I love New York City in the summer, when everyone escapes to the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore and it seems as though those of us who stay behind have the city to ourselves.  But sometimes you've just got to get away, and if you've got kids, you'd be hard pressed to find a better place to do so than Philadelphia's Please Touch Museum.  Just a quick 90-minute drive from New York City, this children's museum is an absolute gem.  The name alone was enough to inspire squeals of delight from my 2-year-old daughter Sadie, who woke up the morning of our visit exclaiming, "I get to touch everything!" And touch she did.  After having a blast splashing boats and duckies around in the "River Adventure" water feature, Sadie got to pedal a propeller bike and row a flying machine in the Museum's "Flight Fantasy" attraction.  I even made a clumsy go at taking a spin on the gigantic hamster wheel (don't worry, I won't be posting any pictures of that humorous endeavor!).  The fun really kicked up a notch when our family descended down a "rabbit hole" into "Wonderland", a stunning exhibit that invites visitors to explore the "curiouser and curiouser" world of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.  Sadie loved opening doors, pushing knobs, turning keys and walking up the slanted floor in the Hall of Doors and Mirrors, and had an oh-so-fancy time at a tea party in the Duchess' Kitchen, located inside of a gigantic tree trunk.  She also enjoyed the myriad activities in the Fairytale Garden, an area set aside exclusively for the 3-and-under set.  After leaving Wonderland, our family wandered over to the "City Capers" exhibit, which is a series of rooms designed to allow kids to discover the people, businesses and neighborhoods that make city life so dynamic.  Sadie felt very important as she played doctor in the medical center, making sure to check in on all the babies in the nursery.  She also got to try her hand at working at a McDonald's - I don't think she'll be hired any time soon as she spent most of the time "eating" the hamburgers and shakes.  But perhaps Sadie's favorite part of the Please Touch Museum, and mine, was the ShopRite grocery store, where kids can grab a cart and troll the aisles for all sorts of items, including oatmeal, fresh bread, deli meats, produce and even frozen Philly chesesteaks!  There's a checkout area at the front of the store, where kids can delight at hearing the beeping as they scan their items and ring them up at a cash register.  I can't even count how many trips Sadie made around the store, filling up her cart with as much stuff as she could get her tiny little hands on!  To top it all off, the Museum has a beautiful, century-old carousel, housed in a 9,000 square foot glass pavilion that provides a stunning view of the surrounding area.  If your kids work up an appetite from all the running around, the Museum's cafe serves up a nice selection of reasonably priced healthy and more indulgent food (think salads and wraps coupled with hot dogs and cheesesteak pizza).  Sadie scarfed down a piece of pizza in the cafe's whimsically decorated seating area, but my husband and I held out for a traditional Philly cheesesteak from Pat's, which we grabbed on the way out of town!  For more information on the Please Touch Museum, click here.  Happy travels!

Disclosure: The Please Touch Museum provided my family with complimentary admission, parking and a carousel ride for purposes of this review.