Liquid Art House
The MFA may be a world-class marvel, but not for a nightcap. At gallery/restaurant Liquid Art House, striking visuals—starting with an enormous, scorpionlike Murano chandelier—complement boundary-pushing cocktails at the circular marble bar in the center of the art-bedecked atrium. Drink one or two. Or three. Say, were those paintings always so blurry? 100 Arlington St., Boston, MA 02116, liquidarthouse.com.
Bantam Cider Company Tasting Room
Here, genre-bending hard cider is finely crafted in gorgeous steel tanks or a phalanx of barrels. A visit to the tasting room ($6 per pour, or $10 for a flight of five tastes) is the best way to swirl and sip the vast spectrum of Bantam's oeuvre—from a lightly effervescent cider with hibiscus flowers and fresh mint to a sour, funky wild-yeast variety. Snack away on complimentary pretzel rods stylishly splayed in Mason jars, and once you've identified your new favorite cider, take home a bottle, a four-pack, or a growler for the perfect souvenir. 40 Merriam St., Somerville, MA 02143, bantamcider.com.
The Innovation Trail
A guided Innovation Trail tour crosses the Longfellow Bridge, heading to Kendall Square. / Courtesy of the Innovation Trail Only in Cambridge can you take a scenic 10-minute stroll from the birthplace of a COVID-19 vaccine (Moderna’s headquarters) to a candy factory that supplies the world with Junior Mints. The area’s combined legacy as innovation hub and pedestrian paradise inspired Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner and Framingham State professor Robert Krim to connect such points of interest and create the Innovation Trail. Launched in 2022 and spanning from Downtown Crossing to Kendall Square, the walking tour visits more than 20 sites where seismic breakthroughs in science and technology took place. Follow along independently, or book a seasonal guide and prepare to be awed. theinnovationtrail.org.
Revolutionary Story Tour
Led by local experts, this Boston history refresher along the Freedom Trail will not only remind you of everything you learned (and forgot) in school, but also how lucky you are to call this city your own. One Washington Mall, Boston, MA 02108, therevolutionarystorytour.com.
The Maids Home Services
A lack of hassle is one major thing to look for in a cleaning service; the other, sparkling results. The Maids are the sole local pros in the tidying-up business who nail both every time. Armed with a serious stash of cleaning products, the uniformed crews deploy from their sunny yellow vehicles with a speed-oriented, no-fooling-around plan that leaves every corner of the target home immaculate. And unlike some experiences we've had with other, larger services, the Maids have yet to mix up our keys with another client's, or let our indoor cat outside. 179 Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, MA 2130, .
The Maids
Amid a flurry of cleaning services catering to on-the-go urbanites, the Jamaica Plain outpost of this national operation shows an unbeatable blend of polish and professionalism. After setting the appointment and sending an e-mail confirmation, your cleaning team will arrive armed with grime-busting equipment and a dozen sprays, as well as a rigorous 22-step plan for restoring your home's sparkle. The Maids will even pick up and drop off your keys at work—another excellent reason to fork over the $159 fee, which is lowered if you book monthly follow-ups. 179 Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, MA 2130, .
Crystal Clean Boston
You know what they say about cleanliness and godliness. Which must be why visits from Crystal Clean always leave your home so divine. A four-person team buffs and shines down to the hard-to-reach spots and tops it all off with finishing touches—dusted reading glasses, triangle-folded toilet paper—that other services often skip. Boston, MA 2116, crystalcleanboston.com.
Crystal Clean
Let's face it: Your baseboards and windowsills haven't seen the swish of a sponge or the feather of a duster in forever. It's high time you called for backup in the form of the friendly, family-owned Crystal Clean. A team of three or more expert cleaners will arrive in a flurry of brooms and mops, leaving nothing behind but a fresh lemon scent and a sparkling home.
Dick Umile and Ralph Deldon
Dick Umile (273-1279) and Ralph Deldon (272-2767) are schoolteachers who moonlight. They've been painting homes for five years, and as far as we can tell, they can do no wrong. They stick to interiors and smaller houses and prefer to work in the summer or on weekends. "We first started doing it for other teachers, and the word spread," Umile says. "We're probably more dependable than a bunch of college kids, as we've been around longer." 617-273-1279 (Umile), 272-2767 (Deldon).
Tremendous Maid
Few things are more intimate than hiring someone to clean your home. Tremendous Maid, thankfully, is all business: Fill out an Internet request form with your square footage and home layout, and you'll quickly hear back about scheduling options. The actual cleaning was both impressive and a bit guilt-inducing, as the team scrubbed items we willfully ignore: baseboards, toaster oven, mini blinds. By the time they were done, our house was as pristine as the day it was built. 270 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, MA tremendousmaid.com.
The Maids Home Services
The Maids didn't so much clean our apartment as unleash a hellfire of spic-and-span. Wearing vacuums on their backs and armed with motorized bottles (seriously), the housecleaners left no corner, crack, or crevice undusted, unscrubbed, or unwashed. They even tackled that war zone underneath the couch cushions. 179 Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, MA 2130, maids.com.
EcoClean
Clean home, meet clean conscience. When you summon the grime busters of Somerville-based EcoClean, they come bearing only the greenest equipment and supplies: environmentally friendly microfiber cloths, nontoxic cleansers, and HEPA-filter vacuums. And that, along with an endless reserve of elbow grease, is all they need to quickly transform your unkempt abode into a model of good housekeeping. ecocleanboston.com.
The Maids
We aren't ones to cry over spilt milk, as our floors can attest; our couch has more hair on it than our cat. Without a speck of judgment, the Maids clean up our act month after month, dusting baseboards, degriming showers, and all but eliminating any traces of pet (except for, of course, the pet itself). They're quick, well priced, and unobtrusive: Aside from the preternatural sparkle and neatly triangled toilet paper, you'd never know they'd been there. maids.com.
The Maids Home Services
We aren't ones to cry over spilt milk, as our floors can attest; our couch has more hair on it than our cat. Without a speck of judgment, the Maids clean up our act month after month, dusting baseboards, degriming showers, and all but eliminating any traces of pet (except for, of course, the pet itself). They're quick, well priced, and unobtrusive: Aside from the preternatural sparkle and neatly triangled toilet paper, you'd never know they'd been there. 179 Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, MA 2130, .
Michael's on the Waterfront
1982 Sauvage Sauvignon. 85 Atlantic Ave., Boston, MA .