That’s the same feeling you get in Madame Tussauds Wax Museums.  See for yourself when visiting Madame Tussauds Las Vegas, New York City,  or Washington D.C.  The historic and contemporary figures are so life-like, for a moment you forget they aren’t.  What’s more, by interacting with your favorite celeb as you step into their world cleverly created through high tech accouterments, intellect and fantasy somehow get all knotted up.  You know they’re just wax figures, but for a moment you believe!

Why are we so fascinated by these figures, especially the contemporary ones of alive people?   Because we’re groupies.

Just maybe by hanging out in the Oval Office with Barack, hugging Michelle, putting our arm around Bill, singing for Simon, standing between Angelina and Brad, dancing with Beyonce, or just being near the Jonas Brothers (omg!), we get close to our fantasy.  As I mentioned, it’s a little twisted.

Speaking of real, there really was a Madame Tussaud.  She learned the art of making life-like figures from wax in Paris in the late 1700s!  Her first wax figure was of Voltaire in 1777, and she created one of Benjamin Franklin, who first arrived in France in 1776 and stayed 9 years in search of aid for the Revolutionary War from the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.  France was very taken by the affable man, as was Madame Tussaud.

As Madame’s collection grew, she displayed these true to life figures in a traveling show throughtout Europe.  One at a time new figures were added, including a rather morbid group based on figures she copied from French Revolution corpses and exhibited in the Chamber of Horrors of her first museum which opened in London in 1835.  People queued up then just as they do now for today’s version of the Chamber of Horrors - Chamber Live!

Today’s Madame Tussauds London flagship museum and the ones in major major cities throughout the world continue to fascinate with their incredible liknesses of the rich and famous - historic and contemporary, sympathetic and monstrous, dead and alive.

Waxen images of pop culture icons of music, movies, sports and politics are a big draw, undoubtedly due to an obsession for proximity to celebrities –  real or not!  Set in realistic sets, surrounded by real props and wearing authentic costumes, the wax figures come alive through high tech magic, mood lighting, appropriate music, recorded real voice and special effects.

So, how do they do it?  The art of creating waxworks is an age-old technique used as far back as the ancient Greeks who made portrayals of gods from wax.  Ancient Roman nobles had their likenesses created to be stored with them posthumously, a tradition passed on to Europe.  In the early Catholic Church, wax was used for making faces of statues of saints.  Sculptors such as Michelangelo would not think of attempting a figure in marble without first creating it in wax, and in the 17th century in Europe, having your portrait done in wax was the rage.

Today waxwork figures go through a number of stages before coming out.  Artists study hundreds of photos and watch video footage to create an accurate likeness – one that’s really on the mark.  The first step to creating a life-sized figure is to make a metal armature, a skeleton, if you will, in the pre-determined pose.  This supports the next step, the clay.  The sculptor builds up the entire figure by modeling clay around the armature from which a plaster mold is created.  Hot wax, containing a variety of compounds for accurate skin color, is poured in the plastic mold and allowed to cool and cure.  The mold is then chipped away to reveal the body.

The head is a bit tricky as the head and facial expression is either ”on” or it’s not.  Once the details are exactly as the sculptor wants them, a plaster mold of several pieces is made from the clay head.  The pieces are removed and reassembled to receive the molten wax.  When the wax has cooled, the plaster pieces are carefully removed.  Then, with input from dentists, hairdressers, tailors and dressmakers, realistic details are applied.  Hair, real hair, is put in one piece at a time!  Then come the teeth, the glass eyes, the make-up.  Costume designers dress the figure in iconic attire, preferably something once worn by the individual, purchased or borrowed.  The figure is then ready for placement in a scene distinctly theirs.

The secret is to capture the individual nuances of body language, facial expression and hand placement.  If these are right, we believe.  If they aren’t, our critical eye bursts the bubble.  For a preview of just how real these waxworks are, check out the photos on Flickr, especially those in Sebastian Niedlich’s Madame Tussaud Berlin Set used in this article.

Madame Tussauds list of notables is amazingly long and the figures don’t stay still.  They keep up with the times. High profile celebrities with star power are cleverly placed in changing scenes mimicking the real life situations of their globe-trotting flesh and blood counterparts interacting with each other at news-making events.

You, too, can have a paparazzi moment.  Walk Oscar’s red carpet with A-list stars, play pick up ball with Shaq, stand with Johnny Depp if you dare, or marry George Clooney (bridal gowns provided)!

You’ll see.  The the line between reality and fantasy is really blurry - just what Madame had in mind.

Like a siren’s song, they call to us.  By day, we are compelled to climb to the very top to gaze out to sea, hoping to see we know not what. In the pitch black of night the unique rhythmic cadence of their flashing beacon signaling out into the unknown is at once haunting and comforting.   

The oldest known lighthouse, the Pharos of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was constructed by the ancient Greeks in the third century B.C. on the islet of Pharos marking the entrance to the major Medierranean port of Alexandria on the western tip of the Nile delta.  Rising 383-440 feet above the delta, it was one of the tallest man-made structures on earth for centuries.  Originally a daytime marker, the Romans later added fire and reflective mirrors for nighttime use.  As commerce and trade in Europe grew throughout the Middle Ages, lighthouses were built along the coasts of France and Italy.  During the competitive European maritime commerce of the 17th and 18th centuries, the number of lighthouses dotting the coastline of Europe increased dramatically.

The lifeblood of colonial America was dependent on maritime commerce.  As colonies grew, 11 lighthouses cropped up to safely guide vessels around dangerous rocks and shoals into the harbors of colonial towns.   

