printersdevil78

Wow, all that Key West food looks awesome! The schnitzel restaurant and Ford's Garage definitely will be on my itinerary should I ever venture down that way.

Well, it's been another months-long hiatus, but I'm finally back for another round of Roadfood photos. Good call on Schmidt's, PKI! I'd really like to get back there sometime. And the German festival sounds good, too! In the meantime, we now return to Pike's Place and beyond in Seattle. Enjoy! This place was pretty neat… and it smelled heavenly! I bought a chocolate fish to get the salmon jerky taste out of my mouth. In researching the market prior to our visit, this was one of my must-try stops. Apparently crumpets aren’t hot-weather food. Who knew? The place had a major “Alice in Wonderland” motif going on. What time is it? Groat time! No, I mean crumpet time! The one on the left is a Vermont crumpet, with maple butter, cream cheese and walnuts. The one on the right is cream cheese with pesto. Both absolutely amazing! My dad found the crumpets a little too frou frou for his taste and opted instead for a frozen yogurt cone from Shy Giant. Cherry-chocolate chip, to be exact. There were plenty of other places we would have liked to have stopped for snacks had we not already had dinner plans, including Three Girls Bakery. Honestly, is there anything in that window that doesn’t look phenomenal? Eventually, this is where all the food ends up…. Areas around the market also beckoned with fresh foods, novel items and unique décor, like these clotheslines in Post Alley. Apparently they originally were strung up in 1978 as part of some art installation. Those clothes have been drying for over 35 years! Nearby, El Mercado Latino caught my eye. Again, there’s nothing here I wouldn’t like to take home! I settled on some chili-lime pork rinds, which proved to be very spicy, as well as a bag of plantain chips that came in handy later on in the trip when restaurants and gas stations were few and far between. Around the corner, the Virginia Inn is one of Seattle’s most historical restaurants. Biscuit Bitch is not. Yes, please! This place was almost enough to convince me to cancel our dinner plans at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Almost. I settled for a Mezzo Mix, the only one I’ve ever had outside Atlanta’s World of Coca-Cola and Club Cool at Epcot. Finally, it was time to bid Pike Place Market adieu. Before heading to dinner, we stopped to check out the amusements at Pier 57. We didn’t eat there, but we found a couple of fun restaurant signs. I bought a Peanut Butter Mountain Bar in the gift shop there. It tasted similar to a Cherry Mash (one of my favorite regional candies), only with peanut butter instead of cherry nougat. The next morning, before heading to points south, we visited 13 Coins, a highly-rated restaurant near the offices of the Seattle Times. Each table is inlaid with — you guessed it — 13 coins. Well, the Food Network has rarely steered me wrong yet…. The booths here are very plush and stretch from the floor to the ceiling. The whole place was dark and “leather-ish.” It reminded me of something out of 1930s Hollywood. This was the view on one side of our table… …and the other. The Night Owl Lounge was closed during our visit, catering exclusively to late-night diners. 13 Coins never closes… and it’s a lot better than Denny’s! Based on a multitude of online reviews, I ordered the Joe Special, a conglomeration of seasoned ground beef, spinach, eggs and cheese that was really, really good. I also got a side of hash browns, which were amazing. The one letdown, foodwise, was the grilled biscuit. I was expecting something that tasted really special; instead, I got something that tasted really burnt. Unfortunately, we had a horrible waitress, who first didn’t realize we were even there (after about 15 minutes, the greeter walked by, noticed we still had menus and asked if anyone had ever come over to take our order), then screwed up my dad’s order, then pretty much forgot again that we were ever there. We practically had to beg for the bill. Up next: a visit to Portland, OR!

A few weeks after returning from upstate New York, I headed out on my final vacation of the summer, flying to Seattle, WA, with my father for a trip halfway down the Pacific coast. Enjoy! Following an afternoon enjoying the Space Needle, Experience Music Project and other wonders of the 1962 World’s Fair site, we took a short trip to our first Roadfood stop of the trip, Red Mill Burgers in Seattle. This sounds amazing, especially considering that the Red Mill is renowned for its milkshakes. Unfortunately, its milkshake machine was down the day we visited. The restaurant is done up in a sort of faux-’50s motif, though the old advertising clocks and signs hanging over each booth are vintage. My father would have liked to have had a number of him for his collection. Many of them were for soft drinks, some readily recognizable, others not so much. At Red Mill, you place your order at the counter, then wait for the cashier to call your name. Somehow, the day we went, they not only had several orders under incorrect names (and there weren’t that many people in the restaurant to begin with), but got my name wrong altogether. We had to show them the receipt for them to figure out what went on our tray and what didn’t. Once we got the food, however, all was (mostly) forgiven. My bacon-blue cheese burger was very good, and the onion rings were OK, as well… until they cooled off. Ain’t nothin’ in this world quite as unappetizing as a cold onion ring. The next morning, we began our day with a visit to Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle. They have a lot of books here. A lot of doughnuts, too! Ready for the big unveiling? I decided on a chocolate-iced original. Top Pot doughnuts are know for their rough, craggy exterior. It was OK, but probably not something I’d order again. The raised raspberry glazed, on the other hand, was very good. My father (who also tried an original glazed) and I both agreed it was the best of the doughnuts we sampled from Top Pot. The doughnuts helped fuel us for a full day exploring Pike Place Market. Pike Place is not just a single building, but an array of buildings that comprise a mind-blowing foodie experience. (Actually, there are a lot of other neat things here, too, including antique stores, magic shops, mini-museums, live entertainment and other attractions… but since this is the food thread, I’m going to focus on the food). This being Seattle, there’s a lot of authorized (and unauthorized) counter-culture graffiti all around. Hey! It’s double-dollar food stamp day at Pike Place! Before getting to the buildings proper, you make your way through a small maze of pop-up tents selling knock-off purses, folk art and other flea market-esque items. You know you’re getting close to the main building when you see this. It’s the very first Starbucks… and there was never a single time throughout the day that it didn’t have a line out the door. I’m pretty sure I saw some people lighting candles and counting rosaries. This is the only place in the world that still officially uses the original 1970s Starbucks logo. Disneyland features a similar logo at restaurants serving Starbucks coffee, with the most obvious parts edited for content. And what goes better with coffee than cheese? Windows in the cheese shop allow passersby to see the cheese-making process in action. It’s just like the Mission Tortilla Factory! No, really, it is — especially since after watching the cheese being made, you can go inside for a free sample. The cheese curds we tried were excellent. Inside the main building of Pike Place, you are immediately hit with both visual and olfactory overload. You also are immediately hit with a crowd of roughly 80 bajillion people. Seriously, it was like this on the main floor all day long. Free samples abound in the market. It’s better than Sam’s Club! While the market includes just about anything anyone could ever want, foodwise, produce and seafood seem to be the leading specialties. Several booths carried these fruit logs. They were really good. Apple pie was my favorite. “Picked fresh daily.” The jumbo grilling scallops are fancy! (The halibut cheeks apparently are not.) When it comes to seafood at Pike Place, this is what everyone wants to see: the flying fish! Yes, they really do throw large fish out to customers that order them. And this is where they do it. Unfortunately, it happens so quickly that my poor little camera couldn’t keep up, so the pictures I did manage of the “flying” fish just kind of look like blurry guys holding their arms out. Pike Place also offers those other two necessities of life: beer… …and jerky. Alder is the type of wood used to smoke the jerky. It wasn’t bad. I also tried salmon jerky. I won’t make that mistake again. Noted! Up next: More Pike Place and yet another taste of Seattle.

