Every Boston-dwelling Patriots fan needs their bar to watch the game, chow down on some loaded potato skins, and eventually cry into their coagulated nachos and eighth Heineken. Lucky for them, we've found the five best Boston sports bar to do just that. No matter who they're with and what atmosphere they're craving, these spots will leave them happy on Sunday - or, at least, as happy as they can possibly be. 

Boston, ultimately a rock & roll town, makes lurches towards more glamorous, New York conceptions of nightlife, but tends to never go too boldly into it. But the W Boston carries the brand’s DNA, and could thusly be trusted to carry it off with panache. And so while everyone seems to be reaching higher and higher into the sky, the W is plunging party people down into the Earth with its new and unambiguously named 3000-square-foot bar Descent.

It's not easy being spooky or chic, but luckily, we're here to help. Introducing Cointreau’s Spooky Chic Halloween, a nationwide celebration throughout Halloween week. Check out some of the photos in Boston ( more

● Boston: Head to Salem, just 35 miles from the city and center of all things spooky for centuries. The weekend is packed with events, from the Friday night Halloween Ball, to Saturday’s Vampire Masquerade, to Sunday’s Dinner with the Dead, a silent dinner and séance. ● New Orleans: The Voodoo Experience brings Snoop Dogg, Soundgarten, Girl Talk, and 30-something other bands to City Park in New Orleans all weekend long, along with art installations, great food, and of course, crazy costumes.

Flavorful, spicy, and rich in restorative vitamins (that’s our story and we’re sticking to it) the Bloody Mary is the quintessential boozy-brunch, morning-after drink. But we’re not talking about the tomato juice you get free with your eggs at your favorite local spot -- a cocktail classic like this one deserves to elevated above the mundanity of a sad, lonely celery stick. These are a few of our favorite variations.

● San Francisco: Pack some fake blood in your briefcase and get ready to join the first annual Zombie Crawl meeting at Civic Center Plaza early Saturday night, followed by a pub crawl through the city. October 22. ● Dallas: The legendary Texas State Fair has its grand finale for 2011 this weekend, so go and enjoy 277 square acres of fried foods, Ferris wheels, and festivities while you still can. Through October 23.

Fall means football season, championship baseball, professional hockey, even the start of soccer season, but where to watch when you’re on the road? Unsurprisingly, anywhere there are great fans, there are great places to drink and cheer on your team -- which is the home team, if you know what’s good for you. Here are some of our favorites across the country.

It is a truth universally acknowledged than an airport must be in want of fresh, delicious food for any price. Even the godfather of the celebrity-chef concept, Wolfgang Puck, has allowed his brand to become so diluted that his name on your pizza box guarantees little besides the requisite thin crust. But as the new generation has swept in to our ever more Food-Networked world, they’ve started taking up real estate in the terminals that deserve some attention.

Boston fashion circa 1999? Not so much. But since arriving in the colonial town yesterday, I've noticed just how much has changed since I last lived here. The once stuffy neighborhood of Beacon Hill is surprisingly unstuffy. There's now a monthly gay party in South Boston (South Boston -- this is no man's land), and people actually look happy walking around during the coldest month of the year. Scratch that, people are actually walking around. My favorite change, however, is the addition of the Liberty Hotel, which didn't exist back in my Boston days (it opened in 2007). To make the boutique attraction, a former jail built in 1851 was gutted out and transformed, apparently, into what's now a model-magnet - on the Thursday night we were there, anyway.

A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again? Drive in a snowstorm. Not a good idea from the get-go, but Sam was nervous about driving after dark, so we hopped in our Toyota Yaris and drove through the great white abyss onto Highway 95. To make no mention of the howling wind or our obstructed view from the wall of gray clouds and falling snow, one early sign we should have pulled over was the fact there was only one "good" lane on highway 95, and it was less than drivable. Other signs? The song "I can see for miles" by the Who came on the radio, which was just a little too ironic, and while I was texting our friend Chris about the dangerous conditions—"roads are awful, we may wreck"—he texted back jokingly that we should wear helmets. Right then, the car suddenly hit a solid patch of ice and spun out of control.