Boston Lighthouse

The first of these was a tower at the entrance to Boston Harbor on Little Brewster Island, built in 1716 and lit by tallow candles.  Accessible today by boat only, tours of this National Historic Landmark are offered June through October.  

Remarkably, the massive masonry stone light tower of the original 1764 Sandy Hook Light in New Jersey is still intact.  While an offshore light has lessened its importance, it still greets vessels entering New York’s busy harbor.      

Colonial lighthouses not ravished by nature were destroyed by the Civil War.  However, their role was so important that new ones were rebuilt on the same sites and many more added in the late 1800s.  To the delight of lighthouse lovers, many picturesque 19th century structures – some operational; others not - remain along America’s coastline and around the Great Lakes.  Made of brick, stone and masonry, distinctively painted in stark white, pitch-black, bright red, or painted in black and white stripes or diamonds, each holds a certain mystique.  We can only imagine what their eye has seen!

Florida’s extensive wrap-around coastline is dotted with historic lighthouses.  The oldest known structure in America, a Spanish watchtower in St. Augustine, appeared on a 1589 map belonging to Sir Francis Drake!  This precise location was so important for protection and navigation that subsequent towers were built on the same site by the English between 1763 and 1784, and the Americans after 1821, only to be washed away by coastal erosion.

St. Augustine Lighthouse

The current St. Augustine Lighthouse was built in 1876, about ¼ mile away from the original Spanish watchtower on more stable land, and is open to the public.  This distinctive black and white spiral banded lighthouse on Anastasia Island is said to be haunted, with good reason. The spirits of the keeper’s young daughters who perished there have been seen by some; the smell of cigar smoke from a keeper who fell to his death while painting the tower is detectable by others.   

While the history of the St. Augustine Lighthouse site is certainly older, the oldest existing lighthouse in Florida is the Cape Florida Lighthouse at the tip of upscale Key Biscayne in bustling Miami.  It, too, is open to the public. 

Cape Florida Lighthouse

Established in 1825, this little lighthouse, peacefully nestled among the sea oats on a sandy beach at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreaton Area, has seen its share of violence and tragedy.  During the second Seminole War in 1836, it was under siege by the Indians who murdered the keeper’s family and left the assistant keeper for dead.  His account of his horrifying experience is told in the lighthouse museum.

Sombrero Key Light

Perched atop the submerged coral reefs paralleling the Florida Keys are a series of pile tower lighthouses, skeleton-like structures built in the late 1800s to keep mariners traveling the busy Gulf Stream shipping lanes from straying into the jagged reefs.

Prior to their existence, Spanish galleons traveling northward on the Gulf Stream, heavy with gold and jewels, where blown off course and torn apart by reefs, scattering their bounty along the path of destruction.  Some of their treasure, recovered buried under the sand by legendary Mel Fisher, is on display in the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.  Similarly, later merchant schooners lost cargo and lives on the reef, leading to the lucrative salvage or wrecking industry in early Key West.

Since their construction, the skeletal arms of these lighthouses – Fowey, Carysfort, Alligator, Sombrero, American Shoal, Sand Key – have sustained ferocious hurricane winds, seen their keepers and their families perish, embraced Cuban and Haitian migrants trying to reach America, alerted against illegal drug boats speeding ashore for secret rendezvous, and mark some of the best snorkeling and recreational dive spots in the world.

Key West Lighthouse

 

The historic Key West Lighthouse is landlocked and open to the public.  The view of quaint Key West from the top is 360° wonderful!  The first lighthouse was built in 1825, only to be destroyed by the violent hurricane of 1848, which killed 14 people sheltering inside. The present tower was built in 1848, but over time the sea built up land around it, rendering it ineffective.

Garden Key Light atop Fort Jefferson

Seventy miles off Key West, perched on top of the brick walls of the remarkable Civil War-era Fort Jefferson is Garden Key Light.  The fascinating fort, appearing out of nowhere, a sliver of red brick appearing where blue sky meets turquoise sea, is a sight to behold on the day-long trip aboard the Yankee Freedom .  The isolated fort, 70 miles from land, is an engineering feat - visually incongruous, eerily isolated, extremely historic.   

Picturesque lighthouses dotting the outer banks of North Carolina belie the navigational challenges that lie offshore.  The lighthouses of Cape Hatteras, Cape Lookout, Cape Fear, Ocracoke Island, Bodie Island – all witnesses to the tragedies of this treacherous navigational hook of perilous shoals wicked currents, fierce winds, and dense, disorienting fog.  Besides the perils of nature encountered along this heavily traveled sea lane, mariners also contended with pirates, most nortorious among them, Blackbeard, who lurked among the coastal inlets, ready to pounce on passing merchant ships. 

During Civil War, the lighthouses of the Outer Banks were caught in a blockade/blockade-running tug of war between the Union and the Confederacy.  As recently as World War II, German U-boats prowled the Carolina coast in search a way to stage a submarine attack on the U.S.  In their efforts they sank so many merchant ships and Navy vessels the waters off the Outer Banks were known as Torpedo Junction. 

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Marking the easternmost tip of the elbow of the Outer Banks is one of the best known of U. S. lighthouses, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  Jutting out into the Altantic where the warmer Gulf Stream collides with the cold Labrador Current, the area is so treacherous it’s called the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

 One of the most interesting lighthouses, Tybee Island Lighthouse, sits at the mouth of the Savannah River, leading to the port of Savannah, the fourth busiest and fastest growing container port in the U.S.  Some form of a tower has sat on this very spot since 1736, guiding mariners safely into the Savannah River. 

