Search Results for: zoo

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    30 Places We Love in Connecticut

    ByJennRecord

    Connecticut may be the third smallest state (5,543 square miles), but what it lacks in size, it makes up with so many fun places to explore and so many family friendly activities. I have lived in Fairfield County in Connecticut for 20 years. And over the past 20 years my family has explored most of the Nutmeg State, from Greenwich to Mystic and Fairfield to Torrington. Since our daughter was born over a decade ago, we’ve found just about every spot to be kid friendly. While we plan on adding to this list each month, and will share annual updates, this is our first round of places we love in Connecticut.

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    Skytop Lodge in the Poconos

    ByJennRecord

    Traveling during a still present pandemic: This summer we have been traveling to places that have low COVID numbers and offer opportunities for our family to explore the outdoors while keeping our distant from other groups. We went to the Poconos when our children were very little and loved the area (it’s also a super easy drive from our home). Skytop was near the top of my list to visit this summer because it offers so many activities included in our stay, so much areas to explore, and plenty of dining options right on site. We never left the resort and still had so many things we didn’t have an opportunity to do that we’ll “need” to return soon.

    Skytop Lodge, located in the Poconos of Pennsylvania, will transport guests to a bygone area. The main lodge, open since 1928, has grown over the past almost-century to a 55,000 acre resort that includes an 18 hole golf course, 2 pools, lakeside beach, miles of hiking trails, 5 restaurants, and dozens of daily activities for families of all ages. The grounds are stunning: manicured grass, lush gardens, and so many places to sit and relax (rocking on the back porch is a must!). There are flowers arrangements on every table in every space and every single one is fresh! Garden lovers should visit the gorgeous Flower Shop on the lower level of the main lodge.

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    Coast2Coast’s 3rd Birthday!

    ByJennRecord

    The first week in June is our little blog’s 3rd birthday! We’ve come a long way from our first post on the opening of the Dr. Seuss Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts. Since that adventure, we estimate we’ve explored about 20 new-to-us cities, about 15 states, and driven over 30,000 miles adventuring (that’s NOT counting our regular schedule mileage!)

    We’re getting ready to hit the road again soon. We postponed a pretty amazing, pretty epic, almost cross country trip that we had been planning for 2+ years. I’ve been moping about it for a couple of months now, but believe we’ll make our way there next summer. I’m hoping we can reschedule some shorter trips that were planned for the spring, including exploring the Berkshires in Massachusetts parts of Vermont, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. I’m also hoping to revisit some of our favorite New England resorts and share in depth guides for them.

    This week, I’m recapping some of my most popular posts and sharing some stats for the blog. If you haven’t had a chance to read them, here’s a great index:

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    10 Behinds the Scenes Tours Kids Will Love

    ByJennRecord

    I’m “back” from all of our virtual tours from the past month- we figured it was safer to stay home and explore places online than in person. If you missed them, here are the links to our curated lists of virtual tours for National Parks; art museums; children’s museums, zoos, and aquariums; and Disney related activities.

    While my family is still staying home as the country slowly starts to reopen, we’ve been reminiscing about past trips and many themes have emerged. We’re written themed posts before, like our posts on Indoor Fun in New England, East Coast Cities with Nearby Neighbors, Private Homes We’ve Toured, Sports Halls of Fame, and Free Things to Do in New England. Some new themes have recently emerged and today we’re sharing a post on “inside scoops” of famous locations and companies. We love learning about how a place works and seeing the behind the scenes stuff that most people don’t get a chance to see. It has recently become more popular for places to share behind the scenes access, even if guests cannot physically go inside the manufacturing plant or production studio.

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    10 Ways to “Experience” Disney at Home

    ByJennRecord

    I know many people who are saddened by their recently canceled trips to DisneyWorld or DisneyLand. I can only imagine the level of disappointment and frustration. I never thought I would be a “Disney person” but we’ve visited three times with our children and it truly is a magical place. So while we can’t be there in real life, and while this list of ideas won’t necessarily make up for a canceled postponed trip, I thought I would share some ways kids can explore Disney related people, places, and ideas from home.

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    10 Art Museums With Virtual Activities for Kids

    ByJennRecord

    You might be surprised to learn that my family, children included, like visiting art museums. Art museums have come a long way from just “silently standing and looking at paintings some old guy or girl made a million years ago.” Today, so many art museums are finding new ways to engage children and welcome families into their galleries. We wrote about the many benefits of taking children to art museums last year in this post featuring the Guggenheim in New York City. A huge bonus? Most of these museums, and other art museums, offer FREE admission for children, usually ages 16 and under.