out and about: central park in fall.

Are you humming yet? Hope so.

This past weekend we spent the afternoon of James’s birthday scrambling around Central Park.

We took the 4/5 up to 86th Street and stopped by the Dean & Deluca at Madison & 85th—which is a good place to know about if you’re in the neighborhood and have a hankering for some hot soup or warm quiche or coffee or fancy bonbons or all of the above—before heading to the park to get lost for a little while.

We walked south and decided that early November might be the best time of year to climb to the top of Belvedere Castle to take a peep at those golden and orange leaves. And so we did. Next time you hear those WNYC broadcasters letting you know that right now it’s sunny in New York City; 49 degrees in Central Park, think of Belvedere Castle, where diligent meteorologists have been tracking the weather since 1919.

When we climbed back down again we snuck off to the Ramble, which surely is the most beautiful, utterly contrived bit of nature you’ll ever stumble upon. Apart from the bedrock, the entire 36-acre section of the park was artificially created, designed by that old so-and-so Frederick Law Olmstead to mimic what we like to call in our family, natural booty. It’s a little “wild garden” complete with ponds and paths and bridges and the equivalent of adult-sized fairy houses. This time of year it’s total magic.

Central Park
Belvedere Castle & The Ramble
Mid-Park, 72nd – 79th Streets