Tybee Island Lighthouse

The present-day 1867 structure sits on the foundation of a brick tower built in 1773, which was built as on the site of the original wooden tower of 1736 , the third of the colonial lighthouses!

The venerable Old Charleston Lighthouse on Morris Island at the entrance to the port of Charleston is the eighth of the colonial lighthouses.  Ancient-looking, with the sea lapping at its edges, it was retired in 1962, but it’s a great photo op. 

America’s historic coastal guardians - Visit them, climb them, photograph them, paint them, collect miniatures as souvenirs.  Picturesque and charming, they command attention.

New York City is the ultimate urban Christmas experience, and nothing lifts the spirit more than its festive atmosphere and glamorous glitz.  Everyone, New Yorkers walking briskly and visitors gawking in awe, navigate their way through the press of people, ladened with shopping bags in red, green, and gold, embossed with signature names boldy proclaiming their origin. 

The air is more than nippy, steam rises from the sidewalk grates, everything glitters and glows. Young and old queue up, patiently waiting their turn to feel transported for a moment into the magic of Christmas, so real-looking behind the glass of department store windows. Familiar Salvation Army bells ring on every corner, strangers hum along to endless muzak holiday music, and a festive spirit emanates even from normally grumbly New Yorkers.  

Here, Christmas decorations are oversized and over-the-top, beginning with the most famous tree of all, the magnificent Rockefeller Center Tree, this year blue-hued.  The giant snowflake suspended at the corner of 57^th Street and 5^th Avenue, is so white it glistens.  Colored lights top the Empire State Building – red and green for Christmas, blue and white for Hannukkah - signal the season for all to see, and two miles of trees laced with white lights make Park Avenue glow. Huge wreaths, massive green boughs heavy with bigger-than-life ornaments, hang in hotel lobbies and are suspended from department store atriums.    

One thousand graceful paper cranes soar around the Peace Tree in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  Brightly colored, intricately folded ornaments depicting objects in their collection grace the Origami Tree in the American Museum of Natural History. Elegant 18th century Neapolitan angels and cherubs grace the elegant tree next to the life-like Neapolitan Baroque crèche in the grand Metropolitan Museum of Art. Thousands of crystal ornaments twinkle as their facets catch the light on the Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree suspended above the lobby of Radio City Music Hall.

Strollers through South Street Seaport shop and dine in the glow of thousands of white lights, as the sounds of the St. Cecelia Chorus and other choirs gathered around the giant Chorus Tree fill the air.  Grand Central Terminal’s Sky Ceiling comes alive in the Holiday Laser Light Show, made all the grander by choreographed holiday music.

Ice skaters circle round and round under the grand Rockefeller Center tree, entertaining passersby; people of all ages and from all over the world skate joyously in the two ice rinks in Central Park, picturesque, small town fun in the middle of the world’s most cosmopolitan city. Bundled up couples go for romantic carriage rides through Central Park, creating a winter wonderland picture postcard as they pass by the legendary glow of Tavern on the Green.

The elaborately detailed Christmas themed scenes of the windows at Macys, Saks, and Lord & Taylor provide imaginative escapes for all ages. Highly anticipated year after year, these animated, imaginatively intricate storybook scenes, surely created by the elves themselves, are main attractions, mesmerizing children – and adults too.  At the wildly popular Holiday Garden and Train Show in New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, miniature trains puff and chug all around and through 100 replicas of New York City’s landmark buildings and bridges, quite incredulously made of plant parts.   

High Tea at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon in the elegant Victorian Inn at Irving Place in Gramercy Park, at the Ritz Carleton, a properly restrained event complete with harp music, or in the Rotunda at the palatial Pierre Hotel are delightful respites from the sensory overload.  Kids, too, love a break from the maddening crowds, especially a cup of hot chocolate and yummy cupcake at whimsical Alice’s Tea Cup on the Upper West Side.  Le Maison du Chocolat on Madison Avenue will more than satisfy the need for a sugar boost, with divine subtle flavors. 

On seasonal cue, the splendidly elegant New York City Ballet’s Nutcracker at the New York State Theater, or the wondrous Balanchine interpretation of the classic by the City Ballet enchant audiences. Fast-paced and breathtaking, Radio City Christmas Spectacular lives up to its billing as wooden soldiers move with signature Rockette precision, Santa flies to the North Pole to his incredible toy warehouse, and the holiday New York skyline comes to life on stage. 

Choirs, orchestras and carolers perform throughout December.  The magnificent acoustics of Carnegie Hall create the perfect Handel’s Messiah, splendidly rendered on various dates by wonderful orchestras accompanying stellar soloists.  Christmas music and readings take place in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and in other churches about town.

Christmas is fast approaching, but there is still time to soak up the Christmas spirit, if not in New York City, in a large city nearby, or in your own city or town.  Treat yourself and your family to the magic.  It’s beautiful, memorable, and priceless.

This was my favorite of the many New York tours offered! The guide is amazing and the content is funny, interesting and enjoyable. The New York TV and Movie Sites Tour starts at 11am daily next to Ellen’s Stardust Diner. For a treat, spend some time with the Diner’s singing wait staff!

The three hours flies by as one filming site after another is showcased on this tour. We even got treats! We saw current and classic sites, learned about the TV and Movie industry, best sites to spot a celebrity or see something filmed and where the stars lived. It was action packed. I appreciated several opportunities to step off the very nice shuttle bus for short walks to great sites like the “Friends” opening scene building (pictured) and the Cosby Show House.

