CMOG

More places on our ‘go’ list

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National Park Week. Free admission on Saturday

(Sculpture at the Wright Brothers National Monument _courtesy National Park Service)

Most national parks and monuments offer free entry year-round. But there are popular sites that charge visitors an entry fee.

Except, that is, on the handful of days when park fees are waived nationwide.

And Saturday, April 19 – the first day of National Park Week (April 19 to 27), is one of those days.

So, find a park and make it a fun, free day.

The Corning Museum of Glass – new exhibition

In Corning, New York, the Corning Museum of Glass opens its newest temporary exhibition, Brilliant Color, on May 11.

The exhibition celebrates all things colorful in glass with a color wall of rainbow glass and delightful examples of how people of the past brought color into their lives through the science and innovation of beautiful glass objects.

(courtesy of CMoG)

Summer festival season in: Chicago

Chicago hosts the well-known Lollapalooza and the Chicago Blues Festival each summer, but also plenty of other fun ticketed and non-ticketed events, including the Chicago Pride Fest, the Windy City Smokeout, the Chicago Air and Water Show, the Chicago Jazz Festival and several others.

Take a look at the line-up here.

I’m on a boat

Celebrities, , ,

“I’m on a boat. No, it’s a ship. And we will be at the dock soon.”

Celebrity Solstice - First Arrival Port Everglades 11/03/2008

That’s what I kept telling myself during what I could not believe was an almost day-long bout of seasickness on a less than 48-hour cruise on the Celebrity Solstice from Seattle to …. nowhere.

The waters were calm. The scenery in the Strait of Juan de Fuca was lovely. And some people – not me – spotted Orca whales in the water.

I was a guest of Celebrity Cruises, so I toured the ship, watched a bit of a show and  made time for two (maybe it was three) scoops of guava gelato. I tried using the on-board wireless to get some work done, but because the service was complimentary for everyone on this short trip, the lines were were clogged up. (As were the bathrooms in my cabin section for a few hours.)

But I’m really glad I finally perked up and felt better.

Because the 2nd night on the ship I made my way to the top deck and watched an outdoor glassmaking show put on by a trio of entertaining and informative glass artists on loan from New York’s Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG).

CMOG PHOTO

They were not cruise-ship corny.

They were not selling anything.

They were not rushing through their show.

And each took a turn on the microphone enthusiastically answering questions from the audience while another created a truly lovely work of art.

It turns out that at least three of Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice class ships (Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Equinox, and Celebrity Eclipse) include a permanent hotshop where CMOG staff present live, narrated glassblowing demonstrations.

Great idea!