Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
We made our usual trek into NYC on Thanksgiving weekend to check out the 2024 NYC holiday windows. I have to say, other than Bergdorf Goodman, they were a disappointment. I’ll start with Bergdorf Goodman’s, and then share Macy’s and one from Bloomingdale’s. I’ll share at the bottom more about Sak’s Fifth Avenue’s windows.
AND, scroll down to see the Louis Vuitton scaffolding – which is UNREAL. A highlight of the day.
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.
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Pop songs reconceived as chamber music are piped through the bus speakers as the children double fist sweet tea in travel mugs and miniature chocolate mousse pastries.
My girls, aged 5 years and 364 days, and 11, lounged against a banquet covered with a soft pink throw as the double-decker bus navigated the canyons of Midtown Manhattan. A tour guide shared a few factual tidbits, then broke out into song (and she could actually sing).
I don’t really remember what she talked about, and neither do the kids. The city information seemed beside the point on TopView’s “Tea Around Town” tour bus.
Something the kids and adults will all like: the New York Transit Museum holiday train show. It’s at Grand Central Station’s transit museum store through February 2024.
You’ll find a city within a city, with miniature electric railroads running over, through, and beneath some landmarks you’ll recognize. There are tracks at several levels, great for young kids who can see many of them from their own eye level.
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| When you’re down in the Seaport area, or maybe making a specific trip to the Seaport area, make sure the Tin Building is a destination and you have time to explore (and eat). It’s maybe not the best place to take the kids for a meal (it’s pricey) but there is an awesome candy store (also pricey) and it’s gorgeous to look at. |
We did our annual NYC excursion on Black Friday to see the lights, the windows and the crowds. This post shares some random things we saw.
We headed to the Bryant Park Winter Village to see the holiday shops. They have a lovely tree. In addition to the skating rink, they have igloos you can rent out, and nearby curling as well (not on ice). In January they’ll have on-ice bumper cars you can rent! As always it’s crowded.
Continue reading “Holiday Scenes From NYC 2023”
This post is one of two about the 2023 NYC holiday windows. This is the Bergdorf Goodman & Bloomingdale’s edition. Click here for the 2023 NYC Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue window post.
The theme of the 2023 Bergdorf Goodman holiday windows is “Isn’t it brilliant?” and you’ll see in the next set of pictures all the brilliant reflections. The window above is “first light” and has two giant roosters and disco balls and a bedazzled llama and other farm animals.
Continue reading “2023 NYC Holiday Windows: Bergdorf Goodman & Bloomingdale’s”
The NYC holiday windows are up, and here’s what you can expect to see. This post has 2023 NYC holiday windows: Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, and you’ll find the Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdale’s windows in another post.
If you’re in need of a vacation away from the kids, and don’t want to go far, go to New York City. Spend the weekend in New York without kids. It won’t be cheap, but if you live within train or bus distance, you save on plane fare. Here’s a sample itinerary for a weekend in New York without kids.
We’ve stayed at a number of hotels in New York City, from StayPineapple, to Hotel Elysee, to The Muse, to Hotel Giraffe, to Yotel. And that doesn’t include all the more corporate hotels I’ve stayed in for conferences, since I didn’t want to head home late at night. This time we stayed at the Archer Hotel in midtown. It was a few blocks from Bryant Park, a good place in the summer to go for outdoor drinks.
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When Shucked the musical came out on Broadway, I thought it looked pedestrian and corny (yes, a pun!). Turns out I was wrong. Though it IS corny! But is Shucked appropriate for kids? Read on.