What an adventure! We even sang theme songs. Got so much out of this tour and would do it again. (They also do a “Sex in the City T=tour” and “Soprano” tour.) One of the best tours I’ve taken anywhere. A must do in New York City.

Washington National Cathedral Gargoyle

Walking down the streets of older American cities, where spired, turreted Gothic Revival buildings tower overhead, have you ever felt the presence of someone watching you?

Well, they are.

Look up.

You’ll be amazed at what’s looking down at you! 

Gargoyles – those weird, usually grotesque, sometimes comic, often outrageous, always fantastic, fanciful caricatures with distinct personalities hanging all over older buildings - are intricate, amazingly detailed architectural carvings of hybrid monsters with both human and animal characteristics, often with mouths agape.  Cleverly blended into their architectural surroundings by master sculptors, they are out there in abundance, whole gatherings of them.  Lurking and leering from perches high overhead, hunched in outcroppings, clinging to outer walls, or poised to pounce from nooks and crannies of religious, educational and governmental buildings, and even from grand mansions, they are more often than not, noticed only through a double-take.  

While their presence in architecture dates back to ancient times and crosses all cultures, their purpose has no universally accepted explanation.  Originally the term used for the fanciful stone carved gutter spouts used to direct rainwater away from building foundations, a gargoyle generically has come to mean any decorative architectural carving of a grotesque nature, and cities are filled with them. 

To find them, just look up. In New York City on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, gargoyles found a welcome home in the arches and flying buttresses rising up to the Neo-Gothic cathedral-like tower of the Woolworth Building. Legions of them are on Wall Street, surely showing their displeasure with recent events.  On the Upper West Side, in the massive, yet unfinished St. John the Divine Cathedral, all manner of fanciful, grotesque creatures fiercely stand guard over niches filled with saints and angels.  On busy Lexington Avenue in Midtown, look up at the iconic Chrysler Building.  Jutting way out from the corners of the 61^st Floor of this spectacular Art Deco building are huge, shiny gargoyles – eagle heads- replicas of the 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments.   

In Chicago, the decorative top of the Gothic Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue is loaded with gargoyle bats! On elegant Nob Hill in San Francisco, those perpendicular protrusions sticking out just below the main spire of magnificent Grace Cathedral are actually eight identical gargoyles, winged dragons perched to take flight in case the forces of evil get too close.  Once sighted, they are obvious, but, without knowing they’re there, they are easily missed.  Such is a gargoyle…there, but not there.  

University of Chicago Gargoyle

Gargoyles are particularly fond of the collegial culture of universities over a century old. Throughout the campus of Princeton University, gargoyles pay homage to the disciplines studied in the buildings they haunt. There are so many there that they star in an online Grotesque Tour.  Click your way, too, for gargoyle sightings at Duke University.  The Quadrangle Building at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia is crawling with them.  Likewise, at the exquisite Gothic University of Chicago, their antics begin at the main entrance gate, where a series of them usher in newbies with warnings of perilous things to come on their climb through academia.   

These fanciful spirits also live in historic mansions throughout the country. In Savannah, many homes in the historic district have downspouts ending in stylized cast iron dolphin heads, gargoyles well suited to this colonial-era seaport city.  The Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina has an amazingly diverse gargoyle collection. While best viewed from below, a special rooftop tour gets them within pouncing range. 

A treasure trove of gargoyles with a 20^th century attitude reside throughout the Washington National Cathedral.  This spectacular Gothic building, completed in 1990, literally crawls with them.  Their unique humor and style comes through a collaborative effort between the private donors who commissioned them and the sculptors who created them.  Fantastically creative, they are wonderful caricatures of the times, the 1960s, 70s and 80s: hippies and yuppies; crooked politicians and greedy thieves; and countless other mischievous and appealing modern spirits in stone who bring a smile…to those who notice.  

Wherever your travels take you, get in the habit of looking up!

Biltmore Estate Gargoyle

They are always watching.

This summer and fall, as you travel about the US, include a visit to a city market, community garden, greenmarket, farmers’ markets, tailgate market, and seek out restaurants whose menus feature fresh, regionally grown vegetables and sustainable cuisine.  You’ll love this new tourism twist!Enjoy make-shift stalls and shaded lots filled with bins and buckets exploding with color.  Smell, pinch and snap, sample. Indulge in something delicious, freshly baked or locally canned.  Take in the regional flavor, the fresh air, the bustling sounds, the camaraderie.  Mingle with locals.

Get used to the term community garden as it’s making a comeback. They’ve been around since man began farming, and in the US became popular and patriotic during WWII when they were known as Victory Gardens.  In urban centers, blighted areas have long been greened by window boxes, roof gardens, green sproutings carefully tended in tiny plots, or in abandoned lots tucked between concrete walls.

The most recent urban community garden to make a big splash is the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden on the lawn of San Francisco’s City Hall, part of the Victory Gardens 2008+ project that is sweeping the city!  The food from the garden will be donated to local food banks and meal programs, and the overall message is to show urban residents that they, too, can grow their own, even in a limited space.   If you’re visiting San Francisco between July and September 2008, stop by City Hall in the Civic Center area.  You can get there several ways, but why not take the San Francisco Trolley Hop, get off at its Union Square stop, walk a couple of blocks to the BART stop at Market & Powell.  Get on the BART to the Civic Center stop.  You can’t miss the domed City Hall.  Or, if you’re just walking about, find one of San Francisco’s 40 community gardens on city-owned property.

