Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
While staying at the Kimpton Era hotel on 48th Street, I wandered by FDNY Fire Zone (also on 48th Street) – which I had never seen before. But it’s been there since 2020 or 2021 It’s a fire safety learning center, and it is fabulous for kids. And it’s free.
In September 2024, I went to the AriZonaLand grand opening and media tour of its new factory in Keasby, NJ. And then I waited for them to open for public tours. I waited. And waited. And finally in November 2025, they opened. So now I can publish my post on touring the AriZona Iced Tea factory with kids.
Since my tour was more than a year ago, it’s possible some things have changed. I plan to go back. But in the meantime, here’s what you’ll see at the AriZona Iced Tea factory with kids.
Continue reading “Tour the AriZona Iced Tea factory with kids”
The Macy’s Flower Show runs today through Sunday, May 18, 2025 at Macy’s Herald Square. If you’re in NYC, stop in to check it out.
Continue reading “Macy’s Flower Show”
I write about supply chain management (logistics, operations, transportation etc.) so touring an Amazon fulfillment center (FC) seems like more than a fun thing to do – it seemed necessary for work! There are currently 23 warehouses/fulfillment centers in the U.S. that give tours, including 3 in New Jersey. You can take an Amazon tour with kids, but most tours are on the weekday, which can make it difficult unless you’re home schooling. Here’s what I learned on my Amazon tour.
By the way, you can’t take photos inside the warehouse, so these photos are screenshots from a virtual tour last week, run by Amazon for FIRST Robotics – an international STEM robotics program I’m involved with. You can watch the virtual Amazon tour here which was meant as an Amazon tour with kids, or at least for kids.
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Love it or hate it, The Vessel in Hudson Yards is attracting a lot of attention. Opened in March, 2019, a steady stream of locals and tourists are visiting the interactive artwork by Thomas Heatherwick, to climb the interior staircases or to gawk from outside.
Every winter we see listings for maple sugaring tours, and every year we seem to be busy or forget to go. This year we finally went. What will you learn on a maple sugaring tour? A lot!
We went to the Great Swamp in New Jersey for our education. They were offering two sessions on a weekend afternoon – for $3/person (though no one asked for or collected money – and we checked in at the outdoor education center desk).
While there’s no way to know for sure who discovered maple sugar, Continue reading “What You Will Learn on a Maple Sugar Tour”
Did you know that October 12 is National Fossil Day? With a few days off this week, and fall break/teachers’ convention coming up next month, you may be looking for day trip ideas. Think about going fossil hunting in New Jersey! Turns out there are a couple of places that are easy to get to, where you can wade through streams looking for sharks’ teeth, oyster shells, squid fossils, and other items that are millions of years old. Even though you’re not by the ocean, this area was once covered in water.
Last minute! I have two family packs of tickets to give away to the red carpet scre
ening of All Hail King Julien, Netflix’s newest original series. I need to pick two families tonight to give them to. If you’re interested, leave me a comment below with the number of people in your family, and let me know how to contact you. If you don’t want to leave your email address in the comment, you can email me at contest@friscokids.net, but please do put the comment down first.
At the screening, you’ll see the first five episodes of All Hail King Julien. Madagascar’s King Julien scored his own series! King Julien will take on the jungle’s craziest adventures in the new comedy series, along with his loyal sidekicks Maurice and Mort plus a whole new cast of colorful animals.
Details about the screening (you need to be on the list to go, so don’t show up unless I tell you to!)
When: Friday, December 19 from 7-9 p.m.
Where: SVA Theater – 333 W. 23rd Street
When we read about Duke Farms opening to the public a year ago (May 2012), we put it on our list to do. We finally went, albeit without kids (they’re at camp) but can’t wait to take them there.
Duke Farms is one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land in New Jersey, made up of more than 2,700 acres. Doris Duke’s father, tobacco farmer J.B. Duke, bought the land as a luxury homestead, endowing it with formal gardens, water features and grand buildings like the one you see above. Of note, the family home is not available for touring (and we couldn’t even see where it was while there).
Doris Duke, as the sole heir, inherited the land, where she spent part of her childhood. She put it in her foundation, for land preservation and land stewardship. What a gift! Continue reading “Review: Duke Farms In New Jersey”
If you can manage to find the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Basking Ridge, NJ, you’ll have a great time there. We’ve been twice now, to different sections. The swamp is one of more than 500 wildlife refuges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. You’ll find about 8 miles of marked trails, though there’s 3,660 acres of off-trail hiking.
Last weekend we hit the boardwalk area (note: there were restrooms but no water fountain or garbage can). You’ll find maps at the trailhead/parking lot. The wildlife observation center is on New Vernon Road (aka Long Hill Road – depending on the address).
I regretted not bringing my better SLR camera with its telephoto lens. In the hour or so we walked on the boardwalks, we spotted baby and adult turtles, lots of birds, dragonflies, chipmunks, though there are a ton more animals we didn’t see.
Continue reading “Day Trip: Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge”