{Field Trip} BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham Hindu Temple

After the holidays we took a drive to visit the majestic BAPS Akshardham Hindu Temple  - a landmark of Hindu architecture and culture.  It was built  by over 12, 500 volunteers and took about 12 years to complete.  It is the largest Hindu temple in the US.

We needed to get out of the house, the kids were gone and we had a free day. 

It was raining but it actually didn't dampen our trip.  It was only about a 45 minute drive from our house but it felt like we were transported to another country.

As you enter the campus you are greeted by a 49 foot image of Bhagwan Swaminarayan portrayed as a young yogi.

[from the website]

Known as Nilkanth Varni during his teenage years, he was the founder of the Swaminarayan Hindu tradition. His calm and undisturbed pose, engaged in deep yogic prayer, symbolizes spiritual focus and discipline, echoing his journey, where he fostered compassion, empathy, and service in the hearts of all. The legacy of his reforms in the late 18th century that addressed the oppression of women, young children, and marginalized castes stands the test of time.

I think the rain kept some people away but it was a pretty mild day and not raining too hard.  

Admission is free and you only need timed reservation tickets on weekends and holidays.

The grounds are truly stunning.

You enter through the main entrance and then out into this courtyard where you see the grand centerpiece.

At the centerpoint of the campus stands the Akshardham Mahamandir. Regardless of one's beliefs and background, Akshardham will inspire all to connect with each other and with the Divine. HH Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, envisioned a majestic spiritual campus in the United States that would consolidate thousands of years of inspiring Hindu art, architecture and culture.

So much to see and appreciate.

My favorite sculpture was the elephant family.

I loved the message it portrayed.

"Where there is harmony, we are never alone on our journeys, whether spiritual or worldly, and together, we can achieve remarkable feats."

The impressive ceilings in the entry.  If you walk through the temple, you must leave your shoes in a cubby and no photography is allowed.  It was so peaceful, reverent and beautiful.

There's also a cafe that serves delicious food -- all vegetarian too!

Mr. Click's first dosa. He liked it! I hadn't had a dosa since my epic trip to India. and missed them.

I want to return on a sunny day to spend more time outside.

It was such a fun and educational field trip!

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{Travel} Christmas In Philly & Historic Smithville, NJ

 We took our annual trip into Philly to enjoy the Christmas festivities. 

I had layers under my clothes because it was going to be a cold one!

We decided to stay overnight and had this view from our room.  (City Hall)

Our first stop was the Comcast Center where we met up with my sister and brother in law for a ride in the Universal Sphere.  It's a cute Shrek holiday themed ride (kind of like Soarin' in Disney).  We even saw Santa walking by and Mr. Click got a high five.

Looking down in the Comcast Center.

We were early for our next reservation and did some walking around the Christmas markets where some of the vendors were opening.

After that we headed over to the Wanamaker Building for their annual light show. It could be the last year for it so I'm glad we got to see it.

We had reservations for the Dickens Village too. This was new, though!

The Dickens Village is a walk through exhibit and story of A Christmas Carol. It's a bit creepy but we love it!

Here's a video I found of it to give you a better idea.

The building has been sold and is vacant, it's so weird seeing it like this.

We did more sightseeing and snapped this pic in front of a very festive bar.

I got some hot chocolate on the way back to the hotel.

Later that night we met up at The Four Seasons. The lobby looked so stunning. I loved these huge inflatable ornaments. 

We had a drink up in the Sky Bar. My espresso martini had gold flakes on it. Fancy!  We had dinner in town and went back to our hotel.

The view was so magical at night!

I love a hotel room coffee with a view.

We weren't ready to go home so we bundled up again and checked out of our hotel.

We took a slight detour to Historic Smithville

It's a cute little village with shops, kiddie rides and restaurants.  It was also decorated very festively. 

I did some damage in the stores before we headed home.  My favorite was Feather Your Nest.

It was a fun weekend!

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{Field Trip} Oasis Concert

 We got to see Oasis (the Britpop sensation from the 90's) during their highly anticipated and attended tour in the US.

Mr. Click is a big fan and we got the tickets over a year before the show.  Here's our "fit" for the concert before we left.

These socks have made an appearance on the blog before and were perfect with my Adidas.

He got an outfit change after we visited the merch stand.

The concert was at MetLife Stadium and it was our first time seeing a show there.

Bathroom selfie.

Our seats included this indoor viewing area and we watched Cage The Elephant from here.

In the stadium for the show.  We heard it was the Era's tour for dads and thought that was pretty acurate.  

I was thoroughly impressed and knew so many of their songs. The energy in the stadium was incredible.  Those lads from Manchester can rock!

It was such a fun night and we will definitely go back to MetLife for a show.  Have you been to a concert lately? What's your favorite concert that you've ever been to?

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More Holiday Fun-Christmas In Philly & Seaside Holiday Home Tour

We wanted to get in as many holiday activities as we could this year and we had a jam packed week of them.

It started with our annual trip into Philly.  We first went to Macy's for their holiday light show.  It's become a tradition for us.

Then we toured Macy's Dickens Village.

After that we headed over to the Christmas Villages.

I love seeing the ice skaters!

We picked a good day that wasn't too busy.

We wanted to go somewhere festive for lunch and McGillin's Old Ale House was perfect!

It's also the oldest operating pub in Philadelphia.

We walked around some more and then stopped for some coffee at Elixr.

Our next stop was the Comcast Building for their amazing light show. This was our first time seeing it.

Outside was a hot chocolate bar, dj and some cool ice sculptures.

We made a quick reservation to ride the Universal Sphere. It's a free and immersive experience in the other Comcast building.   The ride is kind of like Soarin' in Disney with a very cute Shrek theme.  It was also our first time on the ride.  That ended a fun and festive day in Philly!

The festive fun didn't end there though. We also took a holiday home tour.

We had tickets for the historic holiday home tour in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.

I was especially interested in the tents from the tent community that gets set up every summer.  You can read about it here.

The town has so many historic homes and it was fun to get a peek inside some of them.

We also got to tour a few of the town's inns and bed & breakfasts.

Some of them had amazing views of the ocean.

This was a girlie apartment done up in pinks and sparkles.

There were a few lines to wait in when only a few people could tour at a time.  It was a self guided tour and we really enjoyed it!

We caught the end of the holiday bazaar at the Asbury Hotel one night. This is where I found my new tree skirt.

It was such a cool place to hang out in the lobby and look at the decorations.

I hope you have a peaceful, magical and wonderful holiday! 

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