PLAY: Boston, Massachusetts
5W!ts is a challenging indoor game
Enter the Pharaoh’s Tomb at 5W!ts, but be prepared to use your wits to find your way out. And if your group can’t work together, be prepared to meet your fate. There are three realistic chambers in this entertainment/learning experience, and a guide gives you hints and sometimes helps, enabling the group to crack sound or visual puzzles or the codes using plain logic. Good visual effects make it feel like an “expedition,” and tasks range from easy to challenging. The journey lasts 45 minutes, but Tomb plans an expansion. 5W!ts, 186 Brookline Ave., 617-375-9487 or .
DINE: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Matyson is a trendy downtown room
Innovative and down to earth, Matyson offers this deal: You bring the wine, they’ll serve up fare that will make you wish you lived in the City of Brotherly Love. The rotating á la carte menu is terrific, but check out the weekly tasting menu, five courses for $45. Creativity abounds in such dishes as watermelon and feta salad, grilled baby octopus with chiles and purple potato salad, seared scallops with creamy corn and fava beans, and crispy smoked veal sweetbreads with wild mushroom and rutabaga hash, and leek fondue. Matyson, 37 S. 19th St., 215-564-2925 or
PLAY: Bettendorf, Iowa
Isle of Capri good bet for river gambling
Just south of Interstate 80, the Isle of Capri riverboat casino sits off the eastern shore of the Mississippi River. Drive along the shore of the Mississippi at glorious sunset, and behold the beautiful orange and peach hues shining through the struts of the iron bridges. The hotel sits on land, and there’s a skyway over to the casino. Restaurants include fine dining at Farradday’s, the ubiquitous casino buffet at Calypso’s or sandwiches at Tradewinds Marketplace. Isle of Capri Casino Bettendorf, 1777 Isle Parkway, 800-THE-ISLE
