As far as experiences go, I’m willing to try almost anything once.

So when the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism invited us to the US Open, I immediately said yes.

No matter that my knowledge of tennis is limited to this: two people hold rackets and bat a neon green ball back and forth across a net.

Seriously, that’s all I know about the sport.

Francisco and I headed out to Flushing last week to watch a few of the qualifying matches before we attend the games with the USVI this week. The qualifiers, held the week before the Open itself, are free. And they’re a lot more fun than I expected.

If you’re attending the US Open for the first time this year, here’s a beginner’s guide. And if you’re interested in attending next year–or you’re on a budget–consider the qualifiers.

*
1. Don’t bring a bag.
Security isn’t as tight as I expected–no metal detectors–but they’re picky about what you bring into the venue. No backpacks. Period. There are lots of other prohibited items, too, so read the full list before you show up with a flag, banner, sign, noisemaker, or laser and get turned away.

2. Wear a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
Though there are evening matches, daytime matches are brutal, and the Monday and Tuesday games, at least, are going to be scorchers; the temperature is predicted to top 95F. There’s little, if any, shade on the courts, especially the numbered courts outside the Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums. Is there some unwritten rule that says the fans must sweat and squint along with the players?

3. Bring cash.
The venue is a small city, with food vendors (everything from BBQ to sushi) and shops, all waiting to capitalize on your enthusiasm and your lack of alternatives. A bottle of water can set you back $5.00 or more, and you’ll need to shell out $13.00 for a Grey Goose “signature” US Open Cocktail.

There’s gear, of course- t-shirts, hats, tennis racquets, books, and oversized balls you can buy, made especially for autographs.

In short, bring cash. Or your ATM card; Chase has machines placed strategically for your withdrawing convenience.

4. Brace yourself for the bourgeois.
Tennis is not football.

Ball boys and girls stand with their hands clasped behind their backs (which, by the way, are emblazoned with enormous Ralph Lauren logos; he’s a sponsor of the games). You are asked to put your cell phone on vibrate, to refrain from talking, and to restrict your coming and going to breaks between sets. Which, by the way, is when the ball boys and girls produce gigantic umbrellas to hold over players’ heads, shading them from the punishing sun:

It’s more formal than Broadway theatre.

**
To see all of Francisco’s photos from the 2010 US Open qualifying matches, visit his portfolio.

Whether you live here or you’re visiting, this city isn’t cheap.

For all of its expenses, though, there’s plenty to do and see for free in New York City, so save your money for New York City hotels or a memorable meal at one of the five boroughs’ thousands of restaurants.

Here are 30 of our favorite free things to do in New York City:

1. See a live performance of world music during the annual Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival. Susana Baca, Buika, Carlos Varela, Ruben Blades. We’ve seen them all give full length concerts for free at this festival.

2. Visit The Bronx Zoo on a Wednesday.
Wednesday is suggested donation day at the zoo.

3. Check out the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s calendar.
Public art installations and performances, lectures, and programs like “Poems and Pints” are mostly free. The goal of all projects is to “draw audiences to little known or overlooked locations citywide.” Check their calendar to see what’s going on while you’re in town.

4. Take a photo with the New York Public Library’s lions, Patience and Fortitude. They stand guard outside the main branch of the library on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue.

5. Then, go inside and see the NYPL’s current exhibitions…
The main branch of the NYPL hosts rotating exhibits in two main floor galleries and on the third floor. The listing for exhibits and other library events (most of which are also free) can be accessed here.

6. And visit the Main Reading Room.

7. Visit the United Nations.
If you want to take a tour, there’s a fee, but visiting the main hall and the gift/book shop is free. The main hall hosts exhibitions, often of photographs.

8. Swing in a hammock at Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, Queens.
Getting one of the hammocks is almost a competitive sport in the summer, but if you’re not successful, there are plenty other places to spread out a blanket or take photos of the Manhattan skyline from this park on the East River.

