A Weekend Getaway in Rhinebeck, NY

If you need to get out of the city for a couple of days and are a history buff, then how about going up the Hudson River Valley to to the charming town of Rhinebeck? Book a room at The Beekman Arms, which promotes itself as the oldest inn in America. Be sure to stay at the Beekman and not their sister property, the Delamater, down the street. I recommend having a car to explore the area around Rhinebeck, but even if you don't have one, you can take Amtrak out of Penn Station to Rhinecliff (about an hour and a half ride each way) and a taxi two miles to Rhinebeck. Drop off your bags and explore the town. Stop by Bread Alone for a latte and slice of pie. Enjoy dinner in the Colonial Tap Room at the Beekman and end the day with a glass of brandy in your room (the inn provides a decanter with enough brandy for two people at no charge). Start the next morning with a complimentary continental breakfast at the inn. Spend the day in nearby Hyde Park visiting FDR's home and library followed by a tour the Vanderbilt Mansion. You can either dine at the Culinary Institute of America or return to Rhinebeck for dinner. Liberty Public House, Terrapin and Le Petit Bistro are all within a block of the Beekman. If you're in the mood for a movie, there's a two-screen theater next door to Liberty. Enjoy!

Met Opera & Met Museum in March

Don't miss a great program on Thursday, March 28th at the Met Museum which focuses on the upcoming Met Opera production of Handel's Giulio Cesare. Curator Christopher Lightfoot will talk about Caesar's sojourn in Egypt and Egyptian art's impact on Rome. Then, director David McVicar and set designer Robert Jones will discuss how they approached the staging of Giulio Cesare. David Daniels will perform an excerpt from the opera.
Tickets: $25
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/tickets
You can also order tickets by phone: 212-570-3949.

'Heartwalk' in Times Square

An article in this weekend's WSJ caught my eye today about an art project that will be on view in Times Square from February 12th until March 10th called Heartwalk. The work, designed by Situ Studio in Brooklyn, incorporates hundreds of planks from boardwalks in Atlantic City and the Rockaways that were devastated by superstorm Sandy. The boards form a heart-shaped enclosure that visitors can enter and red lights will glow from inside of the heart. Since many of the planks were waterlogged or splintered, Situ Studio had to clean them, remove the rough edges and then stack them to dry. The work was the winner of an annual art competition with the theme of Valentine's Day that was sponsored by the Times Square Alliance. It was the only entry that had a Sandy theme. I can't wait to see it, even though I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day!

2 Must-see London Art Shows

If you're going to be in London soon, be sure to check out these two shows:
Light Show at the Hayward Gallery at Southbank Centre through April 28, 2013 (http://southbankcentre.co.uk/lightshow)
Schwitters in Britain at Tate Britain through May 12, 2013 (http://www.tate.org.uk)