printersdevil78

Man, I hate the lifeboat drills! The ones on the Disney cruises are especially brutal. At least half of the ship's occupants on the one I went on a few years ago were roughly ages 6 and under. So they took all the kids (and their parents) to the top deck and told them all had to put on their life jackets fast because the ship was sinking. Pretty scary for a 3-year-old, right? So then what do they do? They hold a contest to see which side of the ship can scream loudest! So basically someone in an official-looking uniform has told all these kids they're about to die, and then they tell everyone around them to start screaming! Pretty much every kid on the ship was crying for the next hour. I'm pretty sure the resulting therapy bills were much more expensive than the cruise itself.

Great report! In the bathrooms, do they have suction toilets from the space shuttle that you can use? If so, I might just plan my next vacation around this place....

Hello, friends. Following the current trend of posting professional sports venues on TPR, I myself visited two stadiums this weekend--M&T Bank Stadium (where the Baltimore Ravens play) and Oriole Park at Camden Yards--so I thought I'd post the photogenic results. Enjoy! This is what would be known as an "action shot." I figured since I was at a ballpark, watching a ballgame, I might as well include a photo in this TR of someone actually playing baseball. And this would be the outfield. The Hilton in the background is new since last year. The Bromo-Seltzer Tower used to be prominent over the bullpen and added to the faux-historic feel of the field. Now it can only be seen in memories--and the movie "Major League II," which was filmed predominately at Oriole Park while Cleveland was between closing Municipal Stadium (where the first "Major League" movie was filmed) and building Jacobs Field. If you decide to go out and rent it, look for me--I was an extra in the stands! And finally, some shots of the field for posterity. This would be the infield. Fraternizing with the enemy! A few player shots before the game... The pitchers make their way to the bullpen. The march back that evening would be a walk of shame. But most of all, THIS is for Josh Linn! (For those who aren't familiar, Josh has a magazine autographed by this player, Nick Markakis, as his avatar--Orioles solidarity on TPR!) This is also for Josh Linn. This is for Josh Linn. That wall in the background is actually the back side of Eutaw Street and was once a series of warehouses for the B&O Railroad. At the time Oriole Park was built in 1992, using existing infrastructure and trying to make a modern ballpark look historic was a novel idea. Today, nearly every new Major League stadium takes this approach. True story: I used to know the guy who owned Big Mario's (it's a Maryland franchise). He died a few years ago, but they kept his name on the restaurants. Guess they figured "Big Mario's" sounded better than "Dead Mario's." The Orioles have won several championships, all more than a quarter century ago. To celebrate, they painted them on an HVAC duct on the lower concourse. Speaking of Boog, there's the man himself. He sits in front of the stand prior to just about every home game and signs autographs for people in line. It's hard to tell from this photo, but Boog is a BIG man. I read an old Baltimore News-American article once where he was quoted as saying he always tried to hit home runs so he didn't have to run so fast around the bases! Also on Eutaw Street: Boog's Barbecue, a food franchise owned and operated by baseball Hall-of-Famer and former Orioles first baseman John "Boog" Powell. Eutaw Street is the main outdoor concourse at Oriole Park. In the distance is Baltimore's signature Bromoseltzer Tower, the clock on which advertises Bromo-Seltzer, an archaic bicarbonate of soda (think 19th century Alka-Seltzer) once manufactured in Baltimore. ...which, coincidentally, is where this TR is headed next. Getting to go to the Ravens' Spring Football Festival actually was a bonus when we found out our ticket to that night's Orioles/Texas Rangers game got us in to both events. M&T Bank Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards are located directly across from one another, linked by a small esplanade similar to Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure (only much dirtier). The Baltimore Ravens Marching Pep Band welcomed guests outside the baseball stadium... Of course, some of them are still around. That's Art Donovan, whom you may recognize from the photos below. They held a special autograph session with the remaining superstars of the old Colts, though we didn't arrive anywhere near early enough to get tickets. Most of these guys were there at the time. Though they were football legends, most of them (probably all of them, actually) worked in the city's factories during the week and in the off season. Wal-Mart greeters today probably make more than they ever did in the NFL. Inside the executive level is a permanent display of the history of football in Baltimore, including the "Greatest Game Ever Played," the 1958 championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants at Yankee Stadium. This was the first NFL championship broadcast coast-to-coast and the first to go into overtime. It's credited with popularizing the sport nationwide... and we all know how that turned out. I myself opted for the giant Vince Lombardi Trophy. They had a giant replica of the Ravens' 2000 Super Bowl ring set up as a photo op. This is the Ravens' lesser-known mascot, Harvey Dent. TPR, meet Captain Defense (he's the one on the right). Because cheerleaders make every TR better. At the exit from the locker room onto the field, the raven's eyes glow. Just like in real life. Because even football players get lost sometimes. In other words, lose. Not sure how many Ravens fans we have around here, but for anyone who is, here's a screensaver for you. This would be what my dad looks like sitting in a Ravens locker. Sharp-eyed readers will also recognize him from the 50-yard-line photo several pictures back. It's kind of like TPR's version of "Where's Waldo?" Probably. Locker room? Do you think they'll let us in? This is the Ravens' mascot, Poe. Some people think he's named in honor of "The Raven" author Edgar Allan Poe, who is buried in Baltimore. His identical mascot brothers, Edgar and Allan (no, really) would lend credence to this theory. Some of us, however, know better. "Poe" is actually short for the much-uttered sentence, "I just bought two seats from a scalper to see the Ravens, and now I'm po'." Take that, every other team that hasn't won a Super Bowl since 2000! The scoreboards provided live coverage of the NFL draft all afternoon. ...this is what their end caps look like. Because I know you were wondering. And this is what it looked like STANDING on the field! Notice all those empty purple seats in the background... This is what the activity looked like on the field. At any rate, the reason we were here today, in the off season, was the Ravens' Spring Football Festival. For all American football fans under 35, the reason there is so much emphasis on the Colts (as much as the current NFL will allow, anyway) in Baltimore is that the now-Indianapolis Colts actually were originated in Baltimore in 1953 and played there for three decades. Now the Cleveland Browns play there and call themselves the Baltimore Ravens. Fun fact: When the tell the story of the Nativity in Baltimore, it's Johnny Unitas, Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr. who come to visit Baby Jesus. That would be M&T Bank Stadium, nee PSInet Stadium, nee Ravens Stadium. If this were a TV show, movie or other similar entertainment production, this would be called an "establishing shot." Unfortunately, there was no joy in Mudville (AKA Baltimore) that night, as the Orioles ultimately lost 6-5. On another note, I can't help but wonder what they're going to do with the top of the scoreboard when The Sun finally folds for good. They've already declared bankruptcy. I used to do some writing for one of their affiliated websites, and now not a month goes by when I don't get something from their bankruptcy lawyers telling me how to file a claim if I think they still owe me money (they don't). Anyway, that's my report. Thanks for reading!

