March:
Alexander Hamilton National Historic Site, Manhattan
Metropolitan Museum of Art/The Cloisters, Manhattan

April:

May:
Fort Stanwix National Historic Site, Rome
DeadApple Tours, Manhattan
Other touristy things in Manhattan

June:
Philip Schulyer House, Albany, NY
New York State Library and Museum, Albany, NY

July:
Erie Canal Boat Museum, Chittenango, NY

August:
Lake Placid Olympic Center, Adirondacks
Whiteface Mountain, Adirondacks

September:

October:
Plymouth, Massachusetts

November:
Lake George, NY
Trip to Vermont?

As you can see, the itinerary needs some fleshing out. Two trips per month is enough for the spring and late autumn months, but I’d like to have a few more activities for July, August, September, and October. If you would like us to visit a certain place, feel free to use my contact form for suggestions. I’d love to hear from you!

2012 Itinerary In the Works

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HAHA! I liked that last sign. It alludes to the old Burma Shave road signs, popular in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s when Americans hit the roads in droves. It was a time of great optimism and prosperity. The road trip was king.

Burma Shave was a shaving cream, manufactured by the Burma-Vita company. Sales for the cream were less than enthusiastic, so the company started an advertising campaign that later entered the annals of American culture. They placed signs with brief snippets of limericks along roadways. At first the signs were pure advertisements, such as these:

A shave
That’s real
No cuts to heal
A soothing
Velvet after-feel
-Burma-Shave

You’ve laughed
At our signs
For many a mile
Be a sport
Give us a trial
-Burma-Shave

Later, the signs became little stories or humorous admonitions against speeding and driving drunk. Always, the last sign said simply “Burma Shave.”

Hardly a driver
Is now alive
Who passed
On hills
At 75
-Burma-Shave

Past
Schoolhouses
Take it slow
Let the little
Shavers grow
-Burma-Shave

If daisies
Are your
Favorite flower
Keep pushin’ up those
Miles per hour
-Burma-Shave

The actual shaving cream was never as popular as the company’s advertising campaign. Sales declined and Burma-Shave was sold to Philip Morris in 1963. The company pulled the ads and thus ended another quirky icon in American road trip travel history. A shame.

But there are a few of us who still remember Burma Shave! It was nice to see that the Window King of Holland Patent remembered.

No Burma Shave Here!

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Dumb truck!

Oh, this is better.

Fraunces Tavern is where George Washington said his farewell to his officers in 1783 after years of military service in the Continental Army. It is said that many men openly cried while Washington gave his speech. Little did they know that the Great American Experiment was just beginning. Washington would be back in a few years, inaugurated as President of the United States at nearby Federal Hall on Wall Street.

The original building is gone, having suffered a series of fires and renovations so that no one knows exactly what the building looked like before 1890. Originally, on this site a house was built in 1671 as a residence for wealthy New York Mayor New York Mayor Stephanus van Cortlandt. It was replaced with another residence in 1719. Samuel Fraunces purchased the building in 1792. He converted it into a tavern and named it The Queen’s Head.

The New York Sons of Liberty secretly met at the tavern before and during the American Revolution. Did you know that New York had its own little version of the Boston Tea Party? In 1765, fed up with taxes and encroaching liberties from England, a handful of patriots dressed as American Indians infiltrated a British cargo ship carrying the dreaded British tea. They forced the captain to apologize for the cargo, and promptly dumped the tea into New York Harbor. And thus our love for coffee was begun.

We lunched in the dining room before perusing the museum upstairs. Our lunch experience was so-so; read my review of lunch at Fraunces Tavern at my other blog, WowChowCooking. Admission to the museum upstairs is free if you purchase a meal in the dining room. That was a pleasant surprise.

The upstairs is filled with paraphernalia. We watched a brief movie about the history of Fraunces Tavern and then wandered the rooms at our own leisure.

This is a photo of the Clinton Dining Room, so named because Governor George Clinton dined here.

I love the Federal style architecture and decor.

This is the bowl that held the turtle soup reincorporating the New York Chamber of Commerce at the Clinton dinner. Turtle meat seemed to be a delicacy for such occasions (according to menus of the past that served it regularly for important functions). I have never had it. I doubt anyone would eat anything lugged from the Hudson anymore.

We saw many amazing pieces of odd paraphernalia, including a portion of Washington’s wooden coffin, some of Washington’s hair and his dentures! Rome may have dozens of nails that pierced Christ’s limbs but we have Washington’s hair!

