I can’t believe it took us this long to get to the Morgan Museum and Library. I can’t wait to go back. Have you gone to the Morgan Library with kids? The residence on the left is part of the complex, along with the Renzo Piano building in the middle and the annex on the right of it. The library is behind all this, in the far corner.
This not your typical Jersey Kids post, as absinthe is not a typical kids’ drink. To say the least. If you’re in New Orleans, visit the Museum of the American Cocktail, which is part of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. The museum is kid-friendly – the cocktail part is too (if kids are interested in learning about alcohol – there are some fun glasses, including tiki glasses there).
Museum of the American Cocktail – copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
A sizable portion of the cocktail area is devoted to absinthe, a liquor not so common in our lives today. But it was very popular in the 1800s – artists and writers especially loved it. Think: Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe. There were coffee houses/cafes that specialized in the drink.
I’ve been to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty a handful of times since I’ve lived in New Jersey Each time I learn something new. But after taking the Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour with kids (have you even heard of it?) I now know even more. This is a great tour to take with kids – though the official age to go is 13+ (more on that later). You see a whole different side of Ellis Island – literally and figuratively.
As New Jersey’s tallest lighthouse, the Absecon Lighthouse is 171 feet tall. It is also the nation’s third tallest. Go to Abesecon Lighthouse with kids!
If you’ve been in the Atlantic City area, you probably have heard about or seen Lucy the Elephant. Touted as the top roadside attraction in America, Lucy has been around in various forms since 1881, in Margate – just south of Atlantic City.
If you haven’t heard of Mercer Labs, you’re not alone. Formally Mercer Labs Museum of Art and Technology opened in March, a collaboration between Israeli artist Roy Nachum and real estate developer Michael Cayre. The idea is to be a “place where the traditional hierarchies between art, architecture, design, technology and culture are dissolved,” the New York Times quoted from a news release (I couldn’t find the news release).
In the Limitless exhibit in this 36,000 square foot space, you’ll visit 15 rooms with multimedia and sensory experiences, climbing up and down stairs between the floors (of course there’s an elevator if needed). In the initial space, which was one of the least interesting, you’ll put on shoe covers and look at a digital moving object that looks like of like a space rock.
Rounding the corner into the driveway of the New York Hall of Science, my preschooler lost her mind. You can’t climb the rockets, but yes, they are very tall, very real, and clearly, very exciting.
You know you’re going to a museum about Broadway when you have to buy your ticket through Telecharge, and you pay a $4 service charge plus tax for the privilege! That said, I’ve wanted to go since I heard this was opening. I brought a friend who grew up in the area and is a huge Broadway fan, with stories going back decades. Should you visit the Museum of Broadway with kids? Read on.
The Museum of Broadway opened in November 2022, and it is on 45th Street, just off Times Square. It’s across the street from RISE, another newcomer to the tourist scene.
The Edward Hopper exhibit is only at the Whitney Museum in NYC through March 5, 2023. Don’t miss it! You still have a few weekends left. If you want to visit the Hopper at the Whitney with kids, here’s what you’ll find.
Hopper exhibit at the Whitney. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Don’t forget to pick up the lovely activity guide for kids to do at the exhibit. The book will keep them more interested, with opportunities to sketch and to look at the artwork with information aimed at their age level. We saw the booklets at the coat check, but I’m sure they have them elsewhere too.
I admit to seeing the Pinocchio exhibit at MOMA before seeing the movie. I wish I did the reverse, but the exhibit really brought home how much work went into the movie-making and I think I watched it (in awe) the next night.