National Museum Of The American Indian

Our day on the southern-most bit of the island included a visit to the National Museum of the American Indian, located in the glorious old beaux arts Alexander Hamilton Customs House building...another case where the building itself nearly over-shadows the collection.

Central rotunda, cupola...elliptical

Adorned by numerous customs house-themed murals

The National Museum of the American Indian, administered by the
Smithsonian Institution, has two sites...the newer, larger one in DC, 
and this, the smaller, older site in NYC 

Feather dancing skirt

As with the DC site, the museum here had relatively few
items from the dozen Montana nations, with whom I had
more than a passing acquaintance during my years there

A kindly guard noticed our interest in the building and let us
snap a few more interior shots

One of the grand staircases

Skyscraper Museum

New York is the birthplace and home of skyscrapers, and it is not enough merely to see some of them. One must also visit the Skyscraper Museum at the very bottom bit of the island. Of course, the museum doesn't have any skyscrapers in its collection, but there are plenty of pix and illustrations, including some beautiful oldies. Not a must-see, unless of course you're really into architectural history...

Entrance, at 39 Battery Place

Major temporary exhibit of mass timber construction;
River Beech Tower is/will be the tallest timber building
ever...

Size matters

The neighborhood; yes, it is very near the 9-11 site, and
was indeed closed in those years

Helpful model of the district, back in the day

Way further back; most of the piers on the port side are gone now,
land filled-in...

Post card collection

Brooklyn Bridge under construction

Among the interesting historical exhibits

The Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, which we saw in 2017;
tallest yet

How high is up?

Personal favorite

We live now in the age of the tall skinnies...

Heritage Eats In NYC

We mostly self-catered in our weeks in NYC. There was a full if small kitchen in our apartment, and the Lidl we shopped at in Harlem was really quite good and--for New York--quite affordable. We did indulge in a few restaurant splurges, twice at Katz's Deli (alas, the Carnegie is no more) and once at Peter Luger's in Brooklyn. Both qualify as heritage eats in our book, both having been around for ages and of continuing fame and popularity.

Always a line to get in at Katz's

And once you're in, there are 8 more lines to choose from; we
quickly surmised that, once in, you fan out: some of the cutters'
lines move quickly, some pretty slowly...

Inside...the Where Harry Met Sally sign marks the spot from which

Estelle Reiner uttered the very famous "I'll have what she's having" 

line...#33 among Hollywood's most famous...

In line for one of the 8 cutters

More ambience

A  $29 Reuben coming up

Cutter cutting

Finding a table wasn't as hard as we'd imagined; the variety of pickles
comes with the sandwich...Vicki's favorite is the pastrami, mine the
Reuben

More ambience

Evidently it took them 10 years to become known as
the best

Also in the neighborhood

Attitude

At Peter Luger's

Past glories; I'd never thought of Luger's as a Michelin

sort of place...just where we'd had the best steak ever, way

back when; the Times ripped Luger's several years ago, but,

judging from the lines and crowds, it's as popular as ever

Our steak...very, very good flavor, texture, cooked just
as ordered (though we now prefer the bifstecca fiorentino);
the frites were OK; creamed spinach no longer comes
with the steak

Key lime pie and schlage; we look forward to having
the steak again

Mama's Too was a block or so from our apartment...always
a line there, too...here's a slice of Vicki's inch-thick peperoni
pizza; I'm more a Neapolitan type; we also visited Absolute
Bagels more than once, also nearby, said to be NYC's best
bagel shop; now permanently closed by the health department;
hmmm...