Save the Maelstrom! Just kidding. Sounds like this will take a "meh" attraction and upgrade it to a "meh... maybe" attraction. As long as they keep the school bread, I'm happy.

Time for another dose of Roadfood Adventures, this time in the Mid-Atlantic. Enjoy! Two days after returning from Las Vegas, I left for a long weekend with my parents to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. On the way, we stopped for lunch at Jake’s Sandwich Board in Philadelphia. And it was about time! I had tried to visit Jake’s twice before. The first time, I got there, paid for parking and found a sign saying the restaurant was closed for Memorial Day weekend? Really? Where I come from, holiday weekends are when most of the restaurants make their biggest money. The second time I happened to come during a massive thunderstorm, and there was no parking to be had at any price. Jake’s is known for its quality sandwiches, but also for its Five Pound Challenge, the epitome of Philadelphia dining. The winners get their pictures on the Wall of Shame. We did not come with such visions of glory. We just wanted some subs. My mother decided to try some fried pickles, which she didn’t particularly like, so I ended up with most of them. I wanted to try the “crunchy onions,” basically French-fried sweet onion petals. They were very good. The main reason I spent so much time trying to get to Jake’s in recent years, however, was to try its Garlic Bomb sub. It’s a cheese steak served on a roll with garlic spread, with roasted garlic nestled in with the meat, topped with French-fried garlic. Sounds like it should be amazing, right? It had no taste whatsoever. That said, I’d like to return to Jake’s someday to try the “50/50,” which a number of others ordered while we were there. And just what is the “50/50,” you ask? Why, it’s a half pork, half bacon sub, covered with melted provolone cheese and Siracha hot sauce. (Maybe I’d ask for mine without the Siracha.) And for dessert? Why, Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews, of course! That evening, after a few stops, we headed into Binghamton, NY. Our destination: Sharky’s. Sharky’s is restaurant divided in two, with a bright, worn counter service section in front and a dark, equally worn table service section in the back. There were plenty of locals in there when we arrived (not seen in this photo). My mom opted for something a little more traditional than I was after, ordering a seafood platter (but with pierogies). I didn’t travel all the way to Binghamton to eat seafood! First up on my plate was the City Chicken, not really chicken at all but marinated pork, skewered on a stick and fried crisp. But the thing to get at Sharky’s is the spiedies. And just what is a spiedie, you ask? Well, originally it was skewered chunks of lamb, marinated in spices and grilled over hot charcoal, served with Italian bread. Today, chicken has taken the place of the more expensive lamb, but the principle remains the same. They were good… but to be honest, my dad and I both preferred the City Chicken. The next day, after spending hours upon hours touring the National Baseball Hall of Fame (it really was neat), I stumbled upon Schneider’s Bakery in Cooperstown, NY. This apple cider doughnut really hit the spot! It’s a good thing I stopped for a snack; there was a long wait to get into our next destination: Brooks’ House of Bar-B-Q in Oneonta, NY. “See your dinners barbecued on our giant charcoal pit.” But first, let’s take a stroll around the grounds. There’s Brooks Park… …this nifty vintage vehicle parked outside the gift shop (which has its own building, separate from the restaurant)… …and the sauce factory, where Brooks’ famous barbecue sauce is bottled for sales and distribution. Not pictured are The Coop, a stand-alone ice cream stand, and the giant charcoal pit, which was closed off for rain when we arrived. Inside, the restaurant itself was massive. This homage to ESPN was part of an ongoing sports theme in the lobby décor, spotlighting mainly the New York Yankees and college teams affiliated with the Brooks family. Take that, foul loaf! The “bar-b-q” in the restaurant’s name refers not to the traditional pulled pork, brisket and ribs, but strictly to chicken, which all three of us ordered. I got mine as part of a combination dinner with pork, which I took to mean pulled pork. When it arrived, the pork was represented by a delicate slice beneath the chicken. And how was the chicken? It was… OK. I’m not a big fan of eating chicken right off the bone to start with, and this certainly was nothing like the local fire departments cook up for their fundraisers, but it was fine for what it was. The bucket on each table for discarded bones was a nice touch. My mom ordered a slice of carrot cake for dessert, which was huge. She said it was good, but she couldn’t finish it. My father and I, on the other hand, had no problem finishing off our crème de menthe sundaes. They were not only unique, but mighty tasty, as well. Along with some sauces and rubs for my barbecue-addicted friend back home, I picked up a packet of these maple-coated sunflower kernels in the gift shop to try. Let’s just say I prefer the crème de menthe sundae…. Over the summer, I had some good Roadfood fortune occur within about a mile of my home when a grossly overpriced Italian restaurant, which operated in an old bank building, closed and became an Irish pub. There’s not much space inside the Pint and Pub in Millsboro, DE, which often necessitates a wait for a table. But the wait is well worth it! On my first visit, I tried the Scotch eggs. And what is a Scotch egg, you ask? It’s a hard-boiled egg covered in sausage, rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried. And it’s delicious! The Pint and Pub serves its version with onion straws and grainy mustard. Kelly opted for an Irish chicken stew with soda bread, which she enjoyed. I, on the other hand, stuck to tradition, ordering an open-faced corned beef Reuben. And what a sandwich it was! The Pint and Pub brines and peppers its own corned beef on site, and the effort comes through boldly in the taste. For dessert, Kelly ordered a pair or flavored crème brulees. She said they were excellent. I sampled the bread pudding, which, while not the best bread pudding I’ve ever had, was good enough that I’ve ordered it several times since. Up next: The Roadfood tour travels to the Pacific Northwest.

I spent yesterday at Kings Dominion on a trip that was postponed from June due to car problems, and I must say that the park did almost everything right for its 40th anniversary. Matt Ouimet continues to prove he has a certain knack for saying "yes" to all the right ideas. It was great to have the singing mushrooms back, and the Candy Apple Grove signs were spot on. The return of Safari Village was fun, and the fountains on International Street looked awesome. The KD40 show was good (and, unlike Kings Island's 40th anniversary show, park specific and air conditioned... though they should have better proofed the park factoids that aired prior to the performance -- I spotted two typos), and I loved the historical displays inside the entrance gift shop (especially the original figure from Journey to the Land of Dooz). After having been denied by my parents two decades ago, I even finally was able to get a blue ice cream cone (though it didn't have much flavor, and the portion size was completely out of control). My biggest regret is missing the Clown Band, which is off on Thursdays. My one complaint is the lack of quality 40th anniversary merchandise. Maybe it was there earlier in the season, and I just missed it? All I could find were some expensive cups and a few T-shirts featuring the mushrooms. I read online that there were commemorative pins, but aside from a framed set in one of the displays, I couldn't find any. During Kings Island's 40th anniversary season, I bought a throwback T-shirt with the park's original logo; I was hoping they would do the same thing for Kings Dominion, but I didn't see any. A 40th anniversary pressed penny would have been nice (I got one of them made during Kings Island's 40th, as well), but again if there was one available, I never saw it... and I was looking. I also was hoping (though not expecting) for some additional singing mushroom merchandise, specifically maybe some plush. I saw one plush mushroom in one of the displays, but none for sale. Since all of the mushrooms' songs are either park specific or old (public domain) standards, it seems like it would be easy to issue a CD with all the songs (I have one from Monster Mansion at SFOG). There also was a video playing in the display with original park commercials and interviews with early executives that seems like it would have made a very nifty souvenir DVD, again at almost no extra cost since the source material was already there. But again... no such luck. One more observation: If you've never ridden Boo Blasters on Boo Hill without shooting, as if it were a regular dark ride, there are some fun dialog and animation surprises in there that you've probably never noticed before. Not sure if most of it was there before the post-Scooby Doo re-theme or not.