Assorted relics of pre-modern warfare littered the display cases. Some treasures were discovered by little boys digging in their back yards. 

Fraunces Tavern Museum also keeps the precious original diary of Colonel Benjamin Talmadge. We have read some of his memoirs and find his accounts of the Revolutionary War fascinating!

The tavern museum also had some very interesting paperwork regarding the history of the building. After the Revolution, the Treasury, War and Foreign Affairs departments were based here while New York City served as our first capital of the country. Everything was later moved to Philadelphia when the capital was there, and now to Washington, DC.

By 1900, the tavern was poised for demolition, to make way for “progress.” The Sons of the American Revolution wanted to buy the building, but the tavern owner refused all offers. The Daughters of the American Revolution begged the owner to sell, but all offers were refused again. I found it very odd that the owner was so determined to see the building destroyed, despite the monetary offers and knowing about the incredible history of the site.

The City intervened and created the Hewitt Act, enabling the Sons of the American Revolution to purchase the property and restore it for posterity. The building opened on December 4, 1907, the 124th anniversary of Washington’s farewell speech.

Did you know that there was a terrorist act at the Fraunces Tavern? On January 24, 1975, at 1:35pm, a bomb exploded at the entrance door to the tavern’s Angler’s and Tarpon Club. The bomb exploded in the middle of lunch hour, killing four people and injuring 53. A Puerto Rican nationalist group, F.A.L.N. (Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional) cliamed responsibility for the bombing. The FALN said that the bombing was retaliation for “the CIA-ordered bomb that murdered Angel Luis Chavonnier and Eddie Ramos, two innocent young workers who supoorted [sic] Puerto Rican independence” and the “maiming of ten innocent persons…in a Mayaguez, Puerto Rico dining place on Saturday the eleventh of January, 1975.” No one was ever arrested or convicted for the crime.

Fraunces Tavern Museum, Pearl Street, New York, NY

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We stayed overnight at the Best Western Inn on 121 Burgin Drive in Cobleskill. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Inn situated very near a shopping complex but up a hill where the views are gorgeous.

Best Western Inn graciously provided my large family two adjoining rooms to write this review of their facilities. I had no idea what to expect when we arrived, but I can now say that the place is phenomenal! First things first…

We arrived at check-in time, 3pm. The Inn is a one-story building, featuring a slew of rooms with double beds, a swimming pool, a fitness center, a restaurant, a bowling alley and a lovely lobby! I was wowed by all the amenities. Besides the typical free morning coffee, Best Western Inn gives free wireless Internet service and a complementary issue of USA Today for all guests.

Check in was prompt and I was very impressed with the ladies at the front desk. I’ve been to a number of hotels (my husband has even worked at a few) and we’ve had our share of bad experiences with front desk employees. The Best Western Inn ladies were a breath of fresh, hospitable air. We were all extremely delighted with the friendly, easy-going manner of the ladies. I’m always a little nervous meeting new people, but these ladies put me at ease. They quickly got us settled and made us feel very welcome.

The rooms are comfortable. Very clean (I checked, as I always do). The bathrooms are enormous and well insulated. With the door closed, you could not clearly hear the ventilation fan or other bathroom noises. The heat was comfortable, I didn’t have to adjust it at all. As a matter of fact, the rooms were so cozy and we were so tired after our excursion through Howe Caverns that we collapsed into the chairs and beds and just relaxed for a while.

I perused some of the typical hotel literature in the rooms. The Best Western Inn has a big binder on the table that is filled with information about the community: restaurants, things to do, grocery venues, etc. I was impressed with how comprehensive the information was. Some hotels only give you the bare minimum, but the Best Western binder offered choice after choice for things to do.

Later, we decided to go bowling. The Inn sports a few lanes at the back of the hotel. The hotel actually sprang up around the bowling alley, years ago. The lanes are clean and well-maintained. When we arrived, a large group of kids came in to play, so the place was busy.

After bowling, we wandered around a little, enjoying the peacefulness of the hotel. I love the swimming pool area. Since it was November and I hadn’t packed my bathing suit, I had to forego swimming. But I enjoyed gazing at the water.

