If you’re looking for something different to do with your kids this winter, hop in the car for a day trip to Bristol, Conn.; Springfield, Mass.; or Syracuse. You’ll be only about two hours from home, but you’ll find a slew of new things to do.
Bristol, Conn.
Sports network ESPN doesn’t give tours at its Bristol, Ct., headquarters, but the city’s Imagine Nation offers the next best thing.
Kids can sit at the desk of a replica “SportsCenter” set donated by ESPN and pretend they’re doing a live broadcast, reading off a teleprompter. They can also don an ESPN shirt and stand in front of a green screen, recalling highlights from a number of different sports.
As cool as that might sound, Imagine Nation Executive Director Doreen Stickney said it’s just one of the many attractions that make the children’s museum stand out.
“We have a refurbished 1940s soda fountain that’s really neat,” Stickney said. “That’s like the highlight when you come in.”
Stickney also cited the museum’s outdoor learning center, which is open year round except when there’s heavy snow or ice, its “Imagine That” art station and a number of programs aimed at families, like one on New Year’s Eve that spotlights how people ring in the new year around the globe.
The soda fountain serves up kid favorites like peanut butter and jelly and mac and cheese for lunch, with cones and sundaes for dessert. Hot cocoa is available in the winter, and a number of candy jars line the counter.
The outdoor learning center, Stickney said, “is not just a typical playground.” Serving as a “jumping-off point” for the museum’s indoor activities, it offers interactive lessons focusing on nature, science and art.
Imagine Nation is open on most school holidays, such as Martin Luther King Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day. There are often programs tailored to the holiday. While it is closed on Thanksgiving, there’s a program the following day that centers on Native Americans. On Friday, Nov. 2, the museum will host the 11th annual Wild About Animals Festival, with a number of live animals throughout the museum from 5 to 8 p.m.
Imagine Nation is geared to ages 2 to 10. Admission is $7 per person, with kids younger than 1 admitted free. The museum is open Wednesdays to Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. The museum is at 1 Pleasant St. in Bristol. To get there from Albany, take Interstate 90 east into Massachusetts to Exit 2, Lee/Pittsfield. Stay left on to Route 20 east, then pick up Route 8 south in Connecticut. Take Exit 39 toward Bristol. The trip takes about two hours and 15 minutes.
For more information, visit www.imaginenation.org.
Other fun things to do in Bristol: The American Clock and Watch Museum (www.clockandwatchmuseum.org) highlights American clock and watchmaking, with an emphasis on Connecticut. Kids should get a kick out of the hundreds of grand clocks on display, as well as smaller clocks held by figurines, and the museum’s garden has a working sundial. The New England Carousel Museum (http://www.thecarouselmuseum.org) is home not to just dozens of carousel fixtures of all shapes and sizes, but to the Museum of Fire History and the Museum of Greek Culture. Kids can make crafts and ride on a working carousel.
Syracuse
Tell your kids you’re going to spend the day at a shopping mall in Syracuse, and they’re probably not going to be thrilled. But they’ll definitely perk up when you mention they can race go-karts, walk through an upside down house, see a number of ice sculptures or try out the largest indoor ropes course in the world.
It’s all part of Carousel Mall’s transformation into Destiny USA, a complex where shopping is only part of the story. Destiny’s third floor is being made over to offer an entertainment experience unparalleled in the Northeast.
“The more unique the venue, the more excited we get,” Destiny spokesman David Aitken said about the third floor’s offerings.
The first attraction to open was Pole Position Raceway, whose other locations are all standalone buildings. Anyone 48 inches or taller can drive one of the electric karts, with Pole Position offering an “arrive and drive” program that lets customers race in groups or as individuals. Races last about 10 minutes, with adult karts reaching speeds of 45 mph and karts for kids hitting 20 mph. Drivers get a stat sheet at the end of each race showing their average lap time, fastest lap time and more. Arrive and drive prices are $23 for adults and $20 for kids.
Pole Position debuted in early October as the first of Destiny’s new entertainment options, and Aitken said it’s been a “phenomenal success.” A YouTube video of the karts in action had more than 100,000 views two weeks later.
An early November opening was planned for WonderWorks, which bills itself as “edutainment.” As Aitken explained, “It’s designed to be interactive learning and fun. It’s an amusement park for the mind.”
This isn’t a quick stop on a tour of the mall. Aitken recommended setting aside three or four hours. Visitors enter through WonderWorks’ trademark upside down house, which leads to a number of interactive exhibits like an anti-gravity chamber, a virtual roller coaster and a giant piano “a la FAO Schwarz.”
