Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
We took a Scott’s Pizza Tour with kids in 2013 and loved it. We learned so much and we constantly refer to things we learned when taking that tour. We decided to take another Scott’s pizza tour with kids this summer, and we were glad to see Scott’s business survived the pandemic.
I guess it’s been awhile since I’ve shopped at the Short Hills Mall, because I didn’t realize there was a new Italian marketplace. They invited me for a visit to their 17,000 square foot space. Here’s my Review – Primo Mercato at Short Hills Mall!
Primo Mercato is a cross between a fancier food court and a sit-down restaurant, kind of like a smaller Eataly but without the dry goods shopping – just the eating and drinking. They have five food stations, plus a cafe with bakery/gelato, a pizza making station, and a nice restaurant. And yes, there’s sit-down eating if ordering food fromt the stations. You’ll see some picnic style tables (much nicer looking, of course), and some other types of seating configurations.
Continue reading “Review: Primo Mercato at Short Hills Mall”
On our way to the Vessel at Hudson Yards, we ran into the Mercado at Hudson Yards. It was morning and not yet crowded, which made it a great time to explore.
Offering “the best of Spanish food, drinks and culture from world-famous Chef José Andrés and the Adría Brothers,” the Mercado has 3 sit-down restaurants and around 18 kiosks and bars offering everything from cheese to churros.
Continue reading “Mercado Little Spain – Hudson Yards”
For the first time in many years, we visited Disneyland when it wasn’t Passover, and we could actually eat whatever we wanted. The plan was to get churros, as we always talk about that but aren’t able to eat them during the holiday. This year when my sister said “let’s get a churro” late afternoon, I told her to wait until after dinner. I had another plan. An official Disney cake.
Our trip to Disneyland was right in between my daughter and my sister’s birthday, though this was not top of mind when we made reservations for the Blue Bayou, where we always wanted to eat, but didn’t bother, given holiday restrictions.
I decided to surprise them with an official Disney cake. You can’t order or find official Disneyland cakes online. They said it’s because of quality assurance, but I think they don’t want anyone to steal their designs. You have to call to order it – I called and waited 20 minutes online for someone to answer.
Continue reading “The Official Disney Cake: Disney Haunted Mansion Cake”
A few months ago, someone at the gym mentioned a Vine Ripe mozzarella class in Westfield. Ooh – I love classes like this, but when I looked it up, the class was $99 and lasted an hour. Ouch! I put it in the back of my mind, but when it popped up on Groupon for $49, I bought it and sent out an announcement to friends to join me. And if you use Ebates when buying something on Groupon, you get money back – it’s awesome and very easy (yes, I get credit if you sign up with my link, but I recommend it because it’s awesome).
This is Mark, Debbie’s husband, with a special guest post about a quick Chicago weekend with kids. This was with our son, Zack. First let me say that it amazes me (as a native Chicagoan) how many people have not visited, or only barely visited, one of our country’s (actually world’s) great cities, when it’s just a two hour flight away. Okay, five hours if your flight is delayed like ours.
Chicago certainly does not lack for hotel options. We’ve been often, and have stayed at the Chicago Embassy Suites: a good value with clean, spacious rooms, plus breakfast and free happy hour included. FYI – the downtown State Street one is more convenient than the Navy Pier Embassy Suites. Continue reading “Chicago Weekend with Kids: Food, Architecture, Basketball…but Mostly Food”
If you find yourself on the Lower East Side and in need of something sweet and filling, head over to Doughnut Plant. I keep wanting to call it Doughnut Planet because that makes more sense to me. But alas, it’s Doughnut PLANT.
When I heard about the new ice cream place called 10 Below in Chinatown, where they made the ice cream in front of you in two minutes, I knew we had to go. Soon! I saw these pictures of ice cream rolls with cute toppings and it was a done deal. So I told my kids that we were going into the city to get ice cream, and they thought I was nuts. Sure, we eat ice cream. A fair amount of ice cream. But planning a trip to New York City just to eat ice cream? Well, we added in a few other things on the itinerary too, but planned to get there on the early side (and on a weekday before school started) to avoid the lines.
Continue reading “Treat of the Day: 10 Below Ice Cream in Chinatown”
–This is part of our series on Philadelphia with kids. See all the posts in the series at the bottom.–
Out of everything we saw and did in Philadelphia, this was the family favorite. We went twice, and would have gone more if time permitted.
The Reading Terminal Market has been in Philadelphia in one form since the 1850s, but in its current form since 1892. The string of shops (known as a Jersey market, since that’s where vendors came from) went indoors, with 78,000 feet and 800 vendor slots. Let me repeat that. 800 vendors slots. Like then, it’s still full of food and produce vendors, and a smattering of other stores selling kitchen wares and other goods. Now there are 80 vendors. Read more about the market’s history here – it’s interesting. Continue reading “Philly: Reading Terminal Market – Philly”