Wait... Oceanic 815 crashed into Tenerife?

^Ah, but it's not that easy! Jason "Who Knows The Real Answer But Finds These Theories Much More Entertaining"

This is a great idea for a thread. And Festhaus rules all! Except the time in high school when I saw the guy in front of me stick his finger in each of the desserts in the cafeteria-style line to "taste" them. I didn't get dessert that day. And ironically, neither did he.

At some point in May, GF and I will head to Six Flags America to get our season passes validated. I'm angling for a weekend at Knoebel's in late May, but GF is lobbying for Dutch Wonderland so GFM&D (girlfriend's mother and daughter) can come along without our having to get a hotel. In June we have a nine-day road trip during which we plan to incorporate Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and Great America, Holiday World, Cedar Point, Kennywood and possibly Idlewild (depending on whether or not we're ready to kill each other by that point in the trip), along with some non-amusement park attractions. No major plans yet for July, except I know we'll be doing a beach day during which we'll probably incorporate Trimper's Rides and the two Jolly Rogers in Ocean City, MD. And then for the bulk of August I'll be on the guaranteed awesomeness that is the TPR West Coast Trip! Looking beyond summer, if I go to the same convention I did last year, I'll probably try to hit up Dorney during Haunt, and we have a WDW trip planned for January. But first thing's first: Bring on the 2009 season!

I went through pretty much the same chain of thought myself over whether or not Volt should get the credit. And since Jeff seems to have a pretty good reputation for making the *cough* right choice whenever questionable credits are concerned, I'm going to have to agree that Volt should indeed get it. And if he wins the big prize at the end of the year, he should thank everyone who voted for him by inviting us all to the condo for a big party!

Wow, that was awesome! Being the amateur amusement park historian I am, I'd love to get to that park sometime. I had no clue there was a working top (Razzle Dazzle) left in the world!

