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James E. McGreevey |
William D. Watley |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact:
Karen Wolfe - 609.292.2523
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| FUN THINGS TO
DO THIS SUMMER—IN NEW JERSEY Trenton, N.J. (May 25, 2004)—Where can you bask in the sun on 127 miles of white sand ocean beach, then take a drive to hike through nearly 2-million acres of mountainous terrain on the Appalachian Trail? It's New Jersey, of course, a state that encompasses a diversity of attractions in less than 8,000 square miles. In between, visitors can re-enact both the American Revolution and the Civil War (major battles of both were fought here), go gaming in mega-casinos, play golf at some of the country’s finest courses, visit action parks, fabulous gardens, great historic estates and much more, according to Nancy Byrne, executive director of the New Jersey Office of Travel & Tourism. “Summer is the perfect time for visitors to experience the myriad of travel opportunities that exist in the Garden State," said Byrne. Following are sample attractions and events taking place thus summer. For specific times of operation, call the various entities or check their websites. Southern Shore: Go to sea and learn the ropes of sailing, on the A. J. Meerwald, New Jersey's Tall Ship, a 1928 Delaware Bay oyster schooner in Bivalve Port Norris; 856-785-2060, www.ajmeerwald.org Take the Doo Wop tour through the 50s, on the Doo Wop Trolley from Cape May to the Doo Wop Museum in Wildwood; 800-275-4278, www.capemaymac.org Go whale watching out of Cape May; 800-786-5445, www.capemaywhalewatch.com Stroll through America’s largest collection of annual plants and flowers at Leaming’s Run Gardens in Swainton; 609-465-5871, www.leamingsrungardens.com Make your own paperweight and check out the world’s largest bottle (recorded in the Guinness Book of Records) at Wheaton Village in Millville; 856-825-6800, www.wheatonvillage.org Put yourself in the past –live history at Cold Spring Village in West Cape May, 609-898-2300, www.hcsv.org Atlantic City Region: Be amazed and intrigued at Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum in Atlantic City; 609-347-2001, www.ripleys.com Take the kids to live their favorite stories at Storybook Land in Cardiff, just west of Atlantic City; 609-641-7847 or 609-646-0103, www.storybookland.com Walk through, climb up the world’s biggest elephant, 65-foot Lucy, in Margate; 609-823-6473, www.lucytheelephant.org Browse the cobblestoned paths of Smithville and the Village Greene, just 12 miles from Atlantic City, for craft and specialty shops. Children can enjoy a train ride, paddleboats, a carousel and puppet theater; 609-748-6160, www.smithvillenj.com Tee-off at one of the regions famed golf courses, including Blue Heron Pines Golf Club, The Links at Brigantine Beach, Harbor Pines Golf Club, and Seaview Marriott Resort and Spa; 1-800-GOLF-222, www.gacga.com Get in touch with ocean life at the Ocean Life Center in Atlantic City's Gardiner's Basin, featuring aquariums, touch tanks and interactive exhibits; 609-348-2880, www.oceanlifecenter.com
Take in the entertainment, play some miniature golf, laugh in the funhouse, at Jenkinson’s Pavilion in Point Pleasant Beach; 732-892-0600, www.jenkinsons.com Tempt your tastebuds at “one of the top ice cream parlors in the USA,” according to the New York Times -- the Show Place Ice Cream Parlor -- interactive improvisation, cabaret and great ice cream, in Beach Haven; 609- 492-0018 Thrill to the NJ Offshore Powerboat Races (the longest standing such race in the US) in Point Pleasant Beach in August; 732-583-8501, www.homestead.com/njoffshore Rent a tent – a historic, elaborate colorful tent structure – for a stay in Victorian Ocean Grove; 732-775-0035. Climb to the top of the 165-foot "Old Barney" in Barnegat to get a panoramic view of Long Beach Island, Barnegat Inlet and Island Beach State Park; 609-494-2016. Take yourself out to the ballpark for a minor league professional game of the Lakewood BlueClaws at First Energy Park; 732-901-7000, www.lakewoodblueclaws.com Take a narrated sightseeing cruise aboard The River Lady, an 85-foot paddle wheel river boat in Toms River; 732-349-8664, www.riverlady.com
Spend an overnight on the Battleship New Jersey at the Camden Waterfront and New Jersey State Aquarium in Camden; 856-966-1652, www.bb62museum.org Pick your own Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables at Terhune Orchards in Princeton; 609-924-2310, www.terhuneorchards.com Retrace history's footsteps at the Old Barracks in Trenton, 609-396-1776, www.barracks.org Put yourself in the picture – get right into any of sculptor J. Seward Johnson’s three-dimensional renditions of famous impressionist paintings – and enjoy the best of modern international outdoor sculptures, at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton; 609-586-0616, www.groundsforsculpture.org Explore the Wild West, at the Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove, America’s longest running regular rodeo, since 1944; 856-769-3200, www.cowtownrodeo.com Hunt for the famed Jersey Devil with Russ Juelg’s Jersey Devil Hunts on full-moon Friday nights, in Whitesbog Village and Batona Camp; 609-894-8000, www.whitesbog.org
Rough it – camp out in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area; 908-496-4458, www.nps.gov/dewa; for campgrounds, 800-2camp-nj, www.funnj.com/outdoors/camping Visit New Jersey’s highest point at High Point State Park (1,803 feet above sea level), in Sussex, and climb the 220-foot obelisk to “look down” on three states, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania; 973-875-4800, www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/parks Take to the air in a leisurely way – with a hot-air balloon ride over rolling hills and forests with BalloonAmerica, 908-735-8585; In Flight Balloon Adventures, 888-301-2383, www.balloonnj.com; or Sky Sweeper Balloon Adventures, 800-462-3201, www.skysweeper.com; all in Clinton. Take a lazy day on the river – go rafting, canoeing or kayaking on the Delaware with Phillipsburg River Outpost in Phillipsburg; 908-319-7534. Flyfish the Delaware River and “secret” trout streams, with the expert guides and instructors at Delaware River Outfitters in Pennington; 609-466-7970, www.droltd.com Be fascinated by the world’s largest miniature railway display at Northlandz, in Flemington; 908-782-4022, www.northlandz.com Ride on a real steam train, the Black River and Western Railroad, between Ringoes and Flemington or Phillipsburg and Carpentersville; 908-782-9600, www.brwrr.com Walk through the beginnings of the United States, at Washington’s Headquarters (973) 539-2016) and Jockey Hollow (973-543-4030), where the general and his troops spent one of the worst winters of the American Revolution, in Morristown; www.nps.gov/morr Gateway Region: Relive a 19th century summer in the country, with the Cooper-Hewitt family at America’s second largest historic home, the 51-room Ringwood Manor in Ringwood; 973-962-2240, www.ringwoodmanor.com Get the “discount rush” at New Jersey’s largest outlet mall, Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth; 908-354-5900, www.jerseygardens.com See Victoriana at its best at the Ballantine House, at the Newark Museum in Newark; 973-596-6550, www.newarkmuseum.org Cheer on championship trotters during the Hambletonian Festival of Racing at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, August; 201-935-8500, www.thebigm.com Test your talents on the biggest skateboard half-pipe in New Jersey, at RexPlex in Elizabeth; 908-629-1300, www.rexplex.com Catch a baseball game up close and personal – maybe meet the legendary Yogi Berra – at Yogi Berra Stadium (home of the Jersey Jackals) and Museum in Little Falls; 973-746-7434, www.jackals.com
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