traveling to New Jersey/New York City/Philadelphia

[EmilyGF]

Hi all,

 

We're going to be staying in central NJ for a week in March and I want to plan some things to do with my kids (ages 2 to 13). FWIW, we're studying the time period 1700-1800 this year, so it fits in really well with our history studies.

 

Ideas so far:

- a day in NYC, going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wall Street, an ethnic restaurant possibly.

- Valley Forge (?)

- where Washington crossed the Delaware and another battlefield or two (we'll be staying close to one)

- Philadelphia for Liberty Bell, where the Constitutional Convention met, and cheesesteaks

 

Suggestions? We'll have five full days and the use of a car, though we'll be near a train line that we can take to NYC.

 

Thanks,

Emily

[Wheres Toto]

If you want something besides history:

 

Insectropolis is a bug museum in Toms River.  It's lots of fun.

In the city there's also the Museum of Mathematics and Museum of Natural History - their planetarium shows are great.

There's a big aquarium in Camden.

 

Back to History: 

 

There's a canal boat museum in Easton PA (just over the border).

 

If you head up to Morris County for a day, there's Washington's Headquarters and Jockey Hollow (winter encampment), the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts, Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, and a few others. 

 

Valley Forge does homeschool days but I think there in April.  They do weekend programs in March where the kids can experience the life of a soldier.

[GoodGrief]

There is some interesting early American history around the Princeton University campus, including the first "White House". Princeton was site of one of the first capitals: http://www.firstcapitalprinceton.com/. The Albert Einstein house is there too, and Grounds for Sculpture is worth checking out. Lots of space for the 2 year old to run at Grounds for Sculpture :-)

 

You may end up wanting more than one day in NYC though!!

Edited February 10, 2018 by GoodGrief

[Catwoman]

How about the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA?

 

http://www.crayolaexperience.com/easton

[marbel]

Washington's Crossing is beautiful and definitely worth a visit.  (the PA side anyway; I've never been to the NJ side.)

 

The National Constitution Center is really great.  We, and most others we've taken there, concluded that the Liberty Bell was not worth the long wait to view it.  

 

The Canal Museum in Easton (mentioned above) is great too.  We never made it to the Crayola Factory.

 

The new (-ish?) Museum of the American Revolution in Philly is supposed to be very good; I've never been but the people who've told me about it are reliable for that sort of thing. :-)

 

If you take the train into Philly, near Jefferson Station is the Reading Terminal Market. It is full of food stands and little shops.  It can be very crowded, and sometimes seating is at a premium. One of my kids loves it, and one hates it.  :-)   I think it's a fun lunch place if you don't mind crowds and very casual seating.  There is a wide variety of choices available, so it helps if one or more kids can go get food alone, and/or hold a table.   (It's like a very large food court, with a central seating/table area.)  

[dsmith]

Not history related, but Liberty Science Center was fun but at times overwhelming when ds was younger:

 

https://lsc.org/

 

 

He loved Adventure Aquarium. This is a little expensive, though. Just don't get lost!!

 

https://www.adventureaquarium.com/

 

 

I believe Battleship NJ is right near the Aquarium, but we've never been.

https://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/

 

 

If you have a day with nice weather I highly recommend the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. We found it on one of our trips while looking for a Starbucks and decided to stop in. The Army Heritage Trail is really cool! We loved the WWI trenches.

 

https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu/visit.cfm

 

 

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty would be good too. I'm ashamed to say I haven't been yet! It's on my list every year and it never seems to happen. There's also Washington's headquarters in Morristown, NJ, another place I haven't been yet. There are a few other places to see in the area. 

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60906-Activities-Morristown_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html

 

 

[Laurie4b]

The Ben Franklin Museum was one of the most interesting things we visited when we were in Phila. They have a lot of his inventions on display. IIRC it's in one of his houses. 

 

Valley Forge is basically a huge, grassy park with rolling hills. There are a few of the bunk houses that the soldiers slept in. I think they probably have a visitor's center with the typical video presentation. It's a nice place if you want a picnic (probably not in March in that area). 

 

For non-history, the Phila.Art Museum is nice. (It featured in the movie Rocky if that is interesting at all!) 

Edited February 10, 2018 by Laurie4b

[madteaparty]

NYC: The Met is huge; I’d game-plan which exhibits before hand. Kids may like the arms and armour one.

If the timing works, see if you can catch a show at the New Victory theatre. This way you can get Times Square out of the way as well (about the only thing I’d suffer walking through that for).

