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Immigration Vacation: The New York State Museum in Albany

Posted July 13, 2010 by Patrick Young, Esq.

The next time you are heading up to the Adirondacks or Lake George, stop in Albany to visit the excellent New York State Museum, one of the best free museums in the Northeast.

The museum gives an fascinating overview of the history of each region of the state. Its extensive exhibit on Native Americans, including an Iroquois longhouse, makes this one of the best places to learn about the only group of New Yorkers who didn’t come here from somewhere else.

Kids will enjoy the extensive nature exhibits, the 98-year-old working carousel, and the interactive learning stations.

The museum provides a close-up look at New York City’s ethnic neighborhoods and immigrant communities, whether Chinese, Jewish, or Italian. There is also a special exhibit on the internment of Jewish refugees in Upstate New York during the Second World War.

If you get to Albany around noon, visit the lunch trucks that park next to the Capitol. There are as many as two dozen that stake out the area. Each one has a specialty, including many ethnic cuisines. My rule: go to the truck with the longest line. It must be good!

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More Immigration Vacations:

Castle Clinton and Battery Park

Lowell National Historic Site

Lackawanna Coal Mine and Steamtown

Old Croton Aqueduct

Irish Hunger Memorial

The Tenement Museum


Image courtesy of Samantha Decker via Flickr.

Tags : albany, immigration vacation, museums, new york state museum

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