In August 1955, NBC's "Today Show" went live from Ellicott City, MD, to cover the grand opening of the world's second "theme park" (behind Disneyland, which had opened just weeks earlier), The Enchanted Forest. This, of course, wasn't a theme park as we know them today, but a playground of sorts for children featuring life-sized dioramas of their favorite storybook characters. For the next three decades, the family-run park brought much-needed revenue to the area in the form of tourism, spawning a Forest Motel and Forest Diner right across the street and providing employment for dozens throughout the county--hundreds of people throughout the years. Flash forward 32 years later to 1987, and the park is just closing its doors. Following a brief and partial re-opening of the park in 1994, it was sold to a real estate developer, and a large portion was torn down and turned into a strip mall. What was left was routinely vandalized and burned in a couple different arsons. The John Waters/Johnny Depp movie "Cry Baby" and an episode of "Homicide: Life on the Street" were filmed in the ruins, but beyond that, some unauthorized vandals and curious photographers, the park remained uninhabited and was slated for complete demolition by the mid-2000s. Then something funny happened. I won't bore you with the details, but a request for a silent auction item for a non-profit charity turned into a donation to a local petting zoo, which spurred the interest of some local volunteers who, in turn, got a national paint manufacturer, national hotel chain, nationally famous fiberglass artist and local house moving company involved and during the past several years managed to relocate and restore most of the original park (minus several powered attractions added in the 1960s and '70s) just 10 miles away from its 1955 location. I was involved in a small way during the first year of the project and returned during the second year for a book signing during a celebration of what would have been the original park's 50th anniversary, but I hadn't been back since. This weekend my girlfriend, Kelly, and I decided to take her 4-year-old daughter, Lauryn (the park's prime demographic), and check out the latest happenings at the "new" Forest. Enjoy! Happy Easter, TPR! Not pretty enough! After dyeing them, we had to paint them to make them "extra beautiful." Aren't they pretty? We finished off the morning, before I had to leave to spend Easter with my own family, dyeing Easter eggs since we were too tired to do that upon our return the evening before. Of course, the Easter Bunny didn't forget me, either. I'm told the Razzles were picked out by Lauryn especially for me. The Easter Bunny brought Lauryn not one but two Easter baskets! Then her grandfather stopped by and brought her another. Counting the one Kelly's friend gave her last week, that's four Easter baskets--or three more than I ever got when I was a kid. However, our weekend fun was far from over. We began Easter morning with a hearty breakfast of scrapple and eggs. And Kelly was a little too excited that her dining room table was going to make a TPR photo report. After some walrus fun with straws, we piled back in the car for the final two-hour drive home and called it a night. This was my dinner. Envious yet? And today it's a Red Hot and Blue chain barbecue restaurant. Following a brief stop by Kelly's grandparents' house so we could get Lauryn cleaned up and give her grandfather a birthday present, we ended our 1950s day with dinner here, at the Old Dutch Mill Farm Drive-In, opened in 1954. Of course, by the time I was a kid it was better known as the Old Mill Pancake House. ...and some metal candy canes. And we end our virtual tour of the new Enchanted Forest with more random sweets from the old birthday house, including a concrete cupcake... And this was one of the train cars, now reconfigured as a photo-op seat in the maze. This was the engine for the old Alice in Wonderland train ride. Little Boy Blue slept through the whole thing, naturally. I'm not sure who Howie the Elf is, and I don't remember him from the original Enchanted Forest, but he showed up when we followed an "unwise" path in the maze. Insert your own "better to eat you with" joke here. Purple and green? I'm not sure how to tell Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, but I'm not sure she picked the right decorator.... Hansel and Gretel sure do enjoy that concrete candy! As has his rather haughty-looking wife. Peter, Peter "Punkin" Eater's wife's house, however, has been fully restored. The tepee and covered wagon are still undergoing renovations. ...to Squidward (who were decidedly NOT part of the original Enchanted Forest in 1955). Today it travels from SpongeBob... This bridge used to be a lot longer and led across a "river" to the Merry Miller's House and some of the other water-based attractions, I believe. I think the bridge also once carried signs for the nursery rhyme "Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross," but I could be wrong. "I wish some little girl would come kiss me." And now we take a slight detour to Dillon, S.C., where the recession is hitting South of the Border harder than we