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I lived in Philly for a year and it's my favorite city by far. Magical is a good word for it. It has a cool, working class vibe that's very unique.
I once slept at the Philadelphia Zoo. It had the first zoo charter in the USA, but because of the Civil War, it held off opening and the Bronx Zoo opened first.
It was a Girl Scout trip. I was a leader and all the troops in the Girl Scouts went. It's cool walking through at night and weird waking up in a zoo just as it's getting light, and it was hot so I was sleeping outside on the grass. Strange noises.
2-3 days in Philly? That seems like an awful lot. The only touristy attractions in Philly are the Liberty Bell and the art museum (for the sole purpose of taking the obligatory picture with Rocky and running up the steps), and maybe the Franklin Institute. This can all be easily accomplished in 1 day.
Better than trying to shuffle 15 people through 4 major destinations in 3 states (plus DC) in 6 days. lol
It's a very ambitious list of things they want to do. They need to cut it in half imo, no matter how they spend it. But everyone has their own preferences, they may not mind getting only the super touristy things done in a day then leaving.
2-3 days in Philly? That seems like an awful lot. The only touristy attractions in Philly are the Liberty Bell and the art museum (for the sole purpose of taking the obligatory picture with Rocky and running up the steps), and maybe the Franklin Institute. This can all be easily accomplished in 1 day.
You literally have no idea what's going on in Philadelphia. Lol
One of the greatest art collections in the world is near the PMA but not part of it. Obviously you don't know what that is.
One of the greatest art collections in the world is near the PMA but not part of it. Obviously you don't know what that is.
You're right. Believe it or not, not everyone is interested in art...
Every summer I used to take a vacation with 10 of my closest friends, all over the US. Not once did we ever feel inclined to go to an art museum at any of our destinations. None of us are interested. I'm not sure what it is, but I always get a sense of arrogance from people that like art.
Better than trying to shuffle 15 people through 4 major destinations in 3 states (plus DC) in 6 days. lol
It's a very ambitious list of things they want to do. They need to cut it in half imo, no matter how they spend it. But everyone has their own preferences, they may not mind getting only the super touristy things done in a day then leaving.
It is a quite ambitious trip. More than likely we won’t make it to D.C. It was on a list of possible things to do tho. However I do think if we stay on the shore and do a couple days in NYC and 1 in Philadelphia we will get to see a lot. Gonna go to a theme park one day as well so that leaves us 2 to 3 days to play with on the shore or whatever else we can find. Keep in mind once we get back to our home base it is likely some of us will want to go out at night or experience the shore so being close to there would be good. I understand there is a lot to do.
I underestimated how far Ocean City was from NYC and did not realize it until you said it would be easier to get to Philly. I had to go back and see where on the shore OC was exactly. Jersey being one of the smaller states I did not think it would that far of a distance or I guess didn’t realize how far south OC was.
But I don’t believe we will want to unload and load back up every 2 days just to see an area. I would rather attempt the commute. I’ve driven in LA plenty of times so I don’t think traffic will scare me too much. Just have to hit the road early. But it sounds like I could be underestimating that too.
I grew up in NJ and I agree with some of the comments and disagree with others.
First, June is just the beginning of beach time in NJ - the water is still freezing cold and the beaches aren't officially open until Memorial Day with many local boardwalk stands not open during the week until later in the season.
Theme park - 6 Flags in Jackson but it's a theme park, not unlike many others.
Atlantic City - I love it and miss it since moving to TN. We used to go every month, sometimes more often. Stick to the boardwalk and 1 street over and you won't have problems. One of our favorite things to do was to walk the boardwalk late at night. There are cops that ride bikes as well as drive cars on the boardwalk itself. One Christmas season we were out late and 2 cops were driving up and down the boardwalk with windows open blasting the "Bad Boys" theme song. It's definitely an experience unlike anything anywhere else, except maybe California. If you still want to believe some of the "be afraid" doomsdayers, then head off to Asbury Park. The amusements are gone but the boardwalk atmosphere is there. It has made such a wonderful recovery in the last 20 years - we went back twice since moving here 6 years ago.
NYC - While I would not recommend looking for a hotel in Manhattan, there are some less expensive options on Staten Island in nice areas. The Hilton properties on the west side of the island also has shuttles to/from the ferry to get you into Manhattan. The ferry ride was always my favorite way to head to "the city" (Manhattan) as it goes past the Statue of Liberty. You get an up close view both ways. At the Manhattan side of the ferry terminal, a nice walk across the park is the ferry to the islands: Ellis and Liberty - you need to make reservations ahead of time - weeks ahead.
Subway - another experience - the ferry connects with 2 uptown trains (also one train that goes to Brooklyn - to Coney Island). The problem with taking the subway is you don't get to sightsee. When I took my sons to the city growing up, we took the subway for the experience but did a lot of walking and taking buses and taxis. When I just wanted to get around, I took the train or a taxi.
Coney Island (in Brooklyn) - rides, beach, food stands, boardwalk. Better than a cookie-cutter amusement park.
Philly - someone mentioned Boston and I'd go there instead.
Boston - a 4 hr train ride from Manhattan or even Newark, NJ. Lots of history and historical sites and a wonderful aquarium
Mystic Seaport, CT (2 hours out of NYC by Amtrak) - the seaport itself is set up like an old whaling town and watching demonstrations of blacksmithing or going on one of the ships is an experience. There's also an aquarium with a sea lion show.
DC - should be a vacation all on its own, not a day trip. Just going to the monuments will take a day, not to mention spending a day - or days - at the Smithsonian.
There are many places to rent a large beach house along the Jersey shore - best bet is to contact a realtor - Ocean County, Monmouth County or even further south. For that many people, you might even need to rent 2. The prices are not inexpensive.
Driving - don't. When I moved out of NJ and then back again some years later, it was as though I had forgotten how to drive. Drivers are aggressive and fast - and there's bunches of those drivers. Tailgating is the norm and not even considered tailgating - there just isn't room on the streets/highways for all the vehicles. Even being away for only 6 years, when I return, I feel like I'm on a speedway playing bumper cars at the same time. I learned to drive there, I drove in the NJ/NY area for most of my life - there is nowhere else like it and it's usually the tourists and visitors who have accidents.
this trip sounds like a nightmare. its impressive that people are so desperate to do something that they end up visiting incredibly boring museums. its easy enough to find and read information about things of interest online. there is very little benefit to being in a museum. i was in some museum in nyc recently and it was torture except the stuff with weapons and armor used in history. everything else sucked.
15 people as a group with only 6-7 days to do it all is very ambitious. Add to that, it's a group of people which means all will have different tastes, ideas and wants from a vacation.
Best bet is to rent a place somewhere along the shore. But couple of catches with that is most rentals require a week long stay, some only need 3 days notice especially for early in the season like your timing with early June trip. Boardwalk won't be completely open though, not until closer mid June with HS out for summer for those kids to work there to keep it open 10am to 1am daily.
This way, your group can decide to stay in their rental, hit the beach (ocean will be cold!), hit the boardwalk and rides, take direct train up to NYC or Philly to do those day trips and visit other nearby shore towns. D.C is a whole destination in itself, as well Boston too. I would do that separately on its own cuz you can visit D.C, VA & MD all its own, Boston, Rhode Island and Maine in another trip.
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