Tag: manhattan

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Review: Creatures of Light Exhibit – AMNH

Having recently visited one of Puerto Rico’s Bio Bays, we were excited to see the American Museum of Natural History’s newest exhibit, Creatures of Light.

What we learned:

-Male fireflies use their light to attract females, and answer her flash by pointing his toward her for full effect.

-The male firefly lantern may be 10 times larger than the female’s.

-Fireflies may only have 2 weeks to reproduce, so don’t hold onto it for long!

-Firefly larva live in the ground and live fireflies spend the daytime hours in the grass.

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Review: Beyond Planet Earth – the Future of Space Exploration at the American Natural History Museum

We recently had the chance to tour the new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. It’s called Beyond Planet Earth – the Future of Space Exploration, and it’s about…space exploration!

In it you’ll learn about the history of space travel (and see this Russian space capsule, the Vostok,  that had all of four switches and 35 indicators inside. It carried Yuri Gagarin among other Soviet astronauts in the 1960s).

4 Russians lived here in space.

The best way to describe the exhibit is to go through some interesting facts we learned:

–Does the moon have a smell? Yes, but astronauts can’t smell it because there’s no air on the moon. They could smell the lunar rocks on board the space craft – they smell like gunpowder (but the smell didn’t last until they landed back on Earth).

–Since October, 2000 there has always been a person living in space. Continue reading “Review: Beyond Planet Earth – the Future of Space Exploration at the American Natural History Museum”

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Review: Dead Sea Scrolls with Kids

The Dead Sea Scroll exhibition tells the story of the foundation of three religions, in terms of ancient texts and times. The scrolls are more than 2,000 years old, written mostly before Jesus’s time.

The entrance to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition

When you enter, you’ll be in the room above, pictures/movies that change depending on what your guide is telling you. You’ll hear about the three jars – their origin and times, while seeing scenes of Israel and the area in historical context – the Dead Sea, digging at an archaeological site, the Western Wall, and more.

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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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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.

Continue reading “Where to go during the New Jersey Teachers’ Convention”

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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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Treat of the Day: Dylan’s Candy Bar

I had so much fun looking at pictures of the Robot Candy Company, that I thought I’d do another candy treat of the day. This one is Dylan’s Candy Bar – have you been? More than just edible candy, they sell candy-decorated clothing (cute PJs and rain boots), fudge, chocolate-covered fruit, candy-inspired bath treats, ice cream and more. Three floors of sugar goodness.

I love the logo.

The top floor is the ice cream area. The floor where you enter (street level) is mostly candy by the pound (around $10.99/pound), plus some lollipops and hand-dipped graham crackers or marshmallows from the chocolate fountain. My favorite floor is the bottom floor. There, they have the fudge counter (free samples!), an M&M bar with various colors, retro candy, and the bath area. Plus more. Continue reading “Treat of the Day: Dylan’s Candy Bar”

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