Categories
Hiking Trails

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

Life takes me to the Princeton area quite frequently, and I absolutely love the days where I have the chance to explore some place new. Several times I was able to go for a lovely hike in the Herrontown Woods Arboretum.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

I have heard of it before, but it was not what I expected. When I heard the word Arboretum, I thought of something more along the idea of a ‘garden’, kind of like Willowwood Arboretum. I should have focused more on the ‘woods’ part.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

Though a lot more wild then anticipated it was beautiful nonetheless. I started in Barbara Smoyer Park located across the street. It has a little lake, and that day it was filled with geese.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

I hung out by the lake for a little while, then turned back to the Arboretum.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

It starts all the way down a residential street, and after a brief walk I made it to the entrance:

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

As you can see from the sign the hours are 8 am to 5 pm, except May to October, when it is 8 am to 8 pm.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

As you can probably gather from the photos, I was there smack in the middle of winter. Even so, it was a lovely warm day, and there were plenty of beautiful spots to explore.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

Actually, the stream was quite a hub of bustling activity, shortly after the rain, and there was at least one spot where I had to hop across the water.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

There were a few miles of trails, and it was easy to enjoy the walk for several hours.

There were quite a few robins that winter there. They are always fun to watch.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

While I probably wouldn’t trek all the way there just to visit Herrontown Woods, it provided me with a lovely and pleasant place to hike and explore.

Our Visit To Herrontown Woods Arboretum

Most recently I visited it in late spring. Just as beautiful as in the winter, it was a very pleasant and lovely walk. Just as before, it is not a place I would drive for over an hour to, but it is lovely to explore if I am already in the neighborhood.

Our visit to Herrontown Woods Arboretum Our visit to Herrontown Woods Arboretum

More information.

Categories
Arcades

Our Visit To Bonkerz Laser Tag

One more place that has permanently closed. I don’t delete these pages because they just become part of the story here.

Our visit to Bonkerz Laser Tag in Princeton happened several years ago. As my kids are no longer that fascinated with laser tag, we have not been back there since.

The trip was planned for the evening on a week day, so the place was not crowded at all. Besides our bunch there were only a few other teens having a good time there. I imagine it to be a different story during the weekend.

Our Visit To Bonkerz Laser Tag

***This page contains affiliate links***

Categories
Free Places To Visit Hiking Trails

Our Visit To Sourland Mountain Preserve

We went for a hike at the Sourland Mountain Preserve with a group of friends, and it was fantastic! We have, since, gone there multiple times, every time we enjoyed it!

Our Visit To Sourland Mountain Preserve Hiking in NJ

Categories
Beautiful Gardens Free Places To Visit Hiking Trails

Our Visit To Leonard J Buck Garden

Nestled in the heart of New Jersey is a beautiful little place. Leonard J Buck Garden. It is a lovely garden, filled with paths, ponds, streams and tiny, adorable bridges. At the end of October we made a plan to visit it together with friends.

Our Visit To Leonard J Buck Garden

Categories
Art Studio Free Places To Visit Museums

Our Visit To Montclair Art Museum

I have had the Montclair Art Museum on my list of places to visit for a long time. When we were visiting the nearby Thomas Edison National Historical Park, and I realized that the Montclair Art Museum is only a few minutes away from it, I jumped on the opportunity. Especially since I only had my little one and his friend (and wouldn’t get much arguing about my museum hopping goals for the day).

Categories
Historic Landmarks Museums National Parks Nature and Science Centers

Our Visit To The Thomas Edison National Historical Park

West Orange, NJ

October 2016

This October we have visited lots of awesome places. The only thing I was short on is time to write about them all. This is our visit to the Thomas Edison National Historic Park. It was a very interesting experience.
Our Visit To The Thomas Edison National Historical Park

***This page contains affiliate links.***

Categories
Delaware Water Gap Indoor Activities and Playgrounds Nature and Science Centers Zoos and Animals

Our Visit To Adventure Aquarium

Several summers ago, we made a trip down to Camden to visit the Adventure Aquarium. It was quite a long drive to get there for us. However, in July and August, the aquarium was showing some teacher love, and gave free tickets for a weekday in those two months to educators and a guest to show their appreciation. I went with a friend, and a bunch of kids. The kids all ranged in age from 15 to 9. We really have not gone back since. Aquariums are not generally our jam, so it is a rare occasion for me to make a long drive there.

Categories
Beach Fun State Parks

Our Visit To Island Beach State Park

Over the last few summers we got to explore a new to us beach: Island Beach State Park.  What a wonderful place it is!! While we have not had the chance to visit every beach in NJ, we have been to a few: Belmar (which was awesome), Keansburg (nope), Seven Presidents (it was alright), Point Pleasant (fun and crowded boardwalk, with lots of rides and activities), Sandy Hook (love going there), and more.  The Island Beach State Park was a completely amazing beach, unlike any other beach that I had the chance to experience in NJ before.

Categories
Amusement Parks Arcades Travels With Kids Water Parks Zoos and Animals

Our Visit To Hurricane Harbor and Six Flags

This entire time I though I had added Our Visit to Hurricane Harbor and Six Flags to our happy travels. I looked, and alas, it’s not there.  I will just have to do it right now!

Our Visit To Hurricane Harbor and Six FlagsEvery year we go to Six Flags, whether it’s the theme park or the water park. In the past, when the kids were younger, we used to do the Read To Succeed Program. It worked well. As they got older, they no longer qualify for it, so now we either get tickets, or this year, we have passes for the three of us (and we bring Dad as a friend once in a while). Many of my kids’ friends love going there to just meet and walk around and have a bit of a good time. Since we live quite far away, we don’t make it there that often. I imagine we’ll go more when the heat eases off.

Six Flags

***This page contains affiliate links.***

Categories
Nature and Science Centers Zoos and Animals

Our Visit To Raptor Trust

This is not our first visit to Raptor Trust. When the kids were little, we would go there to visit the birds. When we would find a wounded little bird on our front lawn, we would put it in the shoe box and drive it to Raptor Trust.  There, the wonderful people working there would rehabilitate it back to health. Since our first visit there, we have gone back multiple times, and have brought many birds there for rehabilitation.