Visiting Boston?  Hop on the Old Town Trolley Tours of Boston (a great tour with the added perk of being able to hop off at any one of the convenient stops to see the sights), get off at Stop # 11, walk down to the light, cross the street and Fenway Victory Gardens, the last of the WWII Victory Gardens, is right in front.   Or, get off at trolley Stop # 8, walk past the John Hancock Building, turn right onto Berkeley Street and walk 4 blocks to Berkeley Gardens, where Asian families carry on centuries-old tradition of farming garden plots.

Whether in a big city or small town, greenmarkets and farmers’ markets are no longer off the beaten path.  They’re sprouting up everywhere.  Greenmarket is a term more frequently associated with urban areas, while farmers’ markets can be large and urban, or small-town and colloquial.  Both can sell not only produce, but meat, seafood, baked goods, arrays of cheeses and other dairy products, preserves, honey, flowers and even crafts.  The produce can be organic, or not.

In big cities, while greenmarkets are becoming increasingly popular, some have been around forever. New York City, the penultimate urban community, has over 40, the biggest of which is Union Square Greenmarket, a must see!  Be sure to get there early as this is where the city’s famous chefs go shortly after dawn in search of the freshest ingredients for the day’s menu.  Washington’s beloved Eastern Market, a neighborhood market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood for over a century, was badly burned in a fire in April 2007, but vendors have kept the market open by setting up outside or across the street!  In Philadelphia, the year-round Reading Terminal Market has been a city fixture since William Penn’s time, and in historic Boston, the Copely Square Farmer’s Market sets up from mid-May to mid-November on Tuesdays and Fridays right in front of glorious Trinity Church on the famous square.

And the list goes on … Chicago has its Green City Market, a year-round market set up at the center of Lincoln Park in the summer, and inside the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center in the winter, which encourages sustainable practices from farmers selling there.  In New Orleans, be sure to stop by the Mid-City Green Market, which, to the delight of locals and visitors, just re-opened in May after having been closed since Katrina.  Glittery Las Vegas is more than nighttime neon - stop by Garden Park Farmers’ Market for a breath of fresh air.  On Saturdays in trendy Miami, walk through the venerable Coconut Grove Organic Farmers Market for a change of pace.

Smaller farmers’ markets, more regional in flavor, tend to have a real neighborly feel.  In Washington DC, within the beltway residents love their year-round Farm Fresh Market, open Sundays in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, and seasonally in Foggy Bottom and in up and coming Penn Quarter.  In the Los Angeles area, surrounded by miles and miles of fertile fields, farmers’ markets are everywhere, many featuring Asian and Hispanic specialties. San Diego has so many that the Farm Bureau of San Diego County pulishes a Farmer’s Market Schedule!

Likewise in small communities and towns across the country, small farmers’ markets and even smaller tailgate markets are everywhere. Traveling about by car this summer? If you see a farmers’ market along the way, stop. Get out to stretch your legs and pick up fresh ingredients for a spontaneous picnic lunch.  Sure beats the packaged, fast-food alternative!

For a change in restaurant fare, become a  “Locavore!” Designated as the word of the year in November 2007 by the New Oxford American Dictionary, it means one who is passionate about eating local ingredients.  In many cities, chefs are creating market-driven menus with selections prepared with regionally produced and available ingredients. In San Diego, locavores go to JSix in the Gaslamp District, just a couple of blocks from Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego’s Stop #5A for innovative lunch and dinner menus featuring fresh, seasonal regional produce and sustainable seafood.  In New York City, many restaurants are following the market-driven menu trend, and do so with creativity and flair.  For example, Tribeca Grill, owned by Robert DiNiro, is fabulous and reflects the artistic character of the surrounding Tribeca neighborhood; BLT Market in the Ritz Carleton reflects its upscale Midtown East neighborhood.  In Washington, D.C., Nora’s became America’s first certified organic restaurant in 1999; 15 ria’s new American cuisine is fabulously created with market-fresh ingredients that change with the season; and, Hook in Georgetown offers a wonderful dining experience with a menu that changes daily to reflect whatever sustainable fish are in season and available.

Get out; get in touch.  See America as you have never before see it!

Free Everyday!

1. Castle Clinton
   The jumping off point for Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, Castle Island explores early New York City military defense. As it is part of the National Park System, it is always free (well sort of… you still have to pay your taxes)www.nps.gov/cacl/
   Battery Park
   Phone: 212-344-7220
   
