Heading Home---Through Easton, PA

Overview

Crayons in the sky Photo - Crayola Store, Easton, Pennsylvania

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Easton is a very small town, and the main things to do there seem to be the Crayola Factory and the National Canal Museum, which are both located in the same building, and both are covered by the same admission fee. Admission is .50 for adults, and children alike (discounts are available for seniors and military, children under 2 are free). The National Canal Museum seems like a 'grown-up' type of Museum, but is is actually designed for kids to enjoy and learn, with lots of cool hands on activities. The 8-year-old definitely preferred it and the science type exhibits to the art intense Crayola stuff.Also, you want to check out the Crayola store, home of the world's largest crayon, and plac...Read More

Easton is a very small town, and the main things to do there seem to be the Crayola Factory and the National Canal Museum, which are both located in the same building, and both are covered by the same admission fee. Admission is .50 for adults, and children alike (discounts are available for seniors and military, children under 2 are free). The National Canal Museum seems like a 'grown-up' type of Museum, but is is actually designed for kids to enjoy and learn, with lots of cool hands on activities. The 8-year-old definitely preferred it and the science type exhibits to the art intense Crayola stuff.

Also, you want to check out the Crayola store, home of the world's largest crayon, and place to buy very interesting art supplies and Crayola merchandise. It is separate from the Museum gift shop.

Another interesting attraction is the Easton Museum of Pez Dispensers. It is located on the same block as the Crayola stuff. We, unfortunately, did not get a chance to visit this, as we were just passing through the city.

All of the main attractions are on Center Square, or just off it. This makes it easy to find things, because there are lots of signs pointing that way.

Quick Tips:

The Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum is only open from 9:30-5pm most days (shorter hours during the week in the winter) and they will only let a limited number of people in, so they recommend that you make reservations. We got there on a weekday after labour day, so we had no problems with that. I'm sure that there are school groups in the spring that would mess you up. They stop admitting people 2 hours before closing, so that's something else to watch out for, but it is easy to spend 2-3 hours or more in the building. The building is called Two Rivers Landing.

When we were there, we were given a coupon to use at McDonald's (in the same building) or at Subway, about 1 block away. We also got a coupon to use at the Crayola Store, which provided us with a free birthday poster to colour with any purchase. Parking in the city run lot is not too expensive, and the public restroom is very useful, especially after a long car ride with small children.

You should definitely allow for a whole day if you want to see all that Easton has to offer. Easton has a website, www.Easton-PA.com which is full of useful information for locals, as well as visitors, things like info on the Garlic Festival.

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting to Easton is probably easiest in a car. There are lots of signs pointing to the local attractions, and we had no problem following them to the Crayola Factory. Once you get to Center Square though, parking the car, either in a metered spot or in the conveniently located parking garage is a good plan. There is a city run parking garage just across the street from the back entrance to the Crayola Factory, with reasonable parking rates, and a public restroom on the ground floor.

The Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum are in the same building, the Pez Museum is just down the street about a building away. There is a McDonalds in the Crayola Building and a Subway a block away.

The other way to get around would be to take a half-hour boat tour down the Canal. The day we were there was too cold and wet to want to try that, but I think it would be great in the summer. It operates May-September and costs for adults, for kids and tickets are available at Two Rivers Landing.

Easton is located about 1 hour north of Philadelphia, and an hour West of New York, but cleverly on the way from Hershey, PA (about 2 hours from Easton) to New York. We were going to use Eason as a side trip from Philadelphia, but because we left so late in the season, it ended up working much better as a drive through stop over. We were glad we didn't have to drive that far in the pouring rain of Ernesto. Read Less

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Subway

Restaurant

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When we paid admission to the Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum, we received a sheet of coupons for local restaurants. We got to the museum around 10:30am, so after touring for a bit we were indeed ready for some lunch. The coupons included some for McDonald's, which was at Two Rivers Landing (the same building as the museum), or for Subway. Since we'd been eating a lot of McDonald's on our trip, we decided for Subway for a change.Subway was not in the same building, and since we couldn't see it from the building, we asked for directions from a member of the museum cleaning staff. She happily pointed us across the square, and down the street on the left. OK, no problem. Off we went. We...Read More

When we paid admission to the Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum, we received a sheet of coupons for local restaurants. We got to the museum around 10:30am, so after touring for a bit we were indeed ready for some lunch. The coupons included some for McDonald's, which was at Two Rivers Landing (the same building as the museum), or for Subway. Since we'd been eating a lot of McDonald's on our trip, we decided for Subway for a change.

Subway was not in the same building, and since we couldn't see it from the building, we asked for directions from a member of the museum cleaning staff. She happily pointed us across the square, and down the street on the left. OK, no problem. Off we went. We walked across the square and down N. 3rd street and Subway was right there were it was supposed to be. It took about 3 minutes to get there.

