New York City Day Trip: American Museum of Natural History

April 27, 2014 by Susan Getgood

Frontview of American Museum of Natural History (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once of our favorite day trips in New York is the American Museum of Natural History, and yesterday was the perfect day for it. The showers and sprinkles throughout the day didn’t bother us in the least.

On yesterday’s itinerary:

the new exhibit honoring Theodore Roosevelt. I knew about his role in establishing our national parks, and that he was a staunch conservationist, but had not been aware that he was originally planning to become a natural scientist, and switched to law in college. Other interesting nuggets from the exhibit: Roosevelt’s father was one of the founders of the Museum and there has always been a Roosevelt on the board, to this day.
the special exhibit, The Power of Poison, running through August
Dark Universe, the new Hayden Planetarium space show narrated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson

We skipped the Butterfly Conservatory this time but we’ve done it in past and it’s a nice breathe of Spring (ends late May) and saved the new exhibit on Pterosaurs (through January 2015) for another time.

Instead, we spent a bit of time in the Hall of North American Mammals on the recommendation of a delightful volunteer who had kindly guided us from Poisons to the Hayden Planetarium theater because we were tight on time and she thought the turns might be a tad confusing. She told us that the Mammals exhibit was recently refurbished — down to the bison getting a blow out – so we thought we’d check it out. We also wandered a bit in the Hall of Asian Peoples.

We wrapped up our day with a jaunt over to the Nintendo Store in Rockefeller Center so Doug could pick out a new game for his birthday, grabbing a pick-me-up at Bouchon on the way, and finished up with dinner at Cafe Un Deux Trois on West 44th.

Here’s a short video from our day. It’s pretty sucktastic, as my iPhone photos weren’t oriented properly for the video format:

Here are some of the photos straight from the phone:

: Doug and Teddy

: Poison Frogs

: NA Mammals

: NA Mammals

: @Bouchon

: @Bouchon

: @Nintendo Store

TIP: Give yourself 90 minutes for the Poisons exhibit. We only had a an hour, so had to skip the live presentation.

New York City Day Trip: American Museum of Natural History

New York, New York: MoMA, Ellis Island, the Central Park Zoo and a shower curtain

August 15, 2010 by Susan Getgood

Last week, I was in New York City for the annual BlogHer conference, and even though I was pretty busy at the conference, I managed to squeeze in a little sightseeing.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Originally, I planned to take the train first thing on Thursday morning to attend an event the day before the conference started on Friday (more on that later), but a last minute change had me travelling down on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, I spent most of the day out in Brooklyn taping a roundtable conversation for Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project, but the shoot wrapped up in time for me to connect up with my BlogHer roommate Joanne Bamberger (PunditMom) and go to the Matisse exhibit (Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917) at the Museum of Modern Art.

Joanne is a MoMA member so she didn’t need a timed ticket to see Matisse, and as her guest I could purchase a pass for $5.00. If you aren’t a member or guest of one, you will need a timed ticket for Matisse. Is it worth it? If you like Matisse, yes. The exhibit, which runs through mid October, gives you a good perspective on the evolution of his art. However, as we wandered through the exhibit a recurring theme of my commentary was how disconcerted I might have been had I been one of his subjects. There’s a series of sculptures of a female neighbor that progresses from fairly realistic to very stylized (and not very attractive), and some of the renditions of his children are downright disturbing.

One of the neatest parts of the exhibit though is his version of of deHeem’s La Desserte because the original is shown along with Matisse’s version. It’s surprisingly faithful in its own way.

Timed tickets to Matisse are $20 and include all the MoMA galleries. Children 16 and under are free, and there are senior and student discounts. The Museum of Modern Art is located at 11 West 53rd Street.

Ellis Island

On Thursday, I went to Ellis Island on a trip sponsored by Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project. We took the Ellis Island Ferry from Battery Park ($12 adults, senior and child discounts available), had a lovely lunch at Ellis Island, and enjoyed a guided tour by Ellis Island expert Tom Bernardin. We were a private group, but Bernardin offers his guided tour for $30 per person 3-4 times per week at 9:45 am (not including the ferry ticket). Note that waiting for the ferry on the Manhattan side will give you a true appreciation for the concept of “huddled masses yearning to be free.”

We did not disembark at Liberty Island, but circling the Statue of Liberty gives you some of the most spectacular views of this landmark. Ellis Island itself is fascinating, and Tom created a good picture of what it must have been like for immigrants from the late 1800s through the early part of the 20th century.

Some of my photos from the day. More on Flickr.

