Category: Travel

Family, Travel

Jenkinson’s Aquarium

marcetheblogger

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to get a beautiful spring day here in New Jersey. We were able to jump in the car and randomly drive down the shore to Point Pleasant Beach. We walked the boardwalk and were able to take in some sun, the smell of boardwalk food, and of course the lovely view of the ocean.

It was a great day to explore the Point Pleasant boardwalk with your family and I believe everyone else felt the same way. The boardwalk was full of families out flying kites, eating, having ice cream, and just strolling along.

On this trip, it was my fiance, myself, my two kids, as well as my sister and her two kids. While walking on the boardwalk, we tried to think of what more we could do besides eat. My fiance had the great idea to check out the Jenkinson’s Aquarium. We had been to this particular boardwalk often but had never visited the aquarium.

To start, the pricing was pretty decent for adults and children. We try to be budget friendly and this place definitely did not break our pockets. They had great animals to see and even some we could touch. The large sharks were definitely a site to see.

I think the family favorite was the Penguins. There were so many and we were able to catch the feeding. They were all distinctly labeled by the use of beads and we were impressed by the age range of these animals. The voiceover was descriptive of the feeding process including what they were being fed and what they actually wanted to have.

Unfortunately, I had the baby stroller so I was unable to check out the upstairs. The only con I could see was that there was no elevator. Being a family friendly spot in my opinion should definitely come with an elevator. It would make it easy to get around and get my complete money’s worth.

Overall, we had a great time. It was definitely family friendly and all of the kids loved it. It is a must do if you are ever visiting Point Pleasant. More info here –> https://jenkinsons.com/aquarium/

Travel

Scuba Diving Fun in Jamaica

marcetheblogger

If you know me, you know I am far from a risk taker or an adventurer. But I have grown to just go with the flow and try things that are out of my comfort zone! So while we were in Jamaica, we decided to try different excursions, one of them being scuba diving. I honestly did not think we would be going scuba diving because my fiance is not really a fan of being in enclosed spaces and those scuba face masks are definitely enclosed! Nonetheless, he being him, suprised me and decided to eliminate ziplining and try scuba diving.

I was totally cool with the idea of scuba diving. I mean, I love the ocean and everything about it (well maybe not everything). So I felt extremely confident and brave while on the ship although the weather was starting to cool off and clouds rolled in. But when it came time to get in the water, I was definitely the last one in. My fiance, to my suprise, was in the water and seemed to be okay. I took a deep breath and made my way down the steps because the option to jump in was scary for me lol.

Once I slipped the mask on and tried to swim near the ship before receiving our remaining equipment, I felt myself going into panic mode. I was literally freaking out in my head because I felt like I was going to drown and could not breath through my mouth. At this point, I received the additional equipment and began to try it out but I freaked out! I made my way back to the steps, climbed up, and took the mask off. I began to breathe and almost quit. My fiance kept asking me to try it but in that moment I needed a break. I asked the leader of the excursion to please walk me through the process of how to breathe.

After about a minute, I regained my composure and jumped in. I moved slowly at first but then somewhat got the hang of it. We did not get to see much because the cold front came in right before it started raining. We did not last the whole hour in the water but I felt accomplished. I know I would have been upset if I had not completed the excursion.

The real fun part came after we returned to the boat. There was a party with a great DJ and great hosts. Open bar on a boat while it rained…what else could solve being cold quicker than some Jamaica rum! Thank you Chukka! Link to book your future excursion in Jamaica: https://chukka.com/book-now/book-jamaica/

Family, Travel

Statue of Liberty

marcetheblogger

I was born and raised in Paterson, NJ, just a short drive from New York City and had never visited the Statue of Liberty! Yes, believe it!! So when my fiance’s niece who was visiting from Virginia mentioned it, we decided to make it a day trip before she left. We ordered our tickets online the night before and chose the most basic option. We did not want to go inside of the statue for several reasons including not wanting to climb so many steps especially not with a 7 month old baby lol.

The morning of the trip, we (mostly me) thought we would miss our boarding time because we were running super late. I hate being late although it seems to be the trend in my life lately lol. However, when we got to Liberty State Park to catch the ferry, we picked up our tickets and were told it was fine. Thank you Statue Cruises! By the way, definitely check out the following link for the cheapest price on tickets
https://www.statuecruises.com/#/. I came across another site that was more expensive so when I did another search I was glad to save some money!

I would recommend to do this early in the day. I noticed when we got back to Liberty State Park that the line to get on the Ferry to the statue was way longer than when we arrived early in the morning. Another tip, come prepared to go through a thorough security search. We had to take off anything we had over our clothes including the baby’s clothes. It was really a stressful process, not for lack of organization but rather for us traveling with a baby. We took super long to get everything back together and on but definitely appreciate the tight security. There were also snack booths on each level of the ferry that included coffee, tea, hot chocolate, hot dogs, pretzels, and chips and sweets! We didn’t check out the museum this time around but this trip was so economical that we will definitely do it again once the weather is warmer!

The weather was absolutely perfect and the ferries in both directions were not full. Truly a delightful experience. This was a great photo opportunity and we definitely took advantage. See below for some awesome views!

Family, Travel

Vacation!

marcetheblogger

Hi All,

I am back from vacation and ready to share about my travels. This was our first (my fiance and I) trip without our kiddies and we chose to go to Jamaica. The trip was booked last minute so no chance for savings but we had an awesome time.

We had to get minor details figured out before taking our trip including babysitters for our kids and dog! Thanks to my mom and dad for always being super helpful and of course my sister who did not go crazy with a house full of kids this past weekend.

Below are some pictures to enjoy! I will be posting more details in future posts!