Things to Do in Bayonne

Since its creation in 1965, Buzz-A-Rama has hummed with the zooming melody of miniature slot cars, 1/24-scale replicas that race around turns and down straightaways at speeds ranging from 20 to 100 miles per hour. Eight at a time, these mini-racers whip around five different tracks that range from 80 to 100 feet in length, some featuring steep banks and sharp turns for an extra challenge. Owner Buzz Perri likes to say that his fast-paced racing menagerie—open on the weekends for general racing, weekdays for parties—is recommended for ages 5–95. Nothing proves his point better than the fact that past generations of racers now bring in their children and grandchildren to teach them a thing or two about leaving their blinkers on.

At The Bloomfield School, instructors Kerrie Yeung and Melissa J. Tyson love the process of jewelry making as much as the intricate outcomes. With experience at home and abroad crafting and displaying their own work, they have amassed a grab bag of tips and techniques capable of invigorating a simple ring design or transforming a pocketful of beads and molten silver into an elegant pendant. Together, they use their skills to expand the jewelry-crafting community, hosting classes that instill an understanding of how to take a design from a wax idea to a metal reality. Yet they aren't interested in letting students walk away with only surface knowledge. Their intensive courses delve into the theory and collective know-how to create competent artisans capable of expanding on their projects in the future and re-creating their pieces without traveling back in time.

An unassuming building on the Upper East Side hosts a colorful kids' paradise that pairs a pet farm with fun and enriching classes. Chinchillas, hamsters, geckos, and hermit crabs scuttle around their enclosures or out on the floor, where visitors pet them and even learn to care for them in a class for ages 4–7. Other classes unlock inner artists as students paint seascapes and sculpt with clay, or develop culinary chops in a mini-chef class focused on tasty, nutritious foods. Kids can even claim a part-time pet hosted by the farm, such as a bunny or a dove, that brings youngsters the fuzzy joy of companionship while sparing a parent from having to walk their child's hermit crab around the block. Inside, themed rooms enhance imaginative adventures, whether in the music/party room painted with a mural of a lake or in the preschool/play group room that boasts a motif of gigantic sunflowers. Playful stuffed snakes coil around the ceiling beams of the indoor petting zoo, where rocking horses and plastic flowers wrapped around a pillar accent the open- or closed-habitat areas.

Although buying pottery pieces in a store is easier than making your own, it isn’t nearly as satisfying. At Supermud Pottery Studio, it’s this impending satisfaction that leads students aged 3 to adult toward creating their own mugs, vases, and bowls during interactive classes and children's summer camp. Pupils learn the basics, such as hand building or wheel throwing, from experienced teachers as they shape blocks of lifeless clay into utilitarian pieces or sculptures with actual heartbeats. Finished artwork may even reside in the studio's gallery, which displays inimitable ceramic works by both renowned artists and Supermud alumni.

Pubcrawls.com arranges safe, lively walking treks to popular, bustling watering holes in dozens of cities across the United States and Canada. The jovial jaunts have earned ample press for shepherding revelers to multiple bars and clubs throughout the course of a day or evening. At each venue, bartenders regale participants with exclusive drink specials and conversations with sentient beer mugs. Many events are tailored around holidays, such as Christmas and Halloween, or costume-friendly themes such as Michael Jackson and superheroes.

When she isn’t busy knitting the kinds of garments that appear in collections by Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein, Berta Karapetyan shares her skills with fellow crafters at School Products Yarn. Located in an historic Manhattan yarn shop, the store stays true to its building’s past by stocking its shelves with a vast supply of yarns, needles, and woolly Civil War–era mutton chops.

The store’s ample fiber selection ranges from affordable wool blends to skeins of luxurious cashmere. Needles come in a variety of sizes, and a collection of handy tools and accessories keeps projects running along smoothly. Berta’s 15 years of industry experience serve her well when she’s advising purchases or overseeing students as they craft socks or snuggies for their pet anacondas during knitting classes.