2. Federal Hall
   Museum and memorial on the site where George Washingto took his Oath of Office, dedicated to our first president and to the beginnings of the United States. (another IRS pre-paid admission… you might as well enjoy it, you paid for it!)
   www.nps.gov/feha/index.htm
   Wall Street
   Phone: 212-825-6888
3. The Forbes Galleries
   Permanent exhibits include toy boats, Monopoly, toys soldiers and trophies. There are a number of rotating exhibits throughout the year.
   www.forbesgalleries.com/
   62 Fifth Avenue (at 12th Street)
   Phone: 212-206-5548
4. Grant’s Tomb
   Tomb and memorial of General and President Ulysses S. Grant. This guy’s tomb-stone is HUGE!
   www.nps.gov/gegr
   Phone: 212-666-1640
5. Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology
   Explores textile history and the art of fashion. A sort of memorial to shopping.
   www.fitnyc.edu/aspx/Content.aspx?menu=FutureGlobal:Museum
   Seventh Avenue at 27 Street
   Phone: 212-217-5970
6. National Museum of the American Indian
   Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum of the American Indian is dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans.
   http://www.nmai.si.edu/
   1 Bowling Green, George Gustave Heye Center
   Phone: 212-668-6624
7. Gabarron Foundation Carriage House Center for the Arts
   Focuses on Spanish and American cultural arts and activities.
   www.gabarronfoundation.org/
   149 East 38th Street
   Phone: 212-573-6968
8. Goethe Institut
   Weekdays you can experience German language and culture exhibits for free at the Goethe Institut, which is located across from the Met. Don’t forget to bring your German to English dictionary.
   www.goethe.de/ins/us/ney/enindex.htm
   1014 Fifth Ave
   Phone: 212-439-8700
9. Harbor Defense Museum
   New York’s only US Army museum located at Fort Hamilton.
   www.harbordefensemuseum.com/
   230 Sheridan Loop, Fort Hamilton Military Community
   Brooklyn, NY
   Phone: 718-630-4349
10. Sony Wonder Technology Lab
    Entertainment and technology museum. Learn the history of the Walkman… for free!
    wondertechlab.sony.com
    Sony Plaza Public Arcade at 56th Street and Madison Avenue
    Phone:212-833-5414
11. Statue of Liberty and Museum
    See Lady Liberty up close and personal. Free but there is a fee for the ferry service to and from.
    www.nps.gov/stli
    Liberty Island
    Phone: 212-363-3200
12. Ellis Island Immigration Musem
    Free however, there is a fee for the ferry to and from the museum. Explores immigration to the United States and more specifically through Ellis Island and New York City.
    www.ellisisland.org/
    Ellis Island
    Phone: 212-561-4588Free on Tuesdays
    
13. Brooklyn Botanical Garden
    Free admission on Tuesdays and every weekday from mid-November through February (not really sure what’s blooming in January but hey, it’s still free).
    www.bbg.org/
    1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
    Phone: 718-623-7200Free on Wednesdays
    
14. Bronx Zoo
    Admission by donation all day on Wednesday
    www.bronxzoo.org/
    1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY
    Phone: 718-367-1010
15. Bronx Museum of the Arts
    Open late on Wednesdays (from 12 – 9 p.m.). Visitors can explore the exhibits of this contemporary art museum for free on Wednesdays.
    www.bxma.org/
    Fordham Road and the Bronx River Parkway, Bronx, NY
    Phone: 718-681-6000
16. New York Botanical Garden
    Free admission (covers grounds only) on Wednesdays
    www.nybg.org/
    Bronx River Parkway and Fordham Road, Bronx, NY
    Phone: 718-817-8700
17. New York Transit Museum
    Free on Wednesdays for Seniors. Explore the wonders of how 8 million people get around the Big Apple.
    www.mta.info/mta/museum/index.html
    Located at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights
    Phone: (718) 694-1600Free on Thursdays
    
18. Dahesh Museum of Art
    Admission is free on First Thursdays of each month from 6-9 p.m. Explore 18th and 19th century European artists.
    www.daheshmuseum.org/
    601 Fifth Avenue, 2nd floor
    Phone: 212-759-0606
19. American Craft Museum
    Pay What You Wish from 6 – 8 p.m.. Dedicated to the art of decorative and functional pieces and items.
    www.americancraftmuseum.org/
    40 W 53rd St
    Phone: 212-956-3535
20. Children’s Museum of the Arts
    Free for children from 4 – 6 p.m.; Adults pay donation if they wish… come on, it’s for the kids.
    www.cmany.org/
    182 Lafayette Street
    Phone: 212-274-0986
21. El Museo del Barrio
    Free all day on Thursday and Saturday. Represents the culture and art of the Caribbean and Latin America.
    www.elmuseo.org/
    1230 Fifth Avenue (at 104th Street)
    Phone: 212.831.7272Free on Fridays
    
22. American Folk Art Museum
    Free Admission from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Explore the art that makes our country such a wonderful place.
    www.folkartmuseum.org/
    45 West 53rd Street
    Phone: 212-265-1040
23. Asia Society and Museum
    Free Admission from 6-9 p.m. Explore the history and culture of Asian societies.
    www.asiasociety.org/
    725 Park Ave. at 70th St.
    Phone: 212-288-6400
24. Brooklyn Botanical Garden
    Free admission for Seniors
    www.bbg.org/
    1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
    Phone: 718-623-7200
25. Guggenheim Museum
    Pay or donate what you can on Fridays from 5:45 – 8 p.m. (last ticket issued at 7:15 so don’t be late!)
    www.guggenheim.com/
    1071 5th Avenue at 89th Street
    Phone: 212-423-3500
26. International Center for Photography
    Admission is free but they ask for donations. A fine collection of continuously changing exhibits dedicated to the photographic arts.
    www.icp.org/
    1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd St.
    Phone: 212-857-0000
27. The Morgan Library
    Admission is free on from 7-9 p.m. Exhibits include collection of 12,000 travel, art, archaeology and human interest photographs.
    http://www.morganlibrary.com/
    225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street
    Phone: 212-685-0008
28. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
    Free Admission on ‘Target Fridays’ from 4 – 8 p.m.
    www.moma.org/
    11 West 53 Street
    Phone: 212-708-9400
29. Museum of the Moving Image
    Free to the public from 4 – 8 p.m. (does not include film screenings). Explore the history of the motion pictures.
    www.movingimage.us/
    35 Avenue at 36 Street in Astoria, NY
    Phone: 718-784-0077
30. New York Historical Society
    Free admission from 6-8 p.m. Exhibits include artifacts, pictures, and art from New York City’s rich history.
    www.nyhistory.org/
    170 Central Park West between 76th & 77th Street
    Phone: 212-873-3400
31. Whitney Museum of American Art
    ‘Pay what you wish’ from 6 – 9 p.m.
    www.whitney.org/
    945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street
    Phone: 212-570-3676
32. Noguchi Museum
    Free on the first Friday of each month. Features the stone, metal, wood, and clay works by Isamu Noguchi
    www.noguchi.org/
    9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard)
    Long Island City, NY
    Phone: 718-204-7088
33. Museum of Chinese in the Americas
    Free all day on Fridays
    www.mocanyc.org/
    70 Mulberry Street, 2nd Floor
    Phone: 212-619-4785Free on Saturday
    