Add me to the list of Schmidt's fans. Their German buffet is awesome, and their cream puffs are legendary! I've never seen chocolate-covered Fritos before. Now I'm intrigued!

^Thanks! Regarding breakfast, I don't usually use condiments unless it's something unique, usually something spicy (chipotle Tabasco, for example). At home, I sometimes sprinkle Montreal steak seasoning on my scrambled eggs; it gives them a nice kick.

Hofbrauhaus looks like our kind of place! Had we known about it, we definitely would have paid it a visit. At this point, I'm officially over a year behind in updating this thread, so I'll try to pick up the pace a bit... but no promises. In the meantime, here are some more Vegas eats. Enjoy! What better way to wash down a Single Bypass burger than with a deep-fried Twinkie! This is why the Mermaid Casino on Freemont Street has long been one of my favorite stops in Vegas. Except we missed the comeback of the Twinkie by about a week. Oh well, Cloud Cakes are close enough. For those unfamiliar with what a deep-fried Twinkie looks like… behold! And this is what it looks like on the inside! Notice that the cream sort of turns into a gooey custard… which, of course, is the best part! By this point, Kelly was dead tired and insisted we go back to the hotel. I agreed… until we passed the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino and I saw this! Du-par’s is a legendary small restaurant chain in Los Angeles, and I figured I’d likely never have the chance to try it, so when that chance jumped right out in front of me… well, how could I not? Even though I already felt like I was going to explode. A lot of people swear by Du-par’s pies. I mean, how hard would it be to resist a pie that looks like that? But resist I did, because as good as all those pies looked, the one dish Du-par’s is famous for, above and beyond everything else, is its pancakes. Even though I could eat only a few bites, they were heavenly. We took the rest back to the hotel in a box. Kelly told the waiter that we’d lost everything at the casino, and the leftover pancakes were all the food we would have to sustain ourselves for the next three days until our flight back home. He was amused. I also had him box up a giant Du-par doughnut to take back for the next day. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as it looked (and couldn’t even come close to touching those pancakes), unfortunately. After eating the leftover pancakes for breakfast the next day, we took a late lunch at Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar” and Grill at Harrah’s, mostly because we had read in one of the freebie guidebooks that the restaurant’s menu included a jalapeno Reuben. We were intrigued. The walls are covered in Toby Keith memorabilia, along with various western-themed beer signs. The waitresses… again, I wasn’t about to ask one to pose, but much like the servers at the Heart Attack Grill, they had a very specific uniform. It consisted of chaps, panties, a tank top… and not much else. The potato salad was served in… are you ready for it? A miniature red Solo cup! You know, because one of Toby Keith’s songs is “Red Solo Cup”! Get it? Ha ha ha! Unfortunately, the potato salad also kind of tasted like a red Solo cup. And I’m sad to say that the Cowboy Reuben, the very reason we came to this place, was even worse. I have no idea how you go about sucking every last ounce of flavor out of corned beef and Swiss cheese, but somehow the chefs at Toby Keith’s managed it. It tasted like wallpaper paste on bricks, the bricks being the bread that was grilled into fossilization. As for the “jalapeno”… I’m sure they probably had one in the kitchen somewhere, and perhaps they were hoping its essence would somehow infuse itself with the sandwich from across the room. At least the fries tasted OK. That evening, we went to the Bellagio to sample its famous buffet. This was the line to get in… and this is just what you could see from the casino. It actually rounded the corner and continued down a very long corridor. Total “standby” time was about an hour. Which is pretty typical. The Bellagio’s buffet may not be No. 1 in Vegas anymore (Steve Wynn’s newest hotel, the Wynn, takes that honor), but it’s still pretty darned good! This was my first plate. I didn’t think the aerial view did it justice. Plate No. 2… …and finally, dessert! The next morning, we took a cab quite a long distance to check out Mary’s Hash House. Kelly wasn’t happy we spent so much money just to get to a restaurant, but what are you going to do? Hash House has been featured on several TV shows. Didn’t see Guy Fieri’s signature anywhere, though! Inside, the place was pretty pedestrian, and the waitress wasn’t altogether friendly or prompt. We later found out that they had just received a phone order for something like 30 breakfasts to go, and things were pretty frantic behind the scenes. Once that was taken care of, the service was much better. Oh well. The wait gave us time to contemplate the custom curtains. We also got a little bowl of partially used creamers. These, however, were much better than the nasty creamers. Toast at Hash House is served with your choice of exotic, house-made jams and jellies. I don’t remember each one we tried, but I know one was jalapeno-something and another was pineapple-something. They were all very good. Kelly raved about her egg white omelet and fresh fruit bowl. I, on the other hand, was not about to go to a restaurant called “Hash House” and not order hash! In fact, I decided on the Super Hash: corned beef, roast beef, ham, chicken and potatoes, all mixed up and fried, served with hash browns and fried eggs. It was exquisite! While we were waiting for our cab back to the hotel, we had time to check out the pictures hanging on the wall in other parts of the restaurant. How can you not love a place where Woodsy Owl has dined? Up next: a return to the Mid-Atlantic for some regional and ethnic specialties.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Wild Bill's, which had been on my list of places to visit even before the dark ride project began. The entire complex truly is a sight to behold, but for the purpose of this update, I'll stick to the projects Larry already has covered. When I started planning my trip (not just to Wild Bill's, but across several Mid-Atlantic and New England states) a little under a year ago, I hoped at least one of the rides at Wild Bill's would be open by the time I arrived. 'Twas not to be, but I asked anyway and mentioned that I knew Larry (thanks, Larry!) and had been following the progress on TPR. Wild Bill was happy to hear that and introduced me to Chuck, who offered me a guided tour. They asked me to extend the invitation to any TPR forum readers to stop by and take a look any time they are in the area. They're very excited that the TPR community is taking an interest. I do have one minor update from Larry's last photo set, in that the elf is an authentic piece of Macy's New York window dressing from the '50s, but still no word whether it will be included in any of the haunted attractions. I also met a very large, very live snake that is being planned as part of the attraction. Inside the Pretzel dark ride, Chuck told me he's received some criticism for including the cartoon devil Larry showed earlier, adding that he couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, especially since kids blow out the brains of zombies (and others) in exceedingly graphic video games on a daily basis; his opinion is that, given that example, a cartoon plywood devil probably isn't the biggest threat to the innocence of America's youth. Walking through what has been completed of the walk-through so far, it felt just like the few Bill Tracy walk-throughs I've had the opportunity to experience, which Chuck took as a big compliment. He also made a point of noting that, unlike many "haunt" attractions in the area, all the "scares" in the attractions will be pneumatically or electromechanically controlled; no live actors. Once everything is completed, this collection of attractions is going to be something very special. Visually, there aren't too many exterior changes, but I do have a few photos to offer. Enjoy! A good overall view of the dark ride's exterior so far. The walk-through from behind the fence, as visitors would first see it from the parking lot. A close-up of the a gate in the walk-through. A piece of set dressing we haven't seen before. A panel on the outside of Wild Bill's store provides a rendering of the walk-through. Another panel on the store pays tribute to the original Pretzel dark rides. (Others pay homage to everything from Universal monsters to sideshow attractions to King Kong to Bozo the Clown and beyond.) Just to the side of the walk-through is this original panel from the original "Laff in the Dark" ride at Lake Compounce. And finally, across the field, the stage set has been painted and given a name. Looking forward to more updates from Wild Bill's in the future! This semi-legible sign provides some background on the "Laff in the Dark" panel.

