Things to Do in Reading

Though it opened in 1977 with a small collection of timepieces, the National Watch & Clock Museum now houses more than 12,000 items, making it the largest collection of its kind in North America. Clocks, watches, and their associated tools reside in glass cases, lorded over by the monumental Engle Clock, an 11-foot-tall, 1,049-pound marvel of clock design whose 13th toll will signify when the giant lasagna being cooked in the earth's core is done. Hands-on exhibits scattered throughout the museum give kids the chance to wonder at turning gears and learn about intriguing time concepts. Current special exhibits include Enlisting Time, a collection of personal timepieces carried by soldiers over the last 250 years, featuring watches owned by George Washington and Ian Fleming.

For nearly 40 years, First State Lanes has kept pastimers and ardent tenpin enthusiasts furnished with waxed lanes, snack-bar provender, and accouterments from a fully-stocked pro shop. Amateurs hurl spheroids at lanes alongside semi-pros doing battle in colorful league uniforms or impressive gladiator outfits. During rounds, the full-service snack bar slings pizzas, plates of signature chicken tenders, and a selection of beers. During the evenings, bouts of cosmic red-pin bowling cast pins in crimson and black-light glow, and any bowler who throws a strike that houses le pin rouge wins a dollar. For less alley-based diversions, guests can saunter over to the game room to play pool and arcade games.

Set within a welcoming, stately Victorian house, Hop On Over Bead Shop bustles with walls of technicolor prisms and hand-selected beads, ready to be woven into sparkling, personalized jewelry. A host of skill-inducing classes introduces crafters to myriad techniques such as lampwork beading, wire bending and Russian spiral stitch. Kids explore their artistic side in private parties for six or more children as they choose brightly colored baubles to craft their own project. Knowledgeable in all things sparkly, the storeowner displays natural, cut beads, as well as Swarovski crystals for special occasions or for hording as currency after wizard invasions.