34. Brooklyn Botanical Garden
    Free admission from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Saturdays
    www.bbg.org/
    1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
    Phone: 718-623-7200
35. Brooklyn Museum of Art
    Evening admission (5-11 p.m.) on the first Saturday of every month is free.
    www.brooklynart.org/
    200 Eastern Pkwy Brooklyn, NY 11238-6052
    Phone: 718-638-5000
36. The Jewish Museum
    Free admission on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5:45. Explore the history of the Jewish culture with a focus on the Holocaust.
    www.thejewishmuseum.org/
    1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street (between Fifth and Madison)
    Phone: 212-423-3200
37. New York Botanical Garden
    Free admission to the grounds from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Saturdays
    www.nybg.org/
    Bronx River Parkway and Fordham Road, Bronx, NY
    Phone: 718-817-8700
38. Studio Museum in Harlem
    Free on the first Saturday of the month. Dedicated to exploring art by black artists nationally and internationally.
    www.studiomuseum.org/
    144 West 125th Street
    Phone: 212-864-4500Free on Sunday
    
39. The Frick Collection
    ‘Pay what you wish’ from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. A large collection of a variety of art forms from throughout the ages with a focus on paintings, sculpture, furniture, oriental rugs, porcelains, and Limoges enamels.
    www.frick.org/
    1 East 70th Street
    Phone: 212-288-0700
40. Museum of the City of New York
    Free admission between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.
    www.mcny.org/
    1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St
    Phone: 212-534-1672

Just a little note and disclaimer… please check before going to any of these places. Some free days might have changed or there might be a special event going on. Save yourself a lot of time and hassle and check before you go!

1. Museum of Bad Art (MoBA) – Not sure how else to describe this museum… the title sums it up pretty well. The Museum of Bad Art describes its mission perfectly – “dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms.” Artists that are featured at the MoBA are talented, esteemed artists that have created works that cause fans to say “what was he thinking?”. Founded by Scott Wilson who began the museum with its first masterpiece in 1993, “Lucy in the Field of Flowers”, apparently discovered in a trash pile in Boston. Museum Of Bad Art, Basement of Dedham Communitiy Theatre, 580 High Street, Dedham MA, Telephone: 1-781-444-6757 www.museumofbadart.org
    
    

 

2. Glore Psychiatric Museum – Housed in the building that was originally called the “State Lunatic Asylum No. 2”, the Glore Psychiatric Museum takes a look at the history of psychiatric institutions and techniques for administering “care” for the mentally disabled. Earliest diagnoses for treatment of the mentally ill started with a sharp stick or perhaps a club. Human progress and compassion through history introduced humiliation, dunking, burnings at the stake and bleeding as “treatment”. Fortunately, modern 20th century medicine has made significant breakthroughs in psychiatric care including icy baths, shock therapy, tranquilizers, and vibrating chairs (just a hint of sarcasm here). The museum has an exhibit entitled “1,446 Objects Swallowed by a Patient” (see picture… includes 453 nails, 409 pins, 63 buttons, 42 screws, 5 thimbles, and 3 salt shaker tops). Other artifacts and exhibits include a tranquilizer chair, a giant “hamster wheel” for energetic patients, electroshock devices, and hydrotherapy devices (ice bath) www.stjosephmuseum.org/glore.php Glore Psychiatric Museum, 3408 Frederick Ave., St. Joseph, MO, Telephone: 1- 816-364-1209
   

3. Fall River Historical Society – If you ever find your way up through the New England countryside and the quaint town of Fall River, be sure to stop in to visit this little museum of history. Amongst its collection of 19^th century decorative arts, costumes, steamship history and other mild-mannered-exhibits will you find an exhibit of one of the most horrific murder s of the late 19^th century. Lizzie Borden (as in “Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks….”) was charged in 1892 of murdering her mother and father with an axe (and giving them both 40 whacks). Later acquitted, this was considered to be the trial of the century. The Fall River Historical Society boasts the largest collection of memorabilia from the crime and trial including the hatchet used, photographs of the crime scene, pillow cases with blood on them, pictures of Lizzie’s mom and dad skull’s, and other REALLY macomb artifacts. If you haven’t had enough of Lizzie Borden, you can visit the crime scene. In fact you can even stay at the place. The home where the crime was committed is now open as a bed and breakfast. www.lizzieborden.org, Fall River Historical Society, 451 Rock St, Fall River, MA Telephone 1-508-679-1071
    

