Cars, Trees, Rocks and a Mall

October 17th: I found myself very lucky to have been invited on a jaunt out of the city to hike around and enjoy people and nature. This was my first time out of the city since mid-March, I tried to make the most of it. Our goal was to be hiking in the Minnewaska area, maybe see a lake and a waterfall, but lots of other people wanted to be enjoying nature that day and the parking lots of every trailhead were totally full until we found one lot where exactly two spots were left (and that’s the number of spots we needed). So whatever that hike was, we did it and it was great.

After the hike, we had a nice little lunch and walk-around in New Paltz.

After New Paltz I found myself in a car back to the city that needed to make a stop at a Target … a Target which was attached to the Palisades Mall! Boy nothing brings you back to life during a pandemic like a walk around a gigantic mall where they’re really trying to get people’s money any way they can!

Limited Access Visit #7: the Guggenheim

The Guggenheim re-opened a few weeks later than all the other museums with far trickier hours to work with but I got a couple reservations to go there at 5:15pm October 3rd. I had not been to the Guggenheim for a VERY long time, like, easily 11 years? The exhibit there right now is about the countryside. It was like a Museum of Science + Industry exhibit mixed with an art exhibit.

A special thing about this museum trip is I went with Patricia, who I hadn’t seen since the beginning of March.
Another thing about this museum trip was it turns out the Guggenheim closes at 6. So we had 45 minutes to see what we could see. It was nearly enough time for the rotunda, but not enough to check on the other galleries.

In Sum: Not a whole lot of people there, but also not a lot of visiting options. Still, it’s just fun to be in the Guggenheim, even if it’s for about half an hour.

Limited Access Visit #6: New York Botanical Garden and Bronx Zoo Redo

On September 30th I took my first trip to the New York Botanical Garden. What it turns out to be is like a park that’s big and easy to walk around in. There are also greenhouses that weren’t included in my free ticket. Those greenhouses are probably full of interesting plants and flowers. Another thing is that before you go to the Garden you should check on a map where the entrance is because if you just walk there assuming where the entrance is you may be wrong and spend a lot of time backtracking looking for it.

The Garden is across the street from Fordham University

The Bronx Zoo is across another street from the Garden, so I took advantage of being right by it to go check out the World of Birds which I didn’t go to on my first visit there.

Well I was quite impressed by the World of Birds, really it was rather terrific.

After the World of Birds I went and checked on my buddy Chestnut.

Passed by the lions, they were roaring.

Then it turns out there’s a whole Bear Mountain that I completely missed on my first visit somehow.

AND there’s a spectacular Reptile House that I also totally missed on my first trip.

World of Birds, Bear Mountain and the Reptile House really improve my opinion of the Bronx Zoo, which I found a little overwhelming in size and underwhelming in exhibits on my first visit.