🏖️ Last chance to see this island after-hours

Happy Friday, Boston!

😂 Here’s a good laugh: Now that the Cop Slide is officially listed on Google Maps, the reviews are starting to pour in. And they are UNHINGED. My favorite? “It’s faster than the Green Line.”

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Long Island Bridge

• More concert trains

• Wall ball

Up first...

SUMMER FRIDAYS

Hip Hop, hot wings, and a harvest festival

There are only four Summer Fridays left *cries in corporate*. So to distract you from the reality that September is three weeks away *cries again*, here’s how to spend a summery weekend in the city:

🎶 Celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop. The music genre that got its start on a street corner in the Bronx turns 50 today. And Boston is celebrating with the GLD FSTVL at City Hall Plaza. The festival will be headlined by Hip Hip duos EarthGang and Dead Prez, along with a slew of performances from local artists and DJs (peep Oompa!), tons of food trucks and vendors. But if you’re an indoor cat, you can catch a Hip Hop-themed movies at the Coolidge.

😋 Spice up date night with Dine Out Boston. This is the second-to-last weekend to take advantage of lunch and dinner deals at over 100 restaurants around town. If you’re feeling fancy, you can get a three-course dinner at The Banks Fish House for $46 per person. Or you could opt for a laid-back lunch from Smoke Shop BBQ for $22 (trust me, you will have leftovers). You can see the full lineup here.

💃 Relive the Eras Tour over brunch at Publico. The only way to celebrate Swift announcing the release date of her re-recording of 1989 is by scream-singing her entire discography over pancakes and mimosas. So Publico Street Bistro & Garden is throwing a Taylor Swift-themed Sunday brunch with food and drink like Cornelia Street Tacos and Bad Blood(y) Marys, plus Taylor trivia and DJ Wyatt spinning everything from Taylor Swift to Midnights.

🏖️ Spend a summer night on Spectacle Island. This day-trip destination is open after-hours Saturday for the last of the Spectacle Summer Night series. A $38 ticket will get you a round-trip ferry ride from Long Wharf, access to live music, lawn games, sick sunset city views, and beach snacks. Plus, you can grab drinks and dinner from Night Shift Brewing and ZaZ Restaurant on the island.

🍗 Indulge in all-you-can-eat wings at the New Hampshire Wing Festival. If you like wings and you’ve got a car, the hour drive to Exeter, N.H., might be worth it. For a $30 ticket, you can sample all the wings your heart desires, a beer from Smuttynose Brewing, Italian ice, and the chance to vote on who has the best wings in N.H.

🇮🇹 Feast your eyes on the Madonna Della Cava. The story behind this feast goes something like: Mary directs a mute boy to her buried portrait in a dream, and in the process of digging it up, his speech and hearing are restored. So to celebrate the 103rd Madonna Della Cava Feast, Hanover and Battery Street will be loaded with live music, Italian street food, and the iconic procession of the Madonna herself.

🥮 Hit up Chinatown for the August Moon Festival. This celebration honoring the season’s harvest is second only to Chinese New Year, and it’s loaded with performances of Asian folk dance, lion dance, Chinese opera, and more. You can also shop the streets for food, gifts, and souvenirs from local vendors.

🍦 Grab a scoop and a story at the JP branch of the BPL. They’ll be hosting a pop-up book sale on Saturday. And to sweeten the already good deals, they’re also providing free ice cream from J.P. Licks.

🧘 Namaste for food and drinks at Burro Bar. The South End taco spot is hosting a 45-minute vinyasa flow yoga class on Saturday. In addition to the class, your ticket gets you a yoga mat, a post-flow tequila sunrise, and 25% off of Burro’s bottomless brunch.

POP QUIZ!

🤑 How much will people generally save during the tax-free holiday weekend?

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🌉 A new addiction recovery site is just one bridge away. Boston secured a key permit to get the ball rolling on reconstructing the Long Island Bridge, which would bring the city one step closer to reviving a Long Island recovery center for people struggling with addiction. The goal is to have all permits in by the end of year and to reopen the bridge within four years. But not everyone is loving this news. Part of the bridge sits within Quincy’s city lines, and the city’s mayor and many residents are worried about local impacts.

🍎 Climate change is hurting local farmers. Whether it was the deep freeze in February that killed most of the peach and plum crop, the May frost that ruined blueberries and apples, or summer rain water-logging tomatoes and zucchini (R.I.P. tomato girl summer), intense weather has ruined nearly 3,000 acres of crops in the state, affecting more than 100 farms and costing an estimated $15 million. And while state and federal aid might be on the way, farmers are having to think long-term about protecting their crops in the face of extreme weather.

🎤 More Commuter Rail concert trains to Gillette have been announced. If you had plans to see Bruce Springsteen this month, you’re in luck: The Commuter Rail added special event trains from Boston and Providence to Gillette for his shows on August 24 and 26, which are currently on sale on the mTicket app. Train tickets to Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks on Sept. 23 and Karol G on Sept. 28 likely will be available next month. Speaking of Gillette, the Pats lost their first pre-season game 20-9 against the Texans.

ONE LAST THING

Wall ball

It’s a baseball player’s dream to hit a home run over the Green Monster at Fenway Park. But what about through it?

Kansas City outfielder Kyle Isbel did exactly that during the game Wednesday night, creating one of the strangest ground-rule doubles in Fenway history.

His line-drive hit smashed into the circular light on the scoreboard, completely lodging itself inside the fixture. It even took Masataka Yoshida a second to realize where the heck the ball had gone. You can watch the play here.

While strange, it worked in the Sox’ favor. The ground-rule double stopped the play and prevented any more runners from scoring, ultimately giving them the W, 4-3.

🌭 Thanks for reading! New rule: If someone smashes a light like that during a game, everyone gets a free Fenway Frank.

🛍️ The results are in: B-Side readers know what’s up and agree that 30% off is the MINIMUM for something to be considered a sale. One reader wrote: “If I am not willing to shell out 100 bucks, then 80 or 90 probably isn’t in the cards either.” Truth!

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