a bunch of random questions

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

i just moved to davis square. i know many of these have been asked, but i'll ask again. please feel free to offer advice on any or all of these!

1. i live near holland & simpson (near mr. crepe). i commute up 93N and am wondering what is the best way and time to get to the highway? i.e. no traffic (this inludes pedestrians and bikers). w/o traffic it takes me 5 min. to get to the highway going up to broadway, through powderhouse circle, then warner/harvard to 93. in the mornings lately, it has been taking me 15-20!! i have also tried broadway to 16E to 93, and also 15-20 min. is there a better time to leave?

1a. anyone want to carpool to the tewksbury area?

2. best dry cleaners nearby. reasonably priced b/c i have to do a whole pile.

3. good place to get a pedicure.

4. good place to get a massage.

5. cool ways to get exercise (e.g. dance studios, yoga, martial arts... very open to new things)

6. good place to go to clean your car (exterior/interior)? i was recommended srubadub in woburn, but maybe there is a place closer by that is also good?

7. any random fun things i forgot to ask about (restaurants/bars/hangouts, etc).

thanks for any tips! :)

Comments

[ceo]

From where you are, I'd try going north on Holland and going straight across Broadway at Teele Square, onto Curtis St. Follow Curtis up through Tufts and all the way down the long hill (it turns into Winthrop St. in Medford). Just before the bridge over the Mystic River, turn right onto South St. This will bring you to the Rte. 16/Main St. intersection. Go straight (cursing the unused traffic lights) onto the I-93 onramp.

Alternatively, cross the bridge and turn right onto 16. This avoids that horrible intersection but may involve more slow traffic (as well as at least one crosswalk light that routinely turns red for no reason other than to obstruct traffic).

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

thanks, i knew there must be a better way. are you a fellow commuter? i'm wondering what time(s) are best to leave. i've been leaving 7:30-8ish but it still seems not early enough.

[ceo]

Used to live in Teele Square and commute to Topsfield. Right now I live near Ball Sqaure and work in Kendall Square, so it's the Red Line for me (or walking, which I do with some regularity).

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

2. Winn Cleaners on College Ave in the Square (next to Nick's Roast Beef).
3. The Square Nail Studio on Holland, just down from you. One word: AWESOME.
4. Massage Therapy Works on Elm (also in the Square).
5. The Dance Complex (http://www.dancecomplex.org) in Central Square offers a wide range of classes including martial arts, yoga, and dance, and you can drop in or register for a block of classes.
7. Eat at Mr. Crepe! It's my favorite food in Davis Square. Redbones (on Chester St) is also great, especially the basement part. The food is good (and pretty inexpensive), the bartenders are friendly, and it's so convenient.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Ugh. One word for the Square Nail Studio--nail fungus, which I got there a month ago. :/ My friend says that there's a great place round the corner from Blue Shirt Cafe which has awesome chairs.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

Really? My roommate and I have both been going there and not had any problem. I guess you never know.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I went and the girl I had was VERY new, and she cut all my nails too short (ow.) and then now I have discolored weird patches on several of them, and I haven't really been anywhere else to pick it up. (I could go into way too much detail here, but I won't) I would just say--be really careful.

Hey, at least they don't use those weird callous-razors.

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

maybe i should ask for a specific person?

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Mebbe. I don't know who I was seeing, though. :/ And they may all use the same tools.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

liz_a_lmt does massages in her practice in Teele Square, a little north of Davis, and I highly recommend her.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

1) Take College street off the powderhouse rotary. At the light at Tufts, go straight. Turn right at the stop sign, then left at the T intersection. You'll see the highway entrance ahead at the overpass.

6) Cambridge Car Wash on Mass Ave near porter. Awesome place!

7) Mr. Crepe!! Also, Redbones, also Sabur (also on Holland), also Soliel Cafe (in Teele, but not more than 5 blocks walk), also, Diesel Cafe, also, Joshua Tree. I love Davis, there's so much to do.

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

i don't quite understand your directions... doesn't college lead into davis?

i've also heard of a somerville car wash. any difference?

thanks!

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

College connects Davis and the Powderhouse rotary, but it also continues past Tufts on the other side of the rotary.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they are not the same place. This place is definitely in Cambridge.

College Street by the ballfield. ;) Not into the square.

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

is the cambridge one better than the somerville?

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

See, I wouldn't know. I'm only saying that the Cambridge one is awesome. I do not know if they are affiliated in any way. I have not ever tried the Somerville Car Wash.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Pedicure: Julie's Nails on Elm, next to McKinnon's Market (best place to get meat, btw). I've been going there for a year. They're open 7 days, open til 8, take credit/debit cards, do great work, are super friendly (even when the colour looks better in the bottle than it does on your toes), and they have the most awesome massage chairs! A pedicure is $20 there...manicure is $10.

