Longstreet Farm
Great for a day of fun whether it's summer or winter. In the summer you can watch the staff dress up in old farm-style outfits and talk about the farm, see cows get milked (or see other farm animals), and just stroll around and enjoy the day. During the winter, they open up the hill for snowtubing/snowball fights/sledding which is a LOT of fun. You can also go for sleigh rides from Santa's "reindeer."
All in all, a great family fun place that isn't about video games or arcades.
Highly recommended.
Bowler City
Bowler City isn't a very large bowing alley. At least not when it caters to the surrounding towns. I was there several days ago on a Wed. ($4.50 a game not including shoes) and it was PACKED. Wait of about 45 min, and $4.50/game is pretty ridiculous. On the bright side, their arcade is well above average, with a DDR machine and numerous arcade games that you probably won't find in most bowling alleys. I found that to be the high point of the bowling alley. Overall, the place is nice enough.
Not as clean as other places I've been to.
Brunswick Zone Carolier
Seriously, the best bowling alley around. TONS of lanes, really really cheap bowling on Weds and Thurs (where else can you find a bowling alley that charges you 1.25 a game?). DDR Machine, mini-arcade with a couple of decent games, lots of activities no matter what age you are. Also, lots of bowling balls unlike many other bowling alleys that only have a couple of each size ball. I have yet to find any lefty balls however. Generally long waits on Weds and Thurs before the 1.25/game price starts.
Very clean, modern looking, and is just a great place to be. Although you WILL smell like cigarette smoke after you leave (fairly well ventilated so you won't smell it in the alley)
New Jersey Books Inc
Although I find that I end up going to the Rutgers Bookstore for everything or I just buy everything online. It's not that this store is dirty or anything like that. The service is just slow because you have to go to the back of the store, where there's a counter with 3-4 people working to get everyone's books. That's right, you can't get your own book, someone else has to get it for you. Which is a huge pain for used books because you can get some really lousy quality books and then have the guy go back and hunt for another one. Pretty annoying.
Just buy your books online.
Great Clips
Ever go to a hair salon and get a bad haircut, then come back because you think it's only *that* barber/stylist? I've done that for every hair stylist at the Princeton Great Clips. It seems like these people are more interested in cutting as many people's hair as possible in the shortest amount of time. I've never gotten a haircut that didn't have something that was off in some way. I mean like sticking up hair due to poor use of the hair thinning scissors, uneven haircuts, sideburns that don't even remotely match on both sides. Crazy.
The only thing that great clips has going for them is that it's extremely cheap. I mean, $10 at most for a haircut and usually half that with a coupon. But then again, you get what you pay for.
Franks Barber Shop
Go into Franks on a Saturday, and it's packed. You'll have to wait at LEAST an hour before you can get your haircut. But that's a good thing. Until I moved two years ago, I had my hair cut at Franks for at least 15 years. They do a really quality job there, which I appreciate a LOT more now that I've moved on and been to too many barbershops and hair cutting places to count in the past two years. Yes, you're going to have to wait but it is well worth it. Usually there's three guys but each haircut takes anywhere from 15-20 minutes. Prices are reasonable.
Highly recommended. NY Barbers, also in East Brunswick and not included in the directory, is NOT recommended.
Bogota Golf & Sports Ctr
Yes, it's a converted warehouse that's not exactly in the best part of town. However, Bogota Golf Center is one of the best places to golf - ESPECIALLY mini golf. They have one of the best miniature golf courses I have ever seen - it's large and actually fun to play on, not to mention there's all kinds of obstacles like rocks and waterfalls. A blast to play on.
The driving range is pretty good too. They used to be a lot smaller but expanded and now have basketball and batting cages.Never tried either though.
Highly recommended.
Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort
To be honest, while the Taj Mahal looks pretty stunning on the outside, the inside is somewhat bland and looks somewhat old. The one time I stayed here I was with some friends in a suite and a regular room, and the suite was pretty nice. Had all the necessary amenities and a tv that automatically comes out of a cabinet by itself which was neat. The regular room was pretty much standard - somewhat small if anything, with two beds and a 27" tv. I wasn't too impressed with this room.
The actual casino is clean but aged, I've done well here playing poker (small poker room though) and video poker, but there's nothing really special about the casino to really write home for.
Average.
Bobby Flay Steak
Borgata is a a good distance away from the boardwalk and most of the casinos that inhabit Atlantic City but it's well worth visiting. It caters to mostly the young crowd, and has a lot of in-house entertainment and small shops. As a casino, the Borgata offers most of the same games as the typical boardwalk casino - except there's a large emphasis on the poker room. The poker room is well done, and you can always tell your position in the line to be seated.
The entire casino is extremely clean and modern looking, and the staff is very courteous.
Highly recommended.
Coin Castle Amusements
I've been going to the Coin Castle ever since I was a little kid. It's a great place to have fun if you like arcade games, skee-ball or winning prizes. If you don't, then there probably isn't much here for you. Like most of the boardwalk arcades, they have a nice mix of new arcade games, fake slot machines that reward tickets, and some skee-ball games. The tickets are good for some decent prizes, definitely more high class than other smaller arcades. From what I remember, they also hold skee-ball tournaments during the summer.
In Seaside Heights, I would say this is the best arcade on the boardwalk.