Brilliant idea for Conneaut Lake Park! Vote Daily!

http://www.refresheverything.com/conneautlakeparkartisanmall
Conneaut Lake Park is on the upswing, after having a bad run of luck a few years back, when the park was closed for two years, the ballroom burned down (really wrecking the midway area), and things got so bad the park was used as a backdrop in a film depicting a post-apocalyptic world, "The Road".

Just last year, the park won a Pepsi Refresh Everything grant for $50,000 to help restore its rollercoaster. Now the park is looking to utilize Pepsi Refresh Everything again, for a really innovative idea: a fresh new use of the midway space! The trustees are hoping to win another grant in order to turn the midway into an artisan mall, featuring local artists' work. Brilliant and creative!

Vote daily to help not only the park get more business, but to encourage economic growth in the community of Conneaut Lake!

Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=031zzmXd350&feature=share
Phosphorescent lamps, Juicy Fruit gum, the introduction of the hamburger to the United States. To speed up the painting process during construction of the fair in 1892, Francis Davis Millet invented spray painting. And let's not forget the vintage amusement park milestone: the first Ferris wheel. The 1893 World's Fair had wonders and miracles aplenty. The structures built specifically for it inspired the Emerald City of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz and Walt Disney's theme parks. Interestingly, Disney's father Elias was a construction worker on some of the buildings at the fair.

Enjoy this sumptuous video, featuring a collection of historical postcards commemorating the grand fair which opened 118 years ago this weekend.

What's next on the Cotton Candy Road Trip agenda...

I'm almost afraid to say it, but we'll be going to Oregon.

Why am I a'feared? Because if it's anywhere as rainy there as it's been here the last two weeks, I think I'll go bonkers. I'll climb to the top of a tall building with my umbrella (must keep my hair in place) and just jump off. I'll go eye-crossingly, jabber-jowlingly mad.

But instead of going down that path, why not let's be positive? I mean, it might be bright and Crayola yellow sunny there, like it is today here in beautiful Elmhurst, right?

(Fingers crossed to the point that I can't type.)

The two parks on the agenda include the Enchanted Forest theme park and Oaks amusement park. They're pretty different from one another, with Oaks being a traditional park and Enchanted Forest being, well, an enchanted forest.

But more about that next week. 'til then, why not try wrapping your head around the, um, photograph of the head above from Enchanted Forest. With people in the mouth. Cuz why not?

Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom! Let's GO!

http://www.dispensaskiddiekingdom.com/

Although I never visited it, we traveled past it regularly. Ironically, it's within (long) walking distance from where I live right now.

Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom lasted from 1975-1984, which is pretty impressive considering my kiddie park, Fairyland, closed in 1976 due, in large part, to the opening of Six Flags in Gurnee.

So take a trip back in time and enjoy this site - a really thorough recollection of Dispensa's short history.

P.S. I did go to Dispensa's Castle of Toys a few times, but I can't remember if we bought anything there...

Happy Easter!! Happy Spring!

Easter egg-colored ice creams at Tuscora Park.

Just spent a few hours outside, cleaning up twigs and various assorted things that didn't need to be a part of our yard, planting lettuce, tomatoes, spinach and, most importantly, lavender. Dusted off my Alice and White Rabbit outdoor statuary and set them up for the season. This all after visiting Dad at the Arms and enjoying muffins and fruit and the camaraderie of about a dozen other families who were visiting loved ones.

A joyous Easter to all!

Pretty Much a Continuation of my Last Post.

Mom said, "It always rains on Good Friday." Now, if you look at that logically, you can blow a big hole in that statement because it's impossible to be raining everywhere in the world on one day, even if it's just a small smattering of rain. But it IS odd that most Good Fridays do have at least a soupcon of precipitation.

Today's no exception. And sadly, it's also not the exception of most of this week's weather, with the exception of yesterday which was divinely sunny. I visited my Dad at the Arms and we colored and decorated Easter eggs. I walked the dog. No, we didn't walk, we scampered. And eventually broke into a full-out trot.

But today is ultra-gloomy and dank, probably the worst day of the whole week weather-wise. Maybe that's because it's also Good Friday, which is a somber, contemplative day. But, as positive as I try to be, I must also be realistic.

This. weather. sucks.

I've had several park trips get dampened by rain. Let's see: Nelis' Dutch Village, Storybook Gardens, Waldameer, Conneaut Lake (2nd visit), Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Santa Monica Pier. But I still did manage to enjoy our time there and get some good writing done. So it's not all bad.

But it could be a whole lot better right now.

It's a rainy day and I'm in a crappy mood.

No pretense here. I'm in a fitful mood. An antsy, semi-angry mood. Eventhough I did some great gratitude work yesterday at a fabulous Gratitude workshop -- and I meant every word I uttered and wrote -- I'm a crankcase.

Why? it's dank, depressing, 37 degrees and gloomy. It rains just enough to freak out my beagle and I hate seeing her suffer, eventhough it's a self-imposed suffering. I've still been transcribing notes from NOLA, but when it's so dreary, it's hard to focus on much of anything.

So I watched "Jaws 3". In 1983's version of 3-D which was quite rudimentary (with an emphasis on the "rude" part).

Oh man. It's just SO BAD. Even by 1983's special effects standards. I remember seeing it in the theatres and thinking, "WHEN will this be OVER? I'm not scared -- I'm bored out of my MIND!"

I wonder if it was a dank day back in 1983 when I viewed it.

Well, it sure felt like one: I'm the Number One "Jaws" fan I know. It's my favorite film in the whole wide world because of its character development and rousing story. "Jaws 2" was twee, but at least it had Lorraine Gary. "Jaws 3" had Dennis Quaid, looking pretty 80's hot, but he couldn't help save this embarrassing film from its own inky black depths.
Why "Jaws 3D" at all? WHY am I writing about this? Because I did a DVR search for "amusement parks" and it came up since it's set at "an aquatic amusement park". A number of scenes were filmed at Sea World in Florida. But in the film, it barely qualifies as an amusement park. Bumper boats, a water ski-type performance. That's about it. Except there is that enclosed tunnel under the water and the teen girls walk through it and get essentially frisked by an octopus (a guy manning it??) and menaced by an eel that pops out at them, like in a fun house walk-through, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and there's a killer whale and some cute dolphins which almost perish but triumphantly return at the film's end. And they twirl! In 3-D!!
The 3D effects were the real draw back then, but by today's standards, they're beyond laughable. I had to call Ben into the living room to watch the climax with me:

*************SPOLIER, As lame as it is*********************

WHEN THE SHARK BLOWS UP REAL GOOD, BASICALLY VARIOUS PARTS OF SAID SHARK ARE COMIN' AT YOU IN 80S QUALITY 3-D...INCLUDING ITS JAWS. (Get it? The jaws?? How clever is THAT? And they're comin' atcha like SCTV's "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre"!)
Ah me.... I just wish it'd stop raining out there. I've got parks to visit in over two weeks! But they'll be in Oregon. Probably be raining there, too (last line said in an Eeyore voice).