You need to make a reservation for L'Artusi years in advance... or at least the week before, if you try a walk-in then ask to be seated at the bar, as always in New York that is the best seats at any of my favorites restaurants.

The crown jewel of the Queens Museum is a nearly 10,000-square-foot architectural model of the city originally built for the 1964 World's Fair.

Warm and welcoming environment for dance.

Erie Basin is a really wonderful little shop full of old, creepy and beautiful things, such as Victorian mourning jewelry (some with hair in it), Freemason masks from the 1900's, tiny children's rings from the 1700's, and all kinds of other treasures. It is really as much a museum as it is a store, and all of the items have a haunting and unique aura.

Within an couple hours' drive of NYC, you can find lots of sleepy seaside towns. Not only can you get your soft ice cream and salt water taffy on, but you can still spot cool, hand-lettered signs and other relics of a past generation's amusements.