9. Listen to a lecture at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center.
You could almost get a college education for free by attending the lectures at CUNY that are open to the public. Some of the university’s departments also host their own lecture series; one such department is the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, which presents lectures about the Americas.

10. Attend an event at the Americas Society.
The Americas Society presents lectures, talks, and readings that are intended to “promote the understanding of the political, economic, and cultural issues that define and challenge the Americas today, from the Arctic Circle to the southernmost tip of Argentina.” These events are held in the Society’s headquarters, a lavishly designed building on Park Avenue.

11. Participate in the PEN World Voices Festival.
The festival, held each April, brings together writers from around the world to venues around the city. They read their work, they talk about it, they discuss current and historical events. Always something fascinating on the agenda at this festival.

12. Go kayaking.
There are plenty of launch points around the city: Red Hook, Long Island City, Piers 40 and 96, and the pier on 72nd Street. These are volunteer run, so drop a donation if you can.

13. Visit the dead.
Just because you don’t know anyone buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go pay your respects. The cemetery is an incredible place to learn about New York history, architecture, and design. Read more about it here.

14. Explore New York’s Masonic Hall.
One of the entries in our ongoing series, Overlooked New York, the Masonic Hall offers free tours.

15. See sculpture at Socrates Sculpture Park.
In addition to the sculpture on display at this outdoor, interactive museum, Socrates hosts summer movie festivals, an annual “Makers Market,” an arts and craft fair, and other seasonal events.

16. See a Rooftop Film.
During the summer, the group Rooftop Films shows films on large screens on rooftops and in parks around the city.

17. Participate in a cultural day parade.
Puerto Rican Day Parade, Dominican Parade, Greek Parade… practically every community has an annual parade. Check the city’s calendar to see if a parade coincides with your visit.

18. Take advantage of museums’ free admission days.
Most museums have a day when admission is free or by donation. Newyorkology maintains a comprehensive list of these museums here.

19. Browse the Union Square Greenmarket.
Even if you’re not buying, it’s fun to browse the farmers’ stalls at the Union Square Greenmarket, a popular farmers’ market for the city’s chefs.

20. Spend time in Hudson River Park.
When we moved here in 1999, the Hudson River Park was just starting to be developed. 11 years later, it’s New York’s best park, running the length of western Manhattan and offering recreation opportunities for almost everyone. There are many paid activities, but plenty of free things, too.

21. Visit a memorial.
The Irish Hunger Memorial is our favorite; you can learn about that one and some others here.

22. Pass by Poets House.
With cozy places to read a book and windows overlooking the Hudson River, Poets House is a lovely place to visit any day. They also offer readings and other programs.

23. Go to Governors Island.
It’s incredible how Governors Island has become an epicenter for arts and cultural programming in the city in just a few short years. Hop on the ferry (free!) and enjoy some of the programming.

24. Participate in OpenHouse New York.
Each year, OpenHouse New York gives people a peek into places they can’t normally visit.

25. See Scandinavia House.
New York has many cultural institutions open to the public that offer loads of free programs. Scandinavia House is just one.

26. Go to an auction.
As long as you don’t plan to buy, attending an art auction at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, or one of the other famous auction houses won’t cost you a penny.

27. Go through Grand Central Terminal.
Walk through the main hall and look up at the gorgeous ceiling. And check out that clock… it’s valued between $10 and $20 million.

28. Check out Chelsea Market.
You could spend some cash here, but it doesn’t cost a thing to browse the shops here (Posman Books, Anthropologie, Imports from Marrakesh) and you can usually find a free sample at Fat Witch Bakery.

29. Visit FAO Schwarz.
Even if you don’t have kids, visit FAO Schwarz to see just how crazy American consumerist culture can be. Thousand dollar stuffed toys? Yes.

30. See the US Open.
The qualifying competitions the week before the US Open are free! See top-seeded players without a ticket.

Riverside Park South isn’t really overlooked, but it’s just far enough beyond the daily path of the majority of New Yorkers that walking through sections of the park this weekend felt strangely solitary. We could hear the cars speeding by on the West Side Highway, but we couldn’t see them. The tall grasses and thistles going to seed made me think of rural South Carolina, where I grew up, but these were juxtaposed by Donald Trump’s persistently controversial condo complex overlooking the Hudson River.

