New Jersey offers a myriad of museums for all ages and interests. Challenge yourself this winter to see what's happening at NJ's museums from the Skylands Region down to the Southern Shore. Download and print this infographic as your museum go-to guide.
SKYLANDS
This scenic region invites you to "drive to it, not through it"! You'll see why when you explore the eclectic collection of 40,000-plus objects at the Morris Museum in Morristown. Don't miss the marvelous collection of mechanical musical instruments and automata. If you like your art contemporary and your architecture classic, you'll be in heaven at the Hunterdon Art Museum, a 19th-century mill in Clinton housing works from emerging artists. Looking for something that's out of this world? Space Farms Zoo & Museum in Sussex features lions and tigers and…antique cars! You just have to see this unusual collection of exotic animals and historic items to believe it.
GATEWAY
New Jersey's Gateway Region is a museum powerhouse. It's hard to know where to start, so why not go big? Newark Museum, the state's largest, features everything from a Native American art installation to "EmPOWERED," an exhibit about renewable energy. At the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, kids of all ages can explore science exhibits like "Eat and Be Eaten" and view laser shows at North America's largest IMAX Dome Theater. Montclair Art Museum focuses on American and Native American art from the past 300 years. For a fun (and cheap) date night, enjoy fine art and live music at the museum's Free First Thursday Nights.
DELAWARE RIVER
The Delaware River Region is a treasure trove for history and art buffs. In Trenton, visit the Old Barracks Museum, housed in the original 1758 structure, to learn about colonial life. Take a quick "crawl" over to the New Jersey State Museum, which is really four museums in one, with exhibits dedicated to fossils, fine art and NJ history. And be sure to peruse the collection at the Princeton University Art Museum, one of the nation's leading art museums. Its 92,000 works of art range from ancient to contemporary—and it's free!
SHORE
Down in the Shore Region, the New Jersey Museum of Boating celebrates the design and hard work of boat builders. Admittance at this Point Pleasant museum is free. If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck…could it be a duck decoy at Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum? You bet. In addition to a spectacular display of hand-carved duck decoys, you can view artisans at work. And for the starstruck, the Robert J. Novins Planetarium, which is located at Ocean County College in Toms River, is your ticket to the wild blue yonder.
ATLANTIC CITY AREA
Heading to AC? Stop at the Noyes Arts Garage to explore displays mounted by the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey. Wednesdays are free at this location. At Stockton University in Hammonton, you can view another location of the Noyes Museum of Art at Kramer Hall, a former sewing factory. The Noyes Gallery showcases works by New Jersey artists and Stockton students. And set a reminder to visit a new museum in the state; the Atlantic County Veterans Museum, housed in the historic Estell Manor, is slated to open in 2017.
SOUTHERN SHORE
New Jersey's Southern Shore Region brings to mind beaches, lighthouses and Victorian architecture. But this scenic part of the state also features unique state history. View more than 25,000 arrowheads, all found in South Jersey, and learn about the Lenni-Lenape tribe at the Woodruff Museum of Indian Artifacts, which is housed in the Bridgeton Public Library. See where WWII pilots received advanced gunnery training (and gaze at vintage aircraft) at Millville Army Air Field Museum, and discover an obscure chapter of NJ history at Seabrook Educational & Cultural Center, once known as the biggest vegetable factory on earth and where Japanese-Americans were interned during WWII.
In 2017, the centennial of the U.S. entry into WWI, be sure to honor New Jersey's veterans at historic spots across the state. For more outings, take a look at NJ's unique history museums and 10 free attractions in New Jersey. Be sure to download a free NJ travel guide or sign up for e-news from New Jersey Travel and Tourism.