Central Park Zoo

On Sunday, the conference was over, and good friend Celeste Lindell and I walked over to the Central Park Zoo and spent an hour enjoying the animals in this compact zoo before we departed for our respective homes later that afternoon. If you like zoos, Central Park is a great way to pass an hour, and it is the perfect size for small children who were out in force (with their parents of course). Be warned: once you’ve been, you’ll never view the Madagascar cartoons in quite the same way. There are no lions, hippos or giraffes, but there are plenty of lemurs and penguins. Selected pictures from the visit are on Snapshot Chronicles and the full set is on Flickr.

The zoo opens at 10am year round, and closes at 5 weekdays, 5:30 weekends in summer, 4:30 daily in winter. Adult admission $12. Senior and child discounts available.

The Shower Curtain

I have never wanted an item in a hotel room, with the exception of the executive apartment that Mir and I had at Mom 2.0 in Houston last February, and in that case, we wanted the entire apartment. Or, you know, to never go home. But last week at the New York Hilton, I fell in love with the shower curtain.

This one. (affiliate link)

There was a waterproof liner attached to the curtain on the inside below the mesh panel, and the outer curtain was cloth in a white herringbone pattern. The mesh panel let in light while the opaque curtain protected privacy. It would be the perfect shower curtain for a shared bathroom when both occupants are on tight schedules and truly need to share.

Right now, none of our bathrooms would accommodate this type of shower curtain; the one with the tub is the bathroom Doug uses, and I am not so crazy to put a WHITE shower curtain in a room used by a 10-year old boy. Someday though.

Important: If you think you’d like this shower curtain, the one sold in Hilton’s online shop is NOT the right one. The one in my link is the correct one, and there are also similar less expensive options on Amazon.

Hotels

On this trip I stayed at the Wellington Hotel for the first two nights. I went to New York earlier than originally planned for a taping of a roundtable panel for Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project and this was all they could get for a hotel. The Wellington’s rack rate ranges between $175-230 except during Fashion Week when it skyrockets to the $300-400 range. These rates aren’t that different than the advertised rates at much better hotels in New York. The rooms are very small, not unusual for New York, and very rudimentary. The ice machine is in the lobby. You get the idea. Unless you’ve got no other choice, and absolutely need the 7th Ave/Carnegie Hall location, you can do better with a little hunting. Start by checking Quikbook online. If you’re totally stuck? You can survive anything for a night or two.

I moved over to the Hilton on 6th Ave. for Blogher, which had a special conference rate of $199 per night. Hilton’s regular rates range from $329-400 per night, putting it WAY out of my budget for a personal trip. However, if you are a member of Hilton’s frequent stay program and you need to be in this area of Manhattan, look into using your points.

On my previous trip to NYC for the TBEX travel blogging conference, I stayed at the Hotel Indigo in Chelsea, also with a special rate of $199. Normal rack rate is $250-275, but the hotel, like many in Manhattan, offers packages that can save on the rack rate if you want the add-on (breakfast, sightseeing, sometimes theater tickets and restaurant vouchers.) An advantage of Hotel Indigo is that it’s owned by InterContinental Hotels. Join the Priority Pass frequent stay program and you can earn your points staying at budget friendly Holiday Inns and use ’em in Manhttan. Hotel Indigo in New York also has a nice little rooftop bar and free wi-fi. Very convenient to Penn Station, which is usually how I travel to the city.

Other hotels to consider in NYC, but note that I haven’t stayed at them recently (or in the case of one, at all): Affinia Hotel Manhattan, right across the street from Penn Station. I think the Affiinia used to be a residence hotel, which is why all the rooms have a kitchenette. This makes it very appealing for trips to NYC with my son, as I can save a pretty penny on breakfast by “cooking in” before we go off on our day of sightseeing. Room size is variable. Rack rate starts around $239 but there are discounts for AARP and AAA members.

The Paramount in Times Square. The rooms in this hotel are teeny tiny, but the Times Square location cannot be beat, and you can usually get a good rate. Rack rates for a one-night stay in mid-August ranged from $180-209. Definitely check Quikbook online before booking directly.

A hotel I have not stayed at but that gets raves from colleagues is the Roger Smith Hotel. Typical rates range from $189-249, although there are a few outlier inexpensive rates ($139 and $159), and like most Midtown hotels, rates skyrocket during Fashion Week in September. Free wi-fi.

Unless you are getting a conference rate (and even then) check the rate on Quikbook online before booking directly with a hotel. Sometimes you can get a better rate, sometimes you cannot, but it is always worth checking.

Restaurants

Meals are never a big part of a conference-based trip to New York. Especially with BlogHer. I find Iam so busy that I often forget about dinner altogether. Nonetheless, I had a few nice meals on this trip that merit a call-out.

