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James E. McGreevey |
William D. Watley |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Karen Wolfe - 609.292.2523 |
Jersey Shore Family
Attractions Trenton, N.J. (July 7, 2003)—Children’s museums and theatres, ice cream parlors with singing and dancing servers, and farms and zoos are among the Jersey Shore attractions beyond the beaches and boardwalks. Starting with northern Monmouth County, there is Wonder Wing, the children’ s section of the Monmouth Museum at Brookdale Community College, Newman Springs Road, in the Lincroft section of Middletown. The wing is a large playroom with an under-the-sea theme open to children up to six years old. Kids can sail a pirate ship, swoosh down a slide, “fish” from a rowboat, climb into a tree house and do arts and crafts. The Becker Wing, the adjacent part of the museum, is for those 7 to 12 years old. It features a Westward Ho exhibit about the blazing of the Oregon Trail, which is on display until sometime next year, an estuary exhibit and an art exhibit. The cost is $5 per person for all visitors, and free for children one year old and younger. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. It’s open to the public on Tuesdays through Thursdays, if groups are not scheduled, and closed on Mondays. For more information, call (732) 747-2266 or visit www.monmouthmuseum.org. How about a little live theatre just for kids? The Paper Moon Marionette Theatre at the First Avenue Playhouse, 123 1st Ave., Atlantic Highlands, is just the ticket. Marionette puppets, in richly colored, detailed costumes, perform favorite children’s stories in an hour-long show. Jungle Book is now playing at 2:15 p.m. Saturdays through Aug. 16 at the theatre, which is also in northern Monmouth County. Rates are $8 per person. Call at (732) 291-7552 or visit www.firstavenueplayhouse.com. Another great spot for children’s theatre is the Surflight Summer Theatre, Beach and Engleside avenues in Beach Haven, part of Long Beach Island in southern Ocean County. The upcoming schedule includes Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Pinocchio. After the show the cast meets their audience to pose for pictures and sign autographs. Then families can go next door to The Show Place Ice Cream Parlour, 204 Centre Street, where the wait staff croons and trips the light fantastic in between dishing out the sweet stuff. Kids love the part when the servers make their parents get up and sing with them. There is no admission fee; customers pay only for their ice cream. The Surflight shows begin at 6 p.m. Wednesdays through
Sundays. Ticket prices are $8 per person, and free for infants. Call (609)
492-9477. There are also shows for adults. Another ice cream place singing the same tune is The Music Man-The Singing Ice Cream Shoppe, 2305 Central Ave., Lavallette. The new shop in central Ocean County is open nightly. Cabarets begin at 6 p.m. and continue until midnight. There is no admission fee; customers either buy ice cream or pay a $4 seating fee. Call (732) 85-HAPPY, or visit www.njmusicman.com. Visitors should call Show Place and The Music Man-Singing Ice Cream Shoppe to check if there will be a rainy day matinee for a particular day and to check the time. For children who would rather get their entertainment from animals, there’s the Cooper Environmental Center at Cattus Island County Park, Toms River, central Ocean County. The center, on Barnegat Bay, has an indoor exhibit featuring live reptiles and fish. Admission is free. For more information about the park, 1170 Cattus Island Blvd., or other county parks, call (732) 270-6960 or visit www.co.ocean.nj.us/Parks/Default.htm. Another destination for fans of sea creatures is the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, 3625 Brigantine Boulevard, Brigantine, Atlantic County. The center rescues and rehabilitates stranded marine mammals and sea turtles that come ashore. Admission is free; donations are requested. Phone ahead of time to find out if there are any animals at the center on the day you want to visit, and to check on hours. Call (609) 266-0538 or visit www.mmsc.org. Marine life also abounds at the Ocean Life Center at Historic Gardner’s Basin, Atlantic City, open seven days a week. The aquarium, on the inlet off New Hampshire Avenue, offers more than 100 varieties of marine life and many hands-on learning experiences. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and $4 for kids, with children three years old and younger admitted free. Call (609) 348-2880 or visit www.gardnersbasin.com. Area farms include Historic Longstreet Farm, Longstreet Road, Holmdel Township. There are horses, sheep, pigs and chickens grazing in the fields and resting in the cavernous barns. Admission is free. Call (732) 946-3758 or visit www.monmouthcountyparks.com. In southern Monmouth County, there is Allaire State Park, Route 524, Wall Township. Children can ride an antique steam train, visit a historic village, frolic on a large set of wooden playground equipment or have a picnic. There is a $3 per car charge on weekends, with free parking on weekdays. The only other charge is $2.50 per person for a train ride, with those two and younger riding free. Call (732) 919-3500 or visit www.allairevillage.org for information about the park. Call (732) 938-5524 or visit www.pinecreekrr.freeservers.com for information about Pine Creek Railroad, which operates the trains. In the same town, there’s Atlantic Farms, 1506 Atlantic Avenue. Children can get a close look at pigs, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, peacocks, ponies, llamas, deer and chickens. The only cost is to buy produce at the farm store to feed the animals, which is optional. Call (732) 528-8680 or visit www.atlanticfarmsinc.com. Popcorn Park Zoo, in southern Ocean County, and Cape May County Zoo offer a wide variety of farm and jungle animals. Popcorn Park Zoo is on Humane Way in the Forked River section of Lacey Township. Admission is $3.50 for adults, $2.50 for seniors and children. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (609) 693-1900 or visit www.popcornpark.org. For more information about Cape May County Zoo, Route 9 and Crest Haven Road, Cape May Courthouse, call (609) 465-5271 or visit www.capemaycountyzoo.com. Admission is free. For a wealth of other information and maps, including a 2003 Travel Guide, contact the New Jersey Office of Travel & Tourism either by toll-free phone or from the website. Contact the New Jersey Office of Travel & Tourism, at 800-VISITNJ (847-4865); or check the website at www.visitnj.org New Jersey encompasses less than 9,000 square miles, but it's surprisingly diverse, combining the best of metropolitan sophistication with rural farmlands, rivers and mountains - all accessible within a few hours. Six tourism regions comprise the Shore, Greater Atlantic City, Southern Shore, Delaware River, Skylands and the Gateway. Ocean beaches stretch 127 miles, from Cape May Point to Sandy Hook. Vast expanses of forever-green acres are exemplified in the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and 1.1-million-acre Pine Barrens Reserve. There are mountains for skiing and climbing; trails for hiking, towns for shopping and culture. While super highways, express buses, trains and ferries provide quick and direct access into New York City and Philadelphia, back roads wind through historic hamlets, farmlands and pristine forests. Along the way are botanic gardens, historic architecture, museums, sporting events, gaming casinos and kids' action parks. New Jersey is a vacation destination for the best days of your life!
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