The Red Inn
With its wide windows and incredible vistas, this circa-1915 inn offers a clam's-eye view of Provincetown Harbor and the lighthouse at Long Point. Hardwood floors and beamed ceilings set the mood for platters of fresh-off-the-local-boat cod, lobster, and oysters. The only thing missing is sand between your toes. 15 Commercial St., Provincetown, MA theredinn.com.
Mike's Autobody
Luxury dealerships send their customers to Mike's, which specializes in high-end automobiles, making scratched and dented Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes look like new again. It can do the same for your car. But while the vehicles here tend toward the expensive and pretentious, the service doesn't. 251 Broadway, Malden, MA mikesautobodyofmalden.com.
The Gigolo Aunts
After five years without a release, the Gigolo Aunts burst back onto the music scene with Minor Chords and Major Themes, a disc so infused with kicky pop sensibility it landed them in People magazine and won them an opening slot on summer tours for Matthew Sweet and Counting Crows. Welcome back.
Wonder Bar
Who needs comfort food when you have comfort drink? Lurking beneath the floorboards of the stiff-backed, black-attired glam scene at the Wonder Bar is a comfortable lounge downstairs. It has enveloping booths and sofas and a TV playing sports du jour. The jazz wafts down from upstairs; the pretense, fortunately, does not. 186 Harvard Ave., Allston, MA .
Tie: Bim Skala Bim and The Allstonians
Two acts ostensibly playing the same style, but each with a unique sound. The former's catchier doubletimes tunes rocket you from your seat; the latters more sluggish, sparse style digs a deep groove. Plus, you have to love the 'Stonians endearing tribal loyalty: "Living in Allston is the final word!"
Club Cafe
From dumpy to delicious, your options are unlimited at Club Cafe on Saturday nights. Guppies mingle around the piano bar or cruise the back lounges where music set at just the right volume stimulates conversation, and inexpensive drinks hasten lubrication. 209 Columbus Ave., Boston, MA .
Arnold Aboretum
Looking for nature close to the city? Grab your walking shoes and head for the Arnold Arboretum. This "museum of living plants" provides you with 278 acres worth of walking, jogging, and birdwatching. But don't pack a lunch—picnicking is allowed only on Lilac Sunday. 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA .
Seven Stars
If you want to read up on holistic health or simply expand the horizons of your mind, Seven Stars, in Harvard Square, offers the greatest collection of esoteric books in the area. Subjects include tarot, metaphysics, old wisdom, astrology, meditation, relaxation, and visualization. Co-owner Yvonne Paglia (an astrologer herself) is a great resource. 58 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge, MA .
Deli-Sound
Deli-Sound on Commonwealth Avenue in Allston has a cake which is flown in special form New York and costs only 65 cents. If you get bored with oral gratification, you can tickle your aural fancy with any of the eight-track stereo tapes also available for sale at Deli-Sound. Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA .
Cuppow
Anyone who's ever sipped from a mason jar has endured its main pitfall: spillage. Enter the "Cuppow," a sippy lid invented by Somerville's Joshua Resnikoff and Aaron Panone. It screws on top to streamline beverage flow and keep liquids in their rightful place (in the glass, not all over your plaid shirt).
The Boston Phoenix
"Cardinal Sin" by Kristen Lombardi in the Boston Phoenix, March 23, 2001, which reported four months before the Globe that the court had sealed documents related to whether Cardinal Bernard Law knew in 1984 about Geoghan and did not remove him.
Formaggio
Hard to believe the best cup of coffee and best deli exist side by side in a converted parking garage across the river, but that's the way it is. Great cheeses, breads, and meats, along with off-the-wall specialties like pesto, ratatouille, and a strange house policy of no mayonnaise (only mustard or butter). The Garage, 36 Boylston St., Harvard Square, MA .
Andy Seplow
Andy Seplow, part-time owner of a limited catering service called L'Alliance Pate, makes a firm, toothsome cheesecake based on cream cheese, sour cream, and ground almonds. It's available regularly at Peasant Stock, the Stock Pot, and Malben's Gourmet. 383 Somerville Ave., Somerville, MA .
Vince Doria, <em>Boston Globe</em> Sports Editor
Another fine year. Just one question, Vince: What did you mean by the subhead on your Latin American baseball special section that read, "The hunger and desire of young Latins . . . make their future impact . . . even more ominous"? Too much chicken and rice in the clubhouses, perhaps?
Mather-Williams Nuptials
Former Harvard professor Kirtley Fletcher Mather, eighty-nine, and Muriel Speare Williams, sixty-three, said "We do" on May 31, before a packaged house at Cambridge's Memorial Church. The happy couple is motoring cross-country on an extended honeymoon—an example to young cynics everywhere. MA