‘Kid-friendly’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Visit: Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine {Ashland, PA}

August 28, 2020 · Narrative

A fun place to visit that is also educational is right up my alley. Let’s visit the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine in Ashland, Pennsylvania!

On a recent visit to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania (more on that coming soon), I was looking for fun things to do along the way home. I checked my favorite travel app, Roadside America, because it’s is a treasure trove of quirky things to do and see based on your current location, and that’s how I discovered the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine. Although we have visited coal mines for tours before (see Exhibit A), this one was a little different because you could take a ride through the coal mine in one of their coal buckets on a track. There is also a separate ticket you can buy for a ride on a steam locomotive train (we didn’t do that one because we got there too late to catch the last ride of the day).

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Visit: Laurelwood Arboretum, Wayne, New Jersey

May 18, 2020 · Narrative

A quiet little oasis tucked away in Wayne, New Jersey, let’s visit the Laurelwood Arboretum.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic hit, and we’ve been quarantined, I’ve made an effort to get my kids out of the house for an hour or two of family time in the fresh air and sunshine. While the rest of the time they have been largely sequestered at home, I feel the shot of fresh air and sunshine is much needed for positive mental health. They don’t necessarily agree, but they humor me and we compromise and stick to destinations that are within a twenty minute drive and largely isolated, to keep everyone safe.

And that’s how we ended up at the Laurelwood Arboretum. I am a sucker for a peaceful place where I can listen to the water trickle in a stream and take a slew of floral and fauna photos, so you know this checked all my boxes.

We found it easily, and pulled into the small parking lot. Since the state is still largely on lockdown, the Visitor’s Center is closed (along with the restrooms), so if you visit before things open up, keep that in mind.

We wandered aimlessly, following the trails in a large loop, and the place is such a meditative and reflective spot, I could have happily stayed for hours. It’s quiet, with little benches and bursts of flowers tucked in here and there, along with a few sculptures, and babbling streams. I stopped at every one, as my kids made fun of me, because trickling water or the sounds of the beach are legit my favorite sounds ever.

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Visit: Rizzo’s Wildlife World {Flanders, New Jersey}

January 11, 2020 · Narrative

Fun, mostly self-guided tour of a wildlife center, let’s visit Rizzo’s Wildlife World in Flanders!

I have a running list of things to do, see, eat, and visit on my phone, that way when we find ourselves with some free time and in the mood for adventuring, I have a ready list to consult and I’m not wasting time googling when we could be having fun. And that’s how we found ourselves at Rizzo’s Wildlife World a few weeks ago. My oldest was working, but my youngest was home with me and had a friend that had slept over, so I quickly scanned my list for things that they would enjoy but that her brother wouldn’t be too upset at missing. I gave the girls a couple options to choose from, and Rizzo’s was at the top of their list.

A short twenty-five minute drive from our house, it was easy to find with a huge parking lot. Ten dollar admission per person (over age 2), and we were off to explore on our own. They happened to have started a “show” a few minutes before we got there, so we quickly grabbed a seat to watch. I don’t think they do the shows on a set schedule, it seemed to be sort of as they had enough people there to form an audience, and the girls were so enthralled that we stayed for the first one and a little bit of the next one.

We were lucky enough that the owner was the Wildlife Educator and he is seriously hysterical, so much so that I had tears running down my face during a lot of it. He brought out different animals one by one, explained about their habits and characteristics, answered questions, and allowed the guests to touch most of them. The girls were FAR braver than I was and basically had a huge albino snake wrapped around them like it was nothing. I did TOUCH it, but I drew the line at anything else. I’ve never been a fan of snakes, and animals can pick up on your energy, so the last thing I want is a snake sensing my negative energy while it’s wrapped around my body. But the girls? They had a blast. I mean, how often do you have a snake on your lap or a lizard on your head?

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Visit: Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory {Niagara Falls, Canada}

August 1, 2019 · Narrative, Travel

“A quiet little oasis and the perfect spot to become one with nature and learn more about butterflies. Let’s visit the Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory!