The Best Western Inn has a restaurant, called B. W. Delaney’s. I had done some searching of local restaurants but found the menu at Delaney’s to be the most affordable for our large family. The restaurant is comfortable and the meals are good. They have a fine grilled salmon dish and my son loved his fish and chips. If you plan on eating out, I recommend B.W. Delaney’s. The food is good and the prices are the most reasonable around.

The Inn sees a lot of business from the local SUNY Cobleskill facility. There were a number of families and business men staying that night, I noticed. The rooms are well-insulated. I could hear nothing from the other rooms at all. I did hear muffled noises from outside, as our rooms were in the front of the hotel near the parking area. It didn’t bother me as the noises were barely noticeable. If you want a very quiet environment, however, I recommend that you ask for a room in the back of the hotel.

The beds are extremely comfortable and I felt spoiled with the feather pillows. My husband and I got up early the next morning and left to have some coffee at Delaney’s while the kids slept in. It was a beautiful morning.

The location of the hotel is so peaceful. The view outside the restaurant windows is breathtakingly beautiful. We watched the sun appear and the mist rise from the hills as we sipped our coffee. Later, the kids joined us for a big breakfast (waffles, pancakes, eggs, toast, bagels!). The service — everyone at the hotel — is just so friendly and pleasant.

The Best Western Inn touts itself as “your home away from home,” and we really felt that way. Everything was so relaxed! The hotel does a great job of making you feel comfortable and provides everything you need. I can’t believe how friendly everyone is! Even the cleaning lady was smiling and pleasant.

The rates are very affordable, much more than a hotel closer to Albany. Since the Best Western Inn is situated between Albany and Cooperstown, you can save quite a wad of money staying here and simply driving to the city. The drive itself is very lovely, as the views are superb.

Check out the Best Western Inn if you will be staying in the area. I highly recommend it!

Best Western Plus Inn of Cobleskill
website: BestWesternCobleskill.com
121 Burgin Drive
Cobleskill, New York 12043
Phone: (518) 234-4321
Toll Free: 1800-WESTERN

Note: I was given a free night’s stay at this hotel in exchange for this review. My opinion of this hotel and restaurant are 100% genuine and honest. Thanks for reading!

Review of Best Western Inn in Cobleskill, NY

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Howe Caverns is located on a large hill in Schoharie County, just outside Cobleskill in Howes Cave, NY. It is open year round, and the best time to see the caves is (in my opinion) in the hottest part of the year (July and August) or between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, when the place is decked in holiday splendor. We visited a few days after Thanksgiving Day, and were delighted with the cheerful, cozy atmosphere of the visitor’s center.

Christmas music from the 1950s and 60s brought back fond childhood memories of a simpler, happier time. The visitors center is packed with things to see and do while you wait for the next tour of the caverns to begin. There’s a little cafe and a coffeeshop with Starbucks coffee and treats. There are display cases filled with old Howe Caverns paraphernalia and nostalgia. There’s a huge gift shop filled with geode jewelry and Howe Cavern diamond conversation pieces and t-shirts and flashlights! And there are cozy chairs in which to rest.

We didn’t have to wait long for the tour. Our group consisted of approximately 20 to 25 people. Tours were moving at a rather regular pace– one large group had just ended and another was preparing to go after us. The tour guide, a “Mr. T” led us into the education room, where we watched a Disney-esque robot styled like Lester Howe tell us his story. Lester Howe, for whom the caverns is named, discovered the hole leading to the underground caves in 1842. I’ve written about the history before (see my post Great Places: Howe Caverns), so check that post for the story. It includes a good National Geographic video about the caverns, too. You can also read a rousing rendition at the Howe Caverns website.

To this day, Howe Caverns deeply draws it identity from Lester Howe’s discovery. I don’t know if it was a purposeful marketing strategy or if the story has always been part of the Caverns’ identity, but I think it’s brilliant. Not only does the story lend a “human interest” touch to the caverns, but it also gives rise to the thought “Maybe someday I will stumble upon a cave like Lester Howe did!”

As the robot gives his story, a large map of the caverns shows how extensive our subterranean journey will be. At its lowest point, the caverns sit 200 feet below ground and extend for nearly two miles. Much of the caverns are still unexplored, and the Howe Caverns company hopes to expand tours in the future.

Our group loads up into two elevators, and we drop down approximately 16 stories into the concrete-lined vestibule. This room is the only area in the caverns that has been reinforced by man. I noticed a large, round hunk of cheese hanging on the wall with a sign saying it was cave-aged. I didn’t get a photo quick enough before the tour began. I looked it up later and apparently the company sells cave-aged cheese! The cheese is apparently made by an Upstate company, Yancey’s Fancy artisan cheese. We saw their booth and tasted their delicious cheese at the Pride of New York Harvest Festival last month.

