Of course, I’m going to have a soft spot for the Bayonne Bridge. It connects NJ with my hometown, a little exotic island you may have heard of. Well, this week it’s a very special day for the Bayonne Bridge – tomorrow, Nov 15th, it turns 80 years old! Once again, Dave Frieder, the infamous “Bridge Man”, sent me some spectacular pics & info on another of the city’s famous bridges. When the Bayonne opened in 1931, it was the longest steel arch bridge in the whole world! It was modeled after the Hell Gate Bridge, but unlike the Hell Gate, it uses suspender ropes to support it’s 4 lane road decks. Dave says in 2014, the bridge will undergo a major renovation to raise the road deck from 151 feet to 215 feet for more river clearance. Just like the Verrazanno and the GW Bridge, the Bayonne was designed by genius Othmar Ammann. Happy Birthday, Bayonne Bridge!

Come out to Bryant Park on Saturday, Nov. 12th for a full day of family friendly fun!

The fun includes a pet fashion show, performances by Bob Dorough from Schoolhouse Rock and Freckleface Strawberry The Musical, face-painting, treats, and a book reading by Maureen Sullivan, author of “Christmas Feet” ! There will even be a Columbia Freezer Tour Tent, where you can stand inside a 7 foot freezer and sing karaoke while testing out the new Columbia Omni-Heat Jacket & eating smores! Thats a lot of fun stuff!

All the fun begins at Noon and goes on until 4PM, so get there early. It’s free AND open to the public, so everyone can join in on the fun. PLUS, starting at 12PM, the first 100 kids to get there will receive free skate rentals to the Citi Pond ice skating rink!

See you there!

The New-York Historical Society is well-known for being New York’s first museum. Most people recognize The Met as the first museum, but the N-Y Historial Society is older by 70 years! Inside you’ll find a vast majority of paintings, sculptures, and documents! There are over THREE MILLION books, maps, newspapers, manuscripts, and drawings in the museum. In fact, it’s home of the one of the best collections of 18th century newspapers in the whole US. They also have multiple historical objects, such as George Washington’s cot from Valley Forge, Clement Clark Moore’s desk where he wrote “A Visit From Saint NIck”, Ulysses S. Grant terms for Robert E. Lee, and one of the world’s largest collections of Tiffany & Co’s lamps and glasswork.

For the past three years, the museum has been undergoing a $65 million dollar renovation! The goal was to make it more hip, and less stuffy. Or at least thats what I got out of reading the new architectural plans! The President & Chief Executive of the society told the NY Times that “the museum was originally designed as a vault to keep everything inside the museum safe“, not to be shown off to the public. But now, the people in charge feel differently towards the public, so they want more of a museum feel to be able to show off all their goods! It IS a place of history, after all!

The new design features two new doorways on Central Park West, with a glass loggia-type passageway that allows you to view the Great Hall. [A SIDE NOTE FROM MEAGAN: I'll admit that I had to look up "loggia" in the dictionary, so for those of you who were about to do that/google it, don't you worry. It is "a gallery or a room with one or more open sides." I should know that, I used to be an English major.] They’ve added a new easy-access entry for the disabled. Brand new life size sculptures will be placed outside of the museum at the front entrance to draw visitors in! There is a brand new roomier theater! It features a new mezzanine and a 73 foot wide stage, as well as 120 new additional seats. There will also be a brand new restaurant inside. But the best part of it all is the NEW DiMenna Children’s History Museum & Barbara K. Lipman Children’s History Library – which is the FIRST of it’s kind in the US! It’s a fun and exciting way for children to learn the history of our city. For a full slideshow of pictures of the new design, CLICK HERE!

The New-York Historical Society’s grand re-opening is happening on November 11th, so head on over to see everything it has to offer, as well as the brand new design!

PS: FUN FACT – The New-York Historical Society hyphenates their name BECAUSE that was the popular way for NY to be spelled during the 19th Century!