Since this was our second time visiting Niagara Falls, as I was compiling my list of things to do, I concentrated on finding new things that we missed on our first go around, and this is how I discovered the Butterfly Conservatory. I’ll be the first to admit, my kids weren’t entirely interested in going and needed a bit of coaxing, but some things focus 100% on what they want to check out, and sometimes I get to choose. The fact that it was a wee bit like a sauna inside the conservatory probably didn’t help, but once we left, they both admitted they enjoyed it.

Alright, let’s get to it.

It was very easy to find, and really not far from the floral clock and the Centennial Lilac Garden. There was a reasonably sized parking lot that, although they had only opened an hour before we got there, was filling up fairly quickly. We stopped at the snack shop right outside the entrance and grabbed a few (overpriced) glass bottles of water (it was hot!), and made our way to the entrance. Admission is reasonably priced, between $13-15 for adults and $8 for kids under 13, and surprisingly about the same cost as our aero car adventure, and once inside, you are free to wander on a self-guided tour, which is pretty much our favorite was to explore.

There were literally hundreds of butterflies freely flying around the conservatory, and even landing on many guests. Maddie was desperate to have one land on her, and even proclaimed that she wasn’t leaving until one did. Sadly we gave up that objective after an hour of unsuccessful attempts. I did read this tip after we left > “Visitors are encouraged to wear bright clothes, wear perfume or cologne and move slowly if they wish to have butterflies land on them.” > so we might have to make one more visit for her to try again.

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Visit: Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia, PA}

June 24, 2019 · Narrative

Looking for a little day trip adventure and something a little different? Let’s visit the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia!

I have a running list on my phone to refer to any time we have a free afternoon, weekend, fill in the blank. I add to it as I find things. Some of the items on the list are free and local. Some are a bit of a drive. Just a hodge podge so that when we are looking for something to do, I have a list to refer to easily, instead of wasting time trying to find something to do. The Eastern State Penitentiary has been on the list for a few years, and we were finally able to cross it off. My kids and I like to do off-the-beaten path stuff, mixed in with straight up touristy stuff, and this certainly fit the bill.

I put the address in my Waze app and away we went. It was about an hour and a half drive for us, and very easy to find. There is an adjacent parking lot, with plenty of space. The admission to the Penitentiary is inexpensive, and you can save a few bucks if you purchase your tickets ahead of time online, like we did.

The prison was operational from 1829 through 1971, and it now operates as a charitable non-profit organization and is a National US Historic Landmark. It seriously oozes history around every corner. It was once the largest and most expensive prison in the United States and even housed many “celebrity” criminals, including Al Capone (his cell block is pictured below). This particular prison was said to be the model for 300+ prisons that were erected after it. Unlike many other prisons, each of the cells here had its own faucet and flush toilet, which was controlled remotely by the guards. The prison design changed a bit while it was being built because it became very overcrowded very quickly. The original design called for seven one-story cell blocks, but halfway through, it was already past capacity, and second floors started being added. In the early 1920s, there was even an actual dog sentenced to prison for allegedly the Pennsylvania Governor’s wife’s cat!

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Visit: Lambert Castle {Paterson, New Jersey}

July 24, 2018 · Narrative

A beautiful architectural structure tucked away in the hills of Paterson, let’s visit the Lambert Castle.

I have a running list of “fun things to do” on my phone, so when we’re looking for something to do, we don’t have to search very long. As if! The Lambert Castle in Paterson has been on my list for awhile, and when Nick and his friend were making their Summer Bucket List a few weeks ago, they put it on.

And now, we can finally cross it off!

We stopped in for a self-guided tour this past weekend, and it’s worth a visit. It’s in a quiet section of Paterson, and had I not known about it before, I doubt I would have discovered it on my own. It’s easy to find, has ample free parking, and beautiful views of New York City.

It’s very inexpensive to tour (adults are $5 and kids are $3), and I love that it’s self-guided, so we could go at our own pace. They have a three-page scavenger hunt available for kids, and that kept them engaged and looking around longer than they would have without it.

