Freddy Flintstone Sells Firewood

I'm always on the lookout for unusual & homemade tributes to The Flintstones. While on vacation this summer, somewhere in the backwoods of Western Pennsylvania I spotted this old sign advertising firewood for sale. I quickly spun the car around and circled back to snap a picture. The sign features Freddy Flintstone from the late 80's series The Flintstone Kids, chopping away at some wood. It's not often you see anyone take the time to immortalize the Flintstone clan in their younger days.

 

Also check out The Flintstone Wall that I found in Virginia a few years ago.

Fantasyland, PA - Then and Now

Tucked away in the woods, just a stone's throw away from the battlefields of Gettysburg, PA once sat a quint little children's fairytale park called Fantasyland. I actually wrote about the place a few years ago. It was a small park, similar in idea to Maryland's Enchanted Forest or New Jersey's Storybook Land. Unfortunately for Fantasyland, the people of G'burg do not like anything un-Civil War related anywhere near their battlefields and so the park was eventually purchased by the National Parks Service and the park was removed from the map and also from the memory of most people around these parts. The park is not a sacred childhood memory like the Enchanted Forest is to me and others that grew up near it. I've never really been able to dig up too much info on the park. Years ago, I went snooping around the land where the park once sat and snuck past a few No Trespassing signs and snapped a few photos. I've been wanting to share those pics here for quite some time, but only just found them this past weekend.

The fence in the photo above still stands, but the rest of the park entrance is long gone. The area was used for overflow parking to the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitors Center, but in recent years that facility has moved into a new building further away so who knows what's going on in Fantasyland's parking lot now...?

There wasn't much to see when I went snooping around the former Fantasyland. But my coolest find was an old stone bridge sitting in the middle of nowhere. Here's a before and after shot of the bridge. The first snapshot is a publicity photo from the park probably somewhere in the 60's or 70's.

And here's the bridge in 2001. I found the old photo later on, it would have been neat to look for any other remnants of the Santa Village over the bridge. Here's some more photos I snapped...the first picture looks like it's a hay bale from a Little Boy Blue attraction. (Click the photos to enlarge them!)

Now here is the above pictured lake in it's glory days...

Finally, one more picture. This structure was one of the only buildings still standing on the property. My guess is that it was a snack bar of some sort...

Perhaps when the weather gets nicer I'll head back out that direction and snap a few more pictures of the state of this former kiddie park.

Now That's A Big Slide!

Again my travels into the proverbial "middle of nowhere" have produced another wonderful find of Americana and tackiness. The Municipal Giant Slide in Rocky Ridge, Md is a huge out-of-the-ordinary sliding board that gives all other parks board envy. This huge wooden slide stands 35 feet tall and takes riders down 100 feet of bowling alley-like goodness. There's old burlap sacks that kids can ride down on for maximum speed or for the less adventurous (like my kids) a trip on your own bottom will provide a slightly less out of control experience. Instead of ending with a long flat portion of slide to slow down on, this extreme slide sends it's riders flying into a pit of sawdust. The craziest thing is: this super neat attraction isn't at an amusement park or family fun center...it's at a little tiny public park called Mount Tabor Park which sits along the side of a pretty laid back country road. Needless to say, my kids had a blast...

(Daddy took a few trips down the boards as well but no pictures were allowed!)

The park also has plenty of room for picnicking as well as some other playground equipment including this huge kid-powered merry-go-round which I think my kids liked even more than the slide...

Mount Tabor Park is also home to an outdoor church complete with a pavilion full of bright red church pews...
...that's worshiping in style!

And last but not least for your approval, a video of my guys on said Giant Slide:

It's A Tiny World After All

I can't believe that a man has built a miniature village in his back yard and opened it up to the public, and it's only about 30 miles from my house and I only discovered a week ago! Such is the case with Tiny World, an elaborate backyard world of knee-high buildings hiding in the farmlands of Chambersburg, PA.

The story behind Tiny World begins with a man named Ernest Helm who started building miniature houses as a hobby. After he finished one house, he'd build another...and another...and another...until he had himself a whole village. There's about two dozen or so buildings on display in Tiny World, all laid out on a cozy tiny path that winds through Helm's picturesque backyard.

It's not really even a tourist attraction. There's no signs pointing you to Tiny World, there's no brochures at the local visitor centers. Tiny World actually sits out in the middle of nowhere along a winding, narrow road. There's not even a sign in front of Tiny World. While hunting this place down, at first I drove by it and only slowed down when I noticed a tiny church on the side of the road. There is a small parking pad and a castle entrance which invites guests to "Look" but "Please Don't Touch". If it wasn't for the entrance, you'd feel like you were trespassing.


Here's the Tiny World Courthouse, or course they only handle small cases. Tiny World is also home to a farm, a ski lodge, several churches, and a mill. It's a weird little roadside oddity because it literally sits in someones backyard. As you walk along the trail to visit the various pint-sized locations you stroll right next to the family's pool and along their covered patio.

