Rosie and I spent the weekend in Williamsburg Va. We stayed at our timeshare with my sister-in-law and her family; three boys (ages 2, 5, and 7) and her husband Charlie. We did Busch Gardens on Saturday and took in Colonial Williamsburg on Sunday. Busch Gardens is a hoot. We had a great day with the boys doing rides, Colonial Williamsburg on the other hand was way to hot this time of year. There’s a TON of things to do and its a great trip if you have children, but I wouldn’t go in July or Aug.
Well, if you live on the East Coast and you feel like getting away for a weekend but don’t feel like going to far away, Atlantic City is a great place to go. Rosie and I went down last weekend with another couple. We stayed at our time share, the Windham. We’re not much for gambling, but we each won about $250 at the slot machines on a lark (here’s an article on the technical aspects of “slot machine payouts”). Anywho, AC is a lot of fun. We went down for the drinks and dining and to stroll along the boardwalk. One thing is a little apparent, AC is kind of ghetto. Aside from that we had a good time. Lots of drinks .. It took me a day or two to detox from the experience 
I was on this ride for the first time on this trip and I was totally stunned by it. The concept, is that you are on a hang glider and you are soaring over all kinds of landmarks. Here’s the catch .. it’s totally realistic. So realistic, that if I were captured and drugged by the CIA or something, and woke up in this studio mid-ride, I would have no way of knowing that it was fake. All the visual cues and even the things like the wind in your face are so convincing it’s incredible. I’ve never experienced anything that could completely fool the mind like this.
I’ve attached a youtube clip that I found on the internet:
Youtube of Soarin
It’s a long video, but the ride starts at about 2:11. Also, you’re seeing the ride on a flat screen. In reality, the visual features are everywhere within your view; you can see your feet dangle over the Golden Gate Bridge, and look up and see they blue sky and clouds. The wind is in your face, and your being moved in a motion consistent with flying.
anyway, here’s a link to what other people thought about the ride: here
For the record I was in Row A
OK, that’s in from Orlando. My next entry will be from NYC again where we’re trying to pull together a few weekend trips before spring. I’ll keep you informed.
Apparently Disney has a lot of things built into the theme parks that a lot of people miss. For instance,Club 33. Did you know that there was an exclusive club right in the middle of the Magic Kingdom? Hidden in plane view.
Check out this list of other interesting tidbits about Disney here and here and here
I really appreciate Disney theme parks for a few reasons. When you look at it as a business, you have to salute the operations team of the parks. The operation is SO WELL run. I’ve never seen anything like it. Lynn and Larry saw a kid drop his ice cream cone, and within three minutes, staffers had the entire mess cleaned up. They check tickets with bio-metrics (to make sure you don’t sell two days of your four day pass to someone else). At Disney you are NEVER more then 30 steps from the nearest trash can. It’s one of the fun facts we read, and tested while we were here. Their crowd control is parallel to none. They have several parades, firework displays and shows a day, and they are able to keep the crowd moving at all times. The NYPD could really take a few lessons from them.
Moving people onto rides is totally efficient here. On lines they give you plenty of stuff to look at to keep you occupied. then .. each ride has a staging area, where you’re prepared to board the ride. Boarding rides is done quickly (because the whole thing has been staged already). This builds the maximum number of times the ride can run each day.
The eye for detail that Disney has when creating rides and attractions is amazing. Each area of the park creates a “feel”. For instance, the rode “Everest”; while you’re on line you go through a Tibetan village and hear stories about the “Yeti” and missing explorers. When you finally reach the ride, you’re in a frame of mind. Imagery has been created for you which really enhances the ride experience. Its so much better then 6 flags where you just wait in line .. pop on a ride and then get off.
Greetings from Orlando again. I’ve decided to break up my postings on Disney since there’s a few topics I’d like to touch on.
I had the flu for two days. And afterwards, Rosie’s Back went out. We’re currently awaiting masseuses for an in-room massage.
