The Bronx Zoo

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Continuing the animal theme of this trip, we decided to take the boys into NYC to visit the Bronx Zoo.  Getting there from central New Jersey was possible using only public transportation but the trip would have been long and complicated, involving trains, subways, and buses.  We decided to drive in, which was not without its own challenges, but we survived the George Washington Bridge and made it through the Bronx with only one interesting question about the surrounding area (“Mom, what are booty-enhancing jeans?”). My sister and her family also drove in from NJ and my brother and his …

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Six Flags Great Adventure

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Although I probably went more than twice in my life, I have two main memories of Six Flags Great Adventure from when I was a kid.  The first was driving through the safari in the family station wagon.  The second was going in high school for “Physics Day”, where we had to complete a worksheet with questions that applied physics principles to the rides in the park. The latter was memorable mostly for the novelty of going to an amusement park for a school field trip.  The former was memorable because a monkey jumped on the hood of our car …

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Adventure Aquarium

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After seeing the Adventure Aquarium from afar while on the Ride the Ducks tour in Philadelphia, we headed back across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to explore it in person.  The aquarium’s claims to fame include housing the largest collection of sharks on the East Coast and being the only aquarium in the world with a hippo exhibit. The Ocean Realm and the Shark Realm are the two biggest tanks in the aquarium.  The Ocean Realm is the larger of the two and houses everything from sting rays to sea turtles.  It has huge viewing windows and (my kids favorite!) a …

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Philadelphia

Every summer we spend a week in August with my family in New Jersey and we often take day trips from there to explore the surrounding areas.  Philadelphia is about an hour and 45 minutes from my parents’ house.  I had long been interested in checking out Adventure Aquarium (across the river from Philadelphia in Camden, NJ) and JB had just learned about the Liberty Bell in kindergarten.  It seemed like a perfect time to explore Philadelphia. The drive was easy and to simplify things we parked right in the parking garage at the Independence Visitor Center.  Aside from providing …

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Fort Fisher Aquarium

Our family is a huge fan of aquariums.  North Carolina has some fantastic aquariums but unfortunately none of them are within a day trip of Charlotte.  When our boys had a Tae Kwon Do tournament in Greenville, NC, we decided to head to the coast afterwards for a short weekend beach getaway.  We spent some time in Wrightsville and Carolina Beach, but the highlight of the trip was our visit to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher in Kure Beach, NC. The aquarium is broken down into three main sections: the Cape Fear Conservatory, the Marine Building Upper Level, and …

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Carolina Harbor

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Straddling the North and South Carolina border, Carowinds is just a hop, skip and a jump away from most areas of Charlotte.  We’ve gone many times over the years, enjoying Planet Snoopy, the younger kids section of the park.  But for years I kept a big secret from my kids… Carowinds has a water park!  Seriously, they had no idea whatsoever that it was there.  It’s not hard to avoid if you come in the North Gate and stay in Planet Snoopy.  When they were little I just didn’t want to deal with the stress of a water park.  But …

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Riverbanks Zoo

Just an hour and a half from Charlotte, the Riverbanks Zoo is a frequent destination for our animal-loving family.  Our first trip was in 2009 when RB was only a year old and we’ve been back more than a half dozen times since.  And the best part is that the zoo is constantly improving and expanding – every time we visit there is something new for us to see or do. On our most recent visit, we started by making the regular rounds to see all of the animals – elephants, giraffes, lions and tigers and bears (oh my!).  Riverbanks …

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Day at Sea and Debarkation

After what seemed like non-stop action the last three days, we had a day at sea to relax.  People have different approaches to sea days.  Some people see it as an opportunity to experience all that the ship has to offer – and there is a lot!  Tastings, mixology classes, napkin folding, trivia, bingo, the list goes on and on.  And while I’m sure those things were fun, they were not for us.  We went for the slower pace – pool, Aqua Dunk, sports deck, movies, and just general R&R. But of course, no day would be complete without characters! …

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Nassau, Bahamas

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Another morning of waking up somewhere new!  I woke up while we were docking in Nassau and quickly headed up to deck 10 for some pictures. I didn’t realize it but we were in for a treat.  The Disney Dream was in port at Nassau the same day and was coming in just behind us.  I was completely amazed to see the captain turn the gigantic ship all the way around and back in to the dock.  Talk about some parking skills! Nassau is not a super popular port so many people choose to stay on-board and take advantage of …

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Castaway Cay

We woke up the next morning to find we were already docking at Castaway Cay.  Although we had never especially seen the appeal of cruises before, I will admit that it is exciting to wake up in a new place every morning.  Especially when that place is Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. We had a 10:00 stingray excursion planned so we weren’t in a huge rush to get off the boat.  We got ready, ate breakfast in Cabanas, and then headed off the ship.  We passed Donald Duck walking around on the island and then found our way to …

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