Places to Visit »Old Bethpage Village Restoration

old bethpage village sheepI'm sure I've made it clear by now that one of the biggest hazards we face when visiting historic estates, arboretums, gardens, important birthplaces, etc, are the gatekeepers. Maybe it's because Jim looks like a hippy (although I don't think that's really the reason), but the old people behind the ticket taking desk can't help but make it perfectly clear that we have no business being anywhere near “their” historic estate, arboretum, garden, etc. Of course, we don't get this reception everywhere, but it's pretty commonplace.

When we approached the Old Bethpage Village Restoration ticket booth this old man immediately (and a little bit smugly) told Jim, “The rabbits are gone!” We weren't sure what he meant, so he clarified, “The rabbit show is over.” But he hadn't really provided enough context. Fortunately, a helper woman?was there to angrily chime in: “It's 3:00, they've been at it all day–since 9:00. They're tired! They're going home!”

Unbeknownst to us, the Long Island Rabbit Show had taken place earlier that afternoon inside the village and we'd just missed it. That seemed fine, we weren't upset or anything–until we got some unsolicited info from a chatty dad. He took time out of his schedule to inform us that they were a real bunch of blubber bunnies: rabbits so fat he thought they they had to be genetically engineered (to be fat), “You don't see ones like that hoppin' around.”

Once this dad's report came through, we were a little bummed that we'd missed the show, rabbits that look like this would have been awesome to behold. Alas, maybe next year we'll make the show.

Inside the village, a bunch of really nice, mild mannered old men taught us about historic hat making, birch beer, general stores, looms and more–but what we really learned is that sheep are crazy animals.

Afterward, we went to the Macaroni Grill I recommended a few weeks ago, but it was effing closed! We wanted to leave a rose and a candle, but we ended up just running over a dirty diaper instead. It was heartbreaking, but we ended up at the excellent Azerbaijani Grill.


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Posted on April 14, 2008

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