Tonight, I was reading an article on MSN about tourist traps. You can read it here. It got me thinking about my love for travel, love for tourist traps, and well, I guess you could say my love for cheese. So, I thought I'd go over my favorite (so far) tourist traps.
Gatorland- Located just miles from Mickey's house, Gatorland is a throwback attraction that is tops in my book. I have several photos of DH at Gatorland during our 10th anniversary trip to Orlando in 2003 on my fridge even today. Oh, how I wish I had those photos scanned onto disk. The Gator Jumparoo is really a site to behold. Raw chicken (yeah, this isn't for Peta lovers) is rolled out over the water and gators jump astonishingly high to get them. The only thing I love more than the Jumparoo is the gift shop. Great souvenirs that go beyond the fantastic line of t-shirts and such. Really, take your dog sitter some gator jerky or maybe your mother-in-law needs a real taxidermy alligator head. I haven't been to Gatorland since before the fire in November of 2006. Mostly because I have declared that Hoot be at least 6 before I will take him to Gatorland. He's just too fearless and forge ahead to get him keen on the idea of feeding wieners to alligators. Well, that and he needs to be big enough to fight off emus, as this is also one of the more notorious sites of Susie gets attacked by birds. (Oh, I don't blame Gatorland, I blame the birds.)
Stone Mountain Park- Yeah, I could wax nostalgic on this one for a while. I could even do a SMP employee retrospective. Of course my favorite things pre-date the evil privatization of the park: the carving, the skylift, the railroad, the riverboats (both the Scarlett O'Hara and the Henry Grady), the plantation, and the carillon. But, mostly I still go gaga over the lasershow. (Yes kids, if I am alone in the car and Ray Charles starts in on Georgia, I may have to pull over.) There is also a ton of new stuff in the parks that have been embellished or added since my last visit in early 2004.
Graceland- My only visit to Graceland occurred during what we like to call the Post-Olympic Viva Los Delta tour. We hit Tupelo for the Elvis birthplace on the drive to Tunica Mississippi. Then, we stayed and gambled a few days, driving up to Memphis to visit Beale Street and Graceland. I had a minor fit at the Walkman guided tour when I was given a nasty pair of earphones, but an employee hooked me up with a fresh pair. I really wasn't prepared for how well the recorded tour and history came together, which resulted in tears as I listened to Elvis sing "How Great Thou Art" when I stood in front of his grave. Someday, I'll have to take DH to stay at the Heartbreak Hotel. They have 24 hour Elvis movies on the television!
Well, I wasn't quite prepared for how nostalgic I would get when I started this post. I originally meant to plan out February's budget tonight, but my love of tourist traps just kind of kept me going. I do have plenty more to post on the subject, but maybe on another night.
No comments:
Post a Comment