Winter Weekends
There are lots of things to do in winter in New York. It's too bad that we keep striking out!
Dinosaurs and early Man
A couple of weeks ago we decided to check out the Museum of Natural History. It's been a long time, and there have been a lot of changes - especially to the price! As for most museums, tickets have zoomed in price over the past few years, as government support has dwindled. So my first advice, for the Museum of Natural History or any other museum, is PLAN AHEAD!
We left it till the last minute, and didn't give ourselves enough time to see everything. I would recommend planning to have lunch and spend the day there. (You can come and go during the day with your ticket.)
We also discovered that, in addition to the increase in admission price, most of the special exhibits cost extra. And we missed the reason we really came - the dinosaur special exhibit had just closed. Next time we plan ahead!
I have a soft spot for the Museum of Natural History, dating from when I first arrived in New York, and lived on the West Side, just a few blocks away. I joined the museum, and attended a number of special events, lectures, etc., at night. They still have those events, but they are no longer free to members as they were then. I remember coming in one evening, using the lower floor entrance, and being directed by the guard - "Turn left at the bears." The bears are still there, at the Hall of North American Mammals,
The blue whale is back, too, suspended from the ceiling of the Hall of Ocean Life. (They took it down for a while for repair and cleaning.) It's made of fiberglass, but it's VERY realistic - I constantly find myself worrying about the weight, suspended as it is, even though I know that fiberglass is lightweight.
It was Sunday, and there were kids everywhere, though it would be very different on a weekday. The museum is designed to be kidproof, of course, but once small children find that by pressing a spot on a display some information pops up, they do the obvious - run around and press everything! I nearly stepped on one or two.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great museum, magnificently laid out and chockfull of information. The Human Biology hall is one of my favorites - they have casts of some of the famous fossils, including Lucy and the footsteps of a family of man's earliest ancestors, walking together across a sandy expanse. And right now that's closed, too.
Chinese New Year
Every year I want to go to the Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown. Well, this year we made it, in spite of the forecast threatening rain. The problem was, so did everyone else. It had been widely advertised, with notices of a parade at 1 p.m. And lots and lots of people showed up at that time, trying to squeeze into the narrow streets of Chinatown to see the parade.
Part of the problem was that a Chinatown "parade" isn't a parade as most of us think of it. As the link above mentions, it amounts to a number of lion and dragon dancers winding their way through the streets and the crowds, to the accompaniment of drummers. Which is fine if that's what you're expecting, but if you're expecting the floats and crowd control suggested by the advertising, you'll be as disappointed as many people were this year.
Restaurants were open, of course, though the little Fried Dumpling place we love was closed so its staff could celebrate the holiday. (It's a hole in the wall with the best dumplings I've ever tasted - yum!)
My advice is, go to Chinatown! Just don't go for the New Year celebration unless you really, really like crowds! Go on a regular weekend or weekday, enjoy the restaurants and do a little shopping. I understand now that Pearl River has moved into new, more spacious surroundings, it's even more fun that it used to be.
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Chinese New Year
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