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Visit: Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Virginia {Spring Break 2018}

April 13, 2018 · Narrative

Making our way through the East Coast’s amusement parks one rip roarin’ ride at a time, let’s visit Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia!

Busch Gardens is one of my fond memories from childhood vacations. I have no idea how old I was when we went, but I don’t think my sister was born yet, so that would put me at 9 or younger. I distinctly remember Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg, and taking a visit to these destinations has been on my list for the past five years. It kept falling lower on the list because of the long six plus hour drive to get there, but this year, we finally got it done.

Interestingly enough, during our time in Virginia last week, we met a few other families that were actually there for the same reason. It was a vacation from their childhood that they wanted to share with their own kids.

Check and check.

Busch Gardens graciously comped me two admission tickets, which was quite generous given the entrance tickets for four years old and older are $90 a person! Eeek!

Unfortunately, while it was our Spring Break last week, it also appeared that everyone else was on Spring Break too! The traffic started about two miles before the highway exit for Busch Gardens. At first I just thought that it was late morning rush hour traffic. Unfortunately I was wrong. From that two mile mark to when we actually parked our car in the far-flung-Scotland parking lot, it was over an hour. It was so bad that the parking lot ticket agents were comping everyone’s parking, which was a nice savings of $20.

Given the weather was grey skies and a threat of rain and a cool fifty degrees, we weren’t expecting it to be as busy as it was, Spring Break or not. Apparently the employees thought the same because we heard several of them talking about the very unexpected 25,000 guests that were there that day!

Because we ended up actually entering the park so late, we actually stopped for food as soon as we got in. Probably not the best idea, because everyone else does the same. Busch Gardens is set up with different countries, and the first country is England. If we had walked a smidge farther, just into the next country, the wait for food probably wouldn’t have been quite so bad, but hindsight and all that being what it was, we stopped at the first place we saw.

Wanting to experience things, ahem, properly, because we were in England, I opted for the fish and chips, while my kids got chicken fingers, and salad. I actually ended up getting the kids meal for myself (pictures on the top left in the below photo), because it was three dollars cheaper and looked like plenty of food for lunch, and it was. The food was cooked to order, which was awesome in terms of freshness, but not so much in terms of the wait. It was about forty-five minutes before I had our tray with food, and luckily I stationed my kids outside on table duty since there are only a handful of tables to grab from to sit and eat. The pricing is akin to any other amusement park, lunch was around $34.

Once satiated we started scouring the nearby gift shops and rides. We actually ended up hopping on the train ride first, because it’s a good way to get a quick overview of the park and scope things out. It goes through four countries and makes a full circle, so you can either get off at a different country or take a round trip (we did the latter).

As a side note, we didn’t see any paper maps near the entrance, nor did the ticket staff hand us one when we went through, so we were kind of winging it through stumbling and finding things.

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Visit: Turkey Hill Experience {Columbia Pennsylvania}

January 25, 2018 · Narrative

Looking for something fun to do with your kids? Or maybe you just love ice cream? Let’s check out the Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia, Pennsylvania.

A visit to the Turkey Hill Experience has been on our bucket list seriously, like, forever. Every single time we’re in Pennsylvania, or going through it, I look up how far away we are from it, and it is always over two hours away. Pennsylvania is really deceiving. It’s big, wide, and everything is always in the opposite direction.

Not kidding.

But when we were meandering about Hershey last month, we actually found ourselves only about thirty minutes from Turkey Hill, and FINALLY, we were able to go and get it crossed off our list.

Located in downtown Columbia, the place was easy to find and, although the parking lot was fairly full when we arrived, we were able to find spaces up the hill a bit.

The layout when you walk in is a little … weird and counter-intuitive. Although there is a Guest Services desk right inside the door when you enter the building, you actually have to go upstairs to purchase the tour tickets. The downstairs registers are strictly for gift shop purchases.

Once upstairs, there are a few different options to choose from, between the self-guided tour and a few tastings. Because of the timing of the tastings, and because we were heading back on the road home right after this stop, we opted for just the tour, and paid our admission (they give discounts for AAA, btw).

