I Have a Lot to Do This Summer

Monday is Memorial Day.

How did that happen? Where is this year going? I guess it’s true what they say: Time really does fly when you’re having fun.

What that means is, I need to make the most of this summer because before you know it, Labor Day will be here and then soon after, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, right?

If I want to have a good summer, it’ll help to compile a list of things I want to do. So here, for the first time since 2012, are some of the foods and drinks I want to try, places I want to go, movies and shows I want to see, and other ways I want to spend my time between now and Labor Day.

1. Check out the Mendon Drive-In. I’ve never been to a drive-in before, but everything I’ve heard about this place, now owned by the folks behind the Phantom Gourmet, is inspiring me to change that.

2. Watch a couple Red Sox games at Fenway. It’s sad, but I can’t remember the last time I saw a game in person at Fenway.

3. Binge-watch the first two seasons of House of Cards

4. Finally try Tasty Burger, Del Frisco’s Grille, Fogo de Chao, and Boston Chops

5. Check out the views from Lake Hollywood in L.A.

6. Find a new favorite beach. Not that there’s anything wrong with Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea, of course.

7. Watch my nephews enjoy their first Duck Tour. My niece went on her first one three years ago. Now it’s their turn.

8. Have a Cinnamon Bun Pancake at Bintliff’s in Portland, Maine

9. Write a handful of movie reviews

10. Use my golf clubs. They’ve been lying dormant for way too long.

11. Go back to Abe & Louie’s. I’ll never sway in my loyalty to Ruth’s Chris, but the steak I recently had at this Boylston Street restaurant, so perfectly seasoned, was worth going back for.

12. Participate in a meetup with other Instagrammers. These happen most every Sunday and look like so much fun. I’d love to meet some of my favorite local photographers and learn from them how to take better pictures.

13. Check out Bantam Cider and Union Square Donuts

14. Have my apartment professionally cleaned

15. Enjoy a day at the Hotel Indigo pool. I recently bought a pass for two via Gilt City, so this has to happen.

16. Visit my old summer camp. I say this every year, and I’m hoping I make it happen this year.

17. Confirm that life really does begin when you turn 40. This is going to happen whether I want it to or not, starting on June 7.

18. Take a Codzilla ride around Boston Harbor

19. Clean out my basement storage units. I really need to get rid of a bunch of stuff I shouldn’t have held on to this long. Maybe my neighbors and I will have a garage/yard sale.

20. Spend time on the Cape. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve lived in Boston for 17 years (21 if you count my years at Brandeis), and I’ve never spent any kind of significant time on Cape Cod. That’s just wrong.

21. Enjoy Boyhood and Begin Again as much as I’m hoping to. There are a bunch of movies I’m looking forward to this summer, but these two are at the top of the list.

22. Watch the July 4th fireworks from the banks of the Charles River. Because this is on my to-do list — and should be on yours — every year.

23. Get in to Legoland Discovery Center Boston even though I don’t have a kid of my own 

24. Sing along with Jamie Cullum while watching him perform at the House of Blues

25. Have a drink at Daisy Buchanan’s before it closes. Not that I ever really wanted to before, but I figure this is my last chance, so why not?

26. Take too many pictures of Waterfire in Providence, R.I.

27. Enjoy! As noted, summer will be over before we know it, so there’s no time to waste. I want to enjoy every minute of these three or so months.

It’s no fun doing all this by myself, so please let me know if you’d like to join in the fun. Happy Summer!

What’s on your summer to-do list? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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