South Street Seaport Museum and the SS Normandie Show

South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan makes a great day trip. This re-invented Seaport, now an outdoor shopping, site seeing square, has lots to do for adults and tikes.

Husband and I were down there last week on an terribly rainy night for an exhibition opening at the South Street Seaport Museum. I was asked to write an article for the magazine, Seaport, which accompanied the exhibit. The show, entitled DecoDence: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the SS Normandie, is a gem. Many (almost all) of the artifacts are loaned to the museum by one collector, a Mario J. Pulice. And in one of those small world occurrence, it turns out that Mario was a former work colleague of my husband's. They had a great time getting reacquainted. The show's curator Bill Miller did a marvelous job of celebrating the ship and the period. Step back to the DecoDence of the 30's and see this exhibit!

The article I wrote, The Great Escape–Transatlantic Fashion in the Deco Period, was obviously about fashion in the 1930's. It was a dream assignment for me. I could almost fancy myself a fashion historian and what better period to delve into– Chanel, Vionnet, Schiaparelli, deco's divine design divas!

Besides the Museum, The Seaport has some nice "port side" eateries, and decent shopping. It's a bit touristy, but probably not at this time of year and if it's too cold there are plenty of places to duck into. The Seaport Museum alone is worth the trip downtown. Check it out.