Travels in the 2nd half

Washington Monument from the Enid Haupt Garden When you visit Washington D.C. it can feel like you are drowning in tourists. Crowds are everywhere, especially at the major sites. So where can you go to get away from the crowds, but still enjoy some of the cultural and historic benefits of visiting this city. Here are a few of my favorite places. Enid A. Haupt Garden The Amazing Ms. D in the Haupt Garden Behind the Smithsonian Castle is the Enid A. Haupt Garden . This lovely green space has shaded seating areas and tended flower beds. Most of all it seems to never be crowded. Most of the tourists are focused on The Mall, so even if they pass through the garden, it is while they are on their way somewhere else. This makes this an excellent space to escape, and find someplace quiet. The garden is named for Enid Annenberg Haupt, who made her money from publishing such magazines as TV GUIDE and Seventeen. She has given money to many projects including The Conservatory at the N...

A recent trip to El Museo del Barrio in Spanish Harlem gave me the excuse to visit a tiny gem in Central Park that is under utilized and under appreciated - The Conservancy Garden. The Conservancy Garden is a 6 acre formal garden. The entrance is on 5th Ave between 104th and 105th street. The main entrance to the garden is through the Vanderbilt Gate which came from the Vanderbilt Mansion. Looking at the Vanderbilt Gate.  You enter into an Italianate garden with a wide lawn, shaded paths on either side and fountain at its western end. Above the fountain is a trellised passage with benches that look out towards 5th Ave. The center of the garden This is a really nice place to sit and rest. Either someone left an umbrella or this is an art installation On the southern side of the garden (left as you enter) is a formal English garden. This area has several semicircular flower beds and is centered around a lily pond. There is a fountain of two youths in the p...

Every year on Memorial Day weekend the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn hosts a festival of African and African American culture - DanceAfrica. Starting as a 1 day festival in 1977, today DanceAfrica is a 3 day festival of  dance, film and music with a wonderful market place. DanceAfrica takes place at the  Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). BAM was founded in 1861 about a mile away in  the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. It was Brooklyn's home to classical performances until 1903 when it burned down. In 1908 BAM reopened at it's current location, next to the Atlantic Ave. LIRR station on Lafayette Ave in Fort Greene. And it is a cultural icon in NYC. One thing that BAM prides itself on is its presentation of performances by a wide range of cultural performers. The offerings tend to go to the avantgarde. I saw a production of Hamlet staged by Ingmar Bergman in Swedish. It was amazing. BAM is home to operas that the MET won't touch, theater that would never make...