Our tour began noisily, with the loud sounds of rushing water in our ears. What great water works was creating such cacophony?!

The River Styx. A little thing. Like the ghoulish ferryman Charon of Greek mythology, the river sounds scarier than it is. It is a mere trickle of a stream, although it does rise up and rage from time to time. The tour guide informed us that the latest hurricane to chug up the eastern seaboard– Irene — caused the river to rise up near the ceiling of the caverns. It took the company about five days to clean the place up. I thought that was impressive– it took me over a week to clean up my flooded basement and yard!

Yet this tiny rivulet is responsible for carving much of the caverns. As we walk along, the river’s rushing noises die down and the stream settles down into a quiet stillness.

The caverns are lit with colored lights that provide a surreal atmosphere. I disabled my camera’s flash feature most of the time. When lit in regular light, the cave has a cold, ugly look to it.

The tour guide led us on, relating various Lester Howe stories and injecting information about the mineral content of the formations. Some of the formations are stunning, and all are caused by dripping water!

This is the Roman Cathedral Pipe Organ, so called because when you stand on one side of the pathway and hum into the stalactites, the sounds resonate through the “pipe organ” in a delightfully chilling melody.

The cavern is filled with milky-looking formations, all made from calcium carbonite, the by product of the chemical reaction between limestone and water.

This is an enormous formation, all caused by a little trickle of water!

As we delved deeper and deeper into the caverns, we neared the illustrious Lake Venus. It’s more like a pond, two to six feet deep. But it is dark and mysterious and I do wonder where Lester Howe got the courage to paddle across it the first time, not knowing where he was going and carrying only a small whale oil lamp to light the way.

The boat ride was lovely, one of the best moments of the tour. Unfortunately, it ended far too soon. The tour guide relayed to us how the rest of the cavern is undeveloped for visitors. The water from Lake Venus fall down a small waterfall beyond that chain.

We head back through the same way we came. The pathways are very comfortable to walk upon. When Lester Howe first gave his tours, visitors had to clamber over rocks, climb through muddy holes, and slog through the river. Quite a difference today.

The tour was not over yet. Mr. T led us to the caverns’ “Bridal Chamber,” a small cave with a heart on the floor. The heart is made of 6-inch thick calcium carbonate, remarkable translucent. It is here that Lester Howe’s daughter was married as a publicity stunt for the tourist operation. Since then, hundreds of couples have tied the knot in the cave. There’s a little legend that goes along with the heart– they all say that if you step on the heart, you’ll be married within a year. I can testify to this. I never made the connection until this week– but when I visited the caverns as a young lady 20+ years ago, the tour guide had told us of the legend. In a whimsical moment, my girlfriends and I giggled and raced over to step on the heart. I was married later that year. Haha!!

After the Bridal Chamber, we were led to The Winding Way, one of the finest examples of water erosion. I loved this part. What great fun it was, speeding left and right, dodging the sides of the cave! When we were done, I wanted to do it again!

See what I mean? Howe Caverns is simply spectacular, a must-see destination. And my paltry photos cannot even begin to tell the story. You must see it for yourself. The company does a remarkable job of blending history and nostalgia and geology. See the Howe Caverns website for much more.

I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Howe Caverns group and the Schoharie County Tourism Department for hosting our trip. This was the first time my kids have seen Howe Caverns, and it was a very special occasion. This is my honest and genuine opinion in exchange for our admission to Howe Caverns. I highly recommend Howe Caverns- it’s a terrific experience!

Howe Caverns
website: HoweCaverns.com
255 Discovery Drive
Howes Cave NY 12092
Phone: 518-296-8900

Our Adventure Through Howe Caverns, Cobleskill, NY

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New visitors are strongly urged to visit the visitor’s hall and view a movie about the fort. Even though we are very familiar with Fort Ticonderoga history and importance in battles, we sat and enjoyed the video. I was especially intrigued with the history of its restoration. You can read about that in my previous post, A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2.

There is SO much to see inside the buildings that I cannot possibly do it justice here. I only highlight what I found interesting, and even then I must condense it. I highly recommend that you visit the Fort, there’s something for everyone there.

