(picture from the Historic Smithville's website)
Historic Smithville is a cute little village of shops and restaurants located in Atlantic County-- just a quick drive from the NJ Parkway exit 48. On a nice day, this is the sweetest place to do some shopping, have lunch or snacks and enjoy being with family. Smithville has become our Mother's Day location of choice since my whole family enjoys visiting. It has a little something for everyone.
We usually plan our Smithville trips around our Smithville Inn reservations. The Smithville Inn is a fantastic restaurant that offers decadent buffets for holidays like Mother's Day. The food at the Inn is delicious but not the best location if you're on a budget. Luckily, the village has lots of great places to eat-- about 7 different places serve food there! Smithville Inn takes reservations regularly but for big holidays keep in mind they book up fast and you can only make reservations for big groups of 10+. For a regular Saturday, Open Table offers reservations of all sizes.
My toddler's favorite part of Smithville is the train! A sweet little train travels around the grounds giving rides for $3 per person. It takes you around the shops and grounds so you can wave at the other shoppers as you circle around a section of the village. It's been a hit with my little guy since he was a baby! There's also a sweet little Carousel that is $3 per ride, but for some reason my buddy doesn't ever want to ride it. It's very popular with other little kids but you seldom have to wait long in a line which is nice. I'm usually only at Smithville on the weekends so I am not certain the rides are running on weekdays during the week. On a good weather Saturday or Sunday, I always see them operating!
There are lots of cute little shops in these small historical buildings that they brought in from all over the state. Our favorite is the soap shop and the toy store (of course!). There are 50 different little stores in this area so there's a lot to explore! The grounds aren't huge but it's still a decent amount of walking. Definitely opt for comfy shoes for everyone. Strollers are welcome here and can easily navigate the paths but keep in mind that the shops are small and you'll likely have to leave them outside when you go in.
Smithville offers different festivals and events during the year. My brother and parents attended the Irish Festival before and had a great time and I know the venue offers lots of other events. What is great about Smithville is that the grounds are free. You don't need to pay to walk around-- only for what you want to purchase and for the rides. That makes it easy to enjoy the village on any budget. You can just go to walk around, do the train and carousel and get ice cream! Low budget fun!
We love Smithville! I hope your family enjoys their visit. It's nice to have a place to go that doesn't feel like it is just for kids or just for adults.
To learn more and plan your visit, check out www.historicsmithville.com.
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