Arts and Entertainment

I encourage people to belong to every possible customer loyalty program and to make sure their credit cards are working for them. My Master Card is with InterContinental Hotels (think Holiday Inn properties). I get one free night a year so I used it at the 5-star InterContinental on 44th Street in NYC and my Master Card gave me a VIP pass to One World Trade Center Tower (aka Freedom Tower). From the InterContinental I took Uber to One World trade Center.

Before I went to Bermuda I searched for a place to do a cooking experience and found a unique one offered by Doreen Williams-James. She calls herself a forager, an expert in locating, eating, and preparing food that grows in the wild. Foraging runs in the family; she learned from her father who learned from his father.

The last time I was in NYC I discover the Downtown Connection, a free bus that goes from Southstreet Seaport to City Hall. It makes many stops but you can pull the cord for an unscheduled stop. The shuttle bus runs seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The sign can be easy to miss but it is on the same pole as the bus signs and just says “Downtown Connection.”

The early 19th century in Western and Central New York is referred to as the “Burned-over District” where religious revivals and the formation of new religious movements of the Second Great Awakening took place, to such a great extent that spiritual fervor seemed to set the area on fire.

Ok, the Herkimer Home, home of Gen. Nickolas Herkimer, is not in Herkimer. It’s in Little Falls; however, it is where I started my day trip. It has been on my list for years. General Herkimer played a critical part in the American Revolution and was, in part, instrumental is thwarting the three-point British plan to win the war. When the British were marching on Fort Stanwix in Rome, he and the Tryon County militia, marched to reinforce the colonists in Fort Stanwix.

I love small towns and am always amazed at the things I find in them. It is where the “gems” are. Recently I visited Palmyra, a small town that supplied those who traveled the Erie Canal during its heyday. The William Phelps General Store was built in 1826 to supply boats traveling the canal.