Minus 5 Opens on Midtown Hotel

Midtown Manhattan recently welcomed Minus 5 to its repertoire of tourist attractions. Located in the lobby of the New York Hilton Manhattan, the ice bar opened earlier this month. The venue, which is essentially an enormous walk-in freezer, has a temperature of 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

For a $20 fee, guests are provided with disposable gloves and parkas. Cocktails are served in ice glasses, or “in the rocks”, and the cavern is decorated with ice sculptures, an ice bar, and ice benches. The ambience is set with a reel of Top 40 hits such as “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. The Manhattan location is actually the third in the U.S.; two similar scenes can be found in Las Vegas.

VIP reservations can also be made through the hotel. For a fee of $95, this experience includes a drink, a photo and a take-away hat.

 

Bringing Independence Day to Life in NYC

4th of July is this week, and New York City will come alive with festivities. Families and friends across the nation will gather under firework-lit skies to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Throughout the day people will commemorate the significant event with barbecues, historical tours, family reunions and so much more.

The Fraunces Tavern, located on Pearl St., offers an extraordinary, authentic way to memorialize the United States and its Founding Fathers. Established in 1762, 14 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed, the tavern was the regular haunt of many important figures throughout American history. George Washington himself bid his soldiers farewell at the very same venue after the Revolutionary War. Considered “New York’s premier historic dining experience,” The Fraunces Tavern genuinely brings history to life, as does its musem, which features manuscripts, books, paintings and objects from the Revolutionary Era.

The Fraunces Tavern Museum preserves thousands of manuscripts written by several of the nation’s founders, including George Washington and Nathan Hale. The Shapell Manuscript Foundation also preserves such documents, including a handwritten letter from President George Washington to Colonels John Fitzgerald and George Gilpin.

Other Independence Day tours and day trips in the New York area include the Boston Freedom Trail with the Paul Revere House, Bunker Hill and the site of the Boston Tea Party, or the South Street Seaport’s Past & Future exhibition.