Easton and the Crayola Factory (and Canal Museum)

Today’s visit was to Easton, Pennsylvania. It’s an intriguing town, with hilly streets, narrow houses and buildings that reflect a rich history. But it’s also clearly down on its luck. It seemed like a good 50% of the storefronts downtown were empty, there were lots of “for sale” sales, and evidence of neglect. The people seemed sad and downtrodden, as though they’d been through a rough time lately. We hadn’t been out of the car for two minutes before a toothless man approached us, asking for change.

In this unlikely place is a fun and unique destination for kids, the Crayola Factory and the attached Canal Museum. Admission includes both attractions. While most seem to go for the Crayola Factory, the Canal Museum is fantastic – very interactive and child oriented. If I had it to do over again, I might have started at the Canal Museum first, then let my son run himself to the point of exhaustion at Crayola. Go on a weekday if you can and try to get there early. When it gets crowded, the need to manage your child among so many others reduces the fun factor.

I can’t say there is a lot to learn at Crayola, certainly not compared to the nearby Davinci. It’s basically a big test center for a wide variety of Crayola products. But it’s bright, friendly and there are lots of artistic opportunities. It was nice for River to be able to run from one project to another and for the parents to not have to clean anything up. I got to see what interested him most (the glow-in-the-dark coloring), which of course led me to the Crayola store to buy him the glow-in-the-dark color pad. At least I knew he’d like it before I bought it.

The Canal Museum does have some good educational elements. Especially the exhibit on the 2nd floor (also a good place to get to early, before a line forms), where each child is given a plastic boat and helped to guide it along a canal and through the locks. The third floor is less hectic than the others and it has several activities that appeal to young children. The opportunity to place panels that guide a boat through a maze is especially fun and thoughtful. This is a smaller, more controlled space, and more relaxing for kids and parents.

For lunch, there is a McDonalds on the premises and a Subway nearby. For more adult food we went to the River Grill, about a block away. They get a lot of Crayola Factory visitors and were very accommodating to kids.

Lessons learned from the second day of road trip with toddler

1. Places where kids can run around and touch stuff are priceless.

2. A good nap at the normal time makes things much easier.

3. It’s very easy to fall into an all white-carb all the time diet. Pretzels, pancakes, bread? OK, whatever keeps you happy.

4. My tolerance for Barney music is fairly high (at least compared with my husband’s). But it is not infinite.

5. I have pretty high expectations for a toddler (friends said they didn’t take their toddler out to dinner for four years). Perhaps I should be happy that I can take him out to dinner and not sweat it if he doesn’t behave perfectly.

6. The small moments – jumping together on the bed, singing the ABCs together in the car, exploring a particularly intriguing science exhibit together – are the most special.

The changing definition of what makes a good hotel

I’m sitting on the hard floor of the hotel bathroom waiting for River to take his nap. I’ve been here for well over an hour and it’s just recently become quiet. So I’m hoping he has fallen asleep and will thus be in a good enough mood for us to be able to enjoy dinner with friends tonight. When I was young and poor and adventurous, my idea of a good hotel was someplace really cheap and reasonably safe. If there was free breakfast, that was a bonus. I didn’t care so much about location as I only came to the hotel to crash. I was exploring the rest of the day. When I dated Mark long-distance and we had to meet up in countries located halfway between us, I started to value a little more of the romantic element, as well as privacy. Now, a Jacuzzi was a bonus. Mark wants central location, so I started to get used to being able to walk from the hotel and easily get to all of the local attractions. Now, traveling with a toddler, I’d say location is definitely key. There is a lot more freedom if one is able to walk out the door and see and do things, rather than have to bundle the kid into a car. Now, the big bonus is either an extra room, or a situation in which I can feel safe leaving him alone in the room and hanging out in a pleasant lobby. If neither of those are possible, than a bathroom or a closet sufficiently large enough to put a travel crib in is a bonus. Since I have neither now, the entire room is River’s and I’m relegated to the bathroom floor. Oh well, as long as there is a nap and I have a little bit of quiet time, I guess I’m OK with ceramic tile.