thought. Here's Rock-a-Bye Baby... yeah, this might set even more bad examples than the pipe-smoking bear. I'm not sure this made sense to me even as a kid, but apparently Sleeping Beauty lived in this tree until she was 16 because this is where the good fairies raised her... yeah. Um, Mary, you do know we have modern irrigation systems now, right? I wish my dickories were made out of hickory. Jack and his giant kept watch over the newest additions of old stuff to the new park, housed in a pine tree maze new for 2009. Noted! ...so we found another slide to play on instead. No hayrides today due to the rain, unfortunately... Just in case you needed a refresher. Apparently Charlotte learned how to paint. "Yes, that was my cousin you saw sitting on his chimney, waving to traffic. But we try not to talk about it too much, especially around Grandma." "Wha--did that little girl just kiss the donkey? Ewwwww!" Baby lamb alert! This was taken approximately .0000002 seconds before she reached in to give the donkey a nice big hug and kiss on the muzzle. Needless to say, we about ran out of Purell following that incident. Hey, TPR! 'Sup? This is the Easter Bunny's house. At the old park, live rabbits lived in here. Today they live in hutches beside the house as part of the park's petting zoo. Today she's a slide (but not a very good one, according to Lauryn). ...and the ugly duckling. ...the swan... Mother Goose used to be mounted on a tractor that took visitors on a ride through the old park, originating at Robin Hood's Barn with her friends... Lauryn's up for the Rainbow Slide challenge! The Rainbow Bridge was an immensely popular attraction at the original park. Back then it cost a dime per slide. Today it's free with your paid admission... and there are shredded tire chips at the bottom. Other mice from the original carriage have been converted into picnic tables and a cheese slide. Inside it is now a diorama of the prince placing the glass slipper in Cinderella's foot. I don't remember if these figures appeared in Cinderella's Castle in the original park, but I suspect they did. Also, check out my feet in the reflection! Driven by tractors underneath these mice, this pumpkin coach used to ferry riders across a moat for a visit to Cinderella's Castle in the original park. Sadly, these original signs pay homage to two attractions that were not salvageable from the original park. I wonder if they'll be recreated for future seasons. Keeping in mind this attraction was built in 1955, does anyone else think this spider bears a too-strong resemblance to Johnny Depp in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"? Oh... that's why! Aww, the Big Bad Wolf looks sad. I wonder why. See, this piggy's smart. He built his house out of bricks. Unfortunately, it was so time consuming that it eventually drove him mad. Now he spends each day sitting in his chimney, waving at traffic. Shouldn't have built your brothel out of sticks, piggy. Shouldn't have built your house out of straw, piggy. Before moving on to our next fairy tale diorama, I'd just like to give a quick "WTF?" shout-out to this concrete log dining room set placed randomly near Willie and Jonah. Thank you for indulging me. Inside Willie: Jonah of Bible fame, who apparently has found Nemo. If there is one symbolic icon of the old Enchanted Forest it is, without a doubt, Willie the Whale. And unlike the Merry Miller, the lyrics to his nursery rhyme are still available online: "Wee Willie the Whale, with his curly tail, for all the world to see. Every girl and boy jump with joy, as happy as they can be!" So just what do you think those three men were doing in that tub in the first place...? Does anyone but me think it's creepy that Little Toot has hollow eyes? The Merry Miller apparently was once a super-popular nursery rhyme, as a quick Google search shows that his house (including this one) was part of virtually every storybook theme park built in the 1950s and '60s. Unfortunately, I've never heard of it, and I'm unable to find the words online, so the best I can tell you is that inside this particular house is a miller and some rodents, and at the original Enchanted Forest they used to dance in a circle (now they're stationary). Lauryn laughed about this for about 10 minutes, and we couldn't figure out why. Later, when I asked what her favorite part of the day had been, she said it was "the statue of the lady with her butt sticking up in the air." Know what nursery rhyme this is from? Neither does anyone else. This, for the record, is his house. Also crooked. This is the Crooked Old Man. And as my final act of volunteer theme park restoration, I sat him on that bench in 2005. I suspect he's a politician. Fun fact: Maryland was the first state to legalize dinnerware marriages. Meanwhile, Jill does her best Paris Hilton impression. The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe slide, however, I had nothing to do with. But it's still an iconic part of the old park, restored to its former glory, so it's all good. Also, this is MY concrete mushroom! I mean, I didn't paint it or set it in the ground there or anything... but I spent the better part of one afternoon chipping