Boston Seaport Announces Free Seaport Sweat Series

The start of spring in New England means Boston begins to open areas of the city for everyone to enjoy. This includes the free Seaport Sweat series that offers workout classes outside.

The ninth season of this great offering officially begins on May 1. It will run through September 28, giving those interested five full months of fitness.

"This year, the community-driven series will offer a variety of new classes and instructors on Seaport Common and special weekend classes," the Boston Seaport said. In addition to being free and open to the public, these classes welcome all levels of fitness enthusiasts, from experts to those just starting a routine.

Monday through Thursday will have two classes each in the early evening. A 5:30 PM session starts things off, then there is a 6:30 PM class immediately afterward. Each day and time slot is dedicated to a particular workout. This includes everything from Zumba, Pilates, Yoga, Total Body, and Power Sculpt.

On Friday, one class is offered: "Stretch and the City" at 12 PM. The weekends are when the action kicks into overdrive. Although each Saturday only consists of one class (starting May 4), it is a weekly special offering. For example, on June 1, there will be "Broncore Bootcamp with Bron Volney."Each Saturday begins at 10 AM.

Sundays are off before it all starts back up again on Monday evening.

So far, eight different instructors are scheduled to be hosting this wide range of classes. You can find more about each of them here. Some of them are local brand ambassadors for popular names such as Alo, Equinox, lululemon, Tonal and Rhone.

Although they are free, your spot does need to be reserved for certain classes. You can monitor the sign-up site here (registration is not open yet).

With the weather starting to warm up, the Boston Seaport has become one of the most popular and enjoyable areas of the city to spend time outdoors. Whether you are walking along the numerous harbor paths, grabbing a bite to eat, or working out, there is certainly a seasonal cheer to this area.

Towards the end of Northern Avenue is where you will find the Leader Bank Pavilion as well. Arguably the best outdoor concert venue the summer in Boston has to offer, the lineup this year is remarkable.

Their season opens May 2 with Dustin Lynch in concert. Sean Paul, Roger Daltrey (solo), Slash, Jason Mraz, and Melissa Etheridge are just some of the artists who are also booked to play here.

Ben and Jerry's new flavors couldn't be more different from each other. The popular New England based ice cream brand has added three options to their creative family so far this year, and here I will rank them all.

Coincidentally, I tried each of these in one sitting. This was an unplanned taste test. With a house full of young kids, a visiting friend recently stopped by and knew the way to quickly win over the youngsters. Pints of ice cream.

Before I get into explaining which was best, I should note I am not an ice cream (or dessert) enthusiast by any means. Dare I say, I hardly seek out ice cream, even in the summer months. However, if it is put in front of me, I will eat it if it's one of my favorite varieties.

If I'm going for ice cream, though, Ben and Jerry's is easily my brand of choice. Being a New Englander, I have toured their Vermont location a handful of times. Their half-baked in a cone is my go-to choice.

If you are not familiar, these are the Ben and Jerry's new flavors that have rolled out in 2024. Impretzively Fudged, PB S'More, and Marshmallow Sky. Now, it's important to note that Marshmallow Sky is new just to pints. Meaning, it was available in their scoop shops only.

Another flavor entitled Strawberry Cheezecake was also unveiled earlier this year. This did not qualify here as a new flavor ranking because it had been an ice cream flavor (branded "cheesecake). The new "cheeze" version is a vegan dairy-free dessert.

Upon seeing these at my house, I realized they were new. So, instead of selecting one pint to scoop, I took one for the team and realized I needed one proper scoop of each.

My process was to try one at a time and not have all three in the same bowl. Blending flavors might compromise the intended taste.

As a result, there was a flavor where one bite was enough. Another where I couldn't get enough, and the third was somewhere in between.

Here is my official ice cream ranking of Ben and Jerry's new flavors.

It's chocolate ice cream with fudge covered pretzel pieces and pretzel swirl. The problem here is that I do not like chocolate covered pretzels. Oddly enough, I love pretzels alone. Dip them in sugar and ice cream and it either compromises the flavor or classifies as "too much." So, this was my least favorite.

Here we have toasted marshmallow ice cream with peanut butter cups, graham cracker pieces, and marshmallow swirl. The graham crackers are the star of this show. They pair better with the ice cream and chocolate than the typical marshmallow of a S'More. This was certainly a tasty delight, but I feel if the marshmallow swirl did not need to be invited to the party.

Admittedly, I was a little cautious about the blue ice cream color thinking it could suffer from cotton candy syndrome (where too much equals upset stomach city). That is not the case here. It's marshmallow ice cream with swirls, and then chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough. The latter of the cookie dough bites just brings this to another level. Some sweets get forced together and some just belong together and make each other better. That's the case here. It's no wonder Ben and Jerry's decided to promote this flavor. It tastes as cheerful as it looks.