Booker T. Jones—yes, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and frontman of Booker T. and the MGs–is kicking off the Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Party series this Thursday night, May 10. His career spans five decades and dozens... Read More »

Email will always be our first love, but we’re pretty fond of the short bits, longer columns, reviews and slideshows now appearing on the Brooklyn Based blog. Here are some of the best posts from April.

Brendan Spielgel, the foo... Read More »

Boston can be low on the weekend-away destination list for first-time visitors–especially New Yorkers. With its to-the-death pride in sports teams, fried seafood infamy and general disregard for outsiders, it’s not perceived as being all that welcoming. But all that’s old news, because Boston is transitioning away from its staid past. The city is brimming with interesting restaurants, has a reinvigorated arts scene and its own artisanal food movement from cocktails to cheese and preserves. This lovely old town is just four hours north and you don’t have to eat fried clams on your visit, unless of course, you want to.

Xinh Xinh

MegaBus (from $10 each way) or Bolt Bus (from $15 each way) are both safe and fast, have onboard wifi and they drop you in the center of town. Amtrak tickets start at around $140 round-trip. All of these modes of transportation pull into South Station, across the street from Boston’s tiny Chinatown. Here you’ll find dumplings, buns, pho and bahn mi. Try Xinh Xinh (7 Beach St.) for Vietnamese noodles and soups, 163 Vietnamese Sandwich and Bubble Tea (66 Harrison St.) for exactly that, and the not-to-be-missed Gourmet Dumpling House (52 Beach St.) for Chinese street food.

From there, check in to your hotel. The Ames has a great downtown location (and a great restaurant–Woodward) and Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square has a number of drinking and dining options on site. Both go for around $300 a night. If that’s out of your price range, understandably, look into renting an apartment on AirBnB. You’ll find something for $80-$150 a night, just be sure to stay within Boston proper. Neighborhoods to shoot for: South End, Back Bay, Seaport, North End, Beacon Hill and Kenmore Square. These neighborhoods are all well linked on the T, the local subway. The bus system complements the T well, but runs a bit spottily. Taxis are expensive and they don’t really care about your rights as a passenger. Independent Taxi Service is one of the best local companies, so keep this number handy: (617) 268-1313.

Here are two itineraries, each starting from a different hotel.

The Ames Hotel

From downtown Boston: The Ames Hotel is home to Woodward, a modern tavern specializing in fresh and local foods, and a nice spot for a cozy, luxe dinner the night you get into town. If you choose to stay here you’ll have easy access to the famous Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, both shopping and eating destinations with a colonial past. It was here that Samuel Adams rallied the nation to fight for independence, where “No taxation without representation” was first declared, and where George Washington toasted the nation on its first birthday. Now, of course, it houses the Gap and Banana Republic, so, take it for its history and move on. Across the street is the New England Aquarium, where you hear locals sing about walking like a penguin (it’s all because of this classic commercial).
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Dear Dot is at the ready for all your problems, including fetid fridges, hoarder tendencies and love trouble.

Once every month we like to take a look back on the blog and send some of its highlights straight to your inbox. Here are our favorites from March, which was really in like a lamb and out like a lion this year.

Whenever you start an advice column you worry a bit whether or not anyone will send in questions, and if they do, whether they’ll be interesting enough. Whoa nelly, Brooklyn you delivered. In her first column yesterday Dear Dot helped a reader face her refrigerator, which she hadn’t opened since her electricity was turned off for several weeks, with the fridge full of food. She was actually considering buying a new one and having the old one hauled away, unopened forever, before Dot stepped in. It was a doozy of guilt, avoidance and downright grossness. Next week, Dot will address a tale of woe from the daughter of a hoarder.

Colleen Kane’s latest Brooklyn 2.0 column, I Walk the Mile, struck a chord with every Brooklynite who has wondered, “How long can I really live here, if I work like a dog and still can’t afford to live like a normal person does almost anywhere else in this country?” If you haven’t yet read it, we guarantee you’ll find at least one small piece of yourself in it.

After previewing readings, exhibits, and performances for years in our weekly Tip Sheet, we’re finally posting book, art, theater and concert reviews, too. In his latest Booklyn column, Michael Sauter gives us his (glowing) assessment of Lauren Groff’s new book Arcadia, while Jack Palmer and events editor Casey Acierno (aka Lit Lovers) are reporting back on all the great readings in Brooklyn, starting with Craig Taylor’s book party for Londoners. Sara Christoph recently reviewed the Charles Atlas show at Luhring Augustine’s new Bushwick gallery and she checked out the major exhibition of Keith Haring’s early years  at the Brooklyn Museum. Rachel Kowal scoped out one of the coolest under-the-radar concert series in the city, Sofar Sounds. And later this afternoon we’ll have a review of St. Ann’s magical show, Elephant Room.
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