Science for kids

Today River paid his first visit to a science museum and LOVED it. We went to the DaVinci Science Center in Allentown, PA. We were the first people to arrive when the museum opened at 12, so we initially had the place to ourselves. In the preschool room, River got to put chocolate chunks into pretend cookies and count the pieces. He played with unusual shaped large soft blocks and he got to look at shells under a magnifying glass. He was thrilled to sit on a chair and to experience the backwards motion that happens when two people push their feet against each other. He saw what happens to liquid when it is spun rapidly, he learned how water erodes particles, he watched a ball react to vacuum pressure and he got a close up look at starfish and crabs. He smiled so much in the hour and a half we were there. It was one novel experience after another and he was so enthusiastic he threw a nice tantrum when it was time to leave. This is a great museum in that it’s fairly small, which allows kids to get through the whole place without being overwhelmed, and it really encourages tactile exploration and observation at the child’s pace. The friendly staff posted around the exhibits offer helpful explanations. This is a place I’d like to come back to because I think kids of various ages are able to get different things out of it. For me, it was the highlight of our weekend so far to see my toddler so happy to explore and to learn.

Taking a roadtrip with a toddler

Lessons I’m learning from day one of roadtrip with toddler:

Toddler may well be psyched to see the wolves, but he will not last beyond a small fraction of a one hour tour.

Time outs in the crib work well at home. But I am struggling with how to discipline while on the road. Especially while out in public on the road. Instead, I take in many disapproving looks when my toddler doesn’t listen to me and I spend much of the day chasing him.

Singing songs together in the car on the way to a destination is very special quality time.

If naptime doesn’t happen, you are screwed, no matter what you do.

Have a supply of water, snacks and Hot Wheels on hand, at all times.

Having a second room is a huge bonus. If that’s not available, a B&B with an attractive lobby is a good substitute.

Free homebaked goods, hot beverages and a Jacuzzi can soothe the stresses of the roughest day.

DO NOT OVERPLAN. Lower expectations. Yes, we’ll see wolves. But no, I won’t be able to actually listen to anything the tour guide says. Many people have pressed me to slow down my pace in the past. Perhaps my toddler will finally force me to change.

It’s a lot of work, it’s tough to not have somebody to hand responsibility over for a little while here and there, but I’m grateful for my buddy and glad to be creating memories with him.

A trip to Wilmington, Delaware

A couple of weeks ago, we took a trip to the Wilmington, Delaware area.

The highlight of our trip, and the place we spend a good part of one day, was the Hagley Museum. This is the site of the gunpowder factory owned by E.I. du Pont. A relative on my husband’s side spent a long career at Dupont, so we felt a bit of a personal connection in learning how this ancestor’s employer built his fortune.

The site, in a forested area located along the rushing Brandywine river, is gorgeous. It’s worth a visit if only to stroll along the beautiful river. But when you see the remnants of this site, you’ll want to learn more.

Luckily, the museum makes that easy. After an indoor exhibit, you are allowed to explore the grounds at your leisure. Through a combination of signs, self-guided maps, and guides who describe various buildings and operations, one comes away with a good sense of the dangerous and dirty life it must have been for the workers 200 years ago.

To see the owner’s house, which was also not free of the dangers of explosion, you take a free bus to the house entrance, where you must join a guided tour.

Plan to spend at least half a day here. There is a restaurant on-site.

Another fun find was the Delaware Art Museum, which is not only free on Sundays (bonus) but had surprisingly light traffic. Don’t come here for lunch, as the options at the on-site café are sparse and mostly pre-packaged. But the art collection is nice to see and the outdoor sculpture garden makes for a pleasant stroll.

If you are visiting with children, definitely leave time to enjoy the kid’s room – a beautiful space downstairs designed with the budding young artist in mind. Kids can create murals with shapes on the wall, can read a variety of children’s art related books while they lounge in a comfortable chair, or can explore some of the other fun activities available.

And finally, for a great food find in the area, try the Six Paupers Tavern. This place is packed with locals in the know in the evenings. Everything we tried was amazing, from the seared tuna to the scallops to the burgers.

Bucks County camping

I’ve been meaning to get out camping for a while and this weekend, we finally made it happen. We made reservation at the Beaver Valley Family campground in Ottsville, Pennsylvania.

