On July 10th, 2026, I rode the newest roller coaster to open in New Jersey which was Barrels O' Fun at Six Flags Great Adventure. Barrels O' Fun was built in the new Shoreline Pier section at Six Flags Great Adventure, and it is one of two replacement roller coasters for the former Green Lantern Coaster that stood there from 2011, and then suddenly closed in 2024. Ride history Although Barrels O' Fun is new to Six Flags Great Adventure, it’s not a brand-new roller coaster an

On July 12th, 2026, I took my first visit to PopUp Bagels in Westfield, NJ. This bagel store has gone viral recently due to it being built only 50 feet away from another bagel restaurant, and its popularity from other restaurants located in New York state. It had its grand opening ceremony on July 10th, 2026, and it became the first of two PopUp Bagel restaurants to open in New Jersey. I didn’t buy food from there on July 10th or 11th, but whenever I drove by the restaurant,

On March 7th, 2026, Josephine and I visited the New Jersey Chocolate Expo at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, NJ. This was our second time visiting the New Jersey Convention and Exposition center, and it will most likely not be our last time considering that we had a great time at this event, and there is another food expo happening soon. Upon entry, we showed our tickets that we purchased online, and we were greeted by many booths with chocolates

Ocean Prime Tavern in Cranford, New Jersey is an upscale restaurant primarily known for its steaks and high-quality selection of wines. I have visited this restaurant five times in 2026, and it has become one of my favorite restaurants in Cranford. From the moment I walk in, the restaurant has a very pleasing ambience. I’ve always loved how the bar looked, the heaters inside the restaurant, and the many bottles of wine that surround the entire restaurant. The music in the r

On June 6th, 2026, we visited the 2026 New Jersey Renaissance Fair in Columbus, New Jersey. This was my third time attending the Renaissance fair, but Josephine has gone many more times than me. Upon entering the New Jersey Renaissance fair, we went under the same castle used in previous years but quickly noticed that this year’s fair was a lot larger. The northern part of the field used for the New Jersey Renaissance fair had many more booths compared to previous years. Th

Manhattan bagel in Westfield, New Jersey is a small takeout restaurant that primarily sells bagels, breakfasts, and lunch sandwiches. As of when this article was written, it has been serving customers for over 24 years, and in my opinion, it is the best bagel restaurant in all of Union County, New Jersey. Manhattan Bagel has also gone viral recently on NJ.com due to another bagel restaurant that is opening only 50 feet away from this restaurant. Another bagel restaurant will

On May 8th and May 22nd, 2026, I visited iPlay America in Freehold, NJ. I visited this fun entertainment center twice because I went on two different nights that allowed free entry for teachers. I was also interested in checking out this indoor amusement park because they had one roller coaster, and one of the last SPF Visa Coasters I had to experience in New Jersey. Overall, I think this is a nice indoor park that is worth bringing families to. Inside of iPlay America, there

On May 31, 2026, I rode the newest roller coaster to open in New Jersey for 2026 named Patriot’s Run at Jenkinson’s Boardwalk in Point Pleasant, NJ. This roller coaster made a surprise opening on Friday, May 29th, 2026, so I made a trip to experience the new roller coaster only two days after it opened. Patriot’s Run was built by the roller coaster manufacturer SBF Visa, and this manufacturer also built Shark Escape in the same park, the former Tidal Wave, and several ot

On June 20th, 2026, we visited Liberty Island, and finally had the privilege of going to the crown in the Statue of Liberty. We had always dreamed of going to the very top of the Statue of Liberty, and we could not have been more excited to have finally gone to the top of the tower. Before planning any trips to the crown in the Statue of Liberty, one important note is that you cannot just walk up to the top on the day of your visit. You must reserve a time and day to visit t

