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Trapeze School

It’s a modern mystery why Massachusetts is home to so many family-run furniture stores. We’re sure they’re all great, but the ones who clearly try hardest to entertain are the Jordan’s Furniture guys. Quirky TV commercials aside, their stores offer activities such as an Imax 3D theater and a Motion Odyssey Movie Ride (MOM). But it’s the newest location, in Reading, that really catches our attention. Go to shop for a sofa, grab a meal at Johnny’s Luncheonette — or take a lesson on the flying trapeze with Trapeze School New York Beantown. Formal two-hour classes are $40, "open flying time" individual swings are $10, and triple swings are $25. The classes are taught in groups of 10 and are open to flyers of all levels, including first-timers. In addition to the restaurant and trapeze school, Jordan’s in Reading also features "Beantown," an entire city — including the Green Monster, the Big Dig, and the Zakim Bridge — made out of jellybeans. Yeah, that’s right. We don’t get it either. But really, who cares? Because the simple fact is that jellybeans are delicious, and where else are you going to get a turn on the trapeze?

TSNY Beantown at Jordan’s Furniture, 50 Walkers Brook Drive, Reading, (781) 944-9090; boston.trapezeschool.com

F-1 (go-cart) racing

You’ve got a serious need for speed. Unfortunately, the Boston police have an equal if not greater need to enforce the law (and generate revenue from traffic tickets). And one more moving violation and you’re going to have to trade in your license for a bus pass, buddy. Why not express your velocity cravings in a different setting — F1 racing, perhaps? It’s go-cart racing on a professional indoor track, and it’s strictly for adults 18 and over (21-plus after 8 p.m.) with valid licenses. That means you need not worry about maniacal children with no sense of their own mortality tearing up the course. A day racing license costs $10; an annual one is $25. On top of that, the open racing session will run you $25; it includes a safety-and-rules orientation, some practice laps, and a full race. There are also billiards, a café, and a lounge, in case you want to slow it down a touch.

F1 Boston, 290 Wood Road, Braintree, (781) 848-2300; www.f1boston.com

Hookah bar at the Casbah Lounge

Little-known fact: the mystical and seductive world of gypsies, belly dancers, Casablanca, and sumptuous, old-world Mediterranean culture is alive and well in Charlestown. A bit unexpected, yes, but Tangierino is proof that it exists. Aside from its great cuisine, the restaurant features the Casbah Lounge, an honest-to-goodness hookah bar. Choose regular tobacco ($20) or a selection of shisha ($25) in flavors like mint, apricot, rose, apple, and jasmine. Laze about on the pillow-lined couches amid dark draperies and sparkling lanterns and watch as the belly dancers entertain you, Thursday through Sunday nights from 7:30 to 11 p.m. You’ll feel as though you’ve been transported to another world, one in which people are still allowed to smoke indoors and smoking doesn’t taste like crap. Until now, we’d only dared to dream.

Casbah Lounge at Tangierino, 83 Main Street, Charlestown, (617) 242-6009; www.tangierino.com

Summer Salsa Harbor Cruise

Somewhere inside all of us resides at least a small amount of Latin heat. Oh yes, it’s there, and it’s crying to get out. You just need the forum. And here it is. Salsa Boston sponsors a Summer Salsa Harbor Cruise every Sunday night this summer, plus a special one on July 4. Tickets start at $15 and include a beginner’s salsa lesson on the dock before boarding, two decks of dancing with two DJs, and free admission to an after-party at Club Sanctuary upon return. Food is $10 for an all-out Latin buffet on board, and even though drinks are not included, you’ll be drunk on Latin flava before you know it. Plus, the cruise is open to dancers of all ages, and it sails regardless of the weather. That’s how hot its heat is.

Salsa Harbor Cruise, (617) 513-9841; www.salsaboston.com

The Flea at MIT

Get in touch with your inner (or outer) geek at this monthly swapfest and flea market. People of all sorts pop out of the woodwork to sell, trade, and buy electronic, computer, and amateur-radio equipment (ham and non-ham). Looking for a new oscilloscope to complete the dining room? How about a vintage vacuum tube? Chances are you’ll find it here, as well as oodles of other offbeat miscellany you never knew you needed. There’s even a guy with an Enigma machine, a WWII-era code-breaking contraption. You so need that. The Flea was started by the MIT Radio Society, and if you bring along a copy of the group’s flier, you’ll get $1 off the price of admission. The Flea is held the third Sunday of every month from April through October in the Albany Street garage at MIT. Go, explore, meet some wacky people, and buy and sell stuff you don’t need.

The Flea at MIT, corner of Albany and Main Streets, Cambridge; web.mit.edu/w1mx/www/swapfest.html

Larz Anderson Auto Museum lawn events

You’re one of those people who stop on the sidewalk to check out a hot car, aren’t you? You crane your neck while driving to get a glimpse of that restored vintage sports car whose dust you’re about to eat. You spend afternoons at work browsing different car Web sites, choosing your favorite color options for each model — you know, just in case you have to make a decision in a hurry. Well, obsessive friend, have you ever been to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, in Brookline? It’s a piece of history in itself, and it’s been hosting outdoor events since the 1930s, when the Veteran Motor Car Club of America held its meets on the Great Lawn in the park. This summer the museum has a full calendar of lawn events in store, like Corvette Day on June 12, Extinct Autos Day on June 25, the Inaugural Hot Rod Show on July 24, and even the Larz Anderson Bicycle Show on August 14. Bring a picnic lunch, relax on the lawn, and explore the many incredible cars you won’t find on the street — all without causing an accident or a traffic jam.

Larz Anderson Auto Museum, 15 Newton Street, Brookline, (617) 522-6547; www.mot.org

Nina Schwartz can be reached at nina.schwartz@gmail.com