It looks like near the end of March our family trip to New York City is going to happen.
We've got a couple must dos (Staten Island Ferry - Broadway – general sightseeing and rubber necking - Some sort of shopping district for the gals – the White Horse Tavern for me where Dylan Thomas did not go gentle into that good night and the likes of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Cassady and the good Dr. H.S. Thompson caroused) but any suggestions of sites to see/things to do would be greatly appreciated. The girls want culture and I want to see old stuff I've read about. I guess there’s loads of both commodities in NYC.
We have family in Brooklyn in an area called Williamsburg and will be staying somewhere in that vicinity. I guess Brooklyn has some interesting things going on too.
Thanks in advance for any advice. And thanks to Ralph Perez for the book suggestion in this thread: [msg]173709[/msg]. It’s a fascinating book, a real page turner. I keep it in my hip pocket and read a paragraph or two whenever I get a chance.
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> We have family in Brooklyn in an area called Williamsburg and will be staying somewhere in that vicinity. I guess Brooklyn has some interesting things going on too.
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> Thanks in advance for any advice. And thanks to Ralph Perez for the book suggestion in this thread: [msg]173709[/msg]. It’s a fascinating book, a real page turner. I keep it in my hip pocket and read a paragraph or two whenever I get a chance.
>
My Pleasure Mike, Robert Moses is probably one of the most interesting characters in NYC history.
> We have family in Brooklyn in an area called Williamsburg and will be staying somewhere in that vicinity. I guess Brooklyn has some interesting things going on too.
Great area very eclectic, it's in the process of gentrifying, so you have a great mix of different people. From hipsters to hippies to artists to yuppies to the regular locals. If you get a chance take your family to "Peter Luger's" You'll thank me in the morning. it's in Williamsburg.
Ralph
> My Pleasure Mike, Robert Moses is probably one of the most interesting characters in NYC history.
Man I guess. He reshaped the entire city by shear will, cunning, cajoling, threats, gifts, kicks and kisses. Bested the best politicos of the time. Out of a sense of duty, passion, vision and ego. A lot of ego in that guy.
> Great area very eclectic, it's in the process of gentrifying, so you have a great mix of different people. From hipsters to hippies to artists to yuppies to the regular locals. If you get a chance take your family to Peter Luger's.You'll thank me in the morning.
My cousin and her beau really enjoy the mish mosh of different cultures there. Delis, Korean restaurants, Ethiopian, Cuban, Polish, Italian. I’m going to have to get some sans-a-belt pants I suppose, with room to grow.
"We have family in Brooklyn in an area called Williamsburg and will be staying somewhere in that vicinity. I guess Brooklyn has some interesting things going on too. "
Hey, I gotta' ask, Mike. Which side of the family has family in Brooklyn, Your Side, or the missus. ??
R. J. – It’s my cousin - actually my cousin’s kid – who lives there. She grew up here in Bend, went to college at Evergreen in Washington State and then moved to NYC circa 2002 to go to graduate school at a college called “The New School”. She and her husband, a North Carolinian, are hoping to move back to the west coast in a year or so. They’ve really enjoyed their decade plus odyssey in NYC/Brooklyn- have immersed themselves in city life balanced with hiking, skiing and canoeing in the hinterlands, but want to get away before they get too deep into their careers. So if we don’t visit now we never will.
Battle of Brooklyn
I'm kind of embarrassed that this was news to me, but we will be near a lot of the locations of fighting during one of the darkest hours of the Revolutionary war, the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn. I knew that Washington had flummoxed the Brits by running away to Manhattan Island by cover of fog, but I didn't know the particulars about all the fighting beforehand.
I found an interactive map of the sites from this series of skirmishes. The web site also has a 37 page history/tour guide of the battle sites and how to reach them by subway lines and hiking. Now I have something to to keep me from driving the woman folk crazy with my nervous fidgeting energy.
Mike
This book:
http://www.fangduffkahn.com/books/city-secrets-new-york-city
has lots of good tips.
Search here on Beer Leg for suggestions by Sicilian Cowboy; he has lots of good suggestions.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island will likely be closed due to Sandy damage, but there is still much to see.
Have fun!
Ken
Thanks Ken. The book you linked looks insightful. I'll check it out. I've been reading the book "New York Diaries: 1609-2009" which is real interesting. Not to sound callous, but I'm almost grateful that Liberty and Ellis aren't yet open. It will free up some time as our wish list is getting unmanageable at this stage.