and sanding the old paint off of it so the new paint could be applied. Yeah! Yeah, it's Humpty Dumpty. But you know what's even more interesting? See those giant lollipops in the background (also from the old birthday house)? I carried them off the pickup truck when they arrived at the farm directly from the original Enchanted Forest. And I'm darned proud of it! Outside the house, not only is Papa Bear smoking; he's also inviting little boys and girls to sit between his legs.... "Papa Bear has a pipe? And there's a dead hunter in his house with a gun? Just wait until I tell the ACLU about this!" Why, it's the three bears' house, of course! And there's Papa Bear, smoking his large, politically incorrect pipe. Notice the stuffed hunter mounted over the fireplace... and he's holding a gun! Oh, those wacky, innocent 1950s! Any guesses who lives here? Here's a hint: One of these rooms is too big, one is too small, and one is just right.... Next up: the birthday gazebo. This cake is one of several pieces that was taken from the original park's birthday house, which was made out of concrete "candy." While most of the child-sized fairy tale houses now reside at the new park, most of the full-sized buildings, including the birthday house, castle entrance, Robin Hood's Barn, Cinderella's Castle and Enchanted Mountain (which featured waterfalls and housed an Ali Baba ride) could not be moved. Our first stop beyond the castle was a children's play area exclusive to the farm--not part of the original park--where Lauryn did her Jerry Lee Lewis impression for us. I assumed these playing cards were from the original park's Alice in Wonderland ride (another motorized attraction added in the '60s), but the woman in the gift shop said they were just decorations made and donated by a local artist. ...and this monkey from the Jungle Safari (a motorized ride added during the park's 1960s expansion). The inside of the reproduction castle also houses several individual pieces of attractions from the old Enchanted Forest that could not be salvaged, such as this soldier of Nottingham who once fought with Robin Hood at the original park's Robin Hood's Barn gift shop... The new Enchanted Forest continues to be a work in progress. These original gingerbread men, which stood near the entrance of the old park, were being refurbished inside the "new" castle. The woman at the admission counter also remembered me (enough to say I looked "familiar," anyway), which was pretty cool. By the time we got there, the rain had stopped altogether, and Lauryn finally got to walk through her castle--a fairly faithful, if scaled-down, replica of the original, complete with lute-playing dragon and Rapunzel. Lauryn's mood was better (but only slightly) by the time we reached the indoor carousel at the Mall at Columbia. Afterward, she and Kelly went to check out the children's section of Borders bookstore while I called the Enchanted Forest again. They said though it was still raining, they had to open for a scheduled birthday party. If we wanted to brave the mud, we were welcome to peruse the grounds. Jackpot! Kelly and I forwent ice cream in favor of pie--peach for her, blueberry for me. Lauryn was so disappointed that she couldn't enter the "castle" at the shopping center that we heard about it for the next two hours. Chocolate ice cream proved a poor substitute. With the exception of the digital juke box and a couple Betty Boop statues, it hasn't changed much inside over the years. I'd eaten here once before, with my grandmother in the late 1990s. It was past 1 p.m. by the time we finished at the strip mall, and the rain was still pouring down hard as ever. We decided to steal across the street to continue our '50s day with dessert at the original Forest Diner. The was the original park entrance. I'd heard it had been renovated after a lightning strike caused a fire last year. Apparently I heard wrong. For the record, a lute-playing dragon used to sit over the drawbridge, and Rapunzel stood on the balcony of the turret on the left. Old King Cole used to point the way into the parking lot from U.S. Route 40. Now he points visitors to Petco, where we spent some time out of the rain looking at the dogs, fish, birds and rodents. A call to Clark's Elioak Farm, the new home of the Enchanted Forest, confirmed they would not be opening until the morning/early afternoon rain ended, which was supposed to be around 1 p.m. We were about an hour early, so we killed some time touring what is left of the old Enchanted Forest (the park that's visible from areas open to the public, anyway). It may not look like much, but this may just be the best foot-long chili dog in the United States! My dad used to eat here in the 1970s; I visited often during college in the 1990s, and now I'm passing it along to a new generation. Circle of life, chili dog-style. Well, no pearl necklace-wearing hot dog has ever steered me wrong before.... In celebration of the Enchanted Forest's original opening year, we decided to make this an entirely 1950s day. We started with a lunch stop at Ann's Dari-Creme, a 1953 hot dog joint once surrounded by farmland and now in the middle of a mega mall parking lot.

