Sightseeing in Phillipsburg

Beneath a towering marble dome sits the 20-foot-high marble statue of Benjamin Franklin. All is quiet—until the multimedia presentation springs to life. Not content with a silent symbol, The Franklin Institute brings its namesake’s story to life with his National Memorial, complete with audio effects and dramatic lighting. Spanning three floors, the Institute gives a voice to human ingenuity—past and future—with hundreds of interactive exhibits, live science shows, a 3D flight simulator, and 4.5-story IMAX theater. Though now filled with a range of space-age attractions, the Institute began with single purpose.

The Background

Samuel Vaughan Merrick and William H. Keating established The Franklin Institute in 1824, to honor the life and achievements of Benjamin Franklin. In the following decades, the Institute hosted forward thinkers such as Nikola Tesla, who gave a demonstration on wireless telegraphy in 1893. In 1930, the board decided to expand the space into a new science museum—and raised the funds in 12 days. The museum opened to the public in 1934—and in the same year hosted the first public demonstration of an all-electronic TV system.

The Highlights

The Franklin Institute’s permanent exhibits now include Space Command, which invites visitors to recover an unmanned space probe and examine real astronaut equipment. At Changing Earth, visitors create their own weather patterns, play with steams of water, and build structures that can stand up to earthquakes or all-elephant 5Ks.

At various daily showtimes, the Franklin Theater’s high-contrast screen displays 3D films on animals, earth ecosystems, and human history. In the recently renovated Fels Planetarium audiences witness projections of weather and space spread across a 60-foot seamless aluminum dome.

The winner of seven consecutive Best Custom Framing awards from CityVoter users, Masterpieces Fine Art & Custom Framing stocks more than 2,300 frames, including work by industry mainstay Larson-Juhl. Its skilled framers meld function and aesthetic form to secure works of art in everything from American hardwood to 22-karat-gold-leafing frames to metal handcuffs. Aside from framing, the staff also restores faded or creased photos to their original vivid states and brings photos to life by converting them into imitation oil paintings or watercolors that look like they were born from hours of meticulous brushstrokes.

We offer Private Lessons, Group Lessons, Tot Classes for children 8 months to 5 years old, and Entertainment for your next event! Find us in Morristown, Andover, Flemington, and Montclair (tot class only)!

The extraordinary Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) in the heart of central New Jersey offers tons to do for adults and children alike. With 270 contemporary sculptures on 35 stunning acres, galleries, concerts, festivals, lectures, amazing dining, shopping and more, there's something for everyone at Grounds For Sculpture.

The constant tug-of-war between education and fun finds middle ground inside this Central Jersey children’s museum, as entertaining exhibits and engaging staff members embed knowledge in each young visitor. Young guests can play veterinarian at the Pet Vet Center, read the news and see themselves on television at the TV News Room, or shed light on the complexities of the human body inside a replica doctor’s office outfitted with realistic equipment.

A motorcycle, retired fire engine, and a grounded airplane shows visitors the wonders of mechanized travel in the Varoom!!! Vehicle Showroom, which leads to an enchanted castle outfitted with a wooden drawbridge, a faux moat, and a new level 3 train exhibit. Party rooms manned by helpful staffers merge learning and celebration, and the onsite gift shop coaxes homebound brain building with a selection of scientific toys.

Sarcasm is the biggest comedy club in South Jersey. We bring in celebrities, top national comedians, local comics. We hold comedy competitions with celebrity judges for cash prizes to give those starting out a chance to get noticed and make money. Sarcasm also raises money for local charlties through fundraisers.

At The Adventure Aquarium, patrons can not only look at sharks in a tank, but be surrounded by them. At the Ocean Realm Exhibit, great hammerhead sharks, swim through a 750,000-gallon tank, their 7-foot bodies passing all around onlookers in the 40-foot shark tunnel.

Of course, Adventure Aquarium also houses a wide variety of marine animals. Their two Nile hippos each weigh in at approximately 3,000 pounds, and their mouths can open up to four feet—enough to swallow most wedding cakes in a single bite. At the aquarium's West African River Experience, visitors marvel at these hippos as they plunge into the water and swim right up to the glass. The Jules Verne Gallery, meanwhile, houses a giant pacific octopus. This cephalopod mollusk stretches out eight tentacles, each covered in some 280 suction cups.

The Elmwood Park Zoo surrounds its guests in a microcosm of North and South American habitats. American bison roam a grasslands area, bobcats prowl over the wetlands exhibit, and bald eagles soar within the confines of Olivia's Eagle Canyon. These are just three of the roughly 300 animals that call the zoo home. In addition to frolicking across exhibit spaces, many of these creatures also interact with zoo visitors at the ZooBowl outdoor amphitheater.