Things to Do in Lincoln Park

The concept for Sidewalks of NY Tours sprang from founder J.D. Hirsch's experience leading friends and family on treks to discover a true-to-life New York City. Now a business staffed by several expert guides, Sidewalks of NY Tours ferries walkers through creative itinerates that aim to uncover hidden gems and offer close-up views of famous locales. Customers can choose tours with various themes such as food tastings, photo tours, architecture tours, or a 9/11 memorial tour, allowing them to focus their journeys on what they find most interesting.

The phosphorescent, indoor landscape at Monster Mini Golf immerses putters in an eerie universe that inverts the sun-soaked cheer of conventional courses. Rimmed in glowing green barriers, 18 holes lure swingers of all sizes to challenge their coordination and resolve in the face of winged monsters, scowling animated trees, a creepy clown, and their opponents' shockingly dazzling smiles. Sheltered from searing rain and howling wind, the indoor course enables play around hazards such as a spell well and luminous, ghostly windmill at any time of the year. An in-house radio station and DJ mask the sound of pounding hearts with lively beats and course commentary, and golfers looking for additional glory can win prizes by participating in regular contests or at the onsite arcade (arcade games not covered by this Groupon).

The New Jersey Children's Museum immerses its visitors in more than 30 interactive exhibits that encourage hands-on exploration and learning, a philosophy that helped the facility secure a place within (201) Magazine's Best of Bergen 2011 series. Adventure intertwines with education within the dinosaur cave, where kids can make cave drawings or dig up fossils of prehistoric sports mascots. Heads turn as flashing lights and the warning cries of an approaching locomotive fill the air at the giant train set, and news stories break at the television studio. In addition to its many curiosity-inducing zones, the award-winning facility also hosts birthday parties with themes such as fire trucks, princesses, and dinosaurs.

Wings Air's band of experienced pilots advocate the beauty of airborne travel through charter services, flight lessons, and an aerial film-production studio. Luxury jets, decked out with sectional couches, meeting tables, and bars, grant passengers and their mobile studio audiences safe travels with charter and cargo services. Within helicopter cockpits, Bose noise-canceling headsets block out the hum of spinning propellers to ensure clear communication during charters and tours. Wings Air Films offers a wide range of aerial production services, supplying movie helicopters and camera platforms to capture bird's-eye shots of famous landmarks or Waldo sightings for motion-picture and television industries.

During Hollywood's Golden Age, The Community Theatre was the crowning achievement of Walter Reade's chain of New Jersey movie palaces. By the 1980s, after five decades of movie screenings and catastrophic popcorn wars, the theater sat in disrepair. Concerned citizens banded together in 1994 to save the historic building from a sad end, and in May 2011, after a series of renovations, the theater officially changed its name to the Mayo Performing Arts Center. The venue currently hosts more than 200 performances a year, occasional art showings, and performance-arts education classes for adults and children.

It takes copious amounts of energy to transform a child's body into an adult's, so it’s no wonder that such energy sometimes overflows. At Planet Kidz, a fleet of chipper teachers helps kids find constructive outlets for that energy, keeping bodies healthy and minds creatively engaged. The center’s dance and yoga programs tailor training toward developing bodies and students who love to learn in a non-competitive environment. During gymnastics classes, instructors challenge tykes to improve their coordination and flexibility, which help lay the fundamental physical foundation for other popular sports such as soccer or juggling Mom's vases. Self-discipline and self-defense share the spotlight during karate classes, and kids develop social niceties and fine motor skills at arts and crafts sessions.

While kids play and learn, parents can recline on couches, observe classes through a one-way mirror, or down beverages from a complimentary coffee and water bar. Cable TV ensures that adults stay on top of incoming broadcasts, and free WiFi keeps robot nannies from suddenly shutting down.