Oh, if we're talking disgusting sodas, does anyone here remember Josta (it was a Pepsi product)? It tasted exactly like carbonated Vicks cough syrup. I think I'd drink a can of Beverly before I tried that again.

This was a cool TR! I was at the Grand Canyon in 2005, and it looks about the same (probably the same as it has for the past, oh, 100,000 years or so). However, my one and only visit to USH was waaaaaay back in 1990, and it's changed tremendously. I can't wait to see it again on the West Coast Trip!

Great pictures, Dan! I'm actually visiting Chicago this summer and trying to budget for time. Out of curiosity, how much of the Museum of Science and Industry did you tour, and how long did it take you to see it?

I can be honest and say I didn't know too much about the film other than what I read on these boards. Maybe having no prior expectations allowed me to enjoy it a little more. Movies anymore are just so... well, bad that it really takes a lot for me to drive all the way out to the theater, pay $10 and sit for two hours with a bunch of giggly 16-year-old girls (the only other people I ever seem to see at the movies these days), and even more to walk out thinking it was a pleasant experience. I walked out of "Adventureland" happy that I paid $10 for the privilege, which isn't something I can say that often. I watched the previews prior to the film and thought the same thing about all of them: "How on Earth does this crap actually get made?" If anyone knows who owns the rights to "Welcome Back, Kotter," can you please let me know? I have a billion-dollar idea for a new movie version starring Matthew McConaughey as Mr. Kotter, Vince Vaughn as Barbarino, Owen Wilson as Horshack, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington and any of the interchangeable Jennifers (Alba, Connelly, Aniston, Tilly, Lopez or Love-Hewitt) as Julie. As the "story" begins, Mr. Kotter is introduced as a new teacher for inner-city New York kids at Buchanan High and is immediately pranked with a tray of cookies spiked with Ex-Lax (or whichever laxative brand pays the most for product placement). This sets the scene for a 42-minute diarrhea gag. The rest of the movie consists of the Sweathogs trying to get Horshack some action. Absolutely nothing else in the movie has anything to do with the TV show whatsoever, except that the film will be produced, tongue-and-cheek, by "Up Your Nose With a Rubber Hose Productions." And they say writing movies is hard work. Someone get Warner's on the phone. I want my $200,000 consulting fee!

This looks really cool! My girlfriend and I can't wait to take her daughter there later this summer. By the way, is it just me, or does something look a bit "off" with the Cookie Monster walk-around?

Just got back from seeing it. If you weren't planning to see it, I highly recommend you change your plans. Not only are the Kennywood scenes amazing (and 80 percent of the movie is Kennywood scenes), but it's a good story, well told. And I gotta get me one of those T-shirts on eBay!

^Yeah, Pete Rose owns a portion of that store. Autographs are free, but he'll only sign merchandise purchased there. Or at least that was the case when I was there last in 2006. Baseballs started at $35.

^Aww, but I'll be in Disneyland on the West Coast Trip that day! Darn! People really need to start checking my schedule before making plans

Aw, no fair! I already committed to being the Easter Bunny at a local charity egg hunt this weekend. Otherwise, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Have fun without me!

Oh, but you soon will! A Sonic, anyway. Stop by Salisbury in about two months and I'll show you around the new place (bonus: They're building it in a Wal-Mart parking lot).

I've heard of In-N-Out's "animal-style" burgers, but what are "animal-style" fries? I've only been to one In-N-Out (in Vegas), and I can't wait to go again during my early arrival day on the West Coast Trip! Going back to page 1 and stealing Robb's scale: 1 - My favorite Fast Food! 2 - Fast Food I really like a lot and would make a trip for 3 - Fast Food that I like, but wouldn't go out of the way for 4 - Fast Food that isn't very good, but I would eat it again if I HAD to. 5 - Fast Food that I don't ever care to eat again! Ok, here is my "1" list: Jack in the Box (none anywhere near where I live, so it's a treat) In-N-Out (see above) White Castle (see above again) Taco John's (and again) Nathan's Hot Dogs Quizno's Arby's Checkers Here is my "2" list: Fuddrucker's Sonic Chick-Fil-A Sbarro A&W Boston Market Krispy Kreme Here is my "3" list: Papa John's Popeye's Taco Bell Panera Bread Dairy Queen Dunkin' Donuts Here is my "4" list: Pizza Hut Kentucky Fried Chicken McDonald's Villa Pizza Johnny Rockets Wendy's Roy Rogers Salsarita's Here is my "5" list: Burger King Domino's Subway Hardees (except breakfast) Of course, since I cut most fast food out of my diet last March, I've lost more than 60 pounds and saved hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Just sayin'....