4. Liberace Museum – While in Las Vegas be sure to pay your respects to a very famous Vegas showman – Wladziu Valentino Liberace (you may call him Liberace). Famous for his outrageous costumes, incredible piano skills and performances, and a Baldwin piano encrusted in with thousands of rhinestones, Liberace deserves his museum in Sin City. The Liberace Museum has on display (including the Baldwin piano) Liberace’s legendary wardrobes, elaborately ornate cars (check out the Rolls Royce), and his jewelry. www.liberace.org/liberace_museum/ Liberace Museum, 1775 East Tropicana Avenue (at Spencer) Las Vegas, NV Telephone: 1-702-798-5595
    
    

5. National Museum of Funeral History – dedicated to the history of the coffin building industry and the funeral business, the National Museum of Funeral History is located in the reproduction of an early 1900’s coffin factory. Visitors will experience and learn how coffins were constructed over the years and how coffins are made today. Other exhibits include Civil War embalming, fantasy coffins (how about a coffin made in the shape of a fish, or an airplane, or how about a chicken?), and the funeral industry Hall of Fame. www.nmfh.org The National Museum of Funeral History, 415 Barren Springs Drive , Houston, TX Telephone: 1-281-876-3063
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

6. The Mütter Museum – M, m, m, m…. museum of horrors! The Mutter Museum is a medical museum located at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia. It was originally created in 1858 from the collection that was donated by Thomas Dent Mutter. The museum displays medical oddities, instruments, and preserved human specimens. Highlights of the Mutter Museum include the skeleton of the tallest human being in North America, a preserved 5’ long colon, preserved human organs and body parts, President Grover Cleveland’s tumor, the conjoined liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, a growth removed from Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth, and mummified corpse of the Soap Lady… all here and preserved for your viewing pleasure. www.collphyphil.org/mutter.asp The Mutter Museum , 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA, Telephone: 1-215-563-3737
    

7. Vent Haven Ventriloquist Museum - Coined as the only museum dedicated to the art ventriloquism, the Vent Haven Ventriloquist Museum will delight visitors of all ages. The museum showcases over 700 figures and thousands of books, playbills and photographs that are related to ventriloquism. www.venthavenmuseum.net Vent Haven Museum, 33 West Maple Avenue, Fort Mitchell, KY, 1-859-341-0461
    
    
   

   
    
   

8. National Museum of Health and Medicine – Haven’t had enough of seeing preserved body parts? Well, you’re in luck! Skip on over to Washington DC for fun filled day of people watching (dead people watching that is). John Wilkes Booth sure does get around! At the National Museum of Health and Medicine you can find even more preserved parts of the assassin. Other exhibits include Civil War skeletons and pictures and illustrations of wounds, Korean War artifacts, live leeche display, and largest collection of microscopes dating to the 1600’s. The National Museum of Health and Medicine claims to have more than 10,000 preserved organs and 5,000 skeletal specimens that explore medical cases of disease and injury. Be sure to visit the “Anatifacts” exhibit featuring the preserved giant tumor, a human hair ball, and body parts of famous Americans – vetebraes of John Wilkes Booth and James Garfield. The National Museum of Health and Medicine also has on display the bullet that killed Lincoln. www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/medtour/nmhm.html National Museum of Health and Medicine, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW Washington, DC
    

9. American Sanitary Plumbing Museum - Located just outside of Boston in Worcester, MA, you will find the official museum dedicated to the history of the commode. Why shouldn’t there be a museum dedicated to such an important household fixture? The museum tells the history of the toilet and other sanitary fixtures as well provides visitors with a number of “artifacts”. Visitors will learn interesting facts such as how we went from corncobs to toilet paper (ouch!)… now that is something to be grateful for! 39 Piedmont Street, Worcester, MA Telephone: 1-508-754-9453
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

10. BODIES…The Exhibition - I guess Americans have a fascination (obsession) with seeing dead people preserved. Now if you’ve visited the Muller in Philadelphia and the National museum of Health and Medicine in Washington D.C. and you want more… Bodies… The Exhibition is your next stop. You can find Bodies in a city nearest you as they have exhibitions in New York City, Fort Lauderdale, San Diego, Framingham, Columbus, Las Vegas (now that’s a big surprise) and Pittsburgh. Utilizing a patented preservation process, curators of Bodies display real human cadavers in everyday positions (minus skin tissue of course) www.bodiestheexhibition.com
     

11. New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum – Believed to be the only museum dedicated to the practice of Voodoo, the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum tells visitors about the traditional practices of the Voodoo religion in New Orleans. The Voodoo Museum houses artifacts of the Great Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau. Walking tours are provided daily and during the evening. www.voodoomuseum.com New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, 724 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, LA, Telephone: 1-504-680-0128

The United States has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day well before it’s independence from Great Britain. The first St. Patrick’s Day and parade in North America was held in Boston in 1737 followed by New York City in 1756. While St. Patrick’s Day originated in Ireland, the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in Chicago with over 2 million spectators and participants. The US, with it’s large Irish ancestory, has parties, parades and events throughout the country. Are you planning to “Go Green” in March? The largest St. Patrick’s Day Parades are:

1. Chicago, Illinois, since 1843 – Over 2 Million Spectators
2. New York City, Since 1756 – Tied with Chicago
3. Savannah, Georgia – Over 400,000
4. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Another pre-Declaration of Independence aged St. Patrick’s Day
5. Kansas City, Missouri – 200,00 spectators
6. Boston, Massachusetts
7. San Francisco, California – Oldest and biggest west of the Mississippi
8. Houston, Texas
9. Cleveland, Ohio
10. New London, Wisconsin