Lastly, I’d skip Wall Street. Just herds of tourists(and annoyed people trying to get to work ;)) and the bull statue which is underwhelming.

For older kids I recommend Tenement Museum,but it is a bit $ and may require booking ahead of time.

Oh and the Met is still pay what you want...

Edited February 10, 2018 by madteaparty

[marbel]

My kids found Valley Forge to be dull. There is a visitor's center, but mostly, as Laurie4b said, rolling hills.  Lots of monuments... it's nice for hiking.  We always picked up ticks when we went in summer, so my daughter refuses to go back.  (March should be OK for that?)

 

I second the US Army Heritage and Education center, on behalf of my husband and military-history loving son.  My daughter and I did not go.

 

Philly Art Museum is really wonderful, worth a visit if your kids like that sort of thing at all.  My son used to spend hours in the armor room.  We had a membership for a year and went frequently, but did not tire of it.  

[Wheres Toto]

The post about Ben Franklin museum reminded me I actually had a blogpost from when we went to Philly and to the Valley Forge homeschool days. 

http://dottiesuniverse.blogspot.com/2016/05/wrapping-up-revolution.html

 

 

[Lori D.]

We did a big east-coast trip when DSs were in high school. Valley Forge was cool for us (older ages of students), but a big part of that was because a George Washington re-enactor was at the house that Washington stayed at, and we got to talk with him for over half an hour (we were there "off-season" in mid-Oct), and got a lot of cool info "in the voice" of Washington. Kids that are under 12 will likely be done very quickly with it. ;) Here's the National Park website for Valley Forge -- you might download the Jr. Ranger booklet for your kids to complete during your visit. It looks like March is too early in the season for any of the kids' programs.

 

 

We are from a very inland state, so the coast was cool to us, and we visited the Barnegat Lighthouse (you can walk all the way up to the top!) on our trip. I'd only suggest doing it if you won't be too far from it AND if a lighthouse would be a novelty to your family. It only took us an hour or so. After visiting the lighthouse, we drove on down to Cape May and rode the ferry across to Lewes -- again, interesting for us because boats and oceans are not in our everyday sphere ;) , and because we then headed to Washington D.C. (due west of Lewes) for sightseeing.

 

 

Copy-pasting my response from this past thread, which has other great ideas for Philadelphia: Educational field trip to Philadelphia -- any suggestions?

 

We all LOVED the Franklin Institute -- it is one terrific science museum. AND, at least when we were there (10 years back), if you are a member of any sort of homeschool group and have a card to prove it, you can get an educator's discount (for just you). Don't know how fast your family takes in a museum, but I'd suggest at LEAST 1/2 to 2/3rd of a day -- make this the only event of the day, due to all the walking around.

 

We also enjoyed:

- Philadelphia Mint ** (where they make our money!) -- FREE

- Liberty Bell -- FREE

- Independence Hall -- FREE (probably not too exciting for young ones)

- Arch Street Meeting House -- FREE (probably not too exciting for young ones)

- Betsy Ross house (NOT free -- and need to get TIMED advance tickets)

- Ben Franklin's grave (NOT free) -- although, you can see his grave through the fence and toss a penny on it

 

NOTE: NO bags, purses, packs, or cameras allowed in the Mint, so half your group goes through with one parent, while the other parent hangs onto everyone's stuff and takes the rest of the group through sites nearby, and then after 45-60 minutes, meet out front and switch.

 

This list of sites are all close together --  within about 3-4 blocks. We got through most of these in a half day (3-ish hours), as it is walking distance between sites. For this day, we parked at some meters about 1/2 mile away and fed them enough coins for 4 hours, and then walked, with a lunch bag, and ate in the park area around Independence Hall.

 

And, for dinner we had authentic Philly Cheesesteak.

 

 

We did not get to go to New York City, but just after crossing over into NJ, we stopped at Liberty State Park.  got to see the *back* of the Statue of Liberty from the shore. There is a boat tour over to the island and of the statue if you wanted to take a day to visit the Statue of Liberty. (I believe access is from the NY side.)

 

Also, just south of the NY/NJ border is Rut's Hut, home of the "ripper" hot dog (skin rips because it is hot oil fried), and we stopped there for lunch because DH had seen a segment on the restaurant on one of the Food Shows on cable.  :laugh: So, more "famous food" if you're interested. ;)

 

Have fun!

