Did you know that dolphins and porpoises are whales? We learned that, plus many other interesting facts about whales during our visit to the American Museum of Natural History’s exhibit Whales: Giants of the Deep. Admittedly I knew very little about whales before going to this exhibit. I didn’t know that the precursors to whales WALKED, losing their legs eventually as they took to the ocean full time. A simulation video of the whale’s evolution is a good visual representation.
Did you know that whales can be broken up into two categories: toothed whales and baleen whales? Toothed whales are smaller, and include dolphins and porpoises (porpoises don’t have beaks, dolphins do). Baleen whales are filter feeders, taking in larger amounts of small food and filtering it out, where as toothed whales go for single prey, swallowing it whole.
There’s nothing like being at a Liberty Science Center Camp-In with 900 Cub Scouts and (some of) their parents.
One of the advantages to a museum sleepover is a behind the scenes look. You won’t get that here, but what you do get is presumably a smaller crowd than you’d get on a weekend. Of course if you’re there with almost 900 Cub Scouts, you’ll find that they all want to do the same things: race cars.
Even if you don’t want to read about the sleep-over portion – this post has a regular review in it too – keep reading.
The LSC does have a number of evening programs like you’d find during normal open hours – and like open hours, you can go to the programs or explore the museum on your own. While we were there, they offered two live science presentations (one on electricity and one on the four states of matter), and two lab programs (one on infections, and one on the Hudson Home lab).
The museum is too huge to tell all, so I’ll just pinpoint some of the highlights. You can’t see the whole museum in one trip.
Liberty Science Center lobby with collapsible sphere. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
This was my first time at the Big Apple Circus, having been to many other circuses. What I loved most about it was its size. It was an intimate circus, without extraneous characters running around. Everyone counted and the show was high quality.
The ring before the show started. The middle has a listing of the performers. The live band is above the entrance in the lit-up area. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
I brought three 11 year old girls to the show and they loved it, as did the younger kids sitting around us. With only 16 rows of seats (about 1,700 total guests), you’ll have a good view no matter where you sit. I’ll tell the story mostly through photos. Continue reading “Review: Big Apple Circus – Legendarium”
Mountain Creek apparently has the largest tubing space in the United States, if all 30 lanes are open. They weren’t all open when we were there (I think I counted 15 open, but don’t hold me to that).
One of the tubing hills at Mountain Creek resort in NJ. It’s empty because all the tubers go down at the same time, and they haven’t shoved off yet. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
You book a 2 hour window for tubing. Reservations are highly recommended because apparently they sell out. But if you make a reservation and show up late, you still only get your reserved 2 hours. Just so you know.
Unfortunately we missed tubing with Juicy Joe and Teresa Guidice and family, who were there about a week before us. Bummer! I would have LOVED that photo op. Continue reading “Review: Mountain Creek Tubing”
When I told my husband we were going ziplining, he said “In WINTER? Don’t they offer it in summer?” I started having second thoughts, thinking about the cold wind in our faces and the waiting time in the snow. But it was a little late to cancel. At the worst, I figured we’d have something to laugh about in our holiday letter -how stupid were we to zipline in the winter?
Turns out we had nothing to worry about. The skies were blue, and even with temperatures in the 30s, it could not have been a nicer (winter) day to be “flying.”
We arrived at the Zoom Zipline office at Mountain Creek’s Cobblestone Village (across the street from the Red Tail Lodge) at our starting time. Inside they had waivers to sign and the harnesses and helmets laid out. They helped us put them on and adjust them, going over a few rules.
ziplining harness and helmet? check. copyright deborah abrams kaplan
We headed over the pedestrian bridge to the right of the Cab Ride (the lift at the lodge base). The first zip line was a practice one, low to the ground and only 200 feet long. We learned about the correct flying position (seated in our harness, legs straight out, hands wherever you want them) and the landing position (knees pulled in to the chest, hands on the bar above) and we all had a turn. There were 13 of us, so it took awhile.
It’s been almost 2 years since the kids learned to ski at Vermont’s Smuggler’s Notch. We were worried they would forget everything. So we planned a day trip over the MLK holiday weekend to Shawnee Mountain in Pennsylvania, which was close enough for a day trip and offered plenty of beginner-friendly hills.
Shawnee’s Lodge
We were surprised how much the kids improved in that one day, and we were impressed with Shawnee.
We used Shawnee’s Quick Rental program to book the kids’ rental/lift ticket package online. It didn’t save us money, but it saved us time (and it was easier on the staff as well). It was a little confusing, but here’s what you do. Bring your booking form (print it out when you order) to the Guest Services office. They’ll give you the lift tickets (but only for those who are part of the package. My husband and I had our own skis and paid for tickets ahead of time – we had to get those at the ticket window). Continue reading “Review: Shawnee Mountain Ski Resort”
I’ve been wanting to check out Yotel for some time, and finally made it there when I went to a toy show. One of the nice women working in the information area agreed to take me to see some rooms. I didn’t realize how generous she was going to be, as she took me to a lot of rooms to give me a good idea of the various types they have. My kids were in heaven and wanted to stay there.
Yotel is at 10th Avenue and 42nd Street, an easy walk from Times Square (and Port Authority). The hotel is more economical than many, with rooms starting at $149 (in winter, for the smallest room for 2) and going up from there.
The front of Yotel, on 42nd and 10th. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Yotel is a very funky hotel with smaller than average rooms (think cruise ship), and they actually call them cabins. The space is well designed though, and you kind of forget about the size when you realize how much else it offers. Like great design! Yotel in NYC is the only actual freestanding hotel in its group – the other three are airport hotels at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and Amsterdam’s airport, where you can book by the hour without worrying feeling like you’re in a brothel.
Leave your luggage with YOBOT while you hit the town on your first or last day in town. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
We’ve long wanted to try Ninety Acres, a culinary center located in a restored carriage house. My in-laws came to visit, and offered to take us for our birthdays. Ninety Acres is part of the Natirar (Raritan spelled backwards) resort in Somerset County. They have a private club, event/meeting spaces, celebration spaces, a farm, a park…quite beautiful and refined.
The Ninety Acres building, a restored carriage house
Ninety Acres offers locally grown and sourced foods when possible, When you eat at Ninety Acres, you choose between a regular menu and the “Bring Me Food” (BMF) menu, which was the source of much confusion for our family. With BMF you will not get a menu at all (well I got one, but that’s because I was taking notes, and they felt bad for me. So they brought one but made me promise not to look at it until the end). Continue reading “Review: Ninety Acres – “Bring Me Food””
We’ve been the New York Aquarium a couple of times now, and we really like it. It’s on the Coney Island boardwalk, so you can go from the aquarium to the beach to the rides with no effort. They have the usual exhibits, like jellyfish, seahorses, sharks, fur seals, sea lions, walruses, sea otters, penguins, turtles, sting rays, a reef and shore area. They have 4-D movies (extra) and a sea lion show, plus special exhibits.
Fun facts:
President Theodore Roosevelt was the person who demonized the piranha, whose sharp teeth are legendary. He wrote about a school of piranhas attacking a bleeding cow while visiting the Amazon. In reality, the tour guide threw the cow in the water to make the trip seem more exciting, and the fish were starving and trapped. Continue reading “Review: New York Aquarium with Kids”
