Where-To-Go Wednesday - The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial

What: The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial

Where: 62 Battleship Place
             Camden, NJ

Our view: Since we are not particularly interested in battleships or military history or anything like that we were not particularly interested in visiting the Battleship New Jersey. However, since at least one member of our family wanted to go, we went. We were pleasantly surprised. There is so much more to the Battleship than it's history as a Battleship. You can learn about that. However, there is so much more you can learn as well, such as, about what life is like living at sea. What was it like to go to the dentist at sea? What was it like to go the doctor at sea? What was the radio and the TV station like at sea? What was the jail like at sea? What were the living quarters like at sea?  A trip to the Battleship New Jersey will answer these and many more questions. Just chose the tour that is right for you. There are three tours available to choose from. The General Quarters tour, the Fire Power Tour, and the City at Sea tour. Guided tours or self-guided tours are available. The Battleship is open to the public Saturdays and Sundays 9:30 to 3:00, 9:30 to 5:00 May 1 through September 3. It is closed January 1 through February 1 as well as on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving. Group tours are available as well as overnights. Prices vary depending on what tour you choose but range from $14.00 to $20.00 per person. Children under 6, active military, BB62 vets, and WWII vets are free. A special discount combo tickets for the Battleship New Jersey and the nearby Adventure Aquarium are available. The museum is also conveniently located near Campbells Field home of the Camden Riversharks independent league baseball team.

For more information on the Battleship New Jersey see tomorrow's Talking Topics or go to http://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/.

Tips for Tuesday - TV Shows: The Amanda Show & How It's Made

Me - Today I am recommending The Amanda Show. It is a sketch comedy starring Amanda Bynes. There are some really funny sketches on this show. Some of my favorites are Penelope who is Amanda biggest fan and her brother Preston who always wants a sandwich. It is a really funny show, and you should watch it.

Mom - Today I am recommending  How It's Made. How It's Made is on the Sciene Channel. If you want to find out how they make anything this is the place for you. Episodes have included how they make various musical instrument, how they make various foods, and how they make various sporting goods among other things. If they don't have an episode which tells how they make a particular item you are interested in learning about they encourage you to contact them and suggest that topic for a future episode. My husband and kids can watch How It's Made for hours especially my husband.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

Halloween 2012 Better Late Than Never

Me - Halloween 2012, wow! This year for Halloween me and my sister were both Dorothy. This was the first year in history Halloween was postponed in my town. In fact, even when my mother and father were children, Halloween was never postponed where they lived. This year it seemed like everybody was trick-or-treating at the mall. It was more packed than I have ever seen it before even around Christmas time. I saw two people I know from school. I also saw one teacher who works at my school. A lot of the stores ran out of candy quickly. Some didn't even have candy at all. We didn't get as much candy as we usually get when we go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. We only went around the upper level of the mall before we ate dinner and went home. It was just too crowded and we were too hungry. My sister and I sold most of our candy anyway to be donated to the troops. We usually do that. Although, Halloween still managed to be fun, I like it better when we get to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood.

Mom  - For the first time, I ever remember there was no trick-or-treating on Halloween in my town. There was no wandering around the neighborhood with my kids collecting candy from all the neighbors. There was no endless answering of the doorbell to hand out treats to the other kids in the neighborhood. There was no school Halloween costume parade. There was only cold and and dark and no electricity. However, we couldn't just let Halloween pass without doing anything as if it had never happened. The kids would be disappointed. Besides, we had already bought the costumes. Our local mall held a trick-or-treating event on Monday November 5. All (well not all, but most) of the stores gave out candy. We took our kids. They got a lot of candy although perhaps not as much as usual. It wasn't as tiring as it usually is taking them all over the neighborhood although it was still tiring.  Also, it was very crowded. I have never seen the mall so crowded outside of holiday shopping time. In fact, it was like Black Friday for the kiddie crowd. I was really happy when it was over, and it was time to go home. However, I was glad we went to not only because of my kids but because it was a sign of the world returning to normal after the storm. Sometimes, things just being normal is good.

And that's our view. What was your Halloween like this year?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.