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Hello, NJ parents! I'm driving with my three kids, ages 7-14, boy-girl-boy, from Hartford CT to Baltimore, MD and back for a family celebration soon, during the day on a Friday. Need some suggestions for something to do for a couple of hours along the way to break up the drive, free or not too expensive. The weather will be in the 50's that day, so outdoors is fine. I'm not sure that I want to go into the city (NY) because of traffic and parking. Neither do I really want to drive into Philly, because of distance from the highway (I imagine I'll be taking the NJT, although I'm open to suggestions of other routes). Any ideas?
You can easily make I-95, the REAL I-95 that goes through Philadelphia a part of your trip. Doing that you also skip 1/2 the turnpike tolls and the Del Mem Br tolls. Let me know if you want directions. It's fairly easy and direct.
Swing through Princeton and then continue down the 'real' 95. Princeton has a nice downtown area with stores and restaurants -- if your kids (or you) like music, stop into the Princeton Record Exchange (Sell Used CDs & DVDs at 1 of Largest Music CD Stores, Record Stores) for tons of used cd's, dvd's, and lp's. The college is right there too.
Age 7-14? Maybe just stop for lunch somewhere. There is a Rain Forest Cafe in Edison at Menlo Park Mall. Then you could walk around the mall for a bit if you want.
You can easily make I-95, the REAL I-95 that goes through Philadelphia a part of your trip. Doing that you also skip 1/2 the turnpike tolls and the Del Mem Br tolls. Let me know if you want directions. It's fairly easy and direct.
I've made the trip between Southern Vermont and Baltimore many times using this route. Saves good money on tolls, avoids NYC and is generally less crowded and stressful IMHO.
Princeton NJ might be a good place along this route to stop with the kids. It's the only stretch of the trip on which you're on non-interstate roads, so it would be where I choose to pull over for a time.
I would stop in Jersey City at the Liberty Science Center. It's pretty cheap, pretty cool and it's right on the way/just off the freeway. It's also about 2.5 hours into the trip and just past all that 95/NYC traffic you'll probably hit. from 95 just take 78 east for 5 minutes and its right there. There is definitely enough there to keep both kids(and you) occupied for at least 2 hours, you could spend 2 days there. What the heck kind of 7 year old is going to find Princeton NJ cool? kids need to be entertained I highly recommend it.
I've made the trip between Southern Vermont and Baltimore many times using this route. Saves good money on tolls, avoids NYC and is generally less crowded and stressful IMHO.
Princeton NJ might be a good place along this route to stop with the kids. It's the only stretch of the trip on which you're on non-interstate roads, so it would be where I choose to pull over for a time.
Captne76 is this your route?
Almost but not quite. Actually I was thinking of taking the NJ YankMyCrank (what I call the TurnPike) down to I-195 West, then NJ 29 to either US1 or the Alt US1 one block away which has a free bridge, then cross the Del River to PA and US1 Freeway takes you direct to I-95 about 10 minutes down near Langhorne.
As far as your route, I commuted that way years ago but did not take US206, instead I took a different road that follows a canal & river that has virtually no traffic and very few lights. You might then get back on 206 for a short piece in Princeton, then instead of staying on 206 I would take Princeton Pike to I-95.
As far as stopovers, New Hope PA is a good place to go, its a touristy village along the river, crowded on weekends. There is also a Sesame Place place for kids at the junction of US1 and I-95 around Langhorne, PA but I imagine that's more of an all day destination where you'd pay to get in and stay for a while. Don't even know if it's open in the winter, you'ld have to check their info.
All depends what you want to do. Could even go see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, etc in Philly or for a short uncrowded stopover go to Washington's Crossing Park in PA where there is a large park & museum. That is usually uncrowded and lots of adjacent parkland to run around on. It's maybe 7 miles N of I-95 along the Del Riv and you can put it on your shortcut.
Now that I'm thinking about it, Washington's Crossing Park, which is both in NJ and PA on both sides of the river would work best in my opinion. There is a museum on the PA side and a few small deli's and a pizzeria nearby and probably wouldn't cost ou anything the go through the museum and run around the park. Also it's rural/suburban in setting and no problems parking, crowds, etc.
Age 7-14? Maybe just stop for lunch somewhere. There is a Rain Forest Cafe in Edison at Menlo Park Mall. Then you could walk around the mall for a bit if you want.
The food at Rain Forest is god awful. This coming from my daughter when she was about 7 and I agreed.
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