Zoos And Aquariums Of The East Coast

At some point in your life you visit many, many zoos. Here are some recent visits to zoos and aquariums along the East Coast.

The Philadelphia Zoo is the oldest in the U.S. They have a wonderful primate facility where you can get real close and gawk:

Across the river in Camden is the Adventure Aquarium, which used to be owned by the state but which was unloaded to a private entity about ten years ago. There’s a fun shark tunnel there:

In Sarasota, the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium has a great manatee exhibit and a rarely-in-captivity dolphin (which is only there because it was injured and can’t be in the wild):

Closer to home, there is the grand Bronx Zoo:

The Queens Zoo is a great little zoo — and I don’t think “little” is a pejorative: there’s something to the idea that a visit to the zoo doesn’t have to be this exhausting day-long slog. The Queens Zoo focuses on animals of the Americas, as well, which is a cool curatorial take. The Buckminster Fuller dome/aviary is a hoot, too:

Finally, the Staten Island Zoo makes for a fun trip to the island. The nursery there is fun to see:

Also, Staten Island Chuck, who takes down mayors:

You Can Easily Get Used To This No Turnstile Thing . . .

The latest iteration of the venerable Staten Island Pub Crawl is posted. Joe, our Pub Crawl ringleader noted in the email invitation that we need to take a moment of silence for the stops we’ve lost since the last Pub Crawl, so consider it done — RIP: Rocky Toto’s, Gentile’s, Misty’s of Grant City, Martini Red of Stapleton and our very favorite last stop, The Real McCoy.

You can read about the evening here. Suffice it to say, Brian Wilson is a total freak with that Black Bart beard.

By the way, Peter Minuit Plaza is really shaping up!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Peter Minuit Plaza without a bunch of plywood around it . . .

Now That’s A Stadium

A game at Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George on Staten Island reminds you how baseball can be experienced. Not so much for the level of play — the oldest players for the short-season Single A team were born in 1984, and the youngest ones were born in (ugh) 1990 — but rather for the experience of visiting a basic stadium that has a complete view of the field (try that at Citi Field) and which isn’t completely overpriced. The added-value charm of the ballpark in St. George is the panoramic view of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, the passing freighter ships and Midtown Manhattan. Neither of the two major league parks take advantage of their views in this way (owing in large part, I imagine, to the tradition of aligning the third base foul line along the north-south axis, but still . . .).

On a nice evening dusk emerges in the midst of this panoramic view, and you watch the colors slowly shift. It’s mesmerizing:

The passing ships are equally mesmerizing:

The prices are great — $5.25 for a draft beer, cheaper than many bars in the city, and tickets starting at $12. And the team, like many minor league organizations, makes a real effort to engage the fans. In all, Staten Island Yankees games continue to be one of the finest baseball experiences in the city or elsewhere. Thank god there is still a place in this great city that features the Cotton Eye Joe Dance: