Is your toddler excited about trains right now? Maybe they are a Thomas fan? Trains have been exciting for littles for YEARS. They're big, loud and just plain cool so of course they can help your family create a bit of fun. When was the last time YOU took a train ride? My hubby and I were chatting about it as we planned this little weekend excursion for our tiny guy.
Last weekend, we had a little lunch trip with a twist. Instead of driving to a lunch spot, we were going to take the train! My sister lives by train tracks and my son loves watching the BIG train go by. He also spends hours playing with his Thomas wooden train set so I just knew that a ride on a REAL TRAIN was going to be a memorable day for him.
The beach towns along the NJ Coastline are really walkable with lots of eateries only minutes away. It's a great line for a day trip like this. We decided to take the train from Point Pleasant Beach to Belmar and walk into town for lunch before taking the train back to our car in Point. Luckily, the train schedule was perfect for this plan giving us about an hour and a half to get to lunch and back to the station. (Important note: Train schedules can change! Definitely look online before you plan!).
There are kiosks where you can buy your tickets and you must do that BEFORE you get on the train to avoid extra fees. I bought round trip tickets so I wouldn't need to get additional ones later. Train fare for my husband and I (at the time of writing this blog) was $9 total round trip and our toddler was free. We did also pay for parking in Point but I think it was only about $1.50 an hour. Obviously going longer distances are more money and we were only going past two stops to get to our destination which resulted in the cheaper fare. With toddlers, you don't need the longer ride. To go from Point to Belmar doesn't take long (about 15 minutes or so) so our little boy had enough time to experience the train but not too much time to get bored. He loved handing the conductor our tickets and watching him hole punch them as "used." He looked out the window and commented on how fast we were going. We counted boats as we went over the inlet bridge and watched as other people got onboard and took their seats. It was the perfect amount of time for a toddler train ride.
After arriving in Belmar, we walked down Main Street to Anchor to have lunch (maybe a 7 minute walk-- if that). It was pretty quiet that day due to the Seafood Festival up by the beach so we didn't have to wait for a table or even wait long for food which was a plus. There was a good kids menu there and our son ate most of his Mac and Cheese while playing with his matchbox cars (they come everywhere with us). We sat inside in a booth since our toddler is most comfortable in that type of seating but they also had outside seating options.
If we did it again, I would eat a lighter lunch so I had room to get an ice cream from Coney Waffle before heading back to the train but I was stuffed! Coney Waffle has a location on Main Street in addition to the one up on Ocean Ave and we passed it on our way back to the train. Mental note for next time.
Our return train had a short 11 minute delay so we spent a bit of time skipping around the train platform before our adventure back to Point. Our boy was even more excited this time around as the train approached. The first time, he might have been a bit nervous but the second time he simply couldn't wait to get back on!
If you are looking for a different day out that your whole family would enjoy- give this a try! Our little dude has asked to have another train ride several times since. I knew it would be a hit, and I hope your littles enjoy it too!