Travels in the 2nd half

Three Tons of Pumpkins   Fall comes to New York City in many ways.Trees in the parks turn beautiful colors. People pull out their coats, hats and scarves. Pumpkin Spice everything shows up in stores. One of the prettiest celebrations of autumn takes place at the New York Botanical Garden. Every fall, the Botanical Garden, in the Bronx, brings together the products of pumpkin growers from around the area to create its “Pumpkin Patch.” Now, when I think of pumpkins, I see an orange gourd. But visiting this exhibit I found out that there is a wide variety of pumpkins and gourds. They come in a rainbow of colors, shapes and textures. The Amazing Ms. D In addition, the Garden has created Jack O’Lanterns that are placed around the grounds, and some lovely fall flowers.     Nuts and Bolts New York Botanical Garden : 2900 Southern Blvd. Bronx NY.  Tues.-Sun 10AM - 5:30 PM Advanced Reserve Tickets are required at this time. Admission $22 - Adults/ $19 - Seniors & Students...

  Impressionist Wing at The Met Living in the time of COVID has presented challenges, especially for this of us that like to travel. Finding places to visit that allow for personal distancing is tough, especially as winter approaches, and being outdoors becomes more difficult. So let me offer an alternative - local museums. Museums have been operating at a fraction of the capacity, but truthfully, with the lack of tourists, they are even emptier that I expected. And they can really use revenues generated by your visit. I recently had the chance to visit two major New York City Museums. Monet's Water Lilies On an October Thursday morning, I visited the Museum of Modern Art . MOMA had just completed a major expansion, when the initial COVID shutdown hit in the spring. They have increased their exhibition space by more than 50%, and that along with timed tickets and a generally small crowds meant that I was often alone in the galleries. That’s right, I could stand in front of Starry N...

  Poughkeepsie Public Library The Hudson River Valley is lined with old cities. Its role as a major trade route, along the the prevalence of water power from rivers that flow down from the Catskills to the west and the Hudson Highlands and Taconics to the east, made the area as magnet for the burgeoning industries in New York. Poughkeepsie , New York, is certainly one of those old cities. Founded in 1686, when Dutch settlers bought land from a local Native American tribe, the settlement grew, and in 1799 was incorporated as a town. Poughkeepsie served as the second capital of New York, and hosted the state convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States. During the 1800’s the city became an industrial hub, as a place where whale blubber was rendered to make oil. It was also home to paper mills, millineries and breweries. Like many places in the northeast, as the 20th century progressed, manufacturing businesses moved away, with the largest being Smith Brothers cough drop...