City Reliquary on Flickr.

If you are tired of the more famous museums in New York and want to try something a little different, check out the City Reliquary in Brooklyn. There’s a suggested donation of $5 to get you out of the storefront area, through the old subway turnstile and into the front room of the museum which is a hodgepodge of New York memorabilia. Don’t hesitate to open cabinet drawers and doors, because stuff is tucked away everywhere.

The back room currently has a display about the Santa Claus Association that operated as a charity in the early twentieth century, bringing gifts to needy children who had written letters to Santa that would have otherwise ended up in the dead letter office of the post office. More pics over at the Flickr place.

Purple Mimosa is purple, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Is that Peter Piper himself? Things were spicy this weekend at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Chile Pepper Fiesta but there are still plenty of pretty peppers in the garden.

Look at all the pretty peppers Peter Piper picked … well someone picked them. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Chile Pepper Fiesta

New York Aquarium

Yeah he was still up there while we rode the Wonder Wheel

Edible garden at the BBG

The new visitor’s center at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is beautiful. Now I want to replace all of my windows with fritted glass and grow stuff on my roof too.

Feeling a bit like the red panda being swallowed by the giant squid and look a little like the other guy. :) 

I wish it wasn’t so far away, but in spring of 2015 the New York Aquarium will debut a new shark exhibit on the inside and a beautiful new shimmering wall that will wrap around the building on the outside. It’s going to be awesome. Check it out!