A short ride to the Shore Line Trolley
It's hard to believe that Newhavenbaby turned 2 (!!) this weekend. We had hoped to repeat our birthday apple-picking trip from last year, but this icky weather forced us inside. 
Serendipitously, we ended up at the Shore Line Trolley Museum, near the Tweed airport in East Haven. Newhavenbaby has a new fascination with trains, and a search for train activities at ParentsFirst site led us to the museum. Newhavenbaby has not stopped asking to go back since we got back in the car at the museum to go home. He has been harassing his daddy to take him on the "green trolley" (aka the downtown New Haven electric trolley) since he recognized it yesterday from his carseat view.
The scoop:
The people who worked at the museum were very friendly. There is a small exhibit inside to look at while you wait for the trolley to arrive. The trolley ride is 3 miles long and winds through some beautiful marshlands to Short Beach and back. The trolley makes a stop at what we called "the Roundhouse" where you can climb around in beautifully restored trolley cars. The conductor/tourguide was interesting in a Steve Buscemi kind of way. We had our lunch inside on the trolley station benches. I didn't ask if food was allowed, but no one stopped us either.
Stroller-rating: leave it in the trunk! The museum is small enough to carry or chase your newhavenbaby, and you won't need a stroller on the trolley. Newhavenbaby got a little heavy at "the Roundhouse" until we abandonded the tour group and let him and little c climb the trolleys with wild abandon. I don't think you'd have much luck with a stroller there anyway---the ground is gravel and you cross lots of tracks. One of the buildings has stairs (and a box of rusty saws at toddler level!), and the passageway in one of the other buildings is very narrow.
The trolley museum is about 5 minutes down I-95 to exit 51. There aren't clear signs along the way, so make sure to copy the directions from the Web site. Check hours too; the museum is usually open on the weekends. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children 2 and up, and free for children under 2.
Serendipitously, we ended up at the Shore Line Trolley Museum, near the Tweed airport in East Haven. Newhavenbaby has a new fascination with trains, and a search for train activities at ParentsFirst site led us to the museum. Newhavenbaby has not stopped asking to go back since we got back in the car at the museum to go home. He has been harassing his daddy to take him on the "green trolley" (aka the downtown New Haven electric trolley) since he recognized it yesterday from his carseat view.The scoop:
The people who worked at the museum were very friendly. There is a small exhibit inside to look at while you wait for the trolley to arrive. The trolley ride is 3 miles long and winds through some beautiful marshlands to Short Beach and back. The trolley makes a stop at what we called "the Roundhouse" where you can climb around in beautifully restored trolley cars. The conductor/tourguide was interesting in a Steve Buscemi kind of way. We had our lunch inside on the trolley station benches. I didn't ask if food was allowed, but no one stopped us either.
Stroller-rating: leave it in the trunk! The museum is small enough to carry or chase your newhavenbaby, and you won't need a stroller on the trolley. Newhavenbaby got a little heavy at "the Roundhouse" until we abandonded the tour group and let him and little c climb the trolleys with wild abandon. I don't think you'd have much luck with a stroller there anyway---the ground is gravel and you cross lots of tracks. One of the buildings has stairs (and a box of rusty saws at toddler level!), and the passageway in one of the other buildings is very narrow.The trolley museum is about 5 minutes down I-95 to exit 51. There aren't clear signs along the way, so make sure to copy the directions from the Web site. Check hours too; the museum is usually open on the weekends. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children 2 and up, and free for children under 2.
posted by newhavenmama at 22:55
1 Comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I hope everyone had a great time even though the weather hasn't been the greatest.
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