The store seemed to be in what used to be 2 different stores. Entering on the corner through the main door you go into a room that is mostly the ordering line and service counter. There are a couple of small tables in their room. If you go past the counter, you end up in the other room, which has several more tables. It also has a separate exit (which is why it seems to be 2 stores).

We placed our order, using the coupons, which entitled us to one free kids pack with the purchase of a 6" sub combo. Mom and I each had a coupon, so it worked out pretty good. The fellow at the counter asked if we wanted to use the other coupons from our sheet too (which was for $1 off a meal), so bonus!

We got 2 free kids meals, which included a round sandwich, juice, a fruit roll-up and a toy (stickers). The kids like eating here because they get to pick what they want, ham and mayo with cheese on the side for the 4-year-old, turkey, honey mustard, and lots of veggies for the 8-year-old. They both ate their sandwiches and saved the fruit roll-ups for later.

The regular meals came with a sandwich, a soda, and a bag of chips or cookie. They had barbecue baked lays! Woohoo! Mom had some Doritos. It was all good. The people at the counter were quite busy but they kept things moving fairly well. A large rush came in just after we did, which slowed them down a bit.

The only problem was with the layout of the store. We were sitting in the 'other room' and the 8-year-old had to use the washroom. The problem was that he had to go back through the other room to get to the washroom, and he had to ask for a key from the counter. He had to wait quite a while for the key, but I didn't want him to go through the other room alone. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 27, 2006

Subway
16 North 3rd Street
Easton, PA 18042
(610) 559-1951

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National Canal Museum

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We took another side trip to Easton PA, a very small town. Our plan was to hit the Crayola Factory for a tour and info on how crayons are made. When we got there, we realized that there was also the National Canal Museum in the same building (and included in the same admission fee).The Crayon Factory is on the second floor, the third and fourth floors have the Canal Museum. Figuring we'd save the best for last, we started at the top and worked our way back down.The National Canal Museum was amazingly cool. We never would have thought it, but the kids absolutely loved it, especially the 8-year-old. The entire museum was filled with great hands-on activities.The first t...Read More

We took another side trip to Easton PA, a very small town. Our plan was to hit the Crayola Factory for a tour and info on how crayons are made. When we got there, we realized that there was also the National Canal Museum in the same building (and included in the same admission fee).

The Crayon Factory is on the second floor, the third and fourth floors have the Canal Museum. Figuring we'd save the best for last, we started at the top and worked our way back down.

The National Canal Museum was amazingly cool. We never would have thought it, but the kids absolutely loved it, especially the 8-year-old. The entire museum was filled with great hands-on activities.

The first thing we saw on the top floor was a water table where you can created canals by moving little plastic fences to try to get the water to flow where you want. The 4-year-old thought this was the best thing ever.

The top floor also had a puzzle where you had to find the cheapest way to build a canal, using different pieces. It was a large model with movable pieces of canal that fit into it. You could redesign it to go down different paths at different costs. This was the 8-year-olds choice.

There were also several different places to experiment with cranes, pulleys etc., and where you could build bridges of different styles.

When the kids had played here for a long time, we finally convinced them to go down to the third floor. On this level was a room with a giant model of a canal where you start with a boat at one end and work locks and lifts to get your boat to the other end. There is also a display where even a 4-year-old can move 300lbs through water using a small magnet.

Next we went to a large room with several displays about canals, including one where you could practice steering with a rudder (the floor moved beneath you), and I'm not sure why now, but they had a display where you could collect 'eggs' from 'hens'. The stuffed animal hens were the 1-year-old favourite part. This room also had a place where you could trace pictures of people and boats from canals, magnetic letters to 'name a boat' etc. Again, all very hands on and lots of fun for the kids.

Finally, we went to the 'train' room, which had a beautiful model train set as well as trains big enough to climb on and a display of memorabilia from the old Reading Railroad (very cool if you are a Monopoly player).

Each room had wonderful staff who helped make sure you knew what to do and helped explain things. There was not a crowd the day we were there (probably because school was already in session).

We thought we'd just breeze through quickly, but the National Canal Museum was truly a fun place to visit. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 26, 2006

National Canal Museum
30 Centre Square
Easton, Pennsylvania 18042

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The Crayola Factory

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Attraction | "Crayola Factory"

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We went to the Crayola factory as part of our stop in Easton. Actually, it was the only reason we headed to Easton in the first place.Admission fees include 3 tokens per guest which you can use to 'buy' a four pack of crayons, a single marker (orange or green), or a small packet of Model Magic. They also cleverly provide plastic bags to take home all the artwork.There are several work stations in the Crayon Factory where children can make various art projects using all sorts of Crayola products. The children all made paper bag puppets, which they could decorate with crayons and by gluing on bits of paper. They all made paper masks, which was a similar experience, but where they had lot...Read More

We went to the Crayola factory as part of our stop in Easton. Actually, it was the only reason we headed to Easton in the first place.

