By Matt Schickling
Wire Staff Writer
Dad has enough ties, mom can buy her own candles and no child has ever worn a genuine smile in a sweater embroidered with decorative snowflakes.
Holiday shopping is frustrating enough without having to find a gift for someone who has everything. Retail gift cards are a nice idea, but the “I didn’t know what to get you” sentiment doesn’t work for everyone. For these people, it might be better to give them an experience rather than an item.
To help with your holiday shopping, the Midweek Wire staff put together a holiday guide for local and not-so-local destination gift ideas.
Just for the day
It’s hard to plan activities for the wintertime, but it’s easy to give someone something to look forward to.
Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, about an hour and a half north of Bucks County, is the site of several NASCAR races every year. But for about 90 days, the Tricky Triangle is leased by a company that lets non-professionals take the wheel.
The Stock Car Racing Experience offers drivers or passengers a chance to quench their need for speed in a NASCAR-style vehicle without being pulled over or putting themselves and others in danger.
“It’s the opposite of the highway. Here, we’ll yell at you for going too slow,” General Manager Steve Fox said. “It’s big and wide and safe, but you still get to go 150 miles per hour.”
With packages starting at $99, it might be a great experience to give any thrill-seeker willing to take the trip. Drivers must be 18 with a valid driver’s license, and passengers in the ride program must be at least 14 years old with both parents present.
For more information, visit www.877stockcar.com.
For those seeking a different kind of thrill, a hot air balloon ride over the Bucks County countryside might be appealing. The US Hot Air Balloon Team does rides from the Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm in Buckingham Township in Bucks County.
“Ballooning gets lumped in with bungee jumping, but it’s not like that,” Stan Hess, co-owner of US Hot Air Balloon Team, said. “It’s the freedom of floating up in the air and viewing the landscape without Plexiglas or a helicopter propeller to distract you.”
While ballooning is available for people of all ages, Hess said that about half of the participants are about 50 or older.
“I have personally flown about half a dozen people on their 100th birthday,” he laughed.
The whole process takes about three hours, an hour of which is spent up in the air going “wherever the wind blows,” Hess said. The route of the trip depends on the direction of the wind, and balloons are tracked by the groundcrew. The landing can end up being in a large back yard in New Jersey or a field in northern Bucks, but the ground crew will always be there promptly to take the flyers back to Barley Sheaf Farms.
Flights go as low as $159 for the 20-percent off holiday special, and gift vouchers do not expire, so they can be saved for milder weather. Typically, flights begin in the spring and continue through to Thanksgiving.
For more information, visit www.ushotairballoon.com.
For the night
Few people would want their vacation planned for them, but a lot of people overlook their own relaxation. For people like this, the gift of a weekend away might be just the right idea.
Places like New Hope offer the bed-and-breakfast experience just a few miles down the road, but sometimes it’s better to get a bit farther away, still within reasonable driving distance.
The Times House Bed and Breakfast located in historic Jim Thorpe offers a relaxing, romantic-style destination for anything occasion like birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, honeymoons, mini-moons or babymoons for parents, couples or anyone just looking for a peaceful time away. And, it’s only a 90-minute drive from the Philadelphia area.
“You don’t have to go far away to feel like you’re far away,” owner Diane Prokop said. “It really has an old-world feel to it.”
In the winter, there’s Blue Mountain ski resort just 15 minutes away and for the milder seasons, there’s hiking, whitewater rafting and horseback riding close by.
The Times House is located within Jim Thorpe’s historic district, a two-block area nestled in the mountains along the Lehigh River. Shops, restaurants, pubs and wine tasting are available year-round within walking distance, and live music is accessible at the Mauch Chunk Opera House located within the district and at Penn’s Peak, a venue a short drive away. Pro tip: Pocono Raceway is less than a half-hour away. Reservations and gift cards are available.
For more information, visit www.timesjimthorpe.com.
A trip to the beach is usually reserved for the summer season, but places like Cape May can be a great wintertime or early spring destination as a gift idea for someone who likes to avoid the crowds.
“It’s charming, it’s relaxing. There’s wineries, museums and shops,” Doug McMain, owner of the Queen Victoria Bed and Breakfast, said. “It’s kind of the same vibe as places in Bucks County.”
But Bucks County lacks access to an ocean shoreline and there’s little merit in vacationing a stone’s throw from your home. Despite Cape May’s designation as a beach resort, McMain said only 40 percent of his business happens inside June 1 to Aug. 1, the peak of the summer season. So the area has been a popular getaway for people looking to relax out of season.
“We’ve sold about 150 gift certificates for Christmas last year between two- and five-hundred dollars,” he said.
Gift givers can either purchase a gift card and allow the recipient to choose their own dates or pick days for them in advance. The Queen Victoria does have specials during the winter season, like the “winter escape” package between January and March, where they offer two-night stays for $325. But, the prices go up in the summer, so if you’re looking to give someone a summer vacation, be aware that the rates may rise.
For more information, visit www.queenvictoria.com.
For the kids
For children, who do not have the access, ability or desire to visit some of these places, there’s a few local spots that offer kid-friendly activities that would make great last-minute gift card stocking stuffers.
Parents might not be comfortable with their children flying around Pocono Raceway at speeds exceeding 150 miles per hour, but Speed Raceway in Horsham has an indoor electric kart racing track with options available for ages 6 and up.
“It’s really for everybody,” Samantha Krause, event coordinator at the raceway, said. “People bring their whole family in.”
When she says everybody, she means it. Last year, Speed Raceway hosted WMMR’s Preston & Steve’s annual Grampy Grand Prix, where grandfathers were entered to compete in a race around the track to win prizes for their grandchildren.
So while kids may enjoy it, their grandparents may like it even more. There is also a Speed Raceway Facility in Cinnaminson, New Jersey.
For more information, visit www.speedraceway.com.
While you can’t give someone the gift of flight, the next best thing can be found in Levittown’s Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline park. There’s about 20,000 square feet of trampoline in Sky Zone, and several different activities to choose from.
There’s Ultimate Dodgeball, which is basically traditional dodgeball, but in a room with wall-to-wall trampolines. Pick-up games are held just about every day. In the Foam Zone, jumpers can flip and twirl into a pit cushioned by 10,000 foam cubes. Sky Slam resembles the once-prominent sport Slamball that was aired on Spike TV. Trampoline launch pads send jumpers 10 feet in the air so they can do their best LeBron James impressions on regulation-sized basketball hoops.
There’s also other fitness activities for people of “just about any age, shape or size.” Sky Zone does offer gift cards and has availability for group events.
For more information, visit www.skyzone.com/levittown.
