Friday, October 24, 2008

Simple Pleasures, or a Central Park Picnic

According to the song "the best things in life are free" and I'm inclined to agree especially after a Sunday picnic in Central Park. Despite the chill in the air our group found a nice patch of sunshine in Sheep's Meadow where we could relax. I think one of the great things about the park is that it allows us to regress from our grown-up lives for awhile, even if just for a minute. Our poison was hula hoops, with some intrepid souls balancing more than one on arms and legs…and some places you don't want to think about. I saw others in the park playing touch football and throwing Frisbees. Our picnic was 21st century adult, with hummus, crackers, and cheese, but our music was pure 20th century childhood, including a sing-a-long to a ukulele rendition of the Muppet classic, "Rainbow Connection" (some people stared, but you know they wanted to sing along with us.) Despite my assertion above, this wasn't a totally free event (it was cheap tho!) since we all contributed to a potluck lunch, but as we relaxed on blankets and watched children running relay races, games of catch, and couples reading the New York Times as the sun set behind the Time Warner Center, it was definitely worth the cost of a bag of carrots.

I encourage my Cheap Chick followers to take advantage of all the diversions Central Park has to offer while the weather is still sunny (I know, not for long!). Take some snacks, a blanket, and a good book and lose yourself in a story among the trees, browse at the Strand Annex Store near the Fifth Avenue entrance, picnic with friends, take a boat ride, hike or bike the trails, and visit some of the iconic landmarks such as the carousel, the zoo, the Delacorte Clock, Belvedere Castle, and Strawberry Fields-and if you haven't heard of these sites, then get thee to Wikipedia!

Here are links to some interesting upcoming (free!) events in and around the park:

Pumpkin Festival
Saturday October 26th, 2008 (tomorrow)
http://www.centralpark.com/ev_details.php?showev=182.

The Chanel Mobile Art Exhibit (all-day, free, ticketed event)
October 20, 2008 - November 09, 2008
Rumsey Playfield
Check out art inspired by Chanel's iconic quilted bag.
http://chanel-mobileart.com/

The New York City Marathon
November 2nd, 2008
11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Watch runners from around the world compete in this NYC tradition.
http://www.nycmarathon.org/home/index.php

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