side or get a quaint brownstone in Brooklyn? In all these conversations I have never once considered moving to the Upper East Side – until now. I would love to be able to wake up on a Sunday morning and start my day with a cup of coffee and a good book in one of those plush armchairs, then come back the next day for some post-dinner cocktails and chocolate fondue.

So thanks DTUT, for giving the Upper East Side something to brag about. We missed you and we’re glad to have you back!

Dancing in the Streets

A block party at City Hall, this is either going to be super lame or totally amazing, I thought as I walked up the stairs of the Central Square train station. Everyone getting off the train was going to the same place, so I just followed the mob toward the spotlights and cop cars that had blockaded the street right in front of City Hall. Even though I’ve lived in Boston for five years now, this is the first summer I’ve spent in New England; so when my friend texted me about the City of Cambridge Dance Party, I had no idea that this yearly tradition existed, much less what to expect. As it turns out the City of Cambridge has been throwing this shindig for the past 17 years and I’ve been missing out.

As I walked towards City Hall, it seemed that every wayward college student who was slumming in a frat house for the summer had turned up to celebrate. The crowd wasn’t just college students though- the 10% of Boston area residents that aren’t just here for an extended vacation (a.k.a. four years of college) were all here too. Kids, grownups, and grandmas had all come out to trample the well manicured lawns and bust a move. The DJ tried to reflect the variety of age groups in the crowd by playing a mix of current hits, old favorites, and plenty of Michael Jackson! I swear if you ever want to please a large group of people with varied musical tastes and dance abilities, all you have to do is put on some Michael Jackson.

Over the course of the night, my friends and I danced with anyone and everyone around us. Little kids and twenty somethings were dancing together and cheering each other on. On the street, a small dance circle formed around an old man who had brought his own drum sticks and was banging along to the music on a traffic cone. The crowd on the lawn was so dense that we even had a few crowd surfers. When the music stopped at about 11:00, the crowd chanted for one more song. After it became clear that the DJ wasn’t going to give in, this guy from MIT suggested we all synchronize our iPods to keep the party going or continue the festivities silent rave style. No one wanted the night to end. In fact it was almost midnight by the time the Cambridge Police were able to clear everyone off the streets.

So there you have it. Every year on a beautiful summer night, 10,000 people come together to party in the streets of Central Square. If you missed out, make sure you find yourself there next year. If you were there last night, I’ll be seeing you again next summer.

Plentimaw Fishes

Plentimaw Fishes are the creation of Salman Rushdie in his fanciful book about the nature of storytelling, Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Plentimaw Fish are fish that live in The Ocean of the Streams of Stories, the place where all stories that had ever been told (and the ones that are still being invented) can be found. Plentimaw Fishes drink in the stories from the ocean. Inside their bodies old stories weave together and change shape; when the Plentimaw Fishes spew them out they are new. As Rushdie explains to his readers, “Nothing comes from nothing; no story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old – it is the new combinations that make them new.” I tend to look at the world as a Sea of Stories. Every place you visit is filled with history; sometimes the imprint of the past is still visible in some way, other times it is seamlessly ingrained into the very identity of the place. We are all Plentimaw Fishes – we take in everything that is around us, add our own experiences and leave with a story that is unique. When you walk down the streets of the city, you are soaking up the stories of those who were there before you and those who are there with you. I love to go to explore new neighborhoods and I covet new experiences. I look for echoes of the past all around me and weave them into the present, making new and unique stories. I want to write these stories down so that maybe someone will read one of my stories, go to that place, and make it their own.