On April 7th, 2026, I visited the dinosaur car wash in Linden, New Jersey. We’ve driven past this car wash many times, and we’ve also seen this car wash appear on many Instagram reels, so I wanted to check it out. When I entered the car wash, I was greeted by a velociraptor and vacuums with the name “velocivaccum.” There is also a little station area for mat cleaners, a sink named “sinkosarus station”, and a miniature dinosaur library. I really liked the cleaning station beca

On April 9th, 2026, I visited Universal Epic Universe for the first time ever. I was on spring break from work, and I took a short two-night visit to the Universal Orlando Resort between April 8th and 10th to visit the new Epic Universe as well as Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure. Throughout my visit, I spent nearly all of my Thursday, April 9th, at Epic Universe, and I briefly visited the other two parks on Wednesday and Friday. Since my trip was very short, I pu

14 February 2026 Red Bank, NJ This past Valentine's Day, we tried something new, a soap-making class! At Sensorium Emporium in Red Bank, NJ, we were able to take a class that was about 2 hours long and learned how to make soap. We were walked through the process of mixing scents we liked, colors we liked, and using different molds. The wax was heated for us beforehand, and then we got to be as creative as we liked. It was fun mixing the scents and colors to our liking. Afterw

Red Bank, NJ 14 February 2026 This past Valentine's Day, we opted for a quiet evening after a fun day filled with brunch at Buona Sera and a soap-making class at Sensorium Emporium. We had saw a post online about heart-shaped pizzas being made and thought that it would be a cute way to end the night. The people at Gianni's Pizzeria were super friendly and the pizza was delicious. I think it might be my favorite pizza in this region of New Jersey! Since we had had such a large

Red Bank, NJ 14 February 2026 This year for Valentine's Day, we decided to spend the day in Red Bank, NJ. We opted for brunch at Buona Sera, in hopes of avoiding large crowds, then headed over to Sensorium Emporium for a soap-making class, and ended the day with a heart-shaped pizza at Gianni's Pizzeria. We have been to Buona Sera before, usually for dinner, and have always had a great time. The food is delicious, the portions are generous, and the atmosphere is nice and rela

In February 2025 and 2026, we stayed overnight at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel. We like staying at this hotel every year to attend a convention and to earn professional development hours for our teaching jobs, but we found that there are many other great aspects of the hotel and convention center. Every time we have stayed at this hotel, we are always impressed with how large and neat the convention center looked. There are three levels of rooms that

On December 31st, 2025, we visited Jurassic Quest in Edison, New Jersey. This is a traveling dinosaur fair that goes around the United States, and we visited this fair at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center. Upon entering the fair, we were greeted with a large T-rex and many other large dinosaur animatronics. The animatronics were huge and they were easy to get up close to every one of them. Additionally, the fair included many large Jurassic Sea creatures like th

On September 14th, 2025, I went to Jackson Day for the first time. Jackson Day is an event that celebrates the community of Jackson, New Jersey, and it has many different sponsors, live entertainment, food, games, a craft and flea market, and drone show. I didn’t know too much about the event prior to my visit, but I heard online that the front train of the former world’s tallest coaster named Kingda Ka, was going to be on display at the event. This was the main reason I de

On November 16th, 2025, I visited a Christmas Wonderland event that was happening at Seasonal World. Seasonal World is in Clarksburg, New Jersey, and it has a big Christmas sale that occurs between October to January. I found out about this event through many billboards on the highway, and they state that it is the largest Christmas store in New Jersey. Since it is located near Six Flags Great Adventure, I decided to make a small pit stop and visit the event. I was very i

4 October 2025 Leonia, NJ When we heard about this year being the final season of Field Station: Dinosaurs in Leonia, NJ, we had to stop and experience it firsthand. It was our first ever visit and it was a lot of fun. We are sad to see it go as it was a nice visit for people of all ages. The last day to explore this cool park will be November 9th. The entire park is themed to "Jurassic Park in New Jersey." There are over 30 life-size dinosaurs that move and roar. As soon as

On the evening of August 8th and for all of August 9th, 2025, I visited Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts. This is my third...