This is a convenience campground, rather than a wilderness spot. We had neighbors within a few feet of us on either side. It’s also primarily an RV spot, with a high RV to tent ratio.

Even as one of few campers without a lot of fancy amenities, I really enjoyed my stay. It’s in the midst of a dense forest of maple, walnut and ash trees, tall, brilliantly green, and providing abundant shade in hot weather. Deer came within a few feet of our site and I saw a toad and heard many birds.

The needed amenities are here – clean restrooms and showers with hot water, washing machines, a shop with the needed essentials that is open until 10 p.m. The owners are friendly and willing to provide advice on what to see and do. And the place is busy. Almost every spot was filled and I was told that people make reservations weeks in advance. It attracts a lot of families and retired people and the visitors seemed to be pretty well behaved.

It’s also a nice spot for children. There is a playground with equipment appropriate for both toddlers and older children as well as a swimming pool and a wading pool. A stream nearby is far enough away that a young child couldn’t wander off there. But it’s close enough for an enjoyable walk and once there, you suddenly feel far removed from all the RVs Weekend events are frequently organized, such as 50 cent hayrides or BBQ potlucks (which we would have liked to have gone to, but I had no idea how I was supposed to prepare a BBQ meat dish to serve 5-6, plus a dessert, over a campfire. So we skipped it).

A couple spots are on ledges that overlook forest views and those are especially nice.

As for what we discovered to do in the area:

First we took a bike ride, to Lake Nockamixon state park. The beautiful lake is a great place for a picnic or to feed the ducks. If you want to rent a canoe or kayak, it looks like a beautiful place to paddle.

We found an amazing ice cream shop – Owowcow. The ice cream is made on premises, in small batches, using local ingredients when possible. I tried three kinds, including tiramisu and they were all amazing. Definitely a special find.

In the tiny town of Ottsville, just three miles from the campsite, is a pleasant little coffeeshop, Brig O’Doon, with both indoor and outdoor seating. They have a good selection of quality beverages, as well as fresh bagels and gluten-free treats. Attached is the Kimberton whole foods store, which has an excellent selection of organic and natural food, especially for a small town, as well as a lot of cool toys and gifts. I tend to associate camping with junk food. But here, you can pick up all-natural chicken, grass-fed ground beef, local cheeses and quality pork chops. Don’t forget to bring something to grill with on the fire pit, unless you are using sticks. Unfortunately, the camp sites don’t come with grills to place over the flames.

Biking here allows for the discovery of some great local places, and many of the roads are narrow, green ad lightly trafficked. However, there are some very significant hills. Unless you are a very strong biker, you’ll probably spend some timing pushing your bike uphill.

This is an area where people have businesses making chapels and weatherwaves, repairing screens, operating a law firm next to a personal effects storage facility. It’s a place where the post office worker drives a car with a US MAIL sign atop and drives from the passenger side so as not to have to get out of the car to put the mail in the mailbox. There are a lot of trucks, horses, and recreational vehicles, and the flea market around the diner draws a large crowd on the weekend. But scattered amidst this fairly rural atmosphere are some specialty shops, like Owowcow and Brig O’Doons coffee, that bring a taste of sophistication. The people are friendly and unpretentious. It’s the kind of place that gives one a good feeling, and makes me glad to spend time here.

Godsends When Traveling with Children

There are two things any parent can feel grateful to come across when traveling with children.

The first are cultures that value and care for children. Panama would be a good example. There, you can rest assured that the staff will do whatever is in their power to make the trip easier on the younger ones. They don’t blame parents for a child being upset, but try to find out the cause and help as they can.

The second are other mothers. Only they know what it’s like to have to deal with the demands of travels, one’s own needs, and the needs of another. They seem to know exactly what another mother needs. One woman in the Atlanta airport offered to help me put on my baby carrier, then she offered to watch my bags while I went to get something to eat so I wouldn’t have to carry them. Later, she told me she has a two-year old.

Thank you to all those out there who instead of rolling their eyes at the crying infant or child in the airport/plane/bus/terminal/train, reach out and offer a hand.