Riverside Park South runs from 59th Street to 72nd Street on Manhattan’s West Side. For more information about the park, visit the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, and to find out what’s going on in the city, check out our favorite local site, Newyorkology.

It would have never occurred to me to visit a Masonic lodge, hall, or temple had my brother not become a Mason a few years ago. When we met up in Washington, D.C. for a family vacation, he told us we had to see the House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, as well as the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. We saw both.

He was in awe, hanging on the tour guides’ every word at each site. For him, the symbols and significance of the Masonic iconography have deep meaning. For us, they were simply beautiful places to visit.

I’ve since visited lodges, halls, and temples in various locations, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and points in between (the photo below is of the Logia Aurora in Ponce, Puerto Rico).

Regardless of the location, there’s remarkable consistency from one lodge to the next in terms of the obvious care that is invested in maintaining these sites. And the majority I’ve visited are visually stunning and historically important examples of period architecture and design.

New York City’s Masonic Hall, located at 71 West 23rd Street, is no exception. Unlike the House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, which spreads out horizontally, this urban Hall goes straight up; it’s located in a 17-story building. The people who scurry past on their way to or from work probably don’t know that behind the revolving door, there are several floors open to the public. Most visitors to New York probably don’t know either.

Unless they’re Masons, that is. As I signed the guest registry on my recent visit, I noticed that all of the previous entries on the two pages spread before me listed visitors’ names, cities of residence, and their lodges. “Do you have anyone in your family who’s a Mason?” my guide asked. I told him I did, but he assured me that it’s not necessary; anyone who wants to take the guided tour–which is free–can simply stop by the hall and they will be escorted through the Hall’s rooms.

The Hall was completely restored in 1986 under the direction of Felix Olimpo Chavez, a Peruvian designer, art historian, and founder of the firm Fine Art Decorating. In addition to restoring burnished chandeliers and revealing gargoyles and lions’ heads that were encased in years of dust and grime, Olimpo and his team transformed each of the Halls’ numerous rooms into faithful representations of the respective periods and iconography they were intended to represent. Old pipe organs and chandeliers are special highlights.

For people interested in architecture, design, and American history, the Masonic Hall is an excellent tour. Guides are friendly and eager to share the stories that the Hall holds with guests. Ask about Theodore Roosevelt’s induction into the Masons, the special lodge for artists and entertainers (it’s one of the few lodges that meets during the day), and about the unusual motifs painted on the ceiling of the Hollender Room.

DETAILS:
What: Free guided tour of the Masonic Hall.
Where: 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.
When: Tours are offered Monday-Saturday, from 10:30 AM until 2:15. No
appointment is needed; however, if you are part of a group and would like
to visit on a Sunday or a holiday, prior arrangements can be made by
emailing TourGuides@nymasons.org
Other: Cameras are permitted. The length of the tour seems to depend on your
guide. If you have any time constraints, let the guide know.
Website: http://www.nymasons.org/
Phone: 212-337-6602

In the world of “Latin music,” Susana Baca and Carlos Varela are both big names.

Baca is an Afro-Peruvian singer whose songs tell “the story of African identity as transplanted, transformed and even repressed in her native country.”* Varela is a 47-year old Cuban folk singer who, in his own words “es alguien que canta la realidad de la juventud cubana con [todos] sus defectos y virtudes.” ["someone who sings the reality of Cuban youth with all of its flaws and virtues."]. Not counting Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez–both of whom are older than he– Varela is probably Cuba’s best-known vocalist in this genre.

Though well-loved in New York City, Baca makes infrequent appearances here, and the United States’ persistently noxious diplomatic relations with Cuba always present an obstacle for artists like Varela when they go about securing a visa to perform here. Both will be here this week, though, as part of Lincoln Center’s annual Out of Doors Festival.