Thanks, everyone! To clarify, a lot of the "rides not operating" lines in the TR were for the purposes of dramatization. The actual attractions that were down were the Tilt-A-Whirl, train, Tumble Bug, Music Express, Pony Track, Haunted Hostile (which may be seasonal?), water rides (it may have been too early in the year for them), and Toboggan and Roundup (which have been out of commission for some time and aren't even located in the actual park but in a field near the beach). Everything else was up and running, though the kiddie rides did have rotating operators. Miniature golf also was open, but the one picture I had of it included several people walking by, which didn't really jibe with the whole "this park is deserted and haunted" theme I was going for. As for the current status of the park, my understanding is that it is expected to continue operating at least through the end of the summer. There has been a proposal that would "save" it (or at least delay the tax sale) through some sort of ownership/management shift, but there's nothing binding at this point. In my opinion, if you want to make sure you get the Blue Streak and CLP credit, the best course of action would be to hope for the best, plan for the worst and get there this season. Edited to add: Also, there was a crew working on the Tumble Bug while I was there, so hopefully it will be up and running again soon. It would be a nice historical component to add back into the park.

It’s been awhile, a couple years maybe, since I posted an amusement park TR on TPR. Why? Several reasons, one of which is that I rarely feel I can contribute more than what is already being said about the parks I visit. For instance, one of the three parks I visited last weekend was Waldameer. Currently, there are not one, not two, but three Waldameer topics on the first page of the forum alone. Sure, I could make it four… but how many pictures of Ravine Flyer II and the Whacky Shack can you look at before you don’t care anymore? But Conneaut Lake is… different. It’s not too far away from several popular Pennsylvania and Ohio parks, yet it doesn’t seem to get anywhere near the traffic as, say Kennywood or Cedar Point. Most of the attention it gets on TPR and other sites is more about whether or not it will survive another season rather than what the park has to offer. The last full TR I could find on it is just over a year old. The last one before that is from about five years ago. So today, I take you on a virtual visit to Conneaut Lake Park. And I do it my way. Enjoy! Each year, thousands of people visit picturesque Conneaut Lake, PA. Here, they enjoy the historic Hotel Conneaut. They peruse the memorial boardwalk. They partake of the local cuisine. They frolic on the beautiful lakeshore beach. They gather for outdoor concerts. They cruise aboard the Kaylee Belle. But just beyond this luxurious vacation paradise lies a much more sinister realm, allegedly haunted by spirits from beyond. Spirits… who are unhappy when the living invade their hallowed grounds. This… is Conneaut Lake Park. Opened in 1892, the park served as a source of pleasure for generations of vacationers and locals alike, a place where, for just a few dollars, visitors could enjoy a carefree day of mirth and amusement. But by 2013, strange and unusual things began to take place. Some who came to visit the park… never left. The unsolved disappearances of several guests forced the struggling park to close its doors for good. Today, a brave few still dare to enter Conneaut Lake Park. Some are urban explorers, seeking to photograph the remnants of a once thriving paradise for children and thrill seekers alike. Others come to discover the truth. Did those missing guests go missing for a reason? Were they abducted? Or were there darker forces at work? Today, we attempt to uncover the mystery on… “Ghost Hunters: Conneaut Lake.” Flags no longer fly from these flagpoles at the entrance to Conneaut Lake Park. The ticket booths stand empty. There is no life except the malaria-carrying mosquitoes circling this infested pond… and us. We’re here to find the truth… and we’re going in! Signage throughout the area has fallen into disrepair, causing confusion and disorientation. We’re going to have to figure out navigation for ourselves. The truth… or just discarded Christmas decorations? Did the spirits put those there, or did interference from the mortal world place these objects into temporary storage? We may never know. Rides throughout the park have mysteriously vanished since its closing. Others remain inoperable. The elements have taken their toll on the once loved rides at Conneaut Lake. Suddenly, the Paratrooper starts without warning! Ghostly laughter fills the park! We make our getaway to Park Avenue, a sad and forgotten section of Conneaut Lake. Here, the former Tumble Bug no longer runs. The Music Express is slowly fading into a ghostly form. The bumper cars bump no more. All that remains is the 2-by-4 that once measured riders’ heights… and disciplined those who were too short to partake in the attraction. Could it be their tortured souls that now haunt this beloved former amusement park? Spectral carousel music emanates from this building. We check it out. Stately carved horses hold their pose and await riders that will never again come. A carousel panel celebrates the park’s happier days. The rings have vanished along with the joyful squeals of happy children that once inhabited this special place. The water slides are all dry now. However, you can still get splashed in the rest rooms. Could this be the entrance to the fabled… ...ghost train? The entrance to hell! Could this be where the spirits are coming from? Is that gum… or the spirits of a thousand restless souls, trapped in gum form? And suddenly, we see our first spectre! We make another hasty escape. We’ll be safe in Mouse the Clown’s Kiddieland. Apparently the spirits feed not only on human flesh, but on plywood otters. Here, too, the rides remain silent and abandoned. Some are as creepy as the ghosts that now call this place home. I have one of these! Only mine’s not quite so… haunted. Never more will these once popular attractions cause moments of bliss. More ghostly music emanates from this smaller carousel building. Once more we investigate. Our tickets are no longer valid. Our spirits have a sense of humor… but what’s that just beyond the jet ride? It’s the park’s abandoned pony track. Suddenly, hoofbeats become audible! Could it be the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, come to sever our souls? We don’t stick around to find out. Is that the spirit of a former Kiddieland worker, manifesting itself on the Little Dipper platform? It must be, for all at once the coaster begins to move! We run for safety… but instead we come face to face with the devil himself, mocking us from high above his hellish perch! His eyeless minions stare into our very souls. That’s when we notice… …this! What appears to be a harmless carousel decoration turns out to be… …a gravestone for a former Conneaut Lake Park employee! Possibly the one that tried to abduct our very beings from the Little Dipper platform! We witness more ghostly destruction all around us as we run for our lives! The Witch’s Stew provides little comfort as we make our way toward the midway… and what we hope will be holy ground. The desertedness of the abandoned park is once again apparent as we find what we hope is safety among the dusty grounds. There are no sign of spirits at the old Log Cabin Gift Shop. The only “ghosts” we see are the eerie lights cast from the 1990s-era video games inside. Rotting buildings and posts line the otherwise barren landscape. A few flags still fly from their posts, a reminder of days when the park thrived. Midway games remain abandoned, just the way employees left them when the park was hastily evacuated on its very last day of operation. The final “ride” constructed at the park… the Haunted Hostile. But is it… really haunted? Suddenly, picnic tables begin stacking themselves in front of the ride’s entrance as if moved by an unseen force! The message is clear: We shall not pass. Devil worship! So this is how the spirits made their way into the park… they were invited! Meanwhile, portions of the Toboggan begin to disappear into the ghostly realm. Most of the Roundup is already gone. All at once, the spirits send us a clear sign. We are to leave immediately… and wash our hands. But not before we find… the back entrance to hell! Be gone, demon spawn! And then we find it… the entrance to the fabled Blue Streak roller coaster. We assume it to be a safe haven, as the spectres have not yet begun to sink their demon fangs into this otter. For three-quarters of a century, the Blue Streak was the signature ride at this beloved park. Today it sits abandoned, a shrine to happier times. Rest in peace, old friend. Eventually, the ghostly howling stops, and we dare to exit this sanctuary from the damned. If only we could have ridden it. If only we had come to Conneaut Lake sooner. If only we were not… too late! And then all become clear. The devil clown is… mechanical? It’s a setup! Mortals are afoot… …and riding the Trabant! We’re not too late after all! We quickly purchase our tickets… …and get our Blue Streak credit! As for those two missing persons? It turns out they just eloped! Join us next time as we seek to discover… the truth behind the haunted hot dogs of Chicago (or something like that). Honestly, CLP was a nice little park, full of friendly employees (some of whom, upon seeing me taking pictures, offered to run rides for me so I could capture them “in action”) and a nice atmosphere. It could use some TLC and a LOT more patronage. I was there for two hours on a Saturday and, not including employees, saw fewer than three dozen people. I really hope it pulls through. That said, there’s a reason I decided to ride the Blue Streak this year instead of waiting one more season. If anyone out there is still hoping to get the credit, I’d say sooner is probably better than later. And so as not to end this TR on a “downer”… here’s a picture from later in the day at Waldameer that I like to call “Pirate’s Gold” or “X Marks the Spot.” That’s all for now! Thanks for reading!

