Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
I haven’t seen Whip It, the roller derby movie with Drew Barrymore, but now I want to. We’ve been to our first roller derby match, and it was awesome!
You gotta love a sport where the players have names like: Mental Block, Divine Wreckage, Assay Kicker, Clara Form, Crimes New Roman, Judy Additudy, Hellen Bed, Ashlee Juggz (#34DD), Jane Scayre, Katherine Hipburn, Asalt N Pepper…
Those of us with kids in New Jersey public schools look forward to a two day school break in November, for the teachers’ convention. You can either sit around at home, or take off in the car or on a plane for a family trip.
It’s not too late to plan something! If you haven’t yet thought of what to do, I rounded up some great links to vacations in driving distance of New Jersey, provided by seasoned fellow bloggers and travel writers. Let me know where you plan to go!
NEW YORK CITY
For a staycation, here are some ideas for local fun. See a Broadway play. I’ve got reviews of Matilda here and reviews of Mamma Mia here. See all my Broadway reviews here.
Continue reading “Where to go during the New Jersey Teachers’ Convention”
We visited the High Line Park recently and happened upon the Melt Bakery cart on 23rd Street at the lawn. For the record, Melt Bakery to me sounds like a grilled cheese sandwich place. But it’s not. It’s an ice cream sandwich place. And it was yummy.
The kids got a full size “Cinnamax” – two snickerdoodle cookies surrounding cinnamon ice cream for $4.
Locals tend to avoid Times Square – for good reason. It’s crowded and touristy. However, if you’re a tourist, or plan to see any of the sites around there, a guide is helpful.
You’ve seen CSI the show (or maybe you haven’t). Now try it for yourself. CSI: the Experience is making its way around the country, and is in Discovery Times Square (I’m not sure of the ending date, though it is a limited engagement).
The exhibition has three scenarios (crime scenes). While we were able to go through all three (we had to complete one circuit and then go back to the entrance again), my understanding is that this is not the case any longer, and that you have to pay an additional fee to go through a second scenario.
Continue reading “Review: CSI: The Experience with Kids – New York City”
I did a post awhile back about family friendly hotels in Manhattan, so I can add this to the list.
Over Columbus Day weekend, we had the opportunity to be hosted at the Muse Hotel in Times Square, a place my parents looked into staying when they visited recently. It’s a Kimpton Hotel, which is a good thing in my eyes. We’ve stayed at Kimpton Hotels in San Francisco and recommended them to friends who were visiting when we lived there. Kimpton Hotels have an off-beat style, with complementary wine hours and other fun amenities. Plus their decorating is awesome.
While the hotel has special kid-friendly options, it does look and feel like a sleek corporate hotel for men. The coloring is browns and tans, with lots of geometric shapes. Continue reading “Review: The Muse Hotel in Times Square”
What are your options if you get a traffic ticket (moving violation) in New Jersey?
A caveat in this post is that each courthouse operates separately and differently. Each traffic ticket comes with its own set of circumstances (previous violations, the specific violation, etc.). This is not legal advice, and you should not rely on it or expect that your experience will be the same. A lawyer can advise you of your rights and the best way to handle your situation.
When you get a ticket, you have two options:
Continue reading “How to Fight a Driving Ticket in New Jersey”
I had so much fun looking at pictures of the Robot Candy Company, that I thought I’d do another candy treat of the day. This one is Dylan’s Candy Bar – have you been? More than just edible candy, they sell candy-decorated clothing (cute PJs and rain boots), fudge, chocolate-covered fruit, candy-inspired bath treats, ice cream and more. Three floors of sugar goodness.
The top floor is the ice cream area. The floor where you enter (street level) is mostly candy by the pound (around $10.99/pound), plus some lollipops and hand-dipped graham crackers or marshmallows from the chocolate fountain. My favorite floor is the bottom floor. There, they have the fudge counter (free samples!), an M&M bar with various colors, retro candy, and the bath area. Plus more. Continue reading “Treat of the Day: Dylan’s Candy Bar”
Okay, so this treat of the day you’ll have to travel to. It’s the Robot Candy Company in downtown Charleston, SC. We were there recently (by recently, I mean the day Hurricane Irene came through there, and two days before it hit the New Jersey/New York area). We were killing time before our plane ride, and happened upon this awesome candy and toy store.
Have a great family day at a museum – for free! Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day made is possible, and they are doing it again on Saturday, September 25th. Download an admission card here, and get into New Jersey museums like the Newark Museum, the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, the Stickley Museum, and others. In New York, you can go to the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of the Barrio, Historic Richmond Town, the Intrepid (that’s a big ticket one), the New York City Fire Museum, the Jewish Museum and others
The card is good for you and one guest – one card per household. Find participating museums here:
