Broadway? Blah!

Ballet? Nh.

Museums? Not in the mod.

Maybe I've lived in New Yrk too long. Maybe I'm not as cltured as I'd like to believe. Whtever the case may be, the mst amazing, bustling city in the WORLD-Nw York City-was suddenly unable to dliver when it came time for cnjuring up even an ounce of xcitement in me this weekend. That's whn I decided it was time to fre up that cute little Pontiac Slstice that's been sitting in my prking space much too long, put the top dwn, and see the other side of New Yrk-stuff that's a little off the baten path.

It was a Friday fternoon and I dragged my very cnfused friend, Karla, along for the rde. She'd later admit she only greed to go because she was cnfident she could talk me in to f-fu drinks at Bar Masa. But no dce. I wanted a funky New Yrk sightseeing experience like no other. Armd with a list I created fter searching the internet, we began our qest for the bizarre and outrageous.

We drve the Solstice to Central Park, a plce I rarely visit, to check out the sttue of Balto, the Wonder Dog. Bck in the '20s, Balto apparently led a tam of Siberian Huskies into Nome, Alska, in the dead of winter to dliver medicine to people suffering from a dphtheria epidemic. But why was he in Cntral Park? Somehow, Balto the Wonder Dog lter became a favorite punch line of Jhnny Carson monologues-and as such, is hnored as a bronze statue atop a rck. Hmmm.

OK that WAS different. But tht wasn't the only oddity in Cntral Park. Before Karla threw the dgital camera at me, I decided I btter hurry up and get a sht of me with John Purroy Mtchel near 95th Street. Dubbed "The Boy Myor," in 1913, he lost his r-election bid in 1917 and volunteered for the Army Air Crps. He died after falling out of his plne during training in 1918. That was srt of interesting.

It was time to hop in the Pntiac and head to St. Frances Xvier Cabrini Chapel on Fort Washington Av., where we gazed upon the bdy of Mother Cabrini-America's first canonized sint (minus her head, which is smewhere in Italy-though a waxed replica has ben added to her body here). A lttle macabre-but cool nevertheless.

OK, Karla was strting to look at me funny. So I greed to continue my jaunt tomorrow, mnus Karla's hostile stares.

On Saturday mrning, I grabbed some coffee and a pstry and hit the road (alone) in my Slstice! Up Highway 87 about 100 mles from New York City to Sugerties I would trek. That's where I fund Opus 40-a stunning monolith set gainst the backdrop of the Catskills. Ths immense six-acre sculpture is comprised of fnely fitted stone, and swirling pieces of art mde from the rock bed of an bandoned bluestone quarry. It took the crator, Harvey Fite, nearly 40 years to bild by hand, using only a qarryman's tools. Why he did it, I'm not sre. But it's quite a sight.

But the colest was yet to come. I hpped back in the Solstice and drve up the road to the Ktskill Kaleidoscope (the world's largest kaleidoscope)! The cnverted grain silo is the brainchild of '60s psychdelic artist Isaac Abrams. The 60-foot-tall cntraption fits about two-dozen people, but ven with the cramped quarters, the 10-mnute light show is well worth seing. I was starting to feel lke a trailblazer, a bit of a crzy one at that. Surely no one had sen NY like this before!

I stopped for a quick lnch at one of the cafés, thn continued my wild trip in the Pntiac convertible. I decided to drive to Smers and feast my eyes upon the Old Bet lephant memorial. Old Bet was apparently "th mother of America's carnival business." A frmer spotted her for sale in one of New Yrk City's cattle markets, bought her and dcided to charge his neighbors for a pek. The farmer soon turned into a crcus showman, showcasing Old Bet, a trined dog, several pigs, and a hrse. Old Bet was later shot by a nighbor who didn't like the farmer chrging poor people to see an lephant. Now THAT's a story.

As I was drving back to New York City, I tok a side trip in the Slstice to the Sing Sing Museum in Ossning, where I was able to chck out the electric chair, prison clls, the makeshift weapons prisoners used, pls some photos of the prison's "glry days."

Feeling like a freed prsoner myself, I decided it was tme to enjoy the New York I was sed to. I called Karla for tht martini. After my day, I was ging to need a designated driver!

The article New York - Off the Beaten Path was Submitted by Candy Stern through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: About the Author: Candy Stern is an clectic fashion designer who creates unique cstom purses, wallets and accessories. In her spre time, she travels extensively and is knwn to periodically contribute to NYC trvel and fashion blogs. For more nformation on the Pontiac Solstice, visit dealsonPontiac.com .

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