Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
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:
This year, the 10th anniversary of September 11, falls on a Sunday. Given that the kids won’t be in school, it’s a good chance for the family to reflect on what happened, its impact on our lives, remember those whose lives were lost, and join with with the community. I posted some events here which you can consider attending. NYC.gov has a list of activities on its calendar.
9/11 Memorial Site – official opening is on 9/11/11 for families who lost someone in the attacks. The ceremony for family members starts at 8:30 a.m. and all the names of those lost will be read after the city-wide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. There will be a second city-wide moment of silence at 9:03 a.m. and then affected families will be allowed to access the memorial to see their loved one’s names in the bronze plaques. Continue reading “What to Do on September 11 in New York City”
We were visiting the New York Hall of Science, and took a break for lunch. We had already passed the Lemon Ice King of Corona while driving to the science center and made of note of it so we could come back. So we did.
Continue reading “Treat of the Day: Lemon Ice King of Corona”
My daughter and I were poking around the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market on a day when it felt like, well, hell. You remember that 100 degree (plus) day? Oh yeah, there were several recently. Well we were sweating buckets while looking at crap used items, and we came upon a very sweaty vendor with an adorable sign and tiny ice cream cart. It was Je and Jo’s organic ice cream. We had the good sense to stop and fork over $4/each for a scoop. Well, I forked over $4 for both of us ($4×2=$8) so we could each have our own.
Here’s what we had to choose from:
Did you know that those magazine photos of wolves in the wild usually aren’t taken in the wild? They’re not, because wolves can smell you a mile away and they want no part of you. Those photos are usually taken at a wolf preserve, like the Lakota Wolf Preserve in Columbia, NJ.
We stopped by there recently for a tour, chock full of interesting information not only about wolves, but bobcats and foxes, which they also have there. I thought the 1.5 hour tour might bore my 10 year old daughter, but she paid rapt attention, possibly because the caretakers told us interesting stories and facts about the animals, and she got to watch them being fed.
Here is the first in our occasional series we’re calling TREAT OF THE DAY. We’ll highlight a place for treats, mainly locally owned companies.
We’ve been to Cliff’s Ice Cream in Ledgewood twice now, and it’s a really fun stop. Plus, USA Today claims it’s the best ice cream in New Jersey.
Okay, let’s start with the question most families with young kids have. Is Mamma Mia appropriate for kids? Well…..it depends.
THE PLOT
Let’s start with the plot, in case you’re in the dark ages and haven’t heard of it. A young woman (Sophie) is getting married and wants to figure out which of the three men her mom slept with (in a short time span), is her father. Therein lies the problem for kids. Continue reading “Review: Mamma Mia on Broadway – Appropriate for Kids?”
MARITIME AQUARIUM
We had the good fortune to do a sleepover in Connecticut’s Maritime Aquarium. We didn’t get much sleep, but we enjoyed the experience! The aquarium focuses on the marine life of the Long Island Sound.
SHARK TANK
The big draw for a lot of kids is the shark tank – it’s the largest tank in the aquarium, holding 110,000 gallons. It has 8 sharks. They keep the temperature constant at 63-65 degrees, so the sharks don’t know about seasons, for mating. The sand tiger sharks are around 8 feet long. Boy sharks have claspers near the anal fin (guess why?).
Continue reading “Review: Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk CT – Taking the Kids”
In its day (1832-1935), the Lower East Side (LES) was the largest Jewish community in North America. The Lower East Side is defined as from the East River to South Street Seaport, from Broadway to Lafayette to 14th Street. This was in an era where there was no Tribeca, no SOHO. The LES has always been an immigrant neighborhood, and is also associated with the Irish, Chinese, Poles, Ukrainians, and many others.
The Tenement Museum is a unique place where you’ll learn about the lives of actual families who lived (and sometimes worked) here. I’ve been to the Tenement Museum twice, once with and once without my kids, who are 8 and 10. I’ll share a lot of information here, and give you the thumbs up or down for the kids at the end. And if you disagree with any of the history I mentioned, feel free to leave a comment. The information came from my tour guide.
TENEMENT MUSEUM HISTORY
In 1988, Ruth Abram and Anita Jacobsen wanted to create a testament to immigration. They couldn’t find a worthwhile place, while looking for something that had deteriorated naturally and hadn’t turned into a crack house. The finally found this, where they also found 9,000 artifacts from some of the 7,000 people (from 20 countries) who lived here over 100 years. They later bought the buildings next to the museum and are converting those now as well. Read more about this history here. This is the first tenement to be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
