Even if you're not one for longhair entertainment, the area still may have something to offer you. The Popular Artist Series at Tanglewood is presenting Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor in the next few weeks. Ticket prices are steep--$5.50-$7.50--but what isn't? Allow yourself a little time to wander around nearby Stock-bridge and Lennox, quaint little villages where you can spend a fortune. Some basic familiarity with these places is de rigeur for anyone who wishes to hold his/her head high in Harvard Yard.
Your main objective this summer will be keeping cool, no easy task. Here too a car will come in handy. You could invest $15 in a pass to the pool at the Indoor Athletic Building, which is a good deal, but doesn't solve the all important beach problem. The best ones are up on routes 1A and 1B--Plumb Island, Salisbury Beach; Crane's Beach and dozens of others. Parking will cost you up to $3. If it's sailing you're after, you might do well to check out Community Boating, Inc. at the MDC Boathouse on the Charles, where you can get unlimited access to boats for $18 a month.
Are you upwardly mobile and insecure about it? The Boston area may be just the place to feed your anxieties. There are lots of families around here who've had money for a while, like around 250 years, and they wear it well--no monograms on their mansions. The greatest concentration of these people is on the North Shore, in towns like Manchester, Beverly Farms, and Pride's Crossing. If your idea of a good time is playing voyeur to the rich, you might make a point of getting to these neighborhoods. Frankly, it's a neurotic activity.
During the next couple of months, keeping posted on what's happening in the area will be easy. The Real Paper and The Phoenix have followed a course of development similar to that of radio station WBCN--starting out as alternative, radical papers, they have become increasingly non-political, showy and slick. Nevertheless, they are pretty good at what they do--their listings of special events, services, and the arts are very comprehensive. The Boston Globe is strongest in its local and sports reporting, but on the national level its coverage is at best erratic, with the exception of two fine journalists--Curtis Wilkie and Martin Nolan. For national and international news, protect yourself by picking up a copy of The New York Times in the Square. (This is, by the way, one of the best features of the Square; between Out of Town News, Nini's Corner, and Reading International on Brattle St., you can get just about any newspaper or magazine in the world you might possibly want.)
For cheap thrills, there is only one place to go--Paragon Park at Nantasket Beach on the South Shore. It has a not very bad roller coaster, although those who fondly remember vomiting at Palisades Amusement Park in Fort Lee, N.J., will not be impressed. This place is surrounded by penny arcades, bad food, and denizens of all varieties. Enjoy.
The important thing in your forays is initiative. Harvard Square is potential quicksand--it's all too easy to get stuck in the belief that there's actually something going on there, when in fact it's just a place where a lot of people are trying to sell you things. Not to be inhospitable, but get out, as often as you can and for as long as you can.