‘Things to Do’ 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: 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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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: Luna Parc

July 27, 2017 · Narrative

A quirky, eccentric, amazing place that you should visit at least once. Let’s check out Luna Parc.

Writing about this place gets over 100 photos off my phone – phew! Luna Parc is the private residence of artist Ricky Boscarino, and he opens it up for public tours just two times a year. I’ve seen it written about in various magazines, and it’s been on my “things to do” list forever, and I finally visited this year. I had really hoped to visit with my kids, but it was only open until 4 pm on three school days, so it wasn’t really conducive to taking them (and that may be the point of the day and hours it’s open), but hopefully I’ll be able to go back with them.

Just a $5 donation gets you entry into the weird and wonderful world of this artist. You get a brief overview from a docent before you tour the interior of the home, and, other than that, it is a self-guided tour. The project started in 1989 when Ricky found a home that was private and that was a place where he could use his artistic creativity to slowly transform the property. Originally a hunting lodge that had been vacant for ten years before he bought it, this is what it looked like when he purchased it:

It’s changed just a tad. ;)

*if this reading nook was in my home, I would never see my nine-year-old

While Ricky is still the main artist that is constantly adding, moving, improving, and tweaking his residence, there are several artists in residence as well. Situated on five acres of remote property, there is plenty of room to create. Ricky has said that he plans to live there until he dies, and haunt the property after he’s gone.

Photos won’t do this place justice, because it’s one of those things that you really have to visit to appreciate, and as it’s continuing to evolve, there will be something new around every corner if you choose to come back regularly.

Whether he’s using traditional artist mediums like paint and canvas, or recycled materials like yardsticks, old Mrs Butterworth syrup bottles, or bowling balls, it truly is a sight to behold. Broken rubber bands became a small sculpture inside the home, and those plastic tags that seal loaves of bread closed are in tall vases. I noticed things my friend didn’t, and vice versa – there is no way you can take it all in.

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Visit: Cold Hollow Cider Mill {Waterbury, Vermont}

January 27, 2016 · Travel

A cute not-so-little mill and general store, the Cold Hollow Cider Mill is a must-stop if you happen to find yourself in Waterbury, Vermont.

On our Spring Break road trip to Vermont last year, I kept our schedule a nice balance between planned and wing it. Which means I scouted out a bunch of stops that I thought we should hit (both fun or history-based), and left time in our schedule to stumble upon places to stop on our own.

Because that’s the beauty of road trips … sometimes you just go where the wind takes you.

The day that we discovered Cold Hollow Cider Mill was easily our favorite day in Vermont. We were staying at a really nice, centrally located hotel with an indoor swimming pool and restaurant (two perks we routinely look for), and all of our stops were in the same general area, which was awesome.

As we were heading to the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory Tour, we passed by the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and made a mental note to stop in on our way back.

A cute little place with a parking lot set back from the road, we visited soon after it opened and had the place to ourselves. The smell of apples … cider, pies, you name it … hits you as soon as you near the front door, so we knew we were in for a treat. As soon as we walked in, we noticed the bakery window to the right, where we could watch the staff making fresh apple pies and dumplings.

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Visit: Jockey Hollow {Morristown, New Jersey}

January 11, 2016 · Narrative

On the same day that we visited Washington’s Headquarters, we also took a short drive to check out Jockey Hollow. Although we’ve lived within half an hour of Jockey Hollow forever, it was our first visit. In case you’re not familiar with Jockey Hollow, it’s the place where Washington’s army was encamped for about six months, from December 1779 through the following summer. After a quick stop into the Visitor’s Center for a map and information from the Ranger, we took off to visit the cabins. You can park at the Visitor’s Center and walk to the cabins, but it’s a little over a mile one way, and it was quite hot the day we visited and we were totally NOT feeling it.

So we drove down the trail and parked.

Once there, we walked up the large hill to where Ranger Thomas Winslow was holding court and checked out the cabins. They are, of course, recreations of the dwellings that the soldiers slept in while they were there. At its height, there were over 1000 huts and each slept 12. There were also a few separate cabins that slept four, and they were reserved for the men that were higher up in the Army’s rankings.

Over 100,000 men on the fields that we stood on.

Amazing. And so hard to visualize.

Ranger Winslow was a huge font of information; he was our favorite part of our whole visit.

He emptied out his bag and showed us some traditional items the soldiers had at encampment (some replicas, and a few original pieces), and then he gave us a lesson on how to load the rifle, which was awesome. I especially loved hearing about all the tidbits he shared about food … what they ate (or, unfortunately, didn’t eat as the case may be), cooked, and how their day-to-day was. The army rationed that each soldier was supposed to get a pound of beef and a pound of bread every day, but Ranger Winslow said that that literally never happened, and there were even a few instances where soldiers were moved to cook up their shoes and eat the leather just to survive.

Seeing the primitive living arrangements was a real eye-opener, both for me, and for my kids. Especially knowing how harsh New Jersey winters can be.

If you happen to be in the area, or even a slight drive away, it’s worth a visit (be sure to check their operating schedule – they will reopen for the season on President’s Day weekend). It’s a gorgeous area to visit and makes for a wonderful history lesson. In the warmer months, it makes a great destination for a good hike, a picnic lunch, and we even spotted people playing Frisbee on the fields when we were there. The entrance fee is just $7, but there are many times during the year when you can visit for free (listed here), as we did, including the upcoming President’s Day weekend.

Jockey Hollow Visitor Center
580 Tempe Wick Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
973-543-4030

Hungry for more to do in New Jersey?
I’ve got all my New Jersey activity posts in this dedicated Pinterest board.

Visit: Washington’s Headquarters Museum & Ford Mansion {Morristown, New Jersey}

October 7, 2015 · Narrative

A few weeks ago, it was National Public Lands Day, which means free admission to our nation’s national parks. I did a quick search to find out what was in the area. One is the Thomas Edison museum and estate. A beautiful property that we have visited before and definitely worth a stop if you haven’t been. Another national park in New Jersey is both Washington’s Headquarters & Ford Mansion, along with Jockey Hollow, in the Morristown area. Although I have lived in the area for a million years, I have never visited and was clearly long overdue.

It was a gorgeous day to be outside, so after Madeline finished cheering at a football game, we jumped in the car and headed on over to Washington’s Headquarters. It’s super simple to find and convenient from Route 287. There is a small (free) parking lot right near the main building, and that’s where we started our afternoon.

There are some exhibits set up in the main building (above photo), along with a small gift shop, and that’s also where you check in and sign up for the tour. There are many guided tours throughout the day (you can find a more specific schedule here), and we were lucky enough to walk in just before the next tour started.

Our guide, or “Ranger,” as they are called was Thomas, and he was quite awesome. He knew the history of the place backwards and forwards and was quick as a whip in answering our group’s questions. He even offered to pose for selfies at the end, which I thought was equal parts endearing and hysterical given he was likely in his late 60s and not part of the nonsensical selfie generation.

This property was important because it was the scene of the winter encampment of George Washington and his troops during 1779-1780. Mrs. Ford lived in the mansion on the property (photo below) with her children (her husband had already died in the war), when members of the army knocked on her door and asked if the General and his troops could stay there. She, of course, agreed, and with the General came all his high-ranking officials, their staff, their servants … even all their horses. It was quite an imposition, to say the least, although an honor as well, and they were camped out in her home for six months. Martha Washington even came for several months as well during the holidays!

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