^Thanks! But I don't do it *just* to provide a good report... I do it because I love to eat! In this round: Vegas, baby! My wife and I took a trip to Nevada last July, and the highlights are below. (No barbecue this time... sorry!) Enjoy! A few weeks later, Kelly and I flew out to Las Vegas for a few days’ vacation. By the time our plane landed and we got to our hotel, we were really hungry. We were hoping for lunch, but since it was 9:30 a.m. in Vegas, we had to settle for brunch at the Bayside Buffet at Mandalay Bay. The buffet itself was nice (if very expensive), but my favorite part was the filled malasadas (Portuguese doughnuts). Kelly has a “thing” for Irish restaurants, so the next day we made our way over to Nine Fine Irishmen in New York New York for lunch. “Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!” We were seated in the upstairs section, right across from this tribute made of firefighters’ patches sent in from around the nation. A pyramid of butter! Just like in Ireland! We started with the fried pickle appetizer. I prefer chips to spears, but what are you gonna do? Kelly got a grilled turkey Panini, which she really liked, plus some potato salad that didn’t really taste like anything. I got a breakfast consisting of runny scrambled eggs, corned beef hash (but not really), home fries from around the world (or something like that), ham, and a sausage that had the texture of Jell-O and tasted like feet. That afternoon, we took a break at Taqueria Canonita at the Venetian (I know, Mexican food at an Italian-themed resort…). Our table was right next to the “canal.” We stopped mainly for drinks, but we also ordered chips and salsa (yes “ordered”… despite what you may have heard, there’s practically nothing complementary — or cheap — in Vegas anymore). The salsa was so good, I sipped it with a swizzle stick! It was funny at the time… you can see in my bloodshot eyes how tired we were. We finished our snack at Canonita with the dessert of the day, which was some sort of lemon-berry pastry. It wasn’t bad. Not as good as the salsa, though. As we lounged at the table after receiving our bill, we watched a couple get married in a gondola. That evening, we went downtown to Freemont Street to partake in several things I was hoping to do, one of which was the Heart Attack Grill. Noted! They have two truck scales, one outside and one inside. If you step on one and it registers 350 pounds or more, lights flash, an alarm sounds and you get your food for free. (A large neon sign out front explains this; unfortunately, it was blocked with construction equipment while we were there.) If you hit 350 pounds while eating there, anything you order after that will be free; you’re allowed to weigh in after each burger. Once inside, you are dressed in a hospital gown and given an “admission” bracelet before being seated. This is what the bracelet says. Each burger is called a “Bypass,” from single (one patty) to quadruple (four patties). This was Verne Troyer’s gown. The walls are covered in pop culture references realigned to promote the restaurant and its celebration of all things gluttonous. Take, for example, this panoramic recreation of “The Last Supper,” with the restaurant’s founder in the position of Jesus, feeding his fast food mascot disciples. There are plenty of re-themed movie posters, as well. Da Vinci would be so proud…. Near the indoor truck scale sits this blood pressure machine. Unlike those found in pharmacies, however, the patrons who use it aren’t checking their health… …they’re trying for the high score! There’s probably some social commentary in there somewhere in that more than half of the “top achievers” are from Texas. I didn’t exactly feel comfortable asking one of the waitresses to pose (though they’re happy to do so), but this mannequin offers a good approximation of the Heart Attack Grill uniform. A giant-sized package of Lucky Strike cigarettes and a large paddle hang from the ceiling. The cigarettes symbolize the largest meal offered at the restaurant, with which they are served for “dessert.” (And, yes, we’re talking about a real pack of unfiltered cigarettes, not the candy kind.) The paddle… well, that symbolizes something, too. Specifically, it symbolizes what happens to anyone who doesn’t finish their food. Spankings are also a (free) menu item. Really. The restaurant was not crowded by any means, but it still took an inordinately long time for a waitress to find our table — long enough that had I not come to Freemont Street specifically to experience the Heart Attack Grill, I probably would have left. Fortunately, when we finally were able to place our order and the food arrived, it was really good. You’re looking at a bacon-chili cheeseburger (Single Bypass), chili cheese fries (which Kelly promised me she would eat some of, otherwise I wasn’t going to order them; I’m not sure the two she had really made much difference in the long run) and a real-sugar Mexican Coke. By the time we were done, there was still plenty of grease to be had! In the end, you’re not billed for food, but for “medical services.” Notice that tax is referred to as “Obama’s cut,” although last I checked, sales tax was one of the few things the federal government didn’t lay claim to. (Stop giving them ideas, Heart Attack Grill!) Up next: more unhealthy dining in Las Vegas!