You might have seen a WonderWorks while on vacation; the nearest one is in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., with other locations in Orlando and Panama City, Fla., as well as Myrtle Beach, S.C. For more information, including prices, visit http://www.wonderworksonline.com/destiny.
Included in WonderWorks is Canyon Climb, touted as the world’s largest suspended indoor ropes course. At 70 feet tall, it will offer visitors three levels of ropes featuring dozens of obstacles and activities.
The Ice Museum is slated to open at Destiny in early 2013. Aitken said the museum will be cold year round, with owner Stan Kolonko displaying his ice sculptures and sometimes doing live demonstrations. Visitors will get parkas and gloves when they enter, and there will be benches made of ice on which people can sit.
Other attractions on tap include the Amazing Mirror Maze, OptiGolf golf simulators, a bowling alley and Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill. Destiny is also home to Carousel Mall’s namesake antique carousel, and there are a number of dining options ranging from food court fare to sit-down restaurants like Cantina Loredo, which offers gourmet Mexican. If the kids are clamoring for a snack, you can’t go wrong with a fresh batch of caramel corn from the Caramel Corn Shoppe, where even the smell is a treat.
For more information, visit www.destinyusa.com.
To get to Destiny USA from Albany, take Interstate 90 west to Exit 36. Go south on Interstate 81 for about a mile. Destiny will be on your right, with signs pointing you to parking. The trip takes about two and a half hours.
Other fun things to do in Syracuse: Downtown Syracuse boasts its own first-rate science center, the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (http://www.most.org). The MOST has an IMAX theater, a planetarium, a discovery cave and a multi-story science playhouse, a giant climbing maze. The Everson Museum of Art (www.everson.org) offers fun packs for families containing games, books and scavenger hunts.
Springfield, Mass.
When Edward Kamuda was a kid, he read about the Titanic’s doomed journey, and he was captivated. How, he wondered, could such a celebrated ship meet such an awful fate?
“I just couldn’t fathom it,” he said. “It struck a chord with me.”
That childhood fascination gave birth to the Titanic Historical Society and later the Titanic Museum, where Kamuda welcomes visitors year round. Located in Indian Orchard, Mass., outside Springfield, the museum is home to an extensive collection of authentic Titanic memorabilia, much of it donated by survivors of the 1912 sinking.
Kamuda founded the historical society after hearing about a Titanic survivor who died in New York City. The landlord had cleaned out the apartment and thrown the survivor’s belongings in the city dump.
“I thought, something has to be done,” Kamuda said.
So he began reaching out to survivors, and as word spread, survivors began reaching out to him. As Kamuda received a growing number of artifacts, he decided to open a place to display them. Today, visitors to the Titanic Museum can see things like the lifejacket worn by Madeline Astor, who was pregnant and ushered to a lifeboat by her husband, John Jacob Astor. Mr. Astor died, while Mrs. Astor made it safely to the rescue boat Carpathia, where doctor’s assistant Gottlieb Rencher helped her to his office. Her lifejacket was left there, and the Rencher family donated the lifejacket to the museum.
There is also a lifeboat flag donated by historical society Vice President Paul Louden-Brown. When the Titanic lifeboats were dropped off at the White Star Line pier, several of the flags were taken as souvenirs. The one at the museum was used as a model for the lifeboat flags in the movie “Titanic.”
A wood and cane chair displayed at the museum was retrieved from a Canadian ship that was charged with collecting bodies from the Titanic. It probably came from one of Titanic’s suites, which had their own private promenade decks. The decks were protected from the weather, so they didn’t need the deck chairs that were popular on the trip.
Kamuda said the amount of time people spend at the museum depends on their level of interest. It’s an intimate museum that offers a memorable experience for all ages, he said. He frequently hosts schoolchildren who are doing reports on the Titanic.
The Titanic Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, and the museum is closed on Sundays. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children under 12. Kids younger than 6 are admitted free. The museum is at 208 Main St. To get to the Titanic Museum from Albany, take Interstate 90 east into Massachusetts to Exit 6. Turn left on Fuller Road, and stay straight on Shawnigan Drive and Russell Street. After about 2 miles, turn right on West Street, which becomes Main St. The trip takes about an hour and a half.
For more information, visit titanic1.org.
Other fun things to do in Springfield: Candlepin bowling is a popular pastime in Western Massachusetts. Kids can try their hands at this game that’s kind of a cross between regular bowling and skee-ball at lanes in nearby Holyoke, South Hampton and Palmer. When night falls, check out Bright Nights at Forest Park. The drive-through holiday lights display, which opens Nov. 21, features a Seussville area inspired by Springfield native Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.