There were a lot of guests milling around, and some kids racing around, and it was generally happy chaos. You can meander on your own from room to room, learning about Turkey Hill and their product line. Some rooms are filled with placards of information about the company, some have interactive displays, and there are a few tasting areas, one with their iced teas, and one with a variety of ice creams. No limit on how many items you taste, and the ice cream tastings are very generously portioned (which means we all actually stopped after trying one flavor!). There were several new flavors that day that I haven’t heard of!

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Review: Delaware’s Big Fish Grill {Wilmington, DE}

October 18, 2017 · Narrative

Looking for casual dining in Delaware? Let’s visit Delaware’s Big Fish Grill in Wilmington.

Although we only planned to visit Delaware for a whirlwind day trip in August, I wanted to make sure to squeeze in a meal at a local restaurant, and my requirements were simple. I wanted the place to be on the water (or at least super close to it) and to have seafood on the menu.

I did a quick search on a few different sites, scanned some reviews, and found Delaware’s Big Fish Grill. It was only a few miles away from the DuPont Environmental Center that we had visited, which was perfect because we arrived for lunch a little after 3 pm and our crew was STARVING.

The restaurant was very easy to find, and it has an ample parking lot. Because I had pored over the menu already at home, I knew exactly what I wanted to order.

The Chesapeake Bay Fried Oyster Sandwich.

The kids settled into our booth, and figured out what they wanted and our waitress came over.

Which is exactly when we found out that the lunch menu selections stop being available at 3 pm (it was currently 3:10 pm). It doesn’t note it on the menu or on their web site, and had I not already scoped out the menu, I might not have even noticed the differences between what I had seen online and the menu the waitress had handed us. The lunch and dinner menus are reasonably similar, except there are less sandwich options on the dinner version, and, most notably, no fried oyster sandwich.

She offered to get the manager for me, and he came over. I explained that the hours for the lunch menu weren’t noted online (and 3 seems awfully early to think about dinner), and it was only ten minutes past 3 … could he help us out and rustle up some fried oysters? He was completely amenable and agreed right away.

The kids menu has a good variety, is reasonably priced and, perhaps just as important, it had non-seafood selections for my fish haters.

While we were waiting for our food, the kids kept busy with the puzzles on the placemat and checking out the decor. It’s a pretty large restaurant and bright and airy, with a full bar and music playing in the background

Our food arrived within about twenty minutes or so, which gave the kids exactly enough time to visit the nearby restroom some 23 times.

My sandwich came with a choice of a side item, and I went with Neva’s Potatoes. I honestly didn’t even ask what they were; I just saw potatoes and was looking for something different. The next day, a friend up the street told me she dreams about those potatoes, so I clearly made the right call. They were kind of like a mashed potato casserole with a slightly crispy topping. So good, and my mouth is totally watering now just thinking about them again. Apparently the Neva’s Potatoes are a pretty hot item – just look at what a quick google search turns up (and now I’ve added “make a copycat recipe” to my list of things to do).

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Visit: Lakota Wolf Preserve {Columbia, New Jersey}

September 17, 2017 · Narrative

Looking for something unique to do for an afternoon of adventuring? A visit to the Lakota Wolf Preserve might be just the thing.

Surprisingly enough, visiting the Lakota Wolf Preserve has been on my list of “things to do” since at least 2013.

Or that’s the last time I have documented it.

Isn’t that always the way with things that are near you? You tend to keep putting them off, because it’s reasonably convenient to get to, and you take it for granted.

Well this is the year we finally crossed it off our list!

Summer was starting to wind down, yet we weren’t quite ready to give up on our quest for fun, and finally decided to go visit the preserve. Like, enough already, just DO IT.

The Lakota Wolf Preserve is located in Columbia, New Jersey, kind of in the middle of nowhere (so plan gas needs and bathroom stops accordingly), but it’s actually only about forty-five minutes from us. They run guided tours twice a day, at 10 am and 4 pm, and you need to make reservations ahead of time to go on a tour; you are also required to arrive thirty minutes before your tour starts.

