Expotition

The Cloisters Museum in Manhattan is one of my favorite places in New York, which places it high in the running for one of my favorite places in the world. Stephanie and I make it a point to go at least a couple of times a year, although we prefer it best in autumn. Wandering up (the long way!) through Fort Tryon Park to approach it from the South, seeing it first in the distance and then seeing it loom glorious, large, right up close... it feels like a pilgrimage writ small. If you'll pardon the not particularly awesome simile. There's a grandness there, is what I'm trying to say.



Last Saturday, we headed out for our Annual Autumnal Visit, with the gorgeous walk and the crunching leaves underfoot and just the most beautiful crisp day. The sky was blue, the trees were many-hued, and we had packed lunch because we are poor. The walk was--as expected--lovely, but when we got in the front door EEP! Crowded. Far too crowded. Crowded crowded crowded.

I... am not a fan of crowds. We backed slowly out the door. We basically have the museum memorized, at this point-- it's not as if we're missing out on the art. Had it been our first trip, we certainly would have braved it. But as I find stillness part of its appeal (it's *Cloisters* please recall), an alternate suggestion was proffered: what if we were to just... walk North? Already being near the upper tip of Manhattan, it wouldn't be that long of a walk to just head up there and see it. Exploring new neighborhoods is one of my most favorite things to do, and we had a beautiful day, and good walking shoes, and basically no reason not to go.

Alors: we went.

After clearing the northern edge of the park, we just struck out northerly on Broadway. We joked about the stores. We thought about stopping for a 1pm beer (Woo!). We looked into a very small branch of the New York Public Library. And then, across the street, we saw what appeared to be an 18th Century Dutch Farmhouse.

Guess the hell what? IT WAS AN 18th CENTURY DUTCH FARMHOUSE. Still there. Remaining from the time that upper New York was forests and farmland. Yes, we had found the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum which was completely empty of other people (except for the lovely Emily who did her graduate work in Museum Studies and who is the keeper of the Farmhouse Museum. She is super-cool and we want to be her friends). We had traded the crowded to capacity museum for one in which we were literally the only guests.

So yes. $1 entrance fee, and we had ourselves the run of the house. Each of the rooms is marked with an excellent description of of its contents (and how they are different now than they were then). It's very well curated, except for an oddly out-of-place exhibit that contained an "explanation" of what it means to be Dutch. I thought that either needed to be expanded or scrapped... but other than that the place was very cool. Outside the house proper there are plaques (plastic plaques. plasques?) explaining the history of the house, showing the placement of the old well, explaining what a Hessian Hut is, commenting on the renovation of the grounds in the early 20th Century. There's a way that places like that have of giving me--just for a moment--an idea or a fleeting feeling of how things used to be that is thrilling. Just thrilling.

It is, in a word, fantastically freaking cool. Three words. In three words, I meant.

And the best thing of all is that there are 21 more homes kept as museums by the Historic House Trust of New York City. Meaning that I have my next few free weekend days planned out.

If you're heading up to the Cloisters anyway (you should, really) spare an hour to check it out. You'll get to stand in a house that's been kept there since Washington was chillin'. A real honest to goodness bit of intact U.S. History. Good. Stuff.

So: we made it up to the top of Manhattan, crossed the river to the Bronx, and attempted to take the subway back downtown. The station was closed.

We walked. Which was the better choice anyway.