The best new view in Boston 🌆
Plus: 😅 The C's hang on
It’s Wednesday, Boston.
🧺 It’s also officially farmers market season. The big ones in the Boston area are open for business, so be sure to check out their hours here and give local vendors some love.
👀 What’s on tap today:
- The C’s hang on
- MDW traffic report
- Southie’s cookie queen
Up first…
THINGS TO DO
The best view in the house
Gif: Katie Cole
There’s a lot of great views of Boston’s skyline, but this one might take the cake. View Boston, a 360-degree, three-floor observation deck experience at the top of the Pru, is slated to open on June 15 (tbt to Top of the Hub). And while these kinds of attractions can err on the tourist trappy-side, it offers much more than just a solid IG pic.
Here’s what to know:
🌇 The top floor is all about the views. After zipping up to the 52nd floor in an elevator that’ll make your ears pop, you enter a vast room with 24-foot floor-to-ceiling windows. The observatory captures every nook and cranny of the city, with a fun direct view into Fenway Park. Plus, there are several sculptures of Boston landmarks peppered around the space to accommodate those with visual impairments.
🍹 The views continue one floor down, but with a cocktail bar. The open-air terrace offers the most unobstructed shots of the city, which can be enjoyed with a drink at Stratus, a cocktail bar serving small bites. Their menu offers signature drinks like the “Pru-tini” and “Life, Death & Taxes.”
👀 And the final level offers a more ground-level POV. The Boston 365 room includes a striking 3-D model of the city that turns from day to night (which was actually quite moving). Around the corner is an immersive 270-degree theater showcasing a more neighborhoody POV, including Halloween in Beacon Hill and Chinese New Year celebrations.
📝 If you’re just visiting Boston, this place will plan your trip for you. There are several interactive touchscreens throughout the experience where you can pick out points of interest, restaurants to try, and things to do. And at the end of the tour, you’ll get a customized itinerary of how to spend your time. The list of attractions goes beyond touristy staples like the Freedom Trail, including many local haunts (honestly, we think locals could find it useful, too).
💸 And while it’s not cheap, it’s not a bad deal either. Basic admission is $35 and gets you access to all three floors, interactive exhibits, and a custom Boston itinerary. For comparison, tickets to the top of the Empire State Building in NYC start at $44. The observation deck will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
CITY
Quick & dirty headlines
Image: Jim Davis/Globe Staff
😅 The Celtics live to see another day. Channeling their inner 2004 Red Sox, the C’s showed some fight and narrowly avoided an Eastern Conference sweep with a 116-99 win over the Miami Heat. Despite a quiet first half, Jayson Tatum stepped up in the last two quarters, finishing with a game-high 33 points. No team has ever overcome a 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series in the NBA, but as Marcus Smart said before the game, “Don’t let us get one.” The C’s will return to the Garden for Game 5 on Thursday.
🚘 Brace for traffic from the before times this MDW. Air travel over the holiday weekend is projected to exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to AAA Northeast. It’s quite possible it could be the busiest Memorial Day weekend at airports since 2005. And thanks to gas prices taking a dip from last year, anticipated road trips are up, too. Friday is expected to be the worst driving day in Boston — travel times will likely double compared to normal. So it’s best to either dip on Wednesday or sometime Saturday or Sunday when traffic will be lightest.
🤢 The bad taco news continues … Remember when two Los Amigos Taqueria locations were forced to shut down? Well, now they’re getting sued. Two people claim they developed salmonella food poisoning after eating at the Brighton location and are seeking more than $50K in damages, citing lost earnings, medical expenses, and just general suffering. Gentle reminder to keep an eye out for salmonella symptoms if you ate at the Brighton location between May 12 and 18.
🍪 Boston has a new cookie queen. Southie resident Maude Gagnon couldn’t find the perfect cookie in her neighborhood, so she took matters into her own hands and started baking them herself. And they were so good that people would line up outside her apartment to get them. She’s now baking them full-time, and securing her cookies is no easy feat. Starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday, customers can place orders at southiecookie.com until they sell out (which is usually less than 15 minutes). You can get a peek of the ooey gooey morsels here.
ONE LAST THING
A new kind a camping
Image: Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Horror fans, this one’s for you: The Conjuring House now offers camping.
The Rhode Island house that inspired the movie is said to be one of the places with the most paranormal activity in the country. If you want to experience the frights for yourself, you can go “ghamping” (ghost camping) on the eight-acre property. Tents and trailers are provided, but paranormal investigative equipment is BYO.
The Conjuring House has eight campsites and they’re ranked on their “fright factor” on a scale of 10 (nothing is below six). The bravest campers can rent campsites “Beyond the Bridge” in the woods by the house. The website recommends you bring a respectful biodegradable offering and invoke a protection to keep safe.
👻 Thanks for reading! Double it and give it to the next person.
☀️ The results are in! 65% of respondents to yesterday’s poll said they started regularly wearing sunscreen starting in their 20s. Dr. Kourosh would be so proud!
💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected].
Be civil. Be kind.
Read our full community guidelines.