I have these vivid memories of visiting Coleman as a child. For a long time I would describe it to people, but no one knew what I was talking about. From my memories, (however wrong they may be) there were rooms of these displays around the holidays, but it caught on fire. I knew that several of the trains ended up at the Children's Museum, but I was surprised to hear that the Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center had a display of them that was able to be saved. The Winter Wonderland is open now until December 31st and is free for Portsmouth Museum Pass Holders. (If you have a pass to the Children's Museum- this you!) For non members, it's only $3.00 per person. Check their event schedule, as Santa makes regular afternoon appearances along with face painting, pony rides, and holiday crafts.
When you go in, be sure to grab a scavenger hunt map so you can try to spot the 12 items between the two floors. There are some mazes and word search type activities for kids (or adults!) too. We saw one family that made a competition out of it.
We actually went in backwards. Be sure to go around the corner to the Winter Wonderland entrance first before working your way to the gift shop which has some actives for kids int the back. I'd say that we spent about 30 minutes in here, but could have spent more time in the gift shop area is R had seen the block sets.
Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday-Thursday: 9-5
Friday-Saturday 9-8
Sunday:11-5
We walked the block over to the Children's Museum and played with the trains for a while before having an awesome lunch at Five Borough's Pizza. Now I'm not saying that I'm a falafel snob, but I am saying that having been to Israel I've eaten it for most meals whenever I'm there. Let's just say, I love the stuff. This place did not disappoint, was obviously family owned, and had good simple New York pizza too. On Sundays they apparently do dollar slices, which means we will be back on a Sunday. It's within walking distance to both museums.
