Take a walk, and learn something too

Ever notice how the weekend feels longer if you make it action-packed? I'm planning a multi-activity Saturday, starting with a walking tour of Central Park at 10 am. My friend Cris gives fantastic tours for the Central Park Conservancy, and this one is the Cross Park Promenade. I've always felt a little embarrassed to take tours of public spaces that are already free - shouldn't I be able to figure this stuff out on my own? The weird facts that you learn make these walks totally worth any lingering feelings of nerdiness, though - like how you can tell exactly where in the Park you are by the lampposts. (I'm not going to give up the secret - you have to go on the tour.) Mike and I recently took the Amble Through the Ramble tour, on which it really is possible to forget that you're in the middle of the world's 4th largest city (by population) - and isn't that one of the most delicious surprises in an urban park, when you momentarily forget where you are?

Tomorrow's tour meets at 10 am inside Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street, in front of the statue of Samuel F. B. Morse (who shares my last name, but is no relation to me. My friends did used to prank call me in college, though, frantically shouting, "What's the code??? What's the code???" - and I never understood the joke until they explained it a full decade later.). Visit the Central Park Conservancy's calendar to learn about the many other free tours available all throughout the week, and give your brain some fresh air after a week under fluorescent lights.