Miracle of Science Bar and Grill
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2. MIRACLE OF SCIENCE BAR AND GRILL
For the next stop on our tour of geekdom, head east to the great mecca of smarts, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Along with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge is now also home to quite possibly the geekiest restaurant and bar on the planet, Miracle of Science.
Miracle is a friendly and casual neighborhood spot that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. But when the clientele's IQ's are all over 120, you have to do something else besides slapping up some flair and a bunch of flat screens to keep them engaged.
In this case, it's by coating the whole place in science. The menu comes in the form of a food-based periodic table on a giant blackboard, with each menu item referred to by a periodic looking code - Hb=Hamburger, Sm=mesclun salad and so on. The black-topped tables look just like the chemically resistant variety seen in high school science classrooms around the world. Keeping up with the theme, condiments are served in test tubes, and drinks come in beakers.
Miracle is open till 1am, so after a full day of geeking out in Cambridge you can go over your copious notes well into the night.
Jetting There: Virgin America now flies direct from LAX and SFO, is running some great coast to coast fares, and not only offers $13.99 in-flight WiFi through Go-Go, but also shows you which flights have wireless through their flight search at virginamerica.com.
On the East Coast, JetBlue flies direct from a number of destinations and comes with live DirecTv on all flights. However, Acela, Amtrak's closest thing to high speed rail travel in the US offers minimal stop service from Washington DC, Philadelphia and Penn Station in NYC. The train will drop you off at South Station and you can hop on the MTBA Red Line across the Charles to Mass Ave in Cambridge.
Driving There: No matter how many geek navigation tools you have in your car, leave it at home for your trip to Boston. The roads were engineered for horses, not for automobiles.
Staying There: If you're heading to a bar that's modeled after a chemistry lab, then you should really stay no other place than the Hotel @ MIT where robots await you! Rates start at around $129 a night.
What to Pack:
Nintendo DS Lite
This little device easily slips into your back pack or laptop bag, comes with dual-screen and microphone-enabled gameplay, as well as Wi-Fi multiplayer capabilities, now if you could download old school games from your PC onto a blank cartridge and plug it in the back right? Either way this gadget will help you kill a four hour train trip rather easily.
Or...Channeling VH1's Pick Up Artist for a disturbing moment...Let's say your a guy, on a train alone looking to find an, um, trip mate -- how can this device help you? Well, have you seen the recent commercial where Phoebe from friends looks completely enthralled with a game called Professor Layton? Turns out that isn't just good acting, many young women seem to gravitate towards this device, and this particular brain teaser game.
Seriously, we are not making this up, it is like the Axe body spray effect or something. Try it out yourselves.