Admission fees include 3 tokens per guest which you can use to 'buy' a four pack of crayons, a single marker (orange or green), or a small packet of Model Magic. They also cleverly provide plastic bags to take home all the artwork.

There are several work stations in the Crayon Factory where children can make various art projects using all sorts of Crayola products. The children all made paper bag puppets, which they could decorate with crayons and by gluing on bits of paper. They all made paper masks, which was a similar experience, but where they had lots of brightly coloured feathers to glue on as well. Even the 1-year-old had a great time holding different materials and drawing with toddler sized crayons. (We found jumbo crayons at the first stop and let him carry them around to other stations that didn't have them).

Some of the more interesting stations were things you can't do at home so much. There was a giant wall made of Plexiglas that you could write on with markers (we decided that was a dangerous idea for the baby). There was also a place where you could do ink stamping and send it through a drying machine. The model magic area (which required a token to get a package) was set up with markers to decorate your sculptures. There was an area where you could make slides (for a projector that was there too). The 8-year-old particularly enjoyed the melted wax station. For safety reasons children under 12 needed a grown-up and children under 5 were not permitted.

They had a play area for kids under 5 (with a sign that said "children over 5 needed to be accompanied by an adult") with things to touch and do. There was also a colour and sound area where you could dance and see colourful shadows on the wall.

The best thing (from a grown-up perspective at least) was the area where they actually explained how crayons were made. There was a miniature factory area with cameras and monitors so you could see better. The demonstration lasted about half hour and you got to try wrapping a crayon (Mom's was backwards, the 4-year-old very wrinkled). It also included how markers are made and a nice fresh orange marker.

Since we got markers and a red crayon in the display, we chose to spend all of our tokens on model magic to take home (we used 2 to make things while we were there).

The Crayon Factory was definitely most fun for the 4-year-old, the artist in the family, but we all enjoyed it. For $40 total admission, it was a fun afternoon and very memorable for the kids. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 27, 2006

The Crayola Factory
30 Centre Square-Two Rivers Landing
Easton, Pennsylvania 18042
(610) 515-8000

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Crayola Store

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The Crayola Store is a 4-year-old artist's idea of paradise. It is the home of the world's largest crayon (it's blue by the way). It's in a large plastic case, so you can't see if it is really made of crayon.The store is located in the same building as the Crayola Factory, but you need to exit Two Rivers Landing and enter on the other side of the building. There is also a museum gift shop at Two Rivers Landing, so you need to be careful not to get confused. The museum gift shop has a large selection of toys and other items, particularly about railroads (think Thomas the Tank Engine).The Crayola store has of course a large selection of crayola art supplies, including crayons in boxes of...Read More

The Crayola Store is a 4-year-old artist's idea of paradise. It is the home of the world's largest crayon (it's blue by the way). It's in a large plastic case, so you can't see if it is really made of crayon.

The store is located in the same building as the Crayola Factory, but you need to exit Two Rivers Landing and enter on the other side of the building. There is also a museum gift shop at Two Rivers Landing, so you need to be careful not to get confused. The museum gift shop has a large selection of toys and other items, particularly about railroads (think Thomas the Tank Engine).

The Crayola store has of course a large selection of crayola art supplies, including crayons in boxes of up to 150 (actually a pretty cool box with multiple levels for the crayons). There are boxes of 96 and 64, all the standard sizes.

You can also fill a tin of crayons with your favourite colours. The tins cost about $5 for a small (holds about 60 crayons) or $8 for large (holds about 120 crayons). This is cool if you are always using up one colour or something. You could fill the whole tin with just red, or silver, or mix and match. Like 20 gold and 20 silver and 20 bronze to make a lovely metallic set. This would have been better if they'd had a larger selection of colours to mix and match (there were only about 40 colours, give or take a few). It was a neat idea, but not a cheap way to buy crayons by any means.

Most of the things at the store can be found at your local discount store. The prices were not great either, so we didn't buy much. Naturally, they had crayons, markers, glue sticks, craft kits, and pretty much any thing else that comes in a Crayola box. Model magic modelling compound was available, but we got some of that by using our tokens at the museum. All the new stuff too, like 'twistable crayons', erasable markers, etc.

They did have some interesting Crayola merchandise though, like t-shirts, hats, pins and things. We found a shirt that was marked down to $10 (bright purple with Crayola written on it). We also picked up a crayon sharpener for less than $1. This meant that we could use our coupon from the Crayola Factory for a free Birthday Banner to colour in. There was lots of 100th anniversary merchandise on sale because the 100th anniversary was last year. They had lots of souvenir sized items, like lapel pins.

A fun shopping place that brought back memories. It's hard to beat the feeling of opening a new box of Crayola crayons, all nice and sharp and crisply wrapped and this shop caters to that feeling. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on November 13, 2006

Crayola Store
18 Centre Square
Easton, PA
(610) 253-3703

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