Day Tripper: Astoria

Between keeping within your budget and scheduling time off from work, planning a vacation can be stressful.

If you find you have too little time to travel and not enough money in your bank account, there’s no need to fret.

Each Thursday, Douglaston Patch will profile one of the five boroughs’ unique neighborhoods, where you can sample some local culture and culinary delights.

This week’s pick is Astoria.

10 a.m.

Spend the morning at Socrates Sculpture Park, which is the city’s only outdoor space for large-scale sculptures and multi-media installations. The park was transformed 25 years ago from an outdoor landfill along the East River into an exhibition space for local artists.

Current outdoor displays at the museum include El Museo’s Bienal: The Street Files 2011, a collection of work by emerging Latino and Latin American artists, and Vista, which includes pieces by 11 artists and examines visual alignment and perception.

Socrates Sculpture Park is located at 32-01 Vernon Blvd. near the Astoria-Long Island City border.

Click here for more information.

1 p.m.

For lunch, drop by the Neptune, one of the borough’s most popular diners. The eatery, located along 31st Street at Hoyt Avenue underneath the Astoria Boulevard subway station, has one of the most extensive menus you will likely ever see.

Courses include gyros, pastas, sandwiches, breakfast items, steaks, chicken dishes, fish, desserts, Spanakopita, stuffed mushrooms, bagels, milk shakes, cereal, burgers, roast beef, salads, omelets, veal cutlet, spinach pie, soups and wraps.

The Neptune has been rated several times as the city’s best diner. Its prices are reasonable and its soundtrack is primarily ’80s.  

3 p.m.

Earlier this year, the Museum of the Moving Image reopened following a $67 million expansion that took several years to complete.

The museum, located at 36-01 35th Ave., has a 267-seat theater and a 68-seat screening room as well as a gallery and additional spaces for presenting video art.

The Moving Image’s core exhibition, “Behind the Screen,” includes 1,400 cinematic artifacts such as film and television cameras, projectors, sound recording equipment, costumes, fan magazines, posters, toys and lunchboxes.

Another current exhibit examines the career of Jim Henson, who created “The Muppets.”

The museum hosts ongoing film series, including a slate of films starring Paul Newman, which will screen through Aug. 7, and a retrospective of documentarian Errol Morris.

Among next month’s selections are three weeks of Frank Sinatra’s pictures and the films of auteur Gus Van Sant.

For more information, click here.

7 p.m.

Astoria is one of the most diverse neighborhoods for dining out in the borough and the city.

For Greek food, stop by Telly’s Taverna, a popular eatery that serves traditional dishes such as lamb, veal, fish and chicken souvlaki, or Taverna Kyclades, which serves Greek seafood. The latter could involve a wait in line, but the restaurant is a top culinary destination in the community.

Telly’s is located at 28-13 23rd Ave., while Kyclades is at 33-07 Ditmars Blvd.

For Thai food, there’s the relatively inexpensive and appropriately named Bangkok Tasty, located at 29-06 23rd Ave. In the mood for something heavier? If so, stop by Koliba Restaurant, a Czech eatery located at 31-11 23rd Ave.