Both stories of the buildings are loaded with fort memorabilia and quite a number of breathtaking archaeological finds. I was awed by this: one of the old metal armor breastplates presumably made by the first French soldiers here in the 1750s. The plaque card says the armor was discovered in 1941, built into the wall. Because of its unusual position in the wall construction, archaeologists believe the armor is a votive offering by the French masons, for “good luck.”

There were many such artifacts to be seen:

This blew me away. A piece of her wedding dress?!

A watch key was a small metal device. With it, the watch owner could wind the watch. Amazing!

George Washington had good ol’ snuff. Well, at least the snuff BOX.

I loved this.

There were many, many such engraved powder horns like this. Even Ethan Allen and Philip Schuyler had scrawled on theirs! This is one of Schuyler’s horns given to him from Paul Revere. The engraving is a verse from Proverbs.

Here is Ethan Allen’s powder horn. Ethan Allen is the famed hero of Fort Ticonderoga. He easily took the fort from the British in 1775, confiscating the stores of ammunition for the needy American army.

This is Ethan Allen’s sword. Click the image to go to the Flickr site. From there, you can view larger images.

Ethan Allen’s gun, engraved with his name.

There were quite a few personal artifacts from the Schuyler family. Alexander Hamilton married Eliza Schuyler, daughter of the great general Philip Schuyler from nearby Albany, NY. This is a four-leafed clover in a locket that had belonged to Angelica Schuyler Church, Eliza’s sister and Alexander Hamilton’s good friend.

Angelica’s wax seal. The town “Angelica, NY” in western New York State is named for Angelica Schuyler Church.

Alexander Hamilton’s sword is here!

Rosary beads, probably dating before the British and American ownership of the fort. The Brits and Americans were definitely and overwhelmingly Protestant, so the beads probably belonged to a French occupant.

This is an imposing display. Looks to be a Mohawk Indian. Mohawks were the fiercest of the Iroquois Indian tribes, probably as fierce as the Canadian Hurons.

Interesting chair. Looks to me to be something from the 1890s, perhaps.

Cool bull’s eye glass.

All in all, it was a terrific visit. I really recommend this place, just go see it!

A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 3

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After soaking in the glorious sights and enjoying a musket drill, we entered the interior ring of the fort that once housed the soldiers, their families, and the stuff that made it all tick: ammunition.

The structures that stand here are not original to the colonial and Revolutionary days. After serving faithfully for about 30 years in which it had seen nearly half a dozen attacks and had passed through the hands of France, Britain, and the United States, the fort was abandoned after the American Revolution. Its stones and metal were stripped by local residents for the building of houses and businesses in the local small towns. A renewed interest of the Revolutionary War in the late 19th century brought curious onlookers to the site, but the old fort was merely a ghostly shadow of its former glory.

A wealthy importer from New York City, William Ferris Pell, purchased the land and constructed a summer home nearby, naming it The Pavilion. The elegant house still stands but is in terrible disrepair. The home was abandoned by William Ferris Pell after a tragic accident that killed his eldest son. The story is taken from the official Fort Ticonderoga website:

It was customary for the cannon at The Pavilion to be fired in honor of Pell’s return to The Pavilion at the beginning of spring. In 1839, Pell’s eldest son, 35 year-old Archibald, was killed when the cannon exploded while he fired it to honor his father’s return to Ticonderoga. Pell was so devastated by his son’s death that he never returned to The Pavilion and, according to family legend, died from a broken heart the following year.

The gardens of the house are still beautifully maintained, but the house is in poor shape. The Fort Ticonderoga association hopes to restore the home in the future. We wandered the grounds; I’ll have more about the history of The Pavilion and our visit in another post.

The Pell family, seeing an influx of tourists thanks to the Erie Canal and railroads, decided to restore the old “Stonehenge Ruins of Ticonderoga” into a replica of the fort as it was during the American Revolution. Construction began in 1909. This was one of the first such historic restoration projects in the United States. Its grand opening was attended by President William Howard Taft on the 300th anniversary of the European discovery of Lake Champlain.

Some of the old stonework remains, although we did see some areas blocked off for repairs. I loved wandering the grounds, there were many nooks and crannies to explore.

Ethan Allen wannabees:

“Soldiers” posing for a photo.

After all this exploring, we had yet to venture inside the buildings! SO much to explore! We saw a DVD about the history of the fort, and wandered the halls for over an hour, peering at all the amazing historical artifacts and displays. I’ll have our story about that in the next post A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 3.

