great takes on family travel in the U.S.

The 2008 Memorial Day weekend is almost here (May 23-26) and the AAA is projecting that more Americans will stay at home during this Memorial Day holiday, due to high fuel prices. That argument is not entirely without merit, so here’s a few ways you can enjoy the Memorial Day events in and around New York without having to fill up on the gas and book into an expensive hotel or getaway resort. In short, a traditional Memorial Day weekend in New York on the cheap.

Fleet Week: The Annual NYC Fleet Week (May 21-28) includes a plethora of events including public ship visitations, helicopter raid demonstrations (you know, where they throw these lines out of the copters and swoop down), a Times Square concert, Navy band performance, an F-18 Navy flight simulator display, and lots of Memorial Day parades all over New York. Here’s a full list of all events held for Fleet Week, with date, time and location.

Queens Memorial Day Parade: If you’re fond of parades, the biggest Memorial Day Parade in the U.S. is held at Little Neck and Douglaston, Queens. The parade starts at 2 pm at the corner of Jason Avenue and Northern Boulevard in Great Neck, moving west on Northern Boulevard to 244 Street into St. Anastasia Schoolyard. The theme for the 2008 parade is ‘Fort Totten From War To Peace’. Photo courtesy & copyrights Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade Org., Inc.

MET Special Events: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has two specials for Memorial Day. First is the family festival at the Cloisters - Two days (May 24-25) of programs for the entire family, with tours and gallery workshops in English and Spanish. More details here. Secondly, the MET is open on Memorial Day as part of its ‘Holiday Mondays’ program sponsored by Bloomberg. Here’s the list of exhibitions open on Monday.

Lower East Side Festival of the Arts: This is the 13th year of the LES festival, and this year the organizers have put together over 70 groups with 250+ performers, with street fairs, theater, dance, music, poetry, art and multimedia presentations, food vendors, cooking competitions and lots more. More details here.

If you’re interested in street fairs, you might want to make note of the Times Square Fair on May 25th, at Seventh Avenue 47th to 57th streets, from 11 am to 6 pm. Call 212-809-4900 for more information. There’s also the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit from noon to 6 pm during the Memorial Day weekend, which attracts over 200 artists and more than 200,000 art lovers every year.

Brooklyn Bridge 125th Birthday Celebration: The Memorial Day weekend celebrations to honor the cultural significance of the Brooklyn Bridge in its 125th year include a Brooklyn Philharmonic concert followed by a Grucci Fireworks extravaganza, open air film screenings at the foot of the bridge, walking tours, and dance and music festivals. Photo by runnyc262 via Flickr.

All performances are free. Here’s the full list of events starting May 22nd. The bridge will be lit up with festive lighting until Memorial Day from 9 pm to 11 pm, so you might want to hang around from evening until at least 9 pm, just to see the lights come on.

There’s a lot of stuff going on all over New York, from Staten Island to Manhattan, and you have an extended weekend at your disposal. Why not make use of it to get to know the culture and the art and artists of New York, not to mention the additional significance of Memorial Day, in light of the Iraq war and the enormous sacrifices made by the men and women in the Armed Forces to help keep America safe.