On our way there, to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure I was in the right area. It looked like a residential area, and then, all of the sudden, we saw the sign and pulled into the lot.

We had to give our license plate number to the office staffer when we signed in, and then waited a few minutes to catch a shuttle bus to the main area where the wolves are kept. You can walk there, but it’s a bit of a hike through a twisty roadway through a campground that the preserve shares space with and … well … I just wasn’t sure I wouldn’t get lost along the way.

They have two older, slightly rickety shuttle buses to bring visitors up to the wolf den area, and once everyone is there, the owners start their tour.

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Visit: Jets Training Camp

August 8, 2017 · Narrative

A super fun, completely free summer activity that will wow both kids and adults alike … let’s go to the Jets Training Camp!

With the exception of two weeks this summer, there is no structured camp for my kids this year (much like last year). Nick is too old and has his first job, and Madeline honestly just wasn’t into it. Luckily since I am self-employed, I can make this work, but it’s a bit of a challenge to 1) plan activities so she still has a fun summer and 2) plan activity-free time so I can still work.

This is our second summer doing this, and it’s working. I make sure to have a good mix of free and inexpensive activities augmented by an occasional day trip, and lots of downtime for the kids so I can do what I need to do for my clients.

Paying a visit to the Jets Training Camp was a definite highlight for all of us last week. I mean … how often do you get this close to an NFL football team … for free?

I KNOW!

Although this isn’t the first year that the public has been able to get tickets for their training camp, it’s the first year that we’ve gone, so I had no idea what to expect.

Their training officially starts at 1:50 pm, but you can get there up to two hours earlier to take advantage of some of the fun beforehand.

We pulled into the big open grassy field, following the direction of the parking attendants, and hopped a ride onto the constantly running shuttle buses, which took us to the stadium entrance. Once there, we had our tickets scanned (you HAVE TO bring your paper tickets, they will not accept them from your mobile device), and they offered to trade them in for more official looking green and white tickets, which makes for a nice souvenir.

Once we were in, we wandered around a small area that was set up with fun things to do. A few football-themed inflatables, a photo booth with a DJ, and a chance to meet a few of their cheerleaders and get autographs and pose for pictures with them. Once you’re done in this area and ready to go to your seats, you can hop a ride on a golf cart and they let you off right at the bleachers.

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Visit: Brandywine Zoo {Wilmington, Delaware}

August 3, 2017 · Narrative

If a zoo could be described as cute and cheerful, the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, Delaware would totally fit the bill.

Delaware has always been one of those states that we drive through on our way to get somewhere else. A blink-and-you miss it, quick passage on our journey elsewhere, for some reason, we’ve never made Delaware our actual destination.

Until this past weekend.

After getting a small work obligation out of the way, we grabbed breakfast and hit the road. A mere two and a quarter hours later, we had arrived. Really, there are parts of our OWN state that take longer to get to than crossing the Delaware border does!

When I was planning out our day’s activities, I focused largely on the Wilmington area, and the Brandywine Zoo was one of the places that kept popping up. And if you’re a regular reader here, you know how much my kids love a good zoo visit.

Although the zoo itself was very easy to find, once we were in the parking lot (free parking btw), I found it a bit of a challenge to find the actual entrance to the zoo. There are a few signs, and they’re a bit small, and I swear we walked around in circles for a few minutes before we ended up going in the right direction.

The admission prices are super reasonable … $7 for adults and $5 for kids (and even cheaper from October through April, and actually free from December through February because you won’t see as many animals). Once we paid, the staffer gave us a map and away we went.

The first exhibit was a condor, a crazy large bird that I don’t think I’ve seen before. There was an employee right in front of the exhibit that gave us a quick run-down on the bird’s background and had a few feathers for us to touch (so soft!).

As we wandered around the zoo, employees were nearly around every turn, and quick to answer any questions the kids had, which was awesome.

You can walk right into the goat exhibit and mingle and pet them freely, which I loved, and that’s where Madeline took her “goat selfie” from this weekend’s photo round up – love it!

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