More food pictures to enjoy. So... enjoy! The next day, following an exceptional visit to Marceline, MO, I traveled to LC’s Bar-B-Q for what many reviewers called the best burnt ends in Kansas City — which, de facto, would make them the best burnt ends in the world! You will notice that there are no photos of the outside of LC’s (with bars on every window) nor the inside. Here’s why: As soon as I entered the nearly empty restaurant, a very large, seemingly very angry man yelled across the room, from behind the counter, “What you want?” I walked a little closer to read the menu board, and as I did, the man reiterated, “I said, ‘What you want?’” Not wanting to anger this gentleman further, I approached the counter and immediately asked for a burnt ends sandwich. He responded, “For here… or to go?” making it very clear with his inflection and body language that “to go” was the correct answer. I believe the meal cost a little over $8. I handed the man a $10 bill and did not ask for change. A few minutes later, another gentleman, wearing a wife-beater T-shirt, came out of the kitchen/smoker area and thrust a plastic bag containing a Styrofoam container dripping with barbecue sauce into my hand. I knew that was my cue to leave. I drove a couple miles and pulled into the parking lot of a Sonic Drive-In, where I spread a freebie newspaper I had picked up in Memphis over the passenger seat and carefully extracted the box from the sauce-saturated bag. It contained no napkins and no fork… but approximately one full pound of the plumpest, tastiest-looking burnt ends I had ever seen, covered with about a gallon of sauce, between two slices of white bread. The kind folks at Sonic were nice enough to provide me with a plastic fork and some napkins, as well as a cherry limeade, which turned out to be very necessary as the peppery sauce almost overwhelmed every other taste bud in my mouth. I could have done with a lot less sauce, but as the reviews stated, these were, far and away, the best burnt ends I’ve ever had. And I’ll only have them once because I’m definitely not brave enough to try for seconds! Again, for most people, a pound of smoked beef would have been enough for one dinner. But, as we have established, I’m not most people. And this people, as a certified Kansas City Barbeque Society judge, was not about to end his visit to Kansas City without a stop at the world’s famous Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque. Inside, the restaurant is fairy bare bones, starting with the ordering line. The brisket and ribs were good… …but the real star here is the sauce, some of the best I’ve ever had. Following an evening at Worlds of Fun, I took a late-night drive south toward Branson so the next morning I would be within driving distance of Silver Dollar City. Smokehouse jerky? Sounds good to me! Yak’s on the left, kangaroo on the right. Both were good, tender and spicy. How about some fresh-fried pork rinds before taking a spin on Outlaw Run? This is before the Texas Giant incident… so a couple more pounds won’t make a difference! This looks like a good place to find cinnamon bread! Sadly, it was not. Even more sadly, the person at the counter told me they no longer sold cinnamon bread at the park. Choking back tears, I settled for a giant cinnamon roll instead. Temperatures were in the 90s that day, so a nice Sioux City Sarsaparilla from the old general store seemed like a good way to cool down. As I was perusing other shops on my way out of the park late in the afternoon, what to my wandering eyes should appear… but cinnamon bread! Oh the joy! The rapture! I ate half at the park and saved the other half for later. Of course, I didn’t need it after dinner at this place! For the uninitiated, Lambert’s Café is the “home of throwed rolls,” meaning that when you ask for rolls… they throw them to (or at) you. It’s also the home of jumbo-sized portions and all-you-can-eat side dishes. There are three locations; this is the one in Ozark, MO. And Coke drinkers, take solace, for Lambert’s serves The Real Thing™. The posted wait to get in was nearly an hour. Fortunately, as I’ve stated in the past, there’s rarely a wait when traveling solo. I perused this model train and other junk hanging on the walls and from the ceiling for less than five minutes before I was taken into the dining area. And speaking of the dining area… this is it! Even the drinks are huge (and apparently blurry) at Lambert’s! This was my first roll. Caught it on the first try! For my main course, I ordered the pork belly (basically a huge pile of thick-cut bacon). Also making an appearance are fried okra, fried potatoes, pinto beans, coleslaw, cornbread and sorghum in which to dip the throwed rolls. It was all splendid! The next day, I passed through Tupelo, MS, on my way back to Atlanta for my flight home. As far as I can tell, there are exactly four things in Tupelo: Elvis’ birth home (which is so small that my current television would not fit in the building) and related tourist complex, a grocery store (in whose parking lot I made a U-turn), a traffic light and Johnnie’s Drive-In. This would be Johnnie’s Drive-In. Thankfully, they don’t keep their barbecue to themselves. An Elvis connection? In Memphis? Inconceivable! The drive-in’s interior is pretty small. In fact, this is pretty much all of it. But this is the real reason most people come here. Apparently Johnnie’s was a favorite hangout of Elvis’ when he was a teenager. No doubt Elvis ate many of Johnnie’s barbecue sandwiches, so who was I to pass one up? It was,,, OK. About the kind of barbecue you’d expect to find at an average drive-in. The real attraction for me, however, was the doughboy, a hamburger with dough mixed in with the beef. Johnnie’s supposedly started making them that way during World War II (though since meat rationing ended in the U.S. within a year of Johnnie’s opening, one wonders whether it was just a patriotically convenient excuse for cost-cutting). It was… unique, and I’m not really sure there’s anything I can compare the flavor to. It didn’t really taste like a cheeseburger, but it wasn’t horrible. I wouldn’t go out of my way for another one, but if I was someplace and it was on the menu, I might consider it. Of course, as a drive-in, Johnnie’s also offers an opportunity to eat doughboys… in your car! My last restaurant stop on this vacation was Bob Sykes’ Bar-B-Q, located in Bessemer, AL. Having just made several stops in the nearby city of Birmingham, parts of which were nice enough but much of which made me wish I had instead chosen to visit a cleaner, friendlier area — like Detroit — I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I’m happy to report that, after being approached by a toothless panhandler in the parking lot, I found the inside of the restaurant to be quite nice. A local middle school cheerleading team was even bussing tables in exchange for donations to go to some tournament. It was very Mayberry-esque. The open grill greets all visitors to Bob Sykes’… and as good as it looks, the aroma was even better! The restaurant has been here for more than half a century. That’s got to be a good sign! This is what I ordered… …and this is what it looked like! Unfortunately, despite the welcoming atmosphere, community friendliness, longevity and heavenly aroma at Bob Sykes’, the food was just… OK. The ribs really didn’t have much flavor, and I’m not sure the pulled pork would have, either, had it not been for the sauce. The “homemade” pecan pie reminded me of ones I’ve gotten from the freezer section of Walmart… but it was OK for what it was. Eh… not so much. Still, a pleasant little diversion.

Zebra on a stick!

This looks amazing! I can't wait for my trip there this June. Thanks for posting!

Larry, I just posted photos of new (and renamed) rides and signs from SFA's Mardi Gras area in a separate TR, if there are any from there that you'd like to add to the index. Here are a few sign close-ups, as well, in case you need them.