For this weekend's adventure, my girlfriend, her daughter and my sister took a rainy, foggy trip a couple hours north to Washington, D.C., to visit the newly renovated Smithsonian National Museum of American History. To be honest, I liked to old version of the museum a lot better... but we'll get to why in the TR. Now on with the photos! Despite the confusion, when we did finally get our food, it was tremendous! And what better way to close out a D.C. trip report than with a chili half-smoke (half-pork, half-beef smoked sausage) and cheese fries? Thanks for reading! The paper sign at the right used to read "Who Eats Free at Ben's: Bill Cosby. No one Else." Now "The Obama Family" has been added. His recent visit (he paid for his food anyway) made "The Washington Post." (Sorry again, natatomic.) It stays crowded all the time, which is unfortunate because the crowds really confuse the people behind the counter (or at least they did the day we were there--they tried to give me a seat separate from our group, then they completely forgot about half our order until we asked where it was). They allow only a certain number of people in the building at any given time, so we had to wait outside for a few minutes while they took care of some to-go orders. Ben's Chili Bowl! For those who aren't aware, this is probably right up there with the White House, Capitol, Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial as the most visited attraction in D.C. Yes, it's just a small greasy spoon restaurant in the capital's theatre district, but how many small greasy spoons can boast a client list including Bill Cosby and Barack Obama? (Sorry, natatomic.) On our way to dinner we stopped by the African-American Civil War memorial. But only because it was on our way to... At first we thought Nazis were invading the gift shop, but it turned out to be just some family from New Jersey searching for a birthday cake. So when are we getting this cool hat as a Big Mike Road Show prize? Air and Space had some Disneyana, as well, in an exhibit about luggage through the years (it sounds boring, but it was much more entertaining than the "entertainment" display at the Museum of American History). Most of the exhibits were largely unchanged from last year, but I did see a few things I missed before, including this vintage card game. The Wright Brothers' original airplane got its own special display. It seems to me that when I was a kid it used to hang in the lobby with the others, but I could be mistaken. ...and "Spaceship One" (first commercial plane to exit the stratosphere). Also uncovered: the "Glamorous Glennis" (first plane to break the sound barrier)... At the National Air and Space Museum, it was good to see the planes in the entryway, like the "Spirit of St. Louis" (first plane to cross the Atlantic ocean with a single man inside), uncovered. Last time I was there, they had them all draped in plastic for sprinkler repairs. ...and wood! ...the Mall carousel... ...Smithsonian Castle... ...Washington Monument... Since there was no way we were going to be able to see anything else without EMT (Exclusive Museum Time), we opted to venture outside and make our way to another museum to end the day. On the way we stopped to take in a few sights that could be enjoyed from the outdoors, including the Capitol... Apparently the day we visited was Smithsonian Appreciation Day. Oh, there were no signs or anything for this, but I visited the same museum with a group back in early February, and it was practically deserted. By the time we made our way through the (un)popular culture exhibit this time, there were roughly 80,000,000 people in the museum and a minimum 45-minute wait for every display. It was so suffocatingly warm that we thought they were going to have to carry us out on this thing! OK, now it's time for my rant. Last year, while the Museum of American History was still under renovation, they had an exhibit of the museum's most popular items temporarily displayed at the National Air and Space Museum. Most of them were pop culture items. You know, things like the original CP3O and R2D2, Fonzie's leather jacket, the signpost from "M*A*S*H," Mr. Rogers' cardigan, Archie Bunker's chair, etc. I posted photos of it in a TR last year. Flash forward to the new history museum. The pop culture exhibit is crammed into a space the size of my living room on the third floor, and 90 percent of these allegedly "most popular" items are GONE! In fact, besides the ruby slippers, the only items in the temporary (formerly permanent) display that made the cut in the new area are Kermit the Frog and Minnie Pearl's hat. In place of all this other really, really great stuff are--are you ready for this?--a display on hip-hop in the 1980s and an exhibit on the history of women's basketball uniforms! Also not on display? A sample of the crack the Smithsonian people were smoking when they designed this poor excuse for a "museum"! At any rate, here's Oscar the Grouch, who was one of less than half a dozen things actually worth waiting in line to see at this exhibit. This is the exhibit everyone comes to this museum to see: Judy Garland's ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz." This is a painting of Stephen Colbert. I don't really understand what the fascination is, but based on the number of people who stopped to pose for a picture beside it while we were standing in line for the entertainment exhibit, adding it to this TR should send my topic views higher than Shane's Amusement Attic and the Big Mike Road Show combined! ...and some items that