Flowers and folk music bloom at New York museum

Summertime brings two events to the little-known Mount Vernon Hotel Museum on the Upper East Side of New York: a tour of the charming garden on June 18 and folk music played by Irish fiddler Cady Findlayson on July 9.

For those who don’t know it, the Mount Vernon Hotel is a historic building dating from around 1800, tucked at the foot of the 59th Street (or Queensboro) Bridge at 421 E. 61st St. Back when Manhattan was concentrated south of 14th Street, city folk used to visit the hotel to smell grass, hear cows moo and get away from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.

Owned and operated by the Colonial Dames of America, the fine old stone manse and museum displays ceramics, furniture, letters and maps that describe the way New Yorkers lived in times gone by.

Tours are available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Don’t miss the old music box that plays 14 tunes, including “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

For details on the garden tour ($10), concert ($15) and other activities, visit the events page of the museum’s website.

— Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photo: Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in New York.  Credit: Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 6:07 am by Susan Spano and is filed under Arts & Culture, East Coast, Hotels, Last Minute, New York, News, Tips & Advice, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.