Bronx Zoo cobra on the loose takes Manhattan…and Twitter

On Friday, an adolescent Egyptian cobra escaped from New York’s Bronx Zoo.

The reptile house closed immediately after her escape, and zookeepers are saying she could take weeks to come out of hiding. While we can’t vouch for the authenticity of the snake taking Manhattan, you can follow her adventures on Twitter, where @bronxzooscobra has been chronicling the travels of the errant snake with over 25,000 followers and counting. So where does a young snakess on the town go?

She first mused over a Broadway show, then taunted followers with her location in front of “the original” Ray’s Pizza (good luck checking all 46 locations claiming to be the first). After taking in the other wildlife at American Museum of Natural His(s)tory, she went downtown for a workout at Equinox Gym and a slither atop the High Line park. The Bronx Zoo cobra then tweeted about getting tickets for Jimmy Fallon before spotting Tina Fey at Rockefeller Center and heading back downtown to Wall Street. Despite asking for a vegan restaurant near Union Square, she ended up way uptown at Tom’s Restaurant from Seinfeld, where she may have found a hiding spot for the night in an unsuspecting apartment. Where will she go today?

Any New York travel tips for the cobress? Have you spotted any snakes, tweeting or just taking in the sights? While she is just 20 inches long, she is venomous, so watch your ankles!

Sarah Palin in a Corn Maze

Sarah Palin is in a corn maze. This does not mean that Sarah Palin is actually in a corn maze, but that there is a corn maze made to look like Sarah Palin. You have to be looking down on the maze and not in it in order to see the likeness. And it does look like her–and also Tina Fey.

I heard about this maze on News Update on Saturday Night Live and promptly checked out the story’s validitity. Yep, the maze is in Whitehouse, Ohio not too far from Toledo. Although the maze of Palin is new this year, The Corn Maze at the Butterfly House where it is located is not new.

Each year the Whitehouse Farm turns acres of corn fields into pictures. There is also an amazing intricate butterfly for wandering among the corn stalks. Corn mazes are one way farmers have upped their revenue in an unsure market. Elaborate pictures are not as common. Palin’s took eight hours to make after an artist made a sketch and figured out how to mow it using a GPS system.

Check out the farm’s Web site for a video of Palin’s maze. You can walk through Palin’s head (sort of a borrowed line from Saturday Night Live) Palin’s addition certainly adds something new to the fall line up of Ohio’s corn mazes.

Here is a YouTube video of a news clip of the Palin corn maze. The owner of the Butterfly House, Duke Wheeler explains how the maze was made and what other fun things his farm has planned.

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Cleveland’s Fame on NBC’s 30 Rock

Okay, so Cleveland was poked fun at a bit on this Thursday’s 30 Rock episode, but what great Cleveland footage.

The Cleveland premise was this: Alec Baldwin’s character and his new fiancé went to Paris for a wonderful romantic trip away, so as a parallel story, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and her new boyfriend went to Cleveland for their own romantic get-a-way. This ought to bring a boost to Cleveland tourism since the footage did show Cleveland from a variety of flattering angles, even though Clevelanders’ weight was used to get laughs. The idea being that anyone living in the Midwest is overweight. Harumph! Other than that, and Liz ‘s and her boyfriend ‘s comments on the smell of the air, as if the Cuyahoga River is still polluted–it’s not– the show did an admirable overview of Cleveland’s landmarks.

Here’s what would be on a 30s Rock Tour according to what I saw on the show:

  • First stop, Terminal Tower, a gorgeous building with Art Deco designs, and once, the second tallest building in the world.
  • Jacobs Field, home of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. There’s no better view of Cleveland than perched high up in the cheap seats.
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame– Worth several hours. I still haven’t seen it all since I always get caught up in the section where you can put on headphones and listen to tunes from each decade.
  • Good Time III – a boat cruise up the Cuyahoga River that winds under several of Cleveland’s bridges. Each bridge moves in a different way to allow large boats to pass through.
  • Soldiers and Sailors Monument– Cleveland’s.tribute to war veterans. Look for the display about the similarities between the death of Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.

I don’t know where Lisa and her fiancé were eating, possibly a restaurant in the Warehouse District, now a hot spot dining location. I’ve never eaten in the Warehouse District since our favorite eatery is The Flat Iron, a what was once an Irish neighborhood hotel /cafe in The Flats. Try the pierogies. Of course, since they are dumplings of sorts filled with mashed potatoes and cheese then sauteed in butter, they aren’t exactly diet food.

The 30 Rock website has a Guide to Cleveland with an interactive map.