 

 

ETA -- PS

Forgot -- we didn't have time to get to it, but there is the Thomas Edison National Park (his house and lab) and the Thomas Edison Center/Menlo Park Museum in NJ!

Edited February 10, 2018 by Lori D.

[Wheres Toto]

If you want to see a lighthouse and more history, check out the Gateway National Recreation Area/Sandy Hook.  

It's a great place to go beachcombing for sea glass if you go at the right time of day.

 

[Catwoman]

I’m going to be the lone detractor and suggest that if your time in NYC is limited, instead of an art museum, I would go to the Museum of Natural History. It’s a great place for the entire family, from the youngest kids to the adults. :)

[Laurie4b]

My kids found Valley Forge to be dull. There is a visitor's center, but mostly, as Laurie4b said, rolling hills.  Lots of monuments... it's nice for hiking.  We always picked up ticks when we went in summer, so my daughter refuses to go back.  (March should be OK for that?)

 

I second the US Army Heritage and Education center, on behalf of my husband and military-history loving son.  My daughter and I did not go.

 

Philly Art Museum is really wonderful, worth a visit if your kids like that sort of thing at all.  My son used to spend hours in the armor room.  We had a membership for a year and went frequently, but did not tire of it.  

 

Though not as numerous as in summer, ticks are found year round in that area of PA.

 

Additionally, it is an area where Lyme's disease is very widespread, so be sure to use a repellant and if anyone gets a tick bite, local physicians just write a script for an antibiotic immediately. They don't even test first. Better to nip it in the bud. 

[3 ladybugs]

What about Princeton Battlefield, Nassau Hall (site of a continental congress) and that area? It isn't really worth a whole day but I could see doing Washington Crossing Park (the museum in NJ doesn't take long to get through) then going over there. Personally I just love walking through the university. It is beautiful! 

 

This might help you. http://www.revolutionarywarnewjersey.com/new_jersey_revolutionary_war_sites/towns/trenton_nj_revolutionary_war_sites.htm This is seriously in my back yard and I have never done it. Makes me look forward to summer when we can do it. :) I like the trail with the obelisks. :D

[EmilyGF]

Wow, this is great! Thanks for the links. I'll look into them this evening. :-)

 

I think we're going to be in NYC at the beginning of the week and the end of the week (my memory of NYC is that it is *exhausting* and I can see needing two days and not having them back to back). 

I hadn't thought of the Museum of Natural History. Would it still make sense to go there if we've been to Chicago's Field Museum and Planetarium 10+ times?

 

I hadn't thought of the Mint. How cool is that? But we'll only have one adult (DH will be working all week) so that might not work out.

 

Oooh, I'll have to look into Battleship New Jersey. We went to an aircraft carrier in San Diego in January 2015 and the kids still talk about it - even the one who had just turned 3 at the time.

We're staying in Princeton so we'll definitely hit the P-ton locations. :-)

 

Thanks! Emily

[Wheres Toto]

I just saw that the Morristown National Historical Park just opened a Discovery History Center - https://www.nps.gov/morr/learn/news/index.htm

 

Sounds pretty neat - lots of hands-on exhibits.

[hellen]

Starting March 1, the Met will charge admission. None of my kids like art enough to recommend it as their top pick. All 3 kids said you should see a Broadway show. They also recommend Central Park. My oldest said to find some good food. If you're not doing the Statue of Liberty, then I would recommend the free Staten Island Ferry for a good view.

 

The Statue of Liberty requires advance reservations. We went recently and it took longer than expected to tour everything. Ellis Island was really interesting. We caught the first ferry and made it back around 2. We didn't exhaust Ellis Island.

[EmilyGF]

Starting March 1, the Met will charge admission. None of my kids like art enough to recommend it as their top pick. All 3 kids said you should see a Broadway show. They also recommend Central Park. My oldest said to find some good food. If you're not doing the Statue of Liberty, then I would recommend the free Staten Island Ferry for a good view.

 

The Statue of Liberty requires advance reservations. We went recently and it took longer than expected to tour everything. Ellis Island was really interesting. We caught the first ferry and made it back around 2. We didn't exhaust Ellis Island.

Thanks for the heads up! I think we may go anyways, as children under 12 are still free so the cost wound't be that high for our family.

 

We have absolutely no desire to see a Broadway show. Not our sort of thing.

 

Interesting about Ellis Island. I think that's why I never went when I lived in the area. I thought it would take too long!

 

Emily