Let me just start by saying this: Everyone knows SFA sucks. Like, majorly sucks. Like if you have the choice between having a root canal or going to SFA to ride roller coasters, you're going to pick the root canal every time. Yep, everyone knows SFA sucks. Everyone, that is, except for my family and me. Now, keep in mind that every time I post that I actually like SFA, it triggers some kind of flame war that usually starts with "You only like SFA because you remember when SFA is really crappy, and now that SFA is only sort of crappy, your memories of the 'old' SFA make the 'new' SFA seem like Disneyland" and devolves into "Kings Dominion rocks! Hershey is the best! SFA sucks and you suck too!" My intent in posting this TR (my first actual theme park TR in at least a couple of years, I think) is not to re-start that flame war, but to show some pictures of the park's new area in case someone, somewhere may be interested. On Friday I left work early with what turned out to be a pretty bad stomach virus that lasted into Saturday morning. Then Saturday evening, I was in the ER until just before midnight for a completely different medical emergency. So when I woke my wife up eight hours later on Sunday morning and asked if she was ready to go to Six Flags, she had two words for me: "You're crazy." (Actually, she said two other words before that, but the TPR filter won't let me post them here.) It took a few minutes, but she soon came to the realization that I had my mind set on going, and once my mind is made up, very little ever changes it. Within the hour, we were off to Six Flags to check out the new hotness of 2014. Enjoy! The first "new" thing we noticed on our way in were the banners celebrating Washington, D.C., landmarks. They did have a couple of these out during Fright Fest last year, but I don't remember them for 2013's opening weekend, so maybe they were put up sometime in between? Either way, the design on each lamppost was different, and most of them were new to us... so there! Also new this year: healthier food options! Granted, I didn't notice them in any of the restaurants we went to... but maybe they were there, buried somewhere deep on the menu. What I do know is that the brisket sandwich at Crazy Horse Saloon probably isn't among those "healthy" options... but it sure was delicious! Yes! We love sneaking peeks! Welcome to Mardi Gras! So, for the uninitiated, Mardi Gras is basically a cohesive theming of the area around Wild One, also pulling in the land where Two Face once sat. The first thing we noticed was a mild re-theming of some existing games, like "Fool the Jester" (nee "Guesser"). Also, Bourbon Shot! (Though we couldn't remember if this actually was a preexisting game or not). Wild One's name remains the same, but it did get an updated logo. Sadly, the historical coaster car outside the station is gone. Not sure if that's permanent or not. New names for some rides, as well. Falling Star is now the Zydeco Zinger. Tower of Doom is now Voodoo Drop. Voodoo Droooooooooop! And the Sonora Speedway is now the Big Easy Speedway (and still an upcharge). A few inexpensive plywood signs to set the mood. Some were more colorful than others! One of the coolest things about Mardi Gras is that it comes with its own new set of costumed characters, most notably King Gator. While not officially announced in the passholder marketing materials (at least not in any I remember reading), this voodoo priestess character also was walking around, making quite the impression. We assigned her the temporary nickname "Voodoo Mama Juju," which fans of "The Office" will appreciate. The bass drummer above was part of a roving percussion group providing entertainment in the Mardi Gras area. Though they weren't bad, I wouldn't classify anything they played as being particularly jazzy or "New Orleans"-y (which would be fairly hard to do without some sort of wind instrument, anyway). Ah, but it's not drummers or games or flashy alligators you've come to see, you say? Well then it's a good thing SFA's newest flat ride was on display (though not yet operational), as well. I draw your attention to the French Quarter Flyers. Let the predictions on snapability begin! Still not satisfied? Well, take a look at this! That would be a new roller coaster. And though it may not be a Eurofighter gigacoaster... it's a new roller coaster at SFA. At one time, a verified photo of Bigfoot (the Sasquatch, not the monster truck) would have been less elusive! Here's the other end. Note that the surrounding buildings are being renovated, as well. We don't know what's going in them yet, but our vote is for a Mardi Gras-themed grab-and-go restaurant and a gift shop. Because you gotta have a gift shop. Capital Railways was down temporarily to provide the entrance to the "preview area," providing an opportunity for a few unique shots. Mardi Gras isn't the only "land" to have new costumed characters. Check out the sheriff in Coyote Creek! I'm psyched that Six Flags is adding unique characters to the park; I just hope that doesn't mean they're getting rid of the DC characters and Looney Tunes. A new show for the stunt arena. Though the show is themed to Roman gladiators... ...it's still set in an Old West town/fishing village. And since the show is played mostly for laughs, the setting absolutely works. They even subtly address it twice during the performance. ("Wasn't this a pirate show last year?") One of my favorite jokes (at least I think it was a joke...) was the division of the arena into a "blue" section and a "yellow" section, a la Medieval Times. At the beginning, one side is told they have to cheer for the blue gladiator, and other side is told they have to cheer for the yellow gladiator. Unless, of course, they like the other gladiator better, in which case they can cheer for him or her instead. And then it turns out none of the gladiators are color-coded anyway. (I also enjoyed the fact that the smallest female character in the show was named "Gigantus," though I was the only one who seemed to think that or the Medieval Times reference was funny). As always, the stunts were first class. Spoiler alert (unless, of course, you've seen any other stunt show, ever, produced at SFA): It ends with an explosion. The park's other new show this season is LOL, which is a blatant ripoff of "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" right down to the names of the individual segments. It's also hilarious, repeatable and probably costs next to nothing to produce, which is a win for both the consumer and Six Flags. Over in Coyote Creek's City Hall (AKA the park's arcade), this cardboard Minecraft mask was available for just 3,300 tickets! And finally, to the haters I have just one thing to say: "Can any park where everyone wins a cape really be all bad?"

