Arts and Entertainment

The last days of 2016 John and I had a 24-hour stopover in Narita, Japan, so I booked a stay at the Crowne Plaza Narita, which offers free airport transfers. A flyer in our room stated that the hotel offered several New Year’s events, one of which was an “osechi” breakfast. When I asked what it was, Ayaka Ohara, the public relations director, explained that according to tradition nothing should be cooked on New Year’s Day. Osechi is a variety of colorful dishes in a bento box that is part of a traditional New Year’s morning meal that also includes ozoni.

The Underground Railroad Freedom Center is the place to open up your mind. The center celebrates the heroes who created the Underground Railroad; a secret network slaves used to escape to freedom, but the center also makes people aware of the 27 million people worldwide who are still trying to get their freedom. The Freedom Center has been on my bucket list from the day it opened in 2004 and finally, John and I got to visit during our recent visit to Cincinnati. The center was much more than I had expected.

John and I were fortunate to visit Saguenay Fjord National Park as part of our cruise with Blount Small Adventures. A fjord is a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs and I always thought they were exclusive to Norway. We joined the cruise in Oswego and left at 4 a.m. We were out on the lake to see a glorious sunrise. I would have liked to have sailed closer to the shore so I could make out more places I know such as Mexico Point Park.

I was so happy when I read that someone had purchased the Hotel Syracuse (our daughter had her wedding reception there years ago) and planned to restore it. And restore it they did. It is a member of Historic Hotels of America. If you haven’t been there you need to stop for a look-see. Like many of the luxury historic hotels, the entrance is designed so that from the street level it is necessary to walk up a short flight of stairs to get to the lobby.

New York City is often featured as the most iconic place to usher in the Christmas season. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular and Rockefeller Plaza with the huge tree and ice skating is a must-do at least once. The stress-free way to get to NYC is by train or book a bus trip. However, there are many places in Central New York to get in the holiday spirit that are less expensive. Start today (November 25) at Oswego Christmas, a daylong event featuring a variety of Christmas-themed activities and more.

The full moon in November is called the Beaver Moon. It was so named by colonists and Algonquin tribes because it was the time of the year when people would set traps for beaver ensuring they had enough furs to last through the winter. Beavers in our area were almost hunted to extinction because the pelt could be made into felt that was then made into top hats that were the must-have hat for the elite because it was waterproof. The beaver are making a comeback.

During the 1970s, the Cincinnati Red dominated baseball and became known as the Big Red Machine. The regular lineup included three future Hall of Famers: catcher Johnny Bench, first baseman Tony Perez, and second baseman Joe Morgan. Pete Rose, the all-time major league hitter led the team and was recently inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. The team won five division titles in seven years. Their frustration with inability to win the World Series ended in 1975 when they won 108 games and beat the Boston Red Sox in a dramatic seven-game series for their first World Series title in 35 years. They following year, they repeated and crushed the New York Yankees 4 games to none.