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Review: Newseum with Kids in Washington D.C.

This is part of a series on Washington D.C. with kids. Most of the attractions in Washington D.C. are free, even if they’re not part of the Smithsonian complex. That said, here’s one museum that’s worth the money you pay.

Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Newseum

Newseum turned out to be my daughter’s favorite museum on our trip, and I loved it as well. In fact, after spending 2.5 hours at it one day, we went back the next day to catch what we missed (the tickets allow a 2 day consecutive entry at no extra cost).

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Review: Not for Parents – New York City – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

If there’s one way to get a kid to read a book, label it “Not for Parents.” That will attract their interest. As a travel writer, I collect guidebooks from the places we go, and try to get kid-friendly ones so my kids will take an interest. Usually they don’t. They were interested, however, in this Not For Parents: New York City – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. But of course I had to sneak away and read it too.

Though it’s published by Lonely Planet, it’s not actually a guidebook, but a great way to get to know a city we visit often. As expected, it’s quite colorful with cute illustrations from a number of artists. Inside it tells the story of everything from street food, to the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, to wild animals in the city (yes, rats are included).

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Date Night: Patria

the Mixology Bar at Patria

It’s always exciting when my hubby and I get a date night. Especially when we go to a hip and trendy restaurant – something that we rarely ever do. Recently we actually had a double date, meaning with other adults, not our kids. Fortunately these adults expressed availability for that night on the morning of the date, because we plan so far ahead. They’re spontaneous folks too and like us, have no life.

I heard about this new hip and trendy restaurant, Patria, through my tennis instructor who is expert in all things New Jersey. Check out the link and you won’t believe this kind of hipness exists in Rahway. Last time we ate in Rahway it was at David Drake’s old restaurant, which I believe had the unusual name of David Drake. The New Jersey chef is talked about in the media as being not only a great chef in New Jersey, but also recognized OUTSIDE NEW JERSEY. That was a delicious, expensive foodie meal, and we couldn’t believe that kind of restaurant existed in Rahway. It closed a week after we ate there.

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Roller Derby in New Jersey

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!

Big Bertha and the Central Mass Roller Derby team

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…

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Where to go during the New Jersey Teachers’ Convention

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.

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Treat of the Day: Melt Bakery

the lovely Melt Bakery lady

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.

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Review: CSI: The Experience with Kids – New York City

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.

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Review: The Muse Hotel in Times Square

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”

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