Look mummy, there’s an airplane up in the sky
A trip to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome,9 Norton Roadin Red Hook, is a trip to one of the largest collections of airplanes in the world. Watch planes nearing the century mark take to the sky again at weekend air shows between mid-June and mid-October, weather permitting. The Aerodrome features early 20th-century airplanes, automobiles, motorcycles, early engines and memorabilia. The Aerodome boasts four museum buildings open weekdays and weekends devoted to aviation’s Pioneer Era, World War I and the Lindbergh/Barnstorming era. The air shows kick off with a vintage fashion show that includes audience participation, an “olde-time” automobile parade and early aviation engine run-ups, and even a 1909 Bleriot, one of the oldest still-flying aircraft in the world.
If you sign up ahead of time and Mother Nature is on your side, you can take your kids on a never-forgettable “barnstorming flight” in an open-cockpit 1929 biplane to give them a different perspective of the Hudson Valley for $65 per person to soar over theHudson River, theKingston-RhinecliffBridgeand back again. You can visit their website at oldrhinebeck.org for more information.
Kingston’s Forsyth Nature Centeris a small, family-friendly nature center and zoo with 24 animal exhibits — some of which visiting local parents recall from their own childhood. “The biggest animal here is the biggest draw,” said the center’s caretaker, Mark DeDea. “Young parents remember him from their childhood,” DeDeal is referring to Isaac, an Irish Dexter bull who will be celebrating his 22nd birthday May 10, making him … a Taurus.
The Forsyth Center, on Lucas Avenue in the City of Kingston, can say something most zoos do not: “Free.” There is never an admission charge. DeDea projects roughly 40,000 visitors to the park between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The nature center was established in 1936 and continues to grow with an Interpretive Kiosk, John Burroughs Reading Nook, maple-sugaring area, tree nursery, apiary (beehive), a picnic and gazebo area for brown-baggers, and a demonstration area for arts, crafts and special hands-on features. “The facility is small,” said DeDea. “For a young child it’s proportionate with their attention span, so you can expect to spend about 30 minutes and then go over to Kinderland. It’s a large playground that even as an adult you look at and say, ‘Wow it looks fun to play in.’ You can spend a couple hours in the park between the two without having to spend any money, and that’s hard to do these days.”
ForsythCenter’s summer hours: Memorial Day through Labor Day Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturdays, Sunday and holidays 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
