Saturday, July 7, 2012

The Oldest House on the Vineyard

Vincent House

Old Whaling Church

Dr. Daniel Fisher House

Most people visit Martha's Vineyard to get away from every day life and to just relax.  However, if you are interested in the history of the island, you can take a one hour tour in Edgartown, run by the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust, to learn about what life was like in the early days of the island.

The first building on this tour to explore, and where you get your tour ticket and meet the tour guide, is the Vincent House, built in 1672, which is considered the oldest house on the island.  You'll learn about what life was like on Martha's Vineyard in the 17th century up through modern 20th century history and see various artifacts inside the house.

Next up is the Dr. Daniel Fisher House, built in 1840.  This beautiful house is still used today for events such as weddings.  Inside you'll see the house set up to be modern to accommodate for this, but you can still get the idea of what the house was like when first built.

Finally, you'll get to spend some time in the Old Whaling Church, built in 1843.  Inside, it is quite plain and simple, but that in itself makes it quite nice.  It is still actively used today, especially for town meetings.

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly and we'd recommend this tour, three houses and the Martha's Vineyard Museum, for $10 to give you a good appreciation of Martha's Vineyard's history.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Stone Harbor 95th Street Beach


The Jersey Shore has numerous beach options to go to.  They can be quite varied in terms of the type of sand, ocean and people you'll find at each one.  For Stone Harbor, NJ, you'll find a pretty sedate crowd, not a bunch of loud and obnoxious people that most people associate with the Jersey Shore.

This allowed us to have a relaxing few hours at the beach.  The waves came in very calmly here, which made it a great place to take a 5 year old without much ocean experience.  The sand was mostly soft, albeit a little bit "shelly".  There is ample street parking around the 95th Street area, as well as a bunch of small-town style gift shops.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Historic Cold Spring Village


In Cape May, not too far from the beach area, is Historic Cold Spring Village.  Featuring actors dressed from the 19th century, this quaint village gives visitors the opportunity to see what life was like back in this time period.

We traveled here with a 5 year old, and were surprised with how well things went.  The staff were very engaging and friendly with her.  They let her play with various props such as a shield, a chalkboard and a dunce cap.  We spent about 90 minutes here and she had a great time.

For adults, there's the opportunity to learn about the time period as there were various buildings representing different occupations from then such as being a blacksmith, teacher and soldier.

This is a great place to stop if you're in the area, especially with kids around 5 years of age.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Cape May County Zoo



Cape May County Zoo is a big, beautiful zoo, not to mention free. We traveled down to Cape May when the zoo announced two baby snow leopards had joined the exhibit with their mother.

For a free zoo, it was much bigger than we expected, and had a lot of animals. Not only did we get to see the baby snow leopards, but also monkeys of all sorts, bald eagles, turtles, red pandas, bears and more.

There is a $1 per person suggested donation. As we pulled in, there was a zoo employee taking donations, as well as mailboxes around the zoo for making donations.

We traveled here with our 5-year-old niece, and one thing we loved was there were not food stands or gift shops inside the zoo. In fact, food and drinks are prohibited in the zoo except in designated areas. There is one small gift shop that you must pass to get in and out of the zoo, as well as a carousel.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Uncle Bill's Pancake House




With locations all around the New Jersey shore, Uncle Bill's Pancake House is a great place to enjoy more than just at breakfast time. We stopped for lunch with our 5-year-old niece in tow and it was a perfect place for a picky eater.

We were thrilled to be sat in a booth near the bar, because in the corner a TV played cartoons (although halfway through our meal, someone changed it to Fox News). She was perfectly distracted so we could decide on what to order. Our waitress also brought over a coloring book and crayons to keep her occupied while our meals were brought out.

We ordered a short stack of pancakes and a plate of the sand dollar pancakes. Our niece loved the small pancakes that were just her size, and, because we could order them in multiples (like, 10), she and I could share (which we loved). They also had a number of different juices and a great kids cup.

We could tell we had picked a winner as we walked in because the parking lot was full (seriously full, people were parking on the street!), people were hanging out outside and in the foyer, and inside it was boisterous with laughter and families enjoying each others company. And boy were we right.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Touring Newport Storm Brewery


For less than $8 a person, you can tour Extreme Coastal Brewing during the day from noon until 5 p.m. At 3 p.m. daily, a guided tour leaves from the front visitors center; the rest of the time, it is a self-guided tour.

Included in the cost of a guided tour are four tastings of Newport Storm beer. Visitors can also pay a little more to taste the Thomas Tew Single Barrel Rum.

On the observation deck above the brewery guests can see the bottling station (which is all done by hand), the kegs and half kegs, all the bottles and cans used in the bottling, as well as the oak barrels used for the Thomas Tew Rum.

On the wall along the observation deck, guests can see the different beers Newport Storm brews, the history of Newport Storm, some fun facts and more.

When you head back down to the bar, you get to enjoy the local, artisan brews, and check out Newport Storm garb.