The free performance starts at 6:30 PM on Wednesday, August 11, at the Damrosch Park Bandshell, the outdoor amphitheatre behind the main plaza. Seating is provided by Lincoln Center, but get there early, as this performance will be well-attended.

Francisco will be photographing the performance for Lincoln Center.

To see photographs from last year’s Out of Doors Festival, click here.

If you’d like to listen to Baca’s and Varela’s music, we recommend Baca’s album “Eco de Sombras” and Varela’s recently released “All His Greatest Hits.”

*Quote by Larry Blumenfeld, of The Wall Street Journal

Actress America Ferrera

Before Mariel was born, Francisco and I watched a documentary or film every night; sometimes, we’d watch two or three.

Now, with a very active 10 month old, most of our movie watching is limited to film festivals. We make elaborate schedules of the movies we want to see and then trade off childcare for a week.

That’s what we’re doing this week, as HBO’s New York International Latino Film Festival kicked off yesterday in Manhattan with the showing of “The Dry Land,” a film about a soldier returning from the war in Iraq. Francisco was among the photographers at the pre-screening red carpet event, and has posted some of the shots here.

More than 100 documentaries, shorts, and features will be shown between now and August 1. We’re particularly excited to see:

“Boys of Summer”: A documentary about Curacao’s Little League Baseball team.

“Whitewash”: A documentary about black surfers.

“Mamachas del Ring”: A documentary about female wrestlers in Bolivia.

and a handful of films from/about Colombia, including “My Kidnapper,” “Sins of My Father,” and “The Two Escobars.”

If you’re in New York City and are interested in attending any of the screenings, you can check the full schedule here. You can also follow the event on Twitter.

The Matador team launched its online travel photography course last week and already students are enrolling and working on their first assignment, one component of which is to introduce themselves and talk about why they’re interested in photography.

One student mentioned that he’s interested in the stories that photos can tell, especially stories about the environment, about marginalized people, and overlooked corners of our world.

I agree that photos can convey urgency, feeling, and acuity that words may lack.

Sometimes, though, photos only start to hint at a story, and without any context at all, you’re only left with questions that rattle around in your brain, unanswered.

Francisco shot this photo in the subway station at Union Square yesterday. I didn’t ask him anything at all about it, but I had a hundred questions. Who is she? Where is she from? What does she think as she pulls on her black mariachi pants, the ones with the silver adornments sewn down the side? How did her group come together? How much money do they make? How does she feel when people stop to take in the whole scene? Or when they walk by, pretending not to notice or trying to block out the sound? What is she feeling at this exact moment?

You can see more photos of the mariachi–and of other interesting New Yorkers– in our New York People set on Flickr.

The Statue of Liberty is definitely NOT an overlooked place in New York, and it makes an appearance in my MatadorTrips article, “What NOT to Do in New York City.” You’ll have to click over to find out why (and what I recommend instead).

And if you take my advice to skip the Statue, you can get a much better view of Liberty here:

Municipal buildings are like cemeteries, I think: We tend to avoid them unless we have some inescapable business there.

I don’t know why this is, though; as with cemeteries, the buildings where formal business is conducted tend to harbor ambitious elements of art and design that are rarely in evidence–at least not in quite the same way–in our more quotidian spaces.

Last night, we attended a talk sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council as part of its “Access Restricted” series of “nomadic lectures” about the law. The setting was the New York County Supreme Court, a grand, landmarked building whose entryway leads into a rotunda painted with a mural depicting seminal figures and moments in legal history.

Rotundas… you’ve probably never seen a travel article about them, but this is at least the second one I’ve seen (the first being the rotunda of the Capitol building in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a gorgeous mosaic also depicting an epic sweep of history) that has caught my attention and held it, almost distracting me from whatever I was supposed to be doing. There’s so much happening in this mural; I could look at this tiny detail of the scene unfolding beneath Lincoln’s leg for at least a day:

There’s no drum roll and take-away here. Just this: don’t overlook the obvious in your search to find something extraordinary.

More photos of the Court are here.