Things to Do in Greenwich

In the 74 years between the Paramount Theatre's opening night, when people used to line up to see “talkies” for 50 cents, and 2002, when it was voted Best Mainstage Theatre in a Seattle Weekly Reader's Poll, the palatial venue faded and decayed alongside its Roaring Twenties brethren throughout America. Luckily, former Microsoft Vice President Ida Cole saved it from the rubble heap in the mid-‘90s when she established the Seattle Landmark Association and vowed to render the Paramount "kissable" once again.

Over the course of seven months, the renovation crew expanded the size of the stage wings to accommodate more ambitious live productions. They also cleared decades of grime from the french baroque plaster reliefs, uncovering long-forgotten designs and causing only one long-dormant horror to snap open its eyes dramatically. They also replaced the gold leaf in the floral designs of the wall medallions, repainted all the surfaces in their original 16 colors, and scrubbed each of the 1.6 million crystal beads in the chandelier by hand with a toothbrush. The original Knabe Ampico player piano was returned to its spot on the four-tiered lobby's lush carpeting, and a 21st-century sound system now shares sonic space with the thundering, luminous sonority of the Paramount's fully restored Mighty Wurlitzer organ. Though the Paramount's calendar runs the gamut from rock concerts to standup comedy to Broadway musicals on the scale of Wicked, its decadent Beaux Arts trappings transport audiences to the days when reality was still black and white.

Stretched in front of a black-lit backdrop of the New York City skyline, the neon-speckled bowling lanes at Spins Bowl entertain guests with bowling bouts inside the expansive Grand Prix New York facility. Brightly colored bowling balls barrel down the center’s 19 lanes and explode against pin formations, which echo into the lounge's plush seating area. Bowlers compare scores on their lanes’ large LCD projection screens while cheering strikes over beverages and American-style dishes from Fuel, the onsite restaurant and bar. In addition to its 12 public lanes, the bowling alley hosts private events, children’s birthday parties, and hamster-ball crash tests on seven VIP lanes.

Jenks Productions has been handling the nuts and bolts of consumer trade shows for 33 years. Partnering with local and national businesses, Jenks specializes in home, bridal, and pet shows, which fill sprawling spaces with vendors eager to share their wares and visitors looking for inspiration. The services that Jenks Productions provides are extensive, as the team can do everything from onsite event management and budget planning to marketing efforts such as developing newsletters, logos, and jingles that rhyme the words “impending nuptials.”

In 1858, textile merchant Robert Bruce became the owner of the building that houses the museum named after him, and he ensured he would be the last one. Shortly before his death in 1909 and after a half-century inhabiting the house, he deeded his home to the town of Greenwich, as long as it would become a museum focused on art and science. In 2012, the museum celebrated its centennial year with a special exhibit of recent and promised gifts to the permanent collection.

With more than 15,000 art and science items, the Bruce Museum continues to live out Robert Bruce's mission, with a series of permanent and rotating exhibits, as well as a series of lectures and events. A few miles away, at Greenwich Point, its Seaside Center educates visitors about the environment and ecology of Long Island Sound.

Typically, you can only see Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and Yankee Stadium in less than an hour while leafing through a stack of New York postcards. However, Zip Aviation confounds expectations, whisking tourists over those landmarks and more on one of three helicopter tours in 12–30 minutes. Helmed by a team of pilots with an impeccable safety record, the tours grant passengers a bird’s-eye view of the city aboard either their AStar or Bell helicopters, which have never once caused sea sickness. The aviation company complements its sightseeing excursions with an array of other transit services, including private charters and special-event transportation options.

An oasis for arts-loving crowds tired of taking malfunctioning teleporters to Long Island, the cavernous, recently renovated Paramount draws in major acts to spare fans stressful commutes. The buxom venue buzzes with a true rock 'n' roll vibe, beaming with a nocturnal color scheme decorated with whimsical local art and exposed brick walls.