Swancey's Travels

The weekend in NYC-Days 6 and 7. Visits to The Met, National Septemeber 11 Museum and Memorial, National Museum of the American Indian and Fraunces Tavern Museum.

Above: Sun setting from Battery Pary on a wonderful weekend.

On Sunday, I found myself sitting in a National Landmark Tavern, where George Washington bid the troops goodbye before heading home in 1783, and it contained a museum, and later heard a band and Ireland-born “violist playing the following song:

“I found my love where the gaslight falls

Dreamed a dream by the old canal

Kissed my girl by the factory wall

Dirty old town, dirty old town

Clouds are drifting across the moon

Cats are prowling on their beat

Springs a girl in the streets at night

Dirty old town, dirty old town

I heard her sigh from the decks

Saw a train set the night on fire

Smelled the spring on the smoky wind

Dirty old town, dirty old town

I’m going to take a good sharp ax

Shining steel tempered in the fire

We’ll chop you down like an old dead tree

Dirty old town, dirty old town” 

Listen Here to another recording of the song. 

A line that stuck in my head was, “Dirty old town,” which is something, I’ve heard people say of New York City.  UGH!  But, Oh, to dream of the experience of OLD New York without the iconic images of Times Square, Broadway, and the Empire State Building and the kind of dirty images that many people see on the news.  Traveling past these iconic buildings and leaving central “visitor” feeling of NYC is where you can discover experiences that encase the heart and soul of the city both past and present.  Time to get into the heart of the city. 

This past weekend took me on a bit of adventure from examining the first inhabitants of the land, to a private museum showcasing a founding father, then back to a tragedy that was world known and to the most extensive gallery of artifacts I have ever been to. 

Saturday morning, started with feeling as rainy and dark as the city itself and feeling like this statue. 

Above Statue: Night. Bronze. Aristide Maillol (1861-1944) at The Met

Exhausted and tired I ended up on the wrong subway express train to Harlem. After a subway turnaround and a brisk walk through Central Park, I trekked through so many rooms and artifacts at The MET.  At first, it left me a little disillusioned with the museum experience and wanting to give up and take a nap. The Met felt very tourist focused and globally focused which I am assuming is fun for NY locals to escape. I pushed through, knowing I was going to take part in every experience possible on this two-week venture in NYC.  Overall, one day at the MET should be considered as never enough. In looking back, I must consider that my overwhelming feeling and pre-visitor/getting lost experience influenced my overall feel of the Met.  Additionally, considering this museum, there must be blockbuster experience that influence all visitors reasons for coming.  

After leaving the Met, it was time for some R&R because I felt like this statue below. Needed some time to physically rest, recoup, and reevaluate for Sunday.

Below Statute: Missed name, but felt this even without the label.

As a child, I used to watch Sunday morning cartoons and read the comic strips.  This Sunday I discovered some fun and comics in the city’s museums and even some museum fun.  Sunday, started off with a sunshine and off to a later than expected start, but was uplifting and just what I needed to make it through the next week. Sun, fun, museums, and connections to what fuels my heart as I revisited the National September 11th Museum and Memorial to prepare for my final project based on the composite. While there at the Museum, I spoke with about 10 to 15 people about the composite and watched at least 100 people just walk right on by. (Ideas for final project are buzzing). People I approached were very willing to chat and talk about their experience and ideas surrounding the composite.  

Then venturing on to the Smithsonian’s Native American Museum, where I experienced a gain in knowledge about the original inhabitants of New York and and the Americas.  The exhibit at the start was a history of Natives told using comics and natural tools of the original inhabitants. This is innovative approach for a world renown Smithsonian Museum which captured the child in me.  

Above: Opening exhibit in the West Gallery at National Museum of American Indian. Native New York Exhibit.

For a late lunch/diner visited the Fraunces Tavern Museum. It is a restaurant and tavern in a historic building with a museum upstairs.  YES!  Staying there for a few hours gave me an in-depth heart of the city vibe that washed away the overwhelming tourist feeling of other locations and that dirty old-city vibe.  Felt love, appreciation, and the real heart of New York.  This museum also utilized some comic books to tell the story of George Washington and America.  

Above: Cloaked Crusader exhibition. Upstairs at Fraunces Tavern Museum. Below: More images from exhibition.

By the end of the weekend, I am feeling revived and energized for the week ahead because

As John Falk said, the visits to historical locations met my Personal well-being by, “being a catalyze wonder, interest, and curiosity, all of which foster a sense of personal power and identity,” and then my intellectual well-being through, “Museums help people more clearly comprehend how their past understandings and activities connect, inspire awe and appreciation for the best of human and natural creation, and, under the best of circumstances, even serve as guides to a better, more informed and creative future” (Falk, 2022). I fed my soul with elements of history that burn bright light inside my heart. Connection to history always brightens my soul and outlook on life. 

References

Falk, J. (2022, Jan. 10).  Why Well-Being Is at the Heart of Museum Experiences.  American Alliance of Museums.  Retrieved March 26, 2023 from https://www.aam-us.org/2022/01/10/why-well-being-is-at-the-heart-of-museum-experiences/