Experience Weekday Bargains
Many students find themselves saving Boston excursions for the weekends because of their hectic weekday schedules. There are many discounts and deals, however, that hot spots around Boston offer to try to attract customers during the workweek. The Improv Asylum, for instance, charges $20-$25 per ticket to its Friday and Saturday Mainstage shows, but an equally hilarious sketch comedy routine called House Teams performs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. for only $5 admission. You could also sneak away to the Frog Pond before the warm weather rolls in, where there are “College Nights” on Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. for only $2 admission when one shows a valid college ID, as opposed to the usual $4.
Bring Willy Wonka to Life
Chocaholics, assemble! There is a chocolate factory in Somerville. That’s right, folks, Taza Chocolate, located at 561 Windsor St. in Somerville, offers tours of its chocolate factory, Wednesdays through Sundays, for $5. Guests can learn how the factory makes its stone-ground, Mexican-style organic dark chocolate, sample the chocolates, and see the company’s chocolate-making machines. Reservations are required, can be made online, and should be made a week in advance, as tours are limited to 18 guests. At the factory store, customers can learn about the chocolate-making process from chocolate experts, as well as view the factory machinery in action through the store’s windows.
Experience a Different Cantab
Every Wednesday night, Cantab opens up the mic for some slam poetry. On March 5, the Wednesday over break, doors will open at 7:15 p.m. and a valid 18-plus ID is required. Once there, different segments of the performance will include open mic, beginning at 8 p.m., which is executed in three-, two-, and one-minute rounds. Winners of this week’s open mic will qualify for the 2014 World Slam competition. Open mic is followed by the week’s featured performer. That night’s performer will be Jeanann Verlee, a poetry editor for Union Station Magazineand award-winning author of Racing Hummingbirds. Verlee will perform around 10 p.m. Finally, the night will close with an 8×8 speed-slam series.
Paint Stuff and Drink Wine
The Paint Bar is a magical place where you drink wine and paint. What better way to spend an afternoon than to channel liquid bravery into artistic fearlessness? Through the Paint Bar website, click on “Calendar” to book reservations. On this calendar, one can view the projects available that day, so one can make a reservation based on what picture he or she would like to paint. Prices typically hover around $35 per person. Some nights offer “collaborative painting,” when two people work on two separate canvases, but combine them afterward to create one big, beautiful painting. The Paint Bar has two locations: one at 823 Washington St. in Newtonville and the other at 248 Newbury St. in Boston.
Dance Like It’s Warm
The Havana Club, located at 288 Green St. in Cambridge, offers salsa and bachata lessons and social dances most nights of the week for low prices. On Mondays, beginners and intermediate dancers can take a lesson from 8 to 9 p.m. in salsa and bachata dancing for only $5. For only $5 more, all dancers can stay after for the party-9 p.m. to midnight-and tear up that dance floor with their new moves! Monday and Tuesday night parties are 18-plus, while Friday and Saturday nights are 21-plus. Tuesday nights also offer rueda lessons-a Cuban style of dance for which people dance in a large circle of partners. One person calls out different moves to execute, and the partners follow suit.
Go to the Beach
While it may be too cold for swimming, the beach is never out of season. If Jim Carey and Kate Winslet can prance around there in the dead of winter in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one can go get his/her toes wet in March. Take a look around South Boston. There are plenty of well-loved hangouts, such as Castle Island, home to Pleasure Bay and Fort Independence. Pleasure Bay is a popular, sunny beach area with consistently high water quality, making it fit for swimming and fishing. While touring inside is reserved for the summer, pedestrians can still admire Fort Independence’s beauty and historical significance from the HarborWalk at Castle Island.
