Check out my first radio interview tomorrow!

Hey Cotton Candy Kids! I'm elated to announce my first radio interview for my book will be conducted tomorrow, September 1! Check out the following website if you don't live near Uniontown, PA. I'll be on the Jack Evans Show at 4:15 central time. This is WMBS - CBS 590 AM, or click on this link to listen to the streaming live broadcast! I can't wait to talk about my book and all the great news about Conneaut Lake Park and the Blue Streak refurbishment!!!

http://www.wmbs590.com/

Take an historic step...

in the refurbishment of Conneaut Lake Park by purchasing a plank on their boardwalk. My Christmas gift to myself will be buying a plank to help restore this historic boardwalk which graces a beautiful area near the Hotel Conneaut.

Conneaut Lake Park, the Hotel Conneaut, and the entire resort area so deserve your support.

Just a few more days to vote!!

Cotton Candy Kiddies -- just a few more days to vote for the refurbishment of the Blue Streak rollercoaster at Conneaut Lake Park through the Pepsi Refresh Everything challenge!! Go to the following link and vote away! Right now the Blue Streak is in 1st Place to receive a $50,000 grant! Let's get her rolling!!

http://www.refresheverything.com/conneautlakeparkbluestreak

A love story.

Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were the most famous married stage actors of the 20th century. They were so popular they even had a Broadway theatre named after them -- imagine! When they weren't onstage (always together -- it was part of their contract. That's star power!), they summered at their charming estate, Ten Chimneys, located in Genessee Depot, WI.

While traveling from Milwaukee to Madison yesterday, after a morning voice-over job and a swell coffee and Italian cookie-filled visit with my friend Connie, I came upon the exit for Ten Chimneys and had a "What the heck? When will I be out here next?" moment and drove 10 miles or so out of my way to visit the Chimneys, where Alfred & Lynn entertained the likes of Helen Hayes, Katherine Hepburn and Lawrence Olivier ("Larry" ahd his own guest room, masculine-yet-elegant, much like its occupant).

What struck me most about the property was its sense of creative play, it's spirit of unbridled creativity and possibility -- and its deeply emotional energy. Never took an historical walking tour before where I left misty-eyed. The couple were married for over fifty years. Soulmates and playmates. (And I know what that feels like, thanks to my wonderful Ben).

Alfred & Lynn -- thank you for being the catalysts for so much possibility -- and for reminding us all that life is truly open to our own design.

On the itinerary: a weekend in Brooklyn

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Samantha_Brown/Episodes_Travel_Guides/Episode_Brooklyn

I rarely get bold-faced jealous of anyone, but I do have my moments regarding Samantha Brown, the plucky Travel Channel star who travels all over the world, stays at the best inns and otels, eats the local specialties, shops 'til she drop, and has even had a private audience with Mickey Mouse when she visited Disney World. This week, Samantha took you on a "Great Weekend Getaway" to her hometown, Brooklyn, New York. Part of that getaway included a visit to Coney Island and a performance of the Coney Island Freak Show.

Obviously, there's no way I can have my Cotton Candying NOT include a ride on the Wonder Wheel or the Cyclone, so I'll definitely be hitting Coney. And a nathan's Hot Dog (or as the locals say, a hawt dawg) will round out my visit.

Great article on the World's Weirdest Theme Parks!

http://myamazingfact.blogspot.com/2009/08/weirdest-theme-parks.html

The things I come across while researching my Road Trip. Oh, to have the funds to stretch the scope of my book to include a world-wide journey into the bizarre and confounding!

Visit the link above and learn about the world's weirdest theme parks, including Denmark's Bon Bon Land which boasts a farting rollercoaster. Then there's Love Land... I really can't show you the pictures...and if you clikc on the link to look at the pictures, you shouldn't be doing so at work.

Into the Old Mill...

Well, actually, it's now the Garfield ride. And that's fine. But I would've loved visiting this ride when it was a spooky dark ride, and not-too-frightening tunnel of love ride. Still, it exists as the oldest ride at Kennywood and that's something to ballyhoo.

Kennywood Park, Pittsburgh, PA, August 2009.