The Weekend

The weekend started Friday morning with the long awaited historical walk through of the Shovel Shop. It was the first time I had been in most of the buildings and I was surprised by a number of things. Despite being built over almost forty years, the roof framing of the buildings is remarkably consistent so for most buildings both the inside and the outside look like they were built at the same time. There is not much left that makes you think of shovels. Arnold Tofias did a good job of turning several buildings into relatively modern offices while other parts of the site are just vast open spaces. The "Glass House," the last building put up on the property in 1928, lost its glass when the it was converted to the space metal building it is today. The internal metal framing of that building is interesting and will be incorporated into the new design. This is the building where you will see the first changes. Six bays of this building's north end will disappear to make room for the new sewage treatment plant, a driveway and some green space. Two bays on the south end will have their sides removed for a pedestrian walk through. Yes, we the people of Easton will again be encouraged to walk through the site. Seeing the buildings after looking at plans for so long certainly has gotten me excited about the project and confident that Beacon will do a good job with this large and complex site.

After the tour it was off to New York city for my cousin's wedding. I was trying out my Garmin Nubi 40 for the first time. I had used the device for a few days around town, but since I seldom leave the familiar space of southeastern Massachusetts, I had my doubts about arriving at the Empire Hotel at 44 West 63rd Street without getting into trouble. However, the entry level Garmin device performed flawlessly. I did get stuck in an accident back up on 95 and a traffic jam getting onto the George Washington bridge, but only one dicey decision was the complex off ramp of that bridge.

Some quick comments on New York. The Empire Hotel has a lot of International flair which means you quickly get used to the cacophony of accents that is modern New York. Great hotel restaurant and a small very "in" night club breaks out in the lobby every evening along with a bigger room top lounge. The American Museum of Natural History is a vast collection of animals that look like they were shot by Teddy Roosevelt as well as new interactive exhibits. The family spent the most time in the live butterfly exhibit which is much bigger than the one at our Museum of Science. It's incredible! Many amazing tropical butterflies along with some of our own familiar beauties. There is a species of large butterfly that has brown outer wings and neon blue inner wings that flash on and off like a light house when it flies. We also saw the world's largest moth which has a snakes head tattoo on its wings.
The Hall of Human Origins was cool. I was especially struck by a lifelike rendering of Australopithecus afarensis-chimps could definitely beat the stuffing out of these tiny creatures. Nice gem collection at the Museum-Star of India sapphire is the headliner.

Walked 16 blocks back to the hotel through Central Park. This large Olmsted gem is particularly well maintained, and makes me sad that the few acres of Olmsted design at Sheep Pasture is so neglected. Lack of effort not lack of staff I'm afraid.

The wedding as at the New Leaf Restaurant which was the original stable for the Cloisters estate. Both the mansion which is now one of the most extraordinary museums in the world and the restaurant are set in Fort Tryon State Park on the north tip of Manhattan. An exquisite site for a wedding-just don't let anyone tell you that the restaurant is "right next to" the museum. The stable was a half a mile from the mansion. If you love art you need to visit the Cloisters, truly amazing! The restaurant was excellent and the outdoor wedding beautiful.