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May 31st


Day 22

Making plans for a wicked week in Boston!

Today begins week 4 and I’m pleased to report that things are going swimmingly. Day 19 (Friday 5/28) was an extremely busy day for me, as I spent extended time in 3 cities in 3 states (not just passing through). The day started out in Philly after a 24 hour excursion to surprise my Grandfather on his 90th birthday. I then drove my snazzy BMW 328 Zipcar named Belcher back to NYC and had lunch at the NY Burger Company (http://www.newyorkburgerco.com/) before taking the 5:50 Megabus to Boston. At some point I may come back and add details on these events but there are more pressing matters at hand.

I stayed 2 of the last 3 nights in my friend Sarah’s hotel room. She is here from Chicago to meet 2 of her best friends for a weekend of fun in Beantown. I wanted to spend my weekend exploring Boston with them but I was simply too busy. I spent the mornings of Days 20 & 21 making reservations at the following Groupon businesses:

Joint Ventures Physical Therapy and Fitness - (http://jointventurespt.com/) - Waiting for a confirmation for a Tuesday morning massage!

SEG Gliders USA (http://www.bostongliders.com/) - Reservation for up to 18 people (spots are filling up) for a Segway Tour around Boston on Wednesday 6/2 @ 11am. The cost of the tour is $40 to the first 18 people to RSVP with me (Alan, the owner, offered a 33% discount)! The location is 75 Commercial St. Boston. Call me if you want in!

Courageous Sailing (http://www.courageoussailing.org/) - Reservation for a 3pm sailing lesson at the Charlestown Navy Yard on Wed. 6/2. I may have 2 open spots on the boat…let me know if you’re interested.

Cape Ann Whale Watch (http://www.caww.com/) - I’d love to go do this whale watch before I leave town. I’m thinking the morning of 4th at 10am. I left a message for the owner to call me back about getting a group rate for anyone who wants to join me! It’s normally $45 and is located at 415 Main St. in Gloucester, MA.

Tupelo (http://www.tupelo02139.com/index.html) - Tried to make dinner plans but turns out they are closed for the holiday weekend…bummer! Instead I’ll be making reservations for Wednesday evening (6/2) around 7:30pm. If you want to join, let me know so I can adjust the reservation.

Mojitos Lounge (http://www.mojitoslounge.com/) - I have 3 Groupons for a VIP package for 5 people each. I called to find out how strict their dress code is since I don’t own anything other than tennis shoes at the moment but no word back as of yet. Each person would get in with no cover and a free drink! Unfortunately they are only open a few nights a week so Thursday night (6/3) would be my only opportunity so we’ll see.

In the midst of making all of these plans on Saturday I received a text message from a guy named Doug. It read, “Doug, Boston. Prominent tech blogger, Just saw you are in Boston. Wanna launch things at an office building with a giant catapult/ballista?…Yes, seriously” (picture to the right included). Between fits of laughter and awe I managed to respond with, “absolutely!” and Doug (check out his blog) offered to drive the 30 minutes to pick me up at the hotel. Of course I couldn’t pass this up…who in their right mind could? Turns out they were performing a series of test fires at a building that is going to be demolished in a few days (why not?). The plan was to use 10lb blocks of ice as test ammo to get the aim right and hopefully use some rocks on the day of the demolition! The catapult is built from a 2500 year old Greek design of a ballista that uses torsion, the twist in the spring-like coils of rope that run vertically on either side of the machine. Including the repurposed dump-truck bed that it rests on, this giant medieval crossbow weighs close to 5 tons, most of which is the rope. It was pretty impressive in person! The impetus for this project started when creator, Eric (his siege engine site), was 9 years old and built a similar device (but much smaller scale…handheld). Over the years he (and his team) built increasingly larger versions; later models have been used in competitions to launch 10lb pumpkins as far as possible (their record is close to 700ft). The concern in this particular situation is that the target building is only one story tall, while the multi story glass building behind it is well within range. Through a series of 4 test fires the team managed to hit the building squarely without over shooting (can’t say I wasn’t secretly hoping for some drama). At one point I overheard this amazing conversation between Doug and Eric:
D: Referring to the plastic bag that was coving the ice, “Eric! Can you take the plastic off?”
E: “Why?”
D: “So we can get more shrapnel!”
I nearly peed. I was also quite amused by the following unexpected images I was privvy to:
(Caption: nothing says demolish a building with a giant crossbow like milk and cookies under the shelter of a dump truck, while waiting for the rain to pass)

More exciting still was that I was given the honor of pulling the trigger on test shot #2…the result was 162.5 ft. of glory (just short of the mark). I was giddy like a schoolgirl! By shot #4 they got the aim right and hit the building dead on so Doug and I bolted.