A Visit to Fort Ticonderoga, Part 2

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We arrived about noon on Saturday. The crowd was pretty good — manageable enough so that I could still pop in close to the tables and chat with a vendor or two. As it neared later in the afternoon, the building got more crowded.

A patron at Moon’s Lake House ordered fried potatoes with his meal. The diner complained that the potatoes were too thick and sent them back to the cook.

The cook at the restaurant was George Crum, who is described as Native American in some accounts and an African American in others. There is agreement, however, on Crum’s disposition—he was generally ornery. Upset that someone would criticize his cooking, Crum sliced a new batch of potatoes paper-thin, fried them in boiling oil to a crisp, and then salted them.
 
But what was intended as a stunt turned into an instant hit – the fussy patron and his friends loved the “crunch potato slices.” Soon the chips became known as Saratoga Chips. At first they were served in restaurants throughout the region. When George Crum left Moon’s Lake Inn to start his own restaurant called “Crumbs House,” he placed large baskets of the chips on every table. It was not long before Saratoga Chips could be found in restaurants up and down the East Coast. Soon they became known as potato chips.

 
Isn’t history a fascinating thing??
 
Unfortunately, the Saratoga Chips company closed its doors in the 1920s. But this gentleman in the photo (I didn’t get his name) decided to dust off the cobwebs and regenerate the business. He’d lost his job and was in need of money to support his family. He and his wife picked up where George Crum left off, weaving modern manufacturing and marketing with the original look and historical panache that New Yorkers just love. The company has grown to become a success, featured in the New York Times, Rachel Ray, and other notable outlets.
 
The chips are very good. They are not like the Big Box chips. These chips still have a bit of the potato in them with traces of moisture and flavor to them. They are also only lightly salted, a big plus in my opinion!

The Pride of New York Harvest Fest Was Great!

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This year, the 2011 Pride of New York Harvest Fest will be held on November 5 – 6 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York. Tickets are usually $25 apiece, but I have the great honor of giving away TWO tickets for this year’s festival. Admission includes a complimentary wine or beer glass, tasting samples, and an opportunity to win the “Pride of New York Basket of Bounty.” See the Pride of New York Harvest Fest website for all the events, exhibitions and information.

Here’s how to win two tickets to the Harvest Fest, a $50 value! The contest is very easy, I assure you:

Here’s How You Can Win the Tickets:

 
Mandatory Entry — do one or all if you wish:

1. Subscribe to NewYorkTraveler.net by RSS Feed. In the comment form below, leave a comment telling me that you have subscribed to the feed. If you already subscribe, leave a comment letting me know. Your comment on this post is your entry.
2. Subscribe to New York Traveler.net by Email. In the comment form below, leave a comment telling me that you have subscribed to the feed. If you already subscribe, leave a comment letting me know. Your comment on this post is your entry.
3. Blog about this contest on your blog or website. Leave a comment letting me know, and include the link. Your comment on this post is your entry.
4. Stumble this blog on StumbleUpon. If you don’t know how to use StumbleUpon, I wrote a tutorial on my tech blog, The Older Geek, how to do it.

IMPORTANT!!! You MUST leave separate comments for EVERY entry. So if you make three entries by doing #1, #2, and #4, leave THREE separate comments saying so.

Rules and Other Information Regarding the Contest:

• Be sure to leave your email in the appropriate comment form when you leave a comment. I DO NOT advise you to put your email address in the comment box itself– spammers may grab it.
• I will NEVER spam or sell your personal information.



• The winner of the State Fair tickets will have to submit his/her name and mailing address to me. I will forward this information on to the Pinckney Hugo Group, the State Fair’s public relations firm who is sponsoring this contest.
• You will pick up your tickets at the State Fair “Will Call” main box office. Will Call for Harvest Fest is at the front entrance of the Horticulture Building. You will need to present some form of valid ID with your name and address to get your tickets.
• I will oversee the choosing of a random winner, chosen and monitored by an independent panel (that is, my kids, who pull a name out of a hat). I will notify the winner via email.
• The contest will end October 29, 2011, at midnight. I will email the winner by October 30, 2011, by midnight. The winner has until October 31, 2011, by midnight to respond and email his/her name and address to claim his/her prize. In the event the winner does not follow this instruction, I will randomly choose another winner from the submitted entries.
• My own tickets and the giveaway tickets are provided by the Pinckney Hugo Group on behalf of the Pride of New York Harvest Fest. I am writing this post and will write another about my experience at the Harvest Fest in exchange for my tickets and for the giveaway tickets.