Between the two of us not feeling well, we took in a whirlwind tour of Disney, local area restaurants, and a bit of lounging at the hot tub and swimming pool. Even getting sick here wasn’t a horrible thing. It gave us a chance for a bit of down time which we don’t normally get.. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we’re feeling relaxed. The weather has been great, and Lynn and Larry are excellent company.
I’m looking forward to coming down to Disney again next year. I’ll break up the trip with some park time and some resort time again. I’ve come to the conclusion that Lynn and Larry are indeed amusement park maniacs and I can’t possibly keep up with them. I also think I’d like to take in “The House of Blues” when I’m down here again.
Overall, a thumbs up for the trip (which is still in progress).
Rosie, my sister Lynn and Larry (Brother-In-Law) made our way down to Florida the other day. We’re staying in Orlando and planning on taking in all the sights. Today we spent the entire day at the Kennedy Space Center. This is definitely one of my favorite places on earth to visit. We make it a point to get out there every time we’re down here. The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is responsible for all space missions until a few moments after launch. At that time, the Johnson Space Center in Houston takes over.
At the KSC we saw a Saturn V Rocket. It’s flippin’ HUGE. My best guess is that the thrusters are 12 - 14 feet in Diameter. Here’s a picture with some people standing under them : Thrusters.
We were able to see the Launch Pad with Space Shuttle Endeavour on it. Endeavour is Preparing for a flight in the near future. You can check the NASA Launch Schedule right here. Aside from that, we took in an IMAX Flick on the International Space Station, and even got to see them assembling parts for the next installations onto the space station.
One of my favorite parts of the tour is the Launch Control Room for the Apollo missions. You can totally envision the electricity there during the Apollo XI Mission.
Places like this really bring out the science geek in me. In my mind, landing a guy on the moon was the most important scientific application of the 20th Century. Sure, there were other great accomplishments, but few of them for the sake of pure science. Simply “because it was hard to do”.
Stay Tuned .. I’ll write about Disney and Universal Theme parks later this week.
Holy Cats, Rosie and I have been married a year as of yesterday, and we’re NEARLY done with the thank-you cards from our wedding . Time sure does fly. To celebrate, we booked a last minute trip to Lancaster PA. Just a quick get-a-way for the weekend. We left early Saturday afternoon, and arrived home late yesterday (Monday) evening. Since it was a last minute decision, we booked a room at the Holiday Inn at Lancaster (instead of using our time share). The rates were very reasonable, no complaints.
Part of our weekend was spent shopping at Tanger Outlet Stores. We knocked out a good amount of our Christmas shopping and the amount that we saved paid for the hotel room and then some. The Shopping was actually not bad. No lines or crowds, and really good prices. To give you an idea on the type of savings that we got, I normally pay about $125.00 for a Coach wallet. They last a really long time so I figure it’s worth the investment. At the outlet, I spent about $60.00 for the very same thing. Whoot!
While in Lancaster, we also took in a comedy show featuring Raymond the Amish Comic (who is REALLY Funny), and a made a quick trip to the Wilbur Chocolate Factory. We were going to head over to Hershey, but a number of locals informed us that Wilbur made superior chocolate. I personally can’t decide which I like better, but they’re both good.
Rosie and I bolted to New Bern, North Carolina for the weekend. We got off to a rough start that included delays at JFK, that resulted in a missed connection in Charlotte, NC. Unfortunatly our missed connection resulted in us staying for an unscheduled night in Charlotte, before arriving at New Bern in the morning. So, yeah we got stuck in Charlotte NC for a night. Par for course, Rosie and I made the best of the evening by getting pizza and beer in Downtown Charlotte. I can’t speak for all of Charlotte, but the area called “Center City” was nuts. It was louder and crazier then Midtown Manhattan. I’m not sure if it was because it was Holloween Weekend or it’s always like that, but it was nuts. The streets were crowded and the bars overflowed into the street. Anyway, we didn’t stay out to late because our luggage apparently got to its destination before we did. But, the point I’m making is that as far as layovers go, it could have been worse. It also makes me want to travel back to Charlotte again.