We were running late to meet people for dinner at OM Restaurant in Harvard Square (http://www.omrestaurant.com/) so Doug put his green VW Bug named Daisie to the test as we hightailed it to Cambridge. We were joined at this modern American restaurant & lounge with an Asian flair by 10 locals who apparently had nothing better to do this holiday weekend than to hang out with me for a fantastic dinner (way to set the bar, Boston!). The atmosphere at OM was chic and trendy.

My dining companions were lively & entertaining and our server (who asked that his identity remain protected) reminded me of a young David Caruso. Doug and his friend Katherine left shortly after drinks and appetizers. Paul (a social media guru & arguably my most vocal supporter) and his girlfriend Nicole and friend Nick, who all recently graduated college, invited me on their trip to Mexico (which I would gladly do if I could secure a valid passport in about 2 weeks). Bucky (joined by her boyfriend Ryan) got a phone call from Live Off Groupon finalist Brian Burger while we were at dinner and I had the pleasure of speaking to him and we agreed to make an effort to cross paths this year. Bill (joined by his girlfriend Lucy) expressed an interest in joining me for the Segway outing this week, and Betsy gave me a one week transit pass and a shirt in exchange for a Groupon to Jose’s Mexican Restaurant. After dinner I got a ride back to the hotel and crashed. All in all, Day 20 was a great day and already puts Boston near the top of the cities I’ve visited thus far!

(Caption - Left: The largest and the smallest People I met in Boston. JT - bouncer at OM & Kristina - Sarah’s friend…she happens to be wearing 3 inch heels.)

Sunday (Day 21) I spent the majority of the day making: plans with locals, reservations, travel arrangements, blogging, etc…Other than to have lunch (Crazy Dough’s Pizza - Left) and dinner with my friends here on vacation, it was a pretty uneventful day.

I checked into my own hotel for the that night and the next, courtesy of Stephanie, an employee at the Hotel Commonwealth, who pulled a few strings to get me a free stay! When I walked into the room, I literally gasped…by far the nicest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in (she booked me a junior suite!). I printed some more Groupons at the hotel and hit the sack (I’ll put up a video of the room at a later date).

In addition to the above…I’ll be looking for dining/activity companions throughout the week. I’m hoping to get to Davide, Estragon, Caffe Graffiti, Marshall’s Fenway Farm Stand, and take a home brewing class at Beer and Wine Hobby. If you know of anything else I must do before I leave town on Friday, again…let me know!

Feel free to text/call me at (847) 452-9181

I wanted to take a moment to address the question I’ve been getting most frequently as of late, “what do you need?”. The answer is…a backpack. A very large hiking pack with a frame designed for a guy my size, since the bedazzled child’s schoolbag that I got from Becky Alexander, while pretty, is no longing fitting the bill. Anyone in the Boston area that can help me out with that before Thursday would be my hero! Thanks!

- The Groupawn


14 Comments

14 Responses to “Making plans for a wicked week in Boston!”

  1. Josh, you are adorable.

  2. Josh,

    I will be driving from Harvard Sq, out to the for-real shoot tomorrow. I will be leaving around 10AM, if you want to attend. I have to stay after the shot to take things apart, but I am sure we can find you transport back to the city. Give me a call if you want to take me up on it. (number is on the card). (for the rest of you, the event is unfortunately “employee’s only” so I can’t say where its happening. It should make the evening news however)

    Some links: More info on the machine and the crazies that built it can be found at http://siege-engine.com You can watch us set it up, (and take out a simulated wall) at http://www.metacafe.com/watch/859607/mista_balista_a_modern_steel_and_compoisite_full_sized_anc/

    -dp-
    Founder: The New England Rubbish Deconstruction Society; The NERDS http://the-nerds.org

  3. Sweet Post, I like the format as well

  4. jilanne karn says:

    where will you be going next?

  5. I’d be happy to help out with flights/hotel stays using my points/miles in exchange for Raleigh/Durham groupons. Good luck with the rest of your journey!

  6. Shannon says:

    I did this Segway Tour with a Groupon and it was great! Be prepared for gawking-especially when you catch the curb and fall off (which I also did!).

  7. Jonathan says:

    If you’re in Boston and you are a chocoholic like I am, you must trade some groupons to get someone to take you to the Langham hotel.
    http://boston.langhamhotels.com/restaurants/chocolate_bar.htm

  8. Jonathan says:

    P.S. a few Boston ‘recent deals’ that stand out: Helicopter lessons look awesome, OMNI Resorts for a hotel, and Garment District if you need more clothes.

  9. jilanne karn says:

    It sounds like you have gotten a backpack and I know you have a plane ticket will your backpack work as a carry on? or will you have to check it I know most airlines now charge for checked baggage So you might want to plan for this if I can help any way please let me know! where are you going next?

  10. jilanne karn says:

    are you comming to Portland /Seattle area I thought this had been talked about but now I see something about Dallas

  11. wouldn’t a suitcase work as well?

  12. Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, I bookmarked it.

  13. Flowergype says:

    What flowers do you like?

  14. nice pictures, good!

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