Back again! I could run through a laundry list of excuses for not posting more in this thread, but I won't bore everyone. Instead, enjoy some pictures of tasty food! The morning after Cattlemen's, I headed out to Classen Grill in Oklahoma City for a hearty breakfast before making my way to Frontier City. Thunder up! The inside was pretty typical, but I was glad I finally made it. When I plugged the address into my GPS, it took me to a carpet store about a mile away…. I passed some time reading the advertisements on the table. No carpet shops to be found. Fresh-squeezed orange juice? Yes, please! But this is the real reason I came here: biscuit debris! That’s biscuits covered with ham, sausage, gravy and two types of cheese, with a side of homefries. It’s every bit as good as it sounds! After leaving Frontier City, I ventured on to Robert’s Grill in El Reno, OK. After tornadoes ravaged the area just a week or so before I visited, I was glad it was still there. El Reno is known for two specialty dishes, one of which is its own version of the Coney Island hot dog, topped with chili sauce and a mustard-based coleslaw. This one was really good! The other is the onion burger, a hamburger with onions pressed into the meat and fried. These come highly rated on almost all the “roadfood”-type sites, and I scoured them all to determine that out of all the restaurants in El Reno that sell them, Robert’s got the best reviews. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it had any flavor whatsoever and, after getting about halfway through, I had to cover it with ketchup and mustard just to finish it. It was like eating Styrofoam with burnt onions. Since I was in Oklahoma City (“ooh, so pretty”), I had to get my kicks on Route 66. Specifically, my Route 66 destination was POPS, a gas station whose claim to fame is having just about every brand of bottled soda sold in the United States available under one roof. When I saw this, I knew I was in the right place! Located in Arcadia, OK, the place looks like something out of the mod ’60s, but it actually was built to look that way… in 2007. A close-up of the station’s exterior walls in all their bottled-soda glory! The soda fountain in the back of the station was cool… …but this is what I really came for! I ended up buying 13 different sodas to try, drinking two or three a day for the rest of the trip. First was Lemmy, a carbonated lemonade my father used to drink when he was growing up. It was phenomenal! I really wished I could have brought some back for him, but I couldn’t take it on the plane in my carry-on, and I wasn’t about to pay $25 for a checked back just to take home a $2.50 bottle of soda. I had heard of Nesbitt’s (my dad used to collect soda bottles and bottle caps, and he had several Nesbitt’s), but I had never tried it. It was OK, kind of like a less flavorful Sunkist. The next day, I sampled Nichol Kola and a marionberry-flavored soda. Nichol was another drink I knew about from my father’s collection, but had never tasted. It was sort of like an RC, but with a very distinct cinnamon-like aftertaste that was very good. The marionberry soda also was pretty good; it was like drinking a liquid blackberry. The Brownie caramel cream root beer was amazing! Kind of like drinking a liquid cinnamon bun. The prickly pear soda was OK; my boss brought back some prickly pear hard candy for the office once when he was on vacation out west, and this pretty much tasted like that, kind of like watered-down corn syrup. The huckleberry soda was OK, kind of like a very watered-down version of the marionberry drink. The Howdy cherry jubilee was pretty bad. It tasted like drinking seltzer water while sucking on a Sucret. This was the absolute worst trifecta of the bunch. The candy cane soda tasted like nothing more than seltzer water, with a very, very faint peppermint aftertaste. The spruce beer was interesting and definitely the best of the three; it smelled like Pine Sol and was at least somewhat sweet. The dandelion soda tasted like Alka Seltzer, only much bitterer, so much so that I poured the last third of it out rather than finishing it. This was the final day’s soda lineup. Not sure how the prickly pear got in there again… The peanut butter soda was much like the candy cane soda: seltzer water with a very, very faint peanut aftertaste. The Frostie ginger beer was OK. I’ve had ginger beer from other companies, and they were sweet with a nice aftertaste. The Frostie version was a little stronger, which I didn’t like as much. In all, the Lemmy, Nichol and Brownie really stole the show. They’re the only ones I would really like to have again. After POPS, I headed north to Kansas, where I stopped by Nu-Way, home of “crumbly burgers.” I don’t remember whether there was any booth or table seating inside, but I took a seat at the counter, regardless. I started with the garlic salad, which is really just coleslaw with a LOT of garlic! It was really good and, in my opinion, the best thing Nu-Way had to offer. Here’s one of those “crumbly burgers,” along with some spiral-cut fries. So what is a “crumbly burger”? In other Midwestern states, they call them “loosemeats” “Maid Rites” or “taverns.” It’s basically seasoned, loose-fried ground beef on a hamburger bun, kind of like a sloppy joe without the tomato sauce. I got mine with cheese. It was OK, but like the onion burger before it, really lacked much flavor outside the cheese. I also tried Nu-Way’s take on a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, which I enjoyed so much during my jaunt through Indiana in 2012. The Nu-Way version was covered with Miracle Whip (or a fair approximation), as is the local custom. I preferred the Indiana version, with mustard and pickles. The Nu-Way model was OK, but like the crumbly burger, lacked much flavor. Besides crumbly burger’s, Nu-Way’s other claim to fame is its root beer, served in a frosted mug, which was very good. The next day’s adventures took me to Nebraska, where lunch was at Shirley’s Diner in Omaha. The décor inside was very eclectic and added to the restaurant’s ambience. Each booth was decked out with memorabilia for a different band. I got the “Bumpy Action” booth, featuring ephemera from a local rock band that, according to Facebook, was the pride of Omaha from 1969-1974. Each booth also included a jukebox system, though I’m not sure if they actually worked. That’s not fried chicken you’re looking at; that’s an Omaha specialty: the cheese Frenchee (or Frienchie or Frenchy, depending on which restaurant you’re at and whether you take the name from the specials board or the menu). An interior view reveals the Frenchee/Frenchie/Frenchy for what it is: a grilled cheese, slathered with mayonnaise, covered with crushed corn flakes and deep fried. Not counting the steak from Cattlemen’s, this was the absolute best thing I had to eat on this vacation! The lunch special came with two of them, plus a ton of fries, for something like $7. They were huge! There was no way I could eat it all, but I didn’t want to throw it away, so I ended up visiting the local Walmart and buying a Styrofoam cooler and bag of ice to keep it cold, then ate the second sandwich and remaining fries on the road for dinner that evening after visiting Adventureland in neighboring Iowa. The cooler, coupled with some hotel ice, also came in handy for keeping my POPS sodas cold over the next few days. For most people, a good cheese Frenchee lunch in Omaha would have been plenty. But I’m not most people, so I hopped into my car and drove over to the city’s premier Czech restaurant, the Bohemian Café. This is what the entrance to a 1924 restaurant looks like. “We welcome you!” Inside, the décor was much what one would expect from an Eastern European-themed restaurant. My meal came with a choice of soup, and nearly every online review raved about the liver dumpling soup, so I went with that. That would be a slice of liver dumpling right there. Despite its slightly unappetizing name, it was pretty good. Many online reviews also recommended the goulash. Those reviews were wrong. While it was OK, there was nothing really special about it, and it took up valuable stomach space that would have been better suited for the dish that was to come. That dish was plum dumplings, which, thanks to my handy new cooler, I was able to get to go. I had to try at least one while they were still warm. These things are amazing! It’s basically a stewed plum wrapped in a very dense doughnut, covered with butter, cinnamon and sugar, and then baked and served with a mixture of chilled sour cream and cottage cheese. I heated the rest up in hotel microwaves for breakfast the next couple days, and while still OK, it was nowhere near as good as it was fresh out of the oven. On my way to Adventureland, I took a detour to Elk Horn, IA, to see the only Danish windmill in the United States. Next door, I spotted this sign for Danish kringle and actually groaned. I was stuffed beyond belief… but how was I supposed to pass up a chance for real Danish kringle in Middle of Nowhere, U.S.A.? So, of course, I went inside In addition to the restaurant, which seemed like the kind of place I would have loved to have tried had I not already filled up on Frenchees and plum dumplings and whatnot, they also thankfully had a small bakery and gift shop. One kringle to go, please! Once the plum dumplings were gone, this became my breakfast of choice. It took several days to eat, and it never dried out or hardened whatsoever. The kringle they sell at Epcot is good… but comparing it to this is like comparing a McDonald’s hamburger to one fresh off your own grill on the 4th of July. It was awesome! Up next: one of the barbecue capitals of the world and my most intimidating restaurant experience to date!

I'm hoping to make this a stop on the way to my planned vacation in Lake George this summer!

Virtually every time a roller coaster accident makes the news, some moron says, "I heard it got stuck upside down in the loop," and/or "I heard people were suing for brain damage because all the blood rushed to their head and stayed there because they were stuck upside down for so long." It would be interesting, to me, for someone to bust that myth. Assuming there's not a brake that gets stuck shut, it would be impossible for the coaster to get stuck in the loop due to some combination of gravity and inertia, right? Or is there some fraction-of-an-inch section at the top of the loop where, if perfectly positioned at exactly the right rate of resistance, it wouldn't valley in one direction or the other? The only other thing I can think of is, on Tilt-a-Whirls, some people swear having heavier people at the ends of the car will make it spin faster, while others say having the heaviest person in the middle will result in a faster spin. Which is true? Or is it both as long as the weight is unevenly distributed in some way? EDITED to add: Now that I go back and read that, I guess both of those (except the "brain damage" part) are more about the body's effects on rides rather than rides' effects on the body. Sorry for not thinking that through all the way.

I can't find much online about it, and a search on TPR didn't turn up anything, so I thought I'd post in case it may be of interest: I just saw on a broadcast of the Hollywood Christmas Parade that MTV is promoting a new TV show called "Happyland," set in a theme park. It sounds like it will be something along the lines of a TV version of the movie "Adventureland." According to the parade announcer, Erik Estrada, the gist is that the park's young employees "have to separate the fantasy of their jobs from the real world of teen drama." Several of the cast members appeared in the parade. It doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but it could be interesting to see some of the backgrounds. Anyone have any info. on which park is serving as the filming location?

As long as I live, I will never, ever forget riding Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer in a lightning storm during my first TPR trip. I also remember (but not as fondly) attending a company picnic at Kennywood as a guest of some friends. As we were waiting for one member of our party to finish her ride on the Thunderbolt, the sky turned jet black, and we high-tailed it to the picnic pavilion the company had rented for the day. We made it just as the first few drops began to fall, but it didn't do us much good; the storm came in so fast and furious that the rainwater quickly rose into the pavilion and covered our feet. It was over in about 20 minutes, but it did enough damage to the park (toppled trees, etc.) that it closed for the rest of the day.

^Save teh Treasure Cave!!!

You know, I forgot about the earlier announcement about the blue ice cream. And I hadn't heard yet about the fountain lights. Also exciting! As far as additional "surprises," I like the idea of bringing back the floral clock. I wonder if they would be willing/able to negotiate with Time Warner for the rights to bring back Yogi's Cave for one season. Does that building still exist, or did it get razed to make room for Planet Snoopy? I know it was Treasure Cave for awhile after they got rid of the H-B theming. The last time I was there, they had taken down the signage and closed the entrance off with a couple of trash cans.