Boston Things to Do Tips by dracko

The New England aquarium is one of the largest in the North East. There are three floors of exhibits to explore, a penguin pool, and in the middle of the aquarium, from bottom to the very top of the building, is the Giant Ocean Tank - a 23ft deep, 200,000 gallon artificial reef, lined with windows so you can glance into its very depths. There are over 50 different species of fish and turtles in it, including sharks, barracudas, and many other large fish. It's supposed to be one of the most accurate reef replicas around. If you're lucky you'll see divers in the tank. A dive club associated with the aquarium even holds drawings every month where the winner gets to dive in the tank.

Outside the main building itself, there's a seal pool, an otter pool, and a floating sea-lion presentation auditorium, and an IMAX theater.

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Directions: Central Wharf, Boston.
Website: www.neaq.org

As long as you're in Boston, you might as well visit the birthplace of what is probably the best mass produced brew made this side of the Atlantic (many a fine microbrewery are, of course, excluded). See how it's made, and you'll even get a taste at the end.

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Directions: The brewery is in Jamaica Plain area of Boston, on Germain St. See the website for directions.
Website: www.samadams.com

If you're anywhere near the Boston Common and feel like taking in Hollywood's latest, Loews is the theater to go to. It's a pretty decent movie theater as movie theaters go... You get your usual assortment of snack bars, a gazilion (actually only 19) screens, stadium seating, fancy sound systems, etc. But here's the kicker - they got a BAR!! Yes, a real "well, we got a couple of hours to kill before the movie so let's get a couple of martinis/shots/Sams until then" bar, The Back Lot.

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Address: 175 Tremont St., Boston.
Directions: It's on Tremont St., right on the Common.

If you like speed and tight corners, this is a place for you. F1 Boston is basically an indoor kart racing facility complete with two tracks, a restaurant/lounge, gift shop, conference rooms, function hall, a VIP room, and a billiard hall.

Here you experience racing that is way beyond your typical little go-karts at an amusement park. They may look similar, but these karts are faster! My average speed around the slower 'city' track was about 30mph, and you end up going faster than that along the straightaways. If you want to race, you have to have a valid drivers license and go through a briefing. You also get suited up in a race suit, helmet, and neck brace. Your lap times are clocked by a computer, displayed up on the board, and you even get a printout at the end showing your lap times and ranking.

Let me tell you, flying around that track an inch or two off the ground is FUN!!! The fact that you get to race against your friends or even complete strangers, only adds to the excitement.

In order to race, you need to have an "F1 license". For a single day, it's $10, or if you're planning on coming back again & again, it's $25 for the whole year. On top of that you pay $25 for about 20 laps on the track. Not cheap, but it's definitely worth it.

The restaurant/lounge is pretty decent too. Food was good, but didn't get a chance to sample the bar since I was racing afterwards. You can always choose to imbibe after the race.

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Address: 290 Wood Rd., Braintree
Directions: F1 Boston is actually not in Boston itself, but rather in Braintree, just South of Boston. See their website for directions.
Website: www.f1boston.com