We got the first flight out in the morning to New Bern, NC. We quickly checked into the Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Harbour, where we have a time share (we can use any of these with our timeshare: http://www.wyndham-vacations.com/main.taf?p=0,13 or therse: http://www.rci.com/RCIW/RCIW_index?body=RCIW_rdMain .. basically anywhere in the world). Our room was a huge two bedroom, two bathroom apartment, with a living room and a full kitchen. We also had two decks, one was screened in, the other was an open deck off the master suit. The master suite also had a jacuzzi. No complaints about the reservations.
After we dropped our bags we went over to the local historical society and found that they were doing the anual Ghost Walk that evening. The ghost walk stops at a number of Civil War historical landmarks in New Bern, where actors pretend to be ghosts and tell you the history of the home or landmark. The tour also includes a walk through the local cemetary where you happen to cross the path of a number of other historical ghosts. It was an fantastic evening, and I don’t think Rosie would be opposed to going down to New Bern again for this next year. The evening also included 3 church dinners, and a show “Out With the Wind” (a spoof of gone with the wind), at a local theater.
After the Ghost Walk, our feet were killing us, wo we sat down to a late dinner at THE CHELSEA. The food was outstanding. WOW. Actually all the meals we had down there were teriffic, with the exception of a tourist place called Capt. Ratty’s Seafood and Steakhouse - YUCK. Otherwise, on the same block was a place called MJ’s Raw Bar & Grille that more then made up for it.
The next day we toured Tyrone Palace, the first capital of North Carolina. North Carolina is all about the history folks, and New Bern has lots of it. We took loads of pictures which will be posted soon.
That’s about it. We had an uneventful flight back. Rosie and I love doing weekends away and are hoping to get away at least once more before our trip to Disney in January.
Another marathon weekend ensued. It started out Sat afternoon with a drive up to New Windsor NY. The fellow I work for at the bank (Bill) was having a dinner party at his house. It’s not far from West Point (just to give you an idea of the location). If you’ve never seen Upstate NY in the fall, it’s truly beautiful. Many people associate NY State with New York City. The two couldn’t be more different. NY State is HUGE, whereas Manhattan is only something like 23 miles. NYC is really only a small part of the state, which is home to TONS of beaches, dairy farms, and the Adirondack Mountains.
Anywho, our drive upstate was really nice. In New Windsor we arrived around 5pm and got a grand tour of the place. It was fantastic. At least coming from a guy who has been looking for housing in the NYC area. The place is giant. You really get a lot for your money up there so I think we’re going to add the area to the short list of possible places to buy our next home.
i digress.
Dinner was delicious and the company was good. Bill’s a good egg and his wife Patty is also very nice. Also in attendance were Bills friend Chip, his wife and another couple I work with. Rosie and I both agreed on the way home that Chip is funny as hell. We all played pool and fooseball and played darts in Bills game room. Rosie and I kicked butt! You really can’t compete with Irish people at bar games.
Alas, the evening came to an end after desert and Rosie and I bolted towards the Mohegan Sun in Ct. We were supposed to meet a group of people up there to celebrate Karen’s 30th Birthday. Some of you may remember Karen as one of the bridsmaids in our wedding. Well apparently Ct. stops serving drinks at 12:30, so instead of heading to the casino we met up with everyone at the hotel. Someone in the party had purchased beer earlier and stowed it in the hotel fridge. Good Times, but what the heck is up with a casino that stops selling booze at 12:30?!?!? I’m used to Las Vegas where you can party around the clock. I’ve actually been to vegas w/out a hotel room and just partied till it was time to go home. Apparently you can’t do that in Ct.
Well morning came early and it was time to leave Ct. We had a big breakfast and headed to the Bridgeport Ferry which took us to Port Jefferson, Long Island. From there we made it to the tail end of Ann & Joe’s new babys (gia) christening. After a bit of merry making, we shot over to Ann & Joes house for a bit and finally made it home late Sunday Night. *whew*.
We had a super time with loads of friends around, but next weekend just the two of us are heading to North Carolina to unwind a bit. This will be a busy week because of mid-terms and a database project that needs to get done. I imagine that by Friday I’ll be ready to relax a bit.
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