Hip Young Things

Centuries ago, in marshland territory, Dutch and free African settlers in the 1700s, cleared the area and created a pasture, naming it Noortwyck.  The English arrived and conquered the settlement, now known as New Netherland in 1664, and after that became a hamlet distinct from New York City to the South.  It officially became a village in 1712, and then referred to the following year as Grin’wich, and so the famous site of Greenwich Village in New York became a reality  two hundred and ninety-seven years ago.  It grew in size, in 1822, when an epidemic of yellow fever hit New York and citizens fled to the better air of Greenwich Village.  Today, the Village serves as a landmark of Bohemian culture, and a central area for new ideas and movements of all kinds, including politics, art, and culture.  Once the 20th Century began, it was the home of experimental theater and art galleries and small presses.  Today, you’ll find one of the largest legacies in this small area, the Whitney Museum of American Art.

You’ll also find the Cherry Lane Theatre, begun in 1924.  This is the Big Apple’s oldest and continuously operating off-Broadway theater.  It was originally a farm silo in 1817, then a tobacco warehouse, and a box factory.  Then Edna St. Vincent Millay and members of the Provincetown Players transformed the structure in to the Cherry Lane with the play The Man Who Ate the Popomack.   This was a vital company in the 1950s, developing the Theatre of the Absurd and The Living Theater.  It became known as a place where aspiring playwrights could perform their work.

Currently, until March 14th of this year, you can see Extinction by Gabe McKinley, starring two TV stars, James Roday of Psych, and Michael Weston of House and Six Feet Under.  The play is a dark comedy about friendships and what happens when they’re about to become extinct. You may want to stay near these places, so look for these  small hotels in Greenwich Village and New York.  You’ll find these accommodations offer a great deal of charm and character and even architecture.  Stay close to the places you want to see, and do it with the comfort and service that fits you best.

Cape May holds a special place in many different hearts, and when you come here to visit, it will enter your heart, too.  There is so many wonderful things about Cape May that it’s sometimes dizzying to think how so much beauty can exist in one place.  There are plenty of things that would recommend a Cape May hotel and not all of them are based simply on the place.  There is a hospitality that comes naturally to a place like this.  Life close to water simply does something wonderful to a person, where the rhythms of nature start to take over everything.

It’s no surprise, then, that Cape May has so many local authors writing nature guides to the Cape.  After just a few moments here, you’ll see how the presence of nature is splendidly overwhelming.  It certainly helps to have so much shoreline to daydream on, and the constant sound of the surf reminding us of what’s really important.  The rhythms of the sea are our own rhythms, after all, and the mysteries of the ocean are always right here.  A look at the watercolor work of Patricia Rainey can help to give just a sample of the natural views that await you.

Paul Kerlinger is another local who’s been enraptured by the wonders of nature here, and he’s been keeping a watchful eye on the incredible birds that can be seen here.  They change with the months, although some of them are always nearby.  Seabirds, egrets, and owls are just a few of the critters that you might catch a glimpse of while you’re visiting.  There’s so much more in store, and every visit will provide new glimpses into the wonders of the world, making this a very enviable spot to spend some time getting in touch with nature.

I remember the moment I fell in love with William Shakespeare. I don’t mean that in the romantic sense in case anyone has already become disturbed by that statement. I meant it of course in the poetic sense and anyone who loves the bard will known exactly what I mean and will likely remember their moment of discovery as well. And I’m not talking about a first encounter with reading one of his plays or even seeing a live production for the first time. For every lover of Shakespeare, okay I mean for many, there is an epiphanic moment that occurs during a particularly fabulous performance or production or even moment of “ah ha” reading a play that will forever bind one’s heart and soul to the great plays of this Elizabethan writer.

So, with that elaborate introduction, I set the plot in motion and say that mine occurred very recently. In fact it was last October when I was in DC with my father. My father is a lobbyist and had to be in town for his work. I always find this to be particularly tedious and am not interested in his field. I also happen to be a sophomore English major in college and have been more interested in the twentieth century American writers than anything else. Last semester I took a Shakespeare class, it was required and didn’t really want to. During the last week of October my dad told me he had to go to DC for a couple of days and really wanted me to go with him. You see, my part time job is taking notes for him in these situations and sort of acting like a secretary. Generally I would stay in the hotel room and type up his notes.

Anyway, while we were there I noticed an ad for the Folgers Theater production of Much Ado About Nothing. It happened to be on our list of reading for the semester and my idea was to see the play and not have to read it. So, I talked my father into taking me to it. What happened was utterly amazing. I had never imagined Shakespeare could be so dynamic, spectacular and well, easy to understand. It was like it took place in a sort of Caribbean carnival context, though I believe it was set right there in DC. It really felt like more of a contemporary play and I didn’t have any trouble getting it, if you know what I mean. Ultimately I couldn’t wait to read the play after I saw that and was excited to tell my instructor about it when I returned to school. The funny part is he thought I saw it because I was interested in Shakespeare, not because I was trying to get out of reading a play. I decided not to make much ado over it

There are many exquisite places in the world to visit, and there is certainly more out there to see than a lifetime can allow.  Still, those who have a particularly chronic case of wanderlust know that this just means you have to try harder to see everything.  Traveling to new places always opens up new spaces in our thoughts and dreams, and changes the way we look at the world.  It’s probably no surprise that some of the best places to visit are the city’s that have long histories as being great world ports.

This makes them particularly suited to being open to new cultures and new ideas, and that usually results in a city atmosphere that is warm and friendly, and also very cosmopolitan in sensibility.  It would be rather difficult to try to put the world’s best cities in any kind of order, as far as their ability to offer magnificent senses of hospitality, but again, it might be worth trying.  Just to satisfy some of the wanderlust cravings.  As far as cities go, Singapore has seen a very swift rank increase in visitability in the past few years.  This could be because of its enormously diverse culture, and certainly has something to do with the quality of service they offer.

It also has something to do with how well the citizens can play into the myths of wanderlust.  Singapore seems uniquely suited to luring travelers in, and not just for a first visit, but allowing for repetition upon repetition.  You can spend months here and still only scratch the surface.  There are many cultures here, but there are also many cultures within cultures, making for an extremely complicated place that is splendid to explore.  There are arts cultures, gothic cultures, and there are certainly business cultures.  Each of these has multiple layers, and part of a life’s adventure would be to explore them in turn.