Other things: The Somerville Theatre has second-run films for $6 ($4 before 6pm on weekdays). Right now they have Fahrenheit 9/11, Open Water and Shrek 2...

Rosebud Diner. A must see. Right at the part where Elm splits and part becomes Summer.

The Goodwill on Elm. Best. Store. Ever. Wait til you see the basement.

If you ever need a vet: Porter Square Vet on Summer (they used to be in Porter Square and moved, but kept the name). Wonderful people. And I love that I can walk with my Siamese to the vet - I live about 5 blocks away.

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

thanks for the tips. i live so close to the somerville theatre so i'm really excited about that!

my $0.02.

[5seven.livejournal.com]

Personally I've been going to Sacco's Bowlhaven for the past ten years or so, best place to bowl in the boston area when it comes to candlepin.
They also have 8 or 9 pool tables. kinda crowded in the summer but great all winter long, just please, respect peoples space its kinda not so tuft student friendly at times.
I'm sure you know about store18, old somerville bluelaws limit business hours, but jst down day st to mass ave you'll find cambridge and white hen pantry open 24/7.

Dont forget about redbone's bbq...

and ceo hit the directions on the head.

i need to learn to read ahead

[5seven.livejournal.com]

oh wait the prunes-person ha a great route too... but if you know the way to harvard st, then i'd pop a left at main st (where you see the bakery on the corner)and roll thru medford sq, past the police station rather than messing w/ mystic st in the morning.

Re: i need to learn to read ahead

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Oh, see, I don't like that route at all! And I know it's not much different. I hate messing with Harvard St. in the morning.

Re: i need to learn to read ahead

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

yea... powderhouse circle and harvard st. seem to be where i hit the most traffic. frustrating since i know i'm only a mile from the highway... plus i always get yelled at by some aggressive biker/pedestrian. i need to learn to yell back. maybe i'm just leaving at the wrong time?

[raln.livejournal.com]

Ok, I know this post is old at this point, but I just saw it and thought I'd write back since I live right near you (Gorham and Holland, right across from the RMV) and also commute to Tewksbury on weekday mornings (where in Tewks are you headed btw?). I do what that first guy suggested - follow Holland up through Teele, go up Curtis, and take the right onto Mystic after the ballfield. 93N is right there. Depending on when you leave, it shouldn't take more than like 5 minutes or so. I usually try to get on the road by like 630-7 and so I don't hit much traffic at all, but I left today at around 8 or so, and still didn't hit much. Coming back, I go through Medford (get off on the exit before the one for 16... i think it's Rt 60?), scoot through Medford center keeping to the right, go almost-all-the-way-around at the rotary you hit once you're through town, and then you're back on the other end of Curtis (or whatever that end is called in Medford). That almost never backs up either.

A couple suggestions for Davis (in case you haven't discovered them already): Anna's Taqueria has great cheap food, can't go wrong there. Someday Cafe is a great place to grab some coffee/tea and chill out on the couches. Sligo is a fun/cheap divey bar, and Redbone's Downstairs has a ton of good beers on tap (and some interesting artwork).

Are you new to the Boston/Cambridge/Somerville area entirely? Or just unfamiliar with Davis? There's plenty of good things to check out just a couple stops down the Red Line, if you haven't explored down there already...

[la-ti-da.livejournal.com]

hey, thanks for responding. :) i think i definetly need to leave earlier, and i will try this route out.

i work on apple hill rd (and you?). let me know if you or anyone you know is interested in carpooling, i'm hoping to find someone b/c i fear i may have trouble driving when it starts getting dark earlier.

i'm pretty new to boston, and very new to davis and somerville in general. so yea, any good recommendations at nearby T's are also welcome. i'll have to check out the places you mentioned.

[raln.livejournal.com]

Ha, sounds like you work for Uncle Ray too... I kind of thought you might, since there's not too many other big employers up here in Tewks, and I know we've gotten a lot of new hires here recently. What are you on? I'm on Patriot, myself.

Carpooling's not a bad idea, though sometimes hours can get pretty unpredictable here. Some days (like today) I have nothing to do and I'll probably leave early, and other days I get overloaded with work and I end up working at least a couple hours extra (once I was here for 19 hours straight - that was a bad day). But it definitely wouldn't hurt to know someone nearby to share a ride with in case of car trouble or something. Hmm, I'm not sure how to pass along my email without posting it up here though... (here's a thought: if you do work where I think you do, search Directory Services for 1022134 and it'll come up with my entry)

Other recommendations... hmm. I guess it's tough to do just general boston/cambridge/somerville suggestions without knowing what you're into. There's a lot of good restaurants and bars down around the Harvard/Central area for sure though. Oh, and there's some good things up around the Teele Sq area too - I'm a big fan of Theo's there, and Rudy's is decent as well.