Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
It’s been on my list for years to visit the Museum of the City of New York with kids. And the impetus to make it happen: He Built This City. The ongoing exhibit features Queens-born artist Joe Macken who built a massive model of New York City’s five boroughs – 50 feet by 27 feet.
I saw a review of the industrial photography exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt and had to go. The museum is in a gorgeous Andrew Carnegie mansion on 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue. While the four floors cover a lot of design, I was worn out after just the photography exhibit. I must go back. I highly recommend the Cooper Hewitt with kids, especiallly this exhibit, which is through September 27, 2026.
It’s been a while since I’d been to the Museum of Arts and Design (MOAD) in NYC. It was time to revisit! And I picked a good time – there are two exhibits that kids would enjoy. The first is Jonathan Adler, and the second is the Haas Brothers. Go visit MOAD with kids and see these exhibits.
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.
With the many, many Broadway shows I see, how did I not know about the cult following and hilarity of Titanique? I had heard the show (off-Broadway when I first knew of it) was a funny musical. But that’s all I knew. We got tickets during Broadway previews, scoring a pair with my TDF membership (and score – they were orchestra seats, and good ones).
The Kimpton Era hotel just opened a month ago. It has an ideal location for those exploring Manhattan and those wanting to take advantage of what midtown has to offer. It is steps away from Rockefeller Center – with the lobby looking out onto the Nintendo store.
Does this bumper car experience look fun to you? It did to me, so we went so we could share the Bryant Park bumper cars with kids experience with you.
We do some weekends in NYC and try a different hotel each time. Here are reviews of two hotels, the Evelyn and the Lex.
There are two types of people: the dreamers and the skeptics. At least at a magic show. Jamie Allan shared this early in Amaze, and I have to admit I’m a skeptic, trying to figure out how the illusions were done. TL:DR I didn’t figure any of them out, and I’m still thinking about them days later.
If you are lucky or unlucky enough to be in NYC on December 13 this year, you can catch Santa Con. We’ve mistakenly been on NJ Transit the last few years on Santa Con day, not realizing what day it actually was. Women in micromini skirts in freezing weather dressed as an elf or Mrs. Claus (you go girl!) and men wearing onesies, you see it all.