Insieme, the Italian restaurant inside the Michelangelo Hotel on W. 51st. You can make a very nice meal out of a salad and an appetizer portion of pasta. Plus some bread and a glass of wine or two. We weren’t familiar with the wines on the wine list so to help us choose, they gave us a tasting of a few choices. We also were offered an amuse-bouche of a cold tomato soup that was quite tasty.

My publisher took me to dinner at sushi/dim sum restaurant Ruby Foo’s in Times Square. The food was good, but the best part was the company and being served (versus the conference buffet line.) Sister Times Square restaurant (also part of B.R. Guest Restaurants) Blue Fin is also quite good.

On Sunday after our trip to the zoo, we had lunch at the Brooklyn Diner on West 57th. I had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and Celeste had a baked macaroni and cheese dish that looked absolutely decadent. You also might want to check out a classic in the area, the Carnegie Deli, but be warned, the portions are large (and pricey) and the service short.

Disclosure: The trip to Ellis Island was sponsored by Liberty Mutual. The trip to the zoo was the first (hopefully annual) self-sponsored BlogHer zoo trip. I wasn’t even tempted to liberate the shower curtain from the Hilton bathroom. My hotel room at the Wellington was paid for by the film production company and presumably was part of the budget for the filming. The shower curtain link above is an affiliate link to Amazon.

New York, New York: MoMA, Ellis Island, the Central Park Zoo and a shower curtain

Johannesburg, South Africa – The Apartheid Museum

October 24, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Sunday September 13, 2009 – Monday September 14, 2009

We arrived in Johannesburg at about 8am. Customs was efficient, as was the greeter from Journeys of Distinction, the travel agency that had arranged our trip. She guided three fairly weary travelers to the shuttle bus for the Southern Sun airport hotel and confirmed that Patrick, our tour guide from Wilro Tours, would pick us up promptly at 1pm for our visit to the Apartheid Museum.

Yes, we were tired but it’s always a good idea to get on local time as quickly as possible. I wanted to visit the Apartheid Museum, and the first day was our only window of time in JoBurg for sightseeing. Mum and Doug were kind enough to go with me, although I suspect they would have been just as happy relaxing by the pool. It turned out just fine though; they really enjoyed chatting with Patrick while I meandered through the exhibits.

When you purchase your ticket at the Apartheid Museum, you are given a token representing a racial identity and you enter the museum through the appropriate door (pictured above.)

Once inside the museum building, you follow a timeline of South African history that explains the roots, impact and aftermath of apartheid. I think the thing that astounded me the most was how narrow the victory was for the apartheid forces in 1948. If the opposition had been less fractured, South African history might have been very different. There was also a special exhibit devoted to Nelson Mandela.

We were there for about two hours but I could have spent a whole day. Photography is prohibited inside the museum, but I took a few pictures of the exterior. On the way back, Patrick took us on a brief tour of the city, pointing out historical and cultural landmarks.

We wrapped up the day with dinner at our hotel, and an early night. Needless to say no one had trouble sleeping!

Recommendation: I highly recommend the Southern Sun OR Tambo. The rooms are pretty standard for a luxury airport hotel, but the food and the service are far better than I have experienced in similar properties in the US and UK. When we left fairly early the following morning to catch our flight to Livingstone, Zambia, we were privileged to hear the housekeeping staff chorus that starts every day with a song or three.

The picture at left is a display at the Out of Africa store at the departure gates at OR Tambo. It gave us a bit of inspiration for the next stop on our trip: Livingstone, Zambia and Victoria Falls.

In the neighborhood: Barnard to Boston

August 15, 2009 by Susan Getgood

We spent the first week of August at our home in Barnard Vermont so Douglas could attend day camp at the Vermont Institute for Natural Sciences in nearby Quechee. For me, it was mostly just a different window, but we did go on a couple excursions.

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park in Woodstock — Laurance and Mary Rockefeller spent summers at their home in Woodstock, and the Park Service offers daily tours (in season) of the home, as well as a couple of special tours. The most recent addition to the schedule is the Fallout Shelter tour, which seems to be offered about once per month.

There are two fallout shelters on the property, one under the house itself and another underneath the Belvidere, an outbuilding that houses pool changing rooms, activity room, soda fountain and two-lane bowling alley. The one underneath the Belvidere is the shelter open to visitors.

The tour is about 70 minutes, and a good half of it is a ranger presentation about the Cold War that preceeds the tour of the shelter. After all, how long does it take to tour a one room fallout shelter?

Our verdict: If you only have time for one tour of the mansion, take the regular house tour. It’s offered a few times a day and reservations aren’t required, as they are for the special tours. It was fine for us, because we’d already done both the regular house tour and the special Hidden Spaces tour.

If you do decide to take the Fallout Shelter tour, a true highlight was the private bowling alley, but younger kids may get restless during the ranger presentation. Consider starting your day across the street at Billings Farm, tire them out a bit looking at cows and chickens, and then take the mansion tour of your choice. A combo-ticket is offered.

As part of Doug’s summer camp week at VINS, the kids put on skits for the parents on the last day. We were so proud of Douglas, who played the part of narrator for his team’s skit. Photos are in this Flickr set.

We stayed to watch the afternoon raptor show at 3:30pm. If you are in the area, it is well worth the time.

A camp highlight for the kids was getting to hold the American Kestrel.

—

This weekend, we went into the Museum of Science in Boston to see the National Geographic Crittercam exhibit, which ends August 30th. We also stopped by the Black Holes exhibit and saw the Omni film Mystic India.

Our verdict: Crittercam was terrific. Hard to believe that they are able to securely attach the cams to such a variety of animals, terrestrial and aquatic, and it is truly amazing what researchers have been able to learn about animal behavior by looking at life through their eyes. Best part of the exhibit: I loved the whales’ bubble net cooperative feeding and the lion cubs investigating the camera on their mother.

Black Holes has a web-component, but otherwise seemed very similar to previous astronomy exhibits we have seen, although to be fair, I didn’t spend much time in the exhibit.

Mystic India wasn’t quite what I expected. The narration retraces the steps of an 11 year old yogi who walked across India in the late 1700s. In adulthood, he became an important religious and political figure, and it was clear from an audience full of Indian families that his story has profound religious and cultural resonance.

For Westerners like me, unfamiliar with his life, it was at times hard to embrace the storyline. Barefoot and wearing nothing but a loin cloth for four years in the Himalayas? Of course, it’s a parable and I have no wish to be disrespectful of another’s religion or icons. I have just as much of a problem with certain elements of the Jesus Christ story when played out on the screen. Somehow, the translation to film highlights some of the improbabilities that we just have to get over in order to believe.

The scenery however was magnificent, and in the end, the film-makers made their point about cultural diversity, community and tolerance. Funnily enough though, for me, it was as much from the fact that the legion of volunteers who participated in the making of the film didn’t take individual credits. It was the collective that made the film and told the story. You just can’t argue with that depth of belief.

If you are in Boston, get thee to Crittercam before it leaves at the end of the month.

Who’s On First?

June 30, 2009 by Mary Cardwell

What is it about Abbot and Costello’s classic routine “Who’s On First” that makes it so funny no matter how many time you see it? At the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY, you could hear the laughter of baseball fans echo through the halls while the legendary comic team banters back and forth as the frustrated Abbot tries to figure out who is on first. Like baseball, it’s just classic.

Baseball Hall of Fame

And classic is how I would describe our first day of vacation in Cooperstown. Main Street looked like something out of a Disney movie that was written and directed by the kind of guy that wears team logos 24/7. You couldn’t spit without hitting someone or something wearing a baseball logo, including me. And, as a Red Sox fan, it was just a tad painful to see Yankee memorabilia was the focal point of most window displays. Since Cooperstown is in NY I guess it’s understandable. Even with all that testosterone, it couldn’t take away from how pretty and clean and charming the town and the people were.

The Baseball Hall of Fame blended in perfectly with the surroundings – red brick exterior with tasteful banners of the 2009 inductees including Boston favorite Jim Rice!

Like my brother and sister, I became a baseball fan at an early age thanks to my Dad, an avid sports lover. The difference is my siblings and I could never be persuaded over to the evil empire and have always routed for the Red Sox against my Dad’s Yankee loyalties.

Like the town itself, it was the history of the game that was in the forefront of this long-standing museum, not the glitz. The struggles of players like Jackie Robinson and others from the Negro league who stood tall against hatred and ignorance were told with such honesty. The glory of legends like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams were showcased for fans to walk through history. Every turn offered something new and interesting to see.

We saw not one but three “Screwballs”, Abe Lincoln and the “Holy Cow”.

Which one is the real Screwball?

"Holy Cow!"

As a Bostonian, I couldn’t stop staring at Curt Shilling’s bloody sock from the 2004 playoffs when the Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees and go on to win the World Series. Sorry, just a moment to gloat…

The story never gets old!

Even with all those historical moments to revel in, they didn’t match up the feeling I got when I entered the records room. You knew instantly where to find the plaques of Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Babe Ruth by the small gathering of folk pointing and telling stories or by one of my family calling out “Hey! Look over here!” Personally, I made a bee-line for Carlton Fisk.

Records Hall

My only regret is that we didn’t allot enough time to stay in the quaint and picturesque NY town for an entire afternoon. It was a great way to start the trip.

Next stop Sullivan OH to visit our friends.

« Previous Page

Related articles