Left NH on Sunday. Lots of traffic headed back from the holidays. Our first stop was Springfield MA for the Springfield Museums. Its a grouping of four museums under one admission. Since we have four and six year olds with us, we only visited the science museum. Its small, and not worth the admission on its own, but we have a museum pass with reciprocal benefits so we got in free. There was a very nice gingerbread house display. And if you go outside, there is the Dr. Suess sculpture. The boys enjoyed that but wanted to climb.

After the museum we headed to the Springfield Armory. Admission is free but they do accept donations. Numerous guns on display. Some antique machinery is "operational"... Push a button and watch it go. The boys enjoyed it here and I'd recommend it for anyone interested in history or weapons.

Dinner was at Red Rose. Pretty sure everyone in Springfield was there. Pleasant service, large portions. We got a family salad and a twenty slice pizza for $33. The salad and pizza could have served six easily. It was average food but worked well for us. Great place for kids.

Dang, forgot to hit the orange trip report flag...doing this from my phone!

After dinner we headed to Bright Nights at Forest Park. Nice light display and very expansive. I'd guess it took an hour to go thru? We had fun at this.

Then we drove to Windsor locks to stay at the Homewood Suites. Clean, decent beds, spacious, friendly staff. No airport noise....breakfast was standard but the scones were very good. I would stay there again.

Well hungry kids...off to feed them. More later.

Looks like the traffic this morning is very light. Have fun on the rest of the trip.

Yesterday we left Windsor Locks and headed south to Orange CT to tour the PEZ factory. During the week, they are actively making and packaging. Lots of PEZ dispensers for sale and they have a fill your own bucket that holds 800 candies for $5. We will be on a sugar high for a while.

The drive to NJ was easy. I'm assuming many folks are either on vacation or telecommuting this week.

Arrived at our hotel last night...Spring hill Suites in Voorhees NJ. Comfy beds, nice staff, breakfast was typical but did offer fresh grapes and strawberries. So far I would recommend it, but I personally prefer an extended stay with a kitchen. I'll probably stay somewhere else next time.

Caught up!

Today is just family time with dinner at Tori's Bistro in Clementon. Will post again tonight.

Dinner at Tori's was very good, service a bit spotty. Dinners come with a great bread basket and salad. Everything is made to order. All seven of us enjoyed our meals. Portions are large, so no one leaves hungry. I would go back.

Tomorrow we will be in Philly.

Just found this report. PEZ factory?! I'd love to go there and wonder if ellenem has been...

Yes PEZ factory! Its a good detour to kill and hour.

I got sick and never finished this...

We spent Wednesday in Philly. The Phlash bus is a great deal. It hits many of the major attractions for just $5 - unlimited rides all day. We visited the liberty bell and independence hall. Then we had lunch at BRU. Its meant more as a bar, but we enjoyed the food. The soft pretzel app was great and the hot dogs my kids had were so good. I got latkes and my husband had ghoulash. After that we watched the light show at Macy's and then checked out the mostly broken train display at Reading Terminal Market.