obviously were not made by the Walt Disney Co. ...not-so-obvious items like this Mickey Mouse Club coloring book (complete with cowboy-themed colored pencils) hidden in the bomb shelter exhibit... The museum had a number of nods to Disneyphiles, including an elephant from Disneyland's Dumbo ride... "Officer, you can't throw us out for that! Honest, we were just doing what the sign said!" ...and wearing a dead animal skull on her face! ...making a puppet from construction paper... In what I guess would be called the "Over 5 Zone," she found other cool things to do, including building a musical ramp for a marble... But then, she probably figured it out herself. This is the only photo I have of her in the "Over 5 Zone" where she's more than just a blur! Good thing we didn't tell her what this sign really said, or she would have 'sploded! Lauryn was so excited about this part of the 'seum that she momentarily turned into the Spark Lab logo. This place was so cool, it even had a Vacuum-Up-It! Next stop: Spark Lab! This Spanish toy, from the 1650s, is believed to be one of the world's first Animatronics (long before the term was conceived). When wound, it walks, tilts its head, blinks its eyes, kisses its rosary and performs some kind of Catholic gesture with its non-rosary hand. The video that accompanied it, showing it in action, was just unbelievable. Some of the Pirates of the Caribbean aren't this articulated! ...and an authentic "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie costume! The "Genetic Engineering in Science Fiction" exhibit is pretty cool. It includes these props from "Jurassic Park"... This looks just like my apartment. Only with 1950s furniture. And a fireplace. And Formica floors. And a hula hoop. (Adjacent bomb shelter exhibit not pictured.) "No, Mr. Bond... we expect you to die!" And yet not a single statue of Bender anywhere. I won't bore everyone with all the photos I took of the exhibit... except this Trylon and Perisphere (the fair's combined symbol) necklace, which I thought was exceptionally cool! As a World's Fair-phile, I really enjoyed the exhibit on the 1939 New York fair. This windsurfing simulator was pretty cool... if you were tall enough to use it. The object was to design a track made of magnetic kitchen utensils that would guide the ping pong ball from the top of the board to a dank, dark hole in the lower left-hand corner. Because that's a skill today's kids need to learn to survive in the real world! Any 'seum that has blocks is OK in Lauryn's book! ...and a Ferris wheel credit! If you're a mouse, that is. Lots of cool stuff in here, including the first Mr. Potato Head... Next up: the inventions exhibit and play area. Go for the burn, Lauryn! "I'm sorry, mister, but $50 is my final offer. Our cabins, however, are only $20 a night." Here's the side view of that last one for our resident rail fans. (Sorry, Beamerboy, all their trains were dual-railed.) So's this one! But this one is! Poor Lauryn was so disappointed when we finally told her this wasn't a real train.... "Seven Mary Four, this is S-4. Ponch, I have bad news. The pregnancy test came back positive." That first car (a Winton, actually) didn't see many of these! It's an early version of the stoplight. This is the first car that made a successful coast-to-coast excursion across the United States in 1903. Bet you didn't know Toyota was even in business back then! No rides on this today, unfortunately. Um, excuse me, could you get out of my shot, please? No actual apples were harmed in the making of this exhibit. This one stops at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! Or it would, presumably, if it wasn't in a museum.... The museum has a particular fascination with trains. This is one of three full engines on display in and near the transportation exhibit, sponsored (for now) by General Motors. On prominent display is a portion of the lunch counter from the former Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1960, students from a nearby college led a sit-in and six-month boycott at the whites-only lunch counter until it was desegregated. The event is considered one of the earliest high-profile civil rights victories in the United States. This is Mary Pickersgill, who sewed the original Star Spangled Banner. (For our international readers or those who just aren't up on their American history, the Star Spangled Banner is the flag that flew over Baltimore's Fort McHenry when it was attacked during the War of 1812. Its presence the morning after the battle inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that now constitutes the words to the United States' national anthem. This is the museum's new entryway. Personally, I much preferred when they had the giant pendulum and the real Star Spangled Banner beneath a cover behind it. However, at least this way the flag is on permanent display (in a no-photos area behind this wall) instead of only unveiled for a few moments once every hour, as was the old practice. Fortunately, the bench was almost right in front of this sign. The rain foiled our plan to have a picnic on the Mall, so instead we started with lunch on a bench on the periphery of the Mall, where Lauryn got her fill of carrots.

Ditto to what everyone else is saying. Suddenly, it's clear why TPR seems to be so against gravy buffets! Godspeed, Ed.

I was the drum captain of my marching band in high school, as well as band librarian. However, that was a long time ago....

If the theming was included, then Disneyland's BTRR. If it was track and supports only, then Ravine Flyer II.