Do the Cambridge walkabout. Or the Tour de Cambridge. Whatever you want to call it. You can basically just start in Cambridge and walk toward Boston. By the way, Cambridge is unofficially known as “The People’s Republic of Cambridge,” and its people are “Cantabrigians.”
Toscanini's is worth lining up for. And on hot summer nights, expect a line.
I would suggest starting the tour in Harvard Square. Hang out around there, go to the river, and then keep going down Massachusetts Ave. toward Central Square. Do ice cream at Toscanini’s. Go to the MIT museum, if you want to. Wander through the MIT campus and buildings.
Here’s what I recommend for MIT. Walk down Mass Ave. to 77 Mass Ave, the main entrance of MIT. You absolutely cannot miss it, it’s the one with the huge columns.
If you have lots of appetite to explore, cross the street and check out the chapel, a cylindrical building with no windows and a moat, and Kresge auditorium, a large windowed building across the green from the chapel. Both were designed by Eero Saarinen, and are pretty cool examples of mid-century modern architecture, which is a thing people like. Kresge is a perfect 1/8th of a sphere!
But if you have not a lot of appetite to explore, then skip the street-crossing and go straight inside 77 Mass Ave, and walk down the infinite corridor. Stay on the right side of the hallway, and don’t block the flow of traffic! Seriously, it’s the worst. In the middle is Building 10, which is right under the Great Dome, and has a great view out over Killian Court. Many people take pictures here, and if you do, go outside and check out the scientists inscribed on the stones surrounding the court. On the 5th floor of Building 10 is Barker Library, which is right under the dome and pretty cool. Also home to many studying—and sleeping—students.
The absolute can’t-miss at MIT is the Sol Lewitt public atrium art. It’s this huge mural thing that’s the floor of an infill building, which is a building built between two existing ones. The whole thing feels like some optical illusion/Escher painting. Because the inside of the building is the outside of two others, there are these bridges across, and the floor is colorful and bright. So from every perspective, you see something unexpected.
End up at Area 4, for beer, pizza, and lawn games.
Here’s a detour you could take. From Harvard Square, take the bus—it’s super easy, and they take cash, and you can track it on a variety of apps—to Mt. Auburn Cemetery and Sofra. Mt. Auburn, because it is absolutely beautiful, and Sofra, because everything is delicious.
You must try B3 (Brown butter, brown sugar, and brownies) at Tosci’s. This is the only right answer for favorite flavor. Even if you occasionally enjoy other flavors, like burnt caramel or nocciola/cocoa pudding combo. You can try several flavors, so definitely don’t make any hasty decisions…But then choose B3.
Tiny Bay Village might be Boston's most charming neighborhood. Stepping into its streets feels like entering a different time period and place. But like Beacon Hill, Bay Village and its brightly painted doors are classic Boston.
Some of the best breakfast sandwiches are at Mike and Patty’s, in Bay Village. The Fancy is their staple. Bacon, egg, cheese, avocado, on multigrain Iggy’s Bread. Some great sauces. Sage and Ron run the counter there. So my typical morning on a weekend is to wake up and get a Mike and Patty’s sandwich.
Then I go over to MMMMaven, an events company that puts on electronic dance events, for my DJ class. They also have free workshops and organize the Thursday night at Middlesex, and bring deep house acts to town. That’s one of the most consistent dance nights in Boston.
Also on Thursdays—every third Thursday of the month, the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum has a mixer event in the atrium, which is like the classiest thing ever.
My absolute favorite place in the whole world is the Tip Tap Room in Beacon Hill. Definitely get one of the burgers. According to the waitstaff, the steak tips are the most frequent order, but that’s just beef shaped into little triangles. The burger, you get the same amount of meat, but with amazing sauces and things. So that is where I would start the Buck Hunter Tour. Tip Tap doesn’t have Buck Hunter, just to be clear. I just think it’s amazing, in general.
Good luck trying to weave your way to the bar on the weekends, but Beacon Hill Pub is empty during the week--perfect for a few uninterrupted Buck Hunter games and a cold Harpoon IPA. A cheeky review behind the bar describes the BHP as "a bar scene straight out of Star Wars."
So to do the Buck Hunter tour, you just go around to different bars and play Buck Hunter. I mean, you would be with a friend. You could do it yourself, but…that would be a different experience.
So there are a few different places you can go. There’s the classic, BHP. Beacon Hill Pub. And the Red Hat, which is next door to the Tip Tap Room.
But the best Buck Hunter place I’ve been to is Jillian’s, at Lucky Strike. You know, the bowling place? They have all the Buck Hunters. Buck Hunter Safari, Buck Hunter HD, there’s one that’s like connected to the Internet, and like, Super Big Buck Hunter Pro HD something. I mean, just a whole chain of adjectives.
I just moved to Cambridge and my go-to bar here is definitely People's Republik. It's a dive bar with cheap beer and three dartboards, but is actually pretty cleaned up with lots of space for hanging out. Dive bars are great, but sometimes they can feel like getting stuffed into a smelly closet.
I think Southie has a bunch of interesting bars for drinks. There's a super dive bar, Lucky's, right next to the fancy, probably-has-a-line-but-not-actually-crowded cocktail bar Drink. Drink is a great place for visitors, but I never end up going there myself because it's so far.
I think a typical night out involves wandering around a series of bars, constantly trying to remember where you know that guy you just ran into from.
Let's say we're starting in the South End. I would go for a run and run to Cambridge from the South End, down Mass Ave. End up at Life Alive. I usually order the Goddess or the Green Goddess bowl and a Coco Alive smoothie. It’s basically like a healthy version of a piña colada.
Visit this Central Square spot for juices, smoothies, and wholesome bowls with the most delicious, garlicky sauces you (and anyone else you run into that day) will ever have the opportunity to smell.
Then I would walk to the sailing pavilion and sail on the Charles. There are a few different sailing pavilions—for BU, MIT, and then Community Boating, which anyone can do. But basically it’d just be water sports for a few hours. And if you're running or walking, you should definitely do it along the water or the Charles.
Last weekend, I went to a Berklee jazz festival. That was really cool. It happens once a year, but Berklee has a lot of concerts if you sign up for their email list or check out their website.
