Listen to My Most Recent Radio Interview on WCNS THIS Saturday morning ONLINE!!!

The jaunty chef guy who oversees the making of the Potato Patch fries at Kennywood

Mike Krcil is a rock star (figuratively speaking), an award-winning broadcaster, and a really great guy.  What makes him a rock star is that he asked to interview me for my book, helping to get the word out about it in the Greater Pittsburgh area (where a chunk of the parks I visited reside) and hopefully getting folks interested in doing their own vintage amusement park road trips.

So make a nice latte, cozy up to your computer, and give the interview a listen THIS SATURDAY (that's tomorrow, May 18) at 9:30 Eastern.  You can do so by clicking on this link at the appropriate time:

http://1480wcns.com/talkblock.htm

It's part of the Saturday Talk Block on 1480 WCNS.  Mike and I chat about Western Pennsylvania parks like Kennywood and Idlewild, and I also give some hints about parks to visit in other regions of the U.S.  And at the very end of the 30-minute interview, I give out a holler about how YOU can help save a vintage park in peril, the awesomely historic Rye Playland.

Take some time and tune in tomorrow!!!  Your soul will smile.

VIDEO: Mister Rogers Remixed - The Garden of Your Mind

Detail from Idlewild's Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Ride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzXaFbxDcM

Back toward the beginning of the Road Trip, I spent a magnificent day at Idlewild Park in western Pennsylvania.  One of the sweetest and most unique experiences was a visit to the Land of Make Believe - they have an actual trolley that whisks you through it and you get to meet all the fabled characters the wonderful Fred Rogers made famous.  I can tell you many tears were shed when the recorded voice of my beloved Mr. Rogers wafted through the speakers and took us along on a fairytale journey.

I counted.  It only took me 40 seconds to start crying while watching this fantastic video.

"When Irish Eyes are Smilin'"

When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.

My love, best pal, and hubby (I'm very lucky) Ben Dooley, who makes every day (including every mile of the Roadtrip) as happy as St. Pat's Day (but normally with far less beer. Normally.)

Photographed at Idlewild Park, Ligonier, PA.

Happy 2011!!!

Daniel Tiger's clock from the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ride at Idlewild Park. For no other reason than it makes me smile; Daniel Tiger makes me think of gentle humor, childhood excitement and the thought that every new day brings tremendous promise and possibility. I think every New Year's Day should be like that.

While in the San Fran area...

another park I hope to visit is Children's Fairyland, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary! I must now include a photo from its website which I find particuarly charming:



It's a shame there aren't many places like Fairyland still around. I'm glad I've visited Storybook Gardens in Wisconsin Dells, which I believe has a similar vibe. And then there's the storybook section of Idlewild, but we unfortunately got there just as they closed the section for the day. I actually saw Little Bo Peep walking away...and then it started to rain.

Idling awhile...

Last August, Ben and I drove to Ligonier, PA to visit the laid-back, countrified, "down by the old mill stream" amusement park called Idlewild. What Idlewild has going for it (besides the highly-rated kiddieland, the Mr. Rogers-inspired "Land of Make Believe", a rockin' coaster that bops you along the treetops, and a storybook land with real, live, walking and talking storybook characters!) are the places you can just relax and set a spell. For hours. For all day, if you wish.

Like the beautiful elderly lady I befriended within my first 15 minutes at the park did. I'd visited the gift shop and bought a tumbled piece of agate and strung it on a cord to make a necklace. Afterward, I sat down on one of the rockers to admire my handiwork and the two of us first started talking about the necklace (she produced from around her neck a yellow seashell-shaped pendant she'd purchased at the same store, years before), then her family, the many years she's been coming to the park ("Around 60 years, by my calculations," she said), and, eventually, the fact that she gets tired quickly these days, so she's just content to sit back in the shade, enjoy the commotion of the crowds walking by, and just idle awhile.

Try finding quiet respites like that in your typical coaster-driven park. You can't.

Thanks Idlewild, for the chance to meet this wonderful child-at-heart.

Buds 'n Bees

The flowering bushes were teeming with bees and the fragrance of the lilacs pulled me in and I really came very close to poking my nose directly in said flowering bushes, not caring for the bees either way.

But they were teeming, buzzing, dive bombing and showing off, those bees. They had their own agenda.

We kept walking after I shot some photos, the lilacky smell accompanying us.

The bees kept to themselves (a good thing, probably).

(Idlewild Park, August 6, 2009)

Sunday on the Blog with Photos!!

What's true love? When your sweetie requests that you win her Clifford the Big Red dog and you do your best to win her favor by throwing balls into a toilet.

Yes, the game IS called "Bombs Away." Enjoying that visual your mind's eye just gave you?

Idlewild Park in Ligonier, PA, August, 2009.