The Pride of New York Harvest Fest is organized by the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, the Pride of New York program, the Great New York State Fair, Uncork New York! (New York’s Wine & Grape Foundation), and the New York State Brewers Association. Their goal is to present us with the abundant beauties of New York State agriculture and production. It’s a wonderful event and I hope you will attend! I’m really looking forward to going, and I’ll have all sorts of photos and reviews of the many New York State products. I strongly urge you to attend– it will be the best ever!

Photos courtesy of Pride of New York Harvest Fest website.

Win Tickets to Pride of New York Harvest Fest

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It’s an experience of extremes. The streets are hot and smelly and loud, filled with honking horns and diesel traffic and the deafening noises of subway trains moving below our feet, of millions of feet shuffling over the concrete Manhattan jungle…. but once you spot the iron gate, and climb the ruddy sandstone steps, and cling to the ancient wrought iron rail for balance, and walk up onto an enchantingly emerald hill several feet above the crowded sidewalks, it’s as if you’ve entered the Woods Between the Worlds. It is quiet. A whisper of a cool breeze blows over the stony tombstones and lightly tickles the honeylocust leaves.

Crowds of people mingle here, too. People are ubiquitous in Manhattan, without people there would be no Manhattan. It would be like no grasshoppers in the hot summer Upstate meadows, no mud in the Upstate creeks, no blackflies in the Upstate forests….

…but these people here are different. They are quiet. Maybe the lush green moss carpeting muffles the sounds. But even the chattering children and the businessmen eating lunch while chatting on cellphones seem quiet.

We meandered around the grounds as I described in Part 1. For this post, we venture inside the church.

The bronze doors make a good first impression. Weighty and ornate, they speak of Trinity’s past with a solidity not seen in modern architecture and art.

I’m a “ceiling person.” I look up and am awed. I stop to take photos, not caring if I block the entryway momentarily. Oddly enough, people wait. When I say, “Excuse me,” THEY SMILE. Trinity Church works wonders in Manhattan, indeed!

The church is very dark. My photos are pitifully blurry, I apologize. Plus, my hands would not stop trembling. I can’t figure if it is the heat of the day, the long walk or the joy of returning to the church. Last summer, the day (and the church) was horribly hot and humid. My camera had photographed grotesque clouds of haze and humidity above the altar. This time, the place was deliciously cool. I sat down in a pew– partly from reverence, partly from exhaustion.

Tourists mingle in and out. Some people kneel in the pews, quiet in prayer. Others noisily wander around the vestibule. We are behind a small group of Chinese tourists, chattering in their native tongue. One boy, about the age of 12, restlessly pushes ahead of the group. An alert security guard speaks up, “Take off your hat,” she says to the boy. He stares at her, puzzled. “Take off your hat, please,” she repeats, more forcefully. An older Chinese gentleman, perhaps the boy’s father, removes the boy’s hat. I am impressed. The guards are not here only to keep the candles from thievery, but to enforce respect for the church. Some of the Chinese children run past us, straight up to the altar where the gold glitters on the sacrament table. Another guard pipes up, “Please get down from there.” The boy gives a blank look. Again, one of the adult tourists waves the little boy down. I find the events rather amusing– not in a funny way, but just interesting. The children do not know how to conduct themselves in a church. It’s not limited to foreign children, by any means. I feel a little melancholy when I think about it.

My attention is turned to my daughter, who nudges me and whispers, “This is it. This is where Hammy sat with his family.” Hammy is our little nickname for Alexander Hamilton, our hero. My daughter knows everything there is to know about Hamilton and his wife, Eliza. We sit reverently in the pew #92.

We wander the sanctuary, taking terrible photos because of the poor lighting and my poorer photography skills. The building is so beautiful.

My daughter nudges me again, “There’s a museum down here.”

What?! “Where?!” I whisper incredulously.

“Down here,” she repeats.

I have been to this church twice and never knew there was a hallway that led to a museum. Of course, she’s the expert– she knows the history of this church like the back of her hand. She leads me toward the museum… I’ll have to make a Part 3 for this part of our adventure, as there is much to tell!

Trinity Church, New York, NY: Part 2

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