However, it looks as if Tiny World hasn't had an active mayor in a year or two. The mini-attraction hasn't fallen into complete disrepair, but it's apparent that it has not been attended to in over a year or two. Debris from trees covers the pathways and several of the buildings are starting to show their age and a little bit of neglect.



I looks as if at one time Tiny World had an operating railroad. In fact, much of Tiny World looks like it was wired for electricity. There are a few miniature street lights that line the path through Tiny World, however there are more that appear to be missing. The paddle wheel of the mill looked like it one time turned, dumping tiny bits of water into the tiny pond. And there are Christmas lights on some of the buildings. Based on internet chatter, Tiny World used to be quite the holiday display come Christmas time.

That's not to say that Tiny World isn't still a cool thing to see. It's an amazing piece of work especially when you consider it wasn't built for profit - just to pass the time. The attention to detail is outstanding. Inside the Tiny World schoolhouse are rows and rows of desks, each with teeny-tiny books and papers and a students name on each desk. Some of the other buildings are filled with plenty of little details too..

the gas station

the firehouse

...and check out the crazy detail inside the Tiny World restaurant:

The real world would be a better place if there were more miniature villages built in dude's backyards...I'm just sayin'!

Tiny World is located at 6720 Rice Road in Shippensburg, PA. It's apparently only 2 miles away from The World's Largest Paint Can, which we didn't get a chance to see but that's another trip!

Read a more in-depth article and review at Roadside America or if you can't get enough of me talking about the place you can also read an addition review of Tiny World that I had published on Roadside America's Tip Page.

Return to Mr. Ed's

We drove out to Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum earlier this week, not only to see the damage from last week's fire but I also suspected there would be an outpouring of love from people who had visited Mr. Ed's over the years in the form of tons of elephants lining the road where the museum once stood. Well, there wasn't much evidence of people leaving behind a new elephant for Mr. Ed and the damage to the building isn't quite as extensive as media reports would have led me to believe. Make no mistake, the place is totally burned to a crisp and some major rebuilding will have to be done. From what I had read, I didn't think the building was even still standing. Either way, it's all sad...

Elephant Tragedy

My wife and I both received text messages today from friends informing us of a fire that had burned down Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum in nearby Orrtanna, PA. Mr. Ed's was a cherished old-school roadside attraction that has been featured in countless books, magazine articles and documentaries about wacky, tacky and off-beat tourist attractions.

My family and I are lucky enough that we had recently made the 35 min. trek out to Mr. Ed's on a beautiful afternoon this past spring. The little shack on the side of Rt. 30 housed thousands upon thousands of elephant items that the owner, Mr. Ed, had collected over the past 40+ years.

In addition to figures and stuffed animals there were old toys, promotion items, jewelry...anything you can imagine with an elephant on it! The collection was originally displayed in two very long rooms, but recently the collection had busted out of the museum and began to line the walls of the shop surrounding the Elephant Museum. In recent years, Mr. Ed also put some work into the outside of the museum where there were many large elephant statues as well as a beautiful fish pond and some neat little paths.

Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum was also home to a wonderful candy shop that sold all sorts of candy for very reasonable prices. All the standards were there, along with tons of hard to find candies and some old fashioned varieties that you just can't find anywhere else. On our most recent trip, my son was delighted to find a maple sugar cake, which we had read about in an old book.

Old fashioned, low-tech family attractions like Mr. Ed's are as common as they used to be...and that's a crying shame! The collection at Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum is truly irreplaceable. Luckily, Mr. Ed has already announced that he plans to rebuild and reopen his elephant mecca very soon. I will miss the original museum, but I also can't wait to see what Mr. Ed has in store for us next!

You can read a newspaper article about the fire: here.

There's also this photo page that I made after my first visit in 2005, which can be viewed by clicking here!

World's Largest Rubik's Cube

I saw this, face-to-cube, when I was 8 years old at the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN. It changed my life forever!

Jersey Wonderland

Last summer I shared quite a few pictures from my trip to Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. I did a post about the park in general, which you can read here. I also did a separate article on Storybook Land's really neat Alice In Wonderland walk-through attraction, which you can revisit by clicking here. Today I'm including a handful of pictures that I took but didn't use in my original post. The picture on the right is a shot of the "underground" portion of the Alice in Wonderland attraction. This igloo-like tunnel if fairly visible from within the park, but you don't really notice it when entering the Alice attraction from it's entrance.

Recently, Storybook Land added a Tea Cups ride which they installed directly across from their Alice in Wonderland walk-through. The park has themed the mini-area into a Wonderland of it's own. Here's the funky caterpillar sitting atop his mushroom in the gardens surrounding the Tea Cups ride.

In the Alice attraction, kids slide down the rabbit hole via a sliding board. As you can see from the art work on the wall, Disney's Alice movie was a HEAVY influence on this show.

More Disney "inspired" artwork...

Here's an additional shot of the elaborate card maze that serves as the exit to the underground walking experience.

And finally, a shot of my kids getting off the Tea Cups ride. The ride is a pretty standard model Tea Cup ride, but the park has decorated nicely to fit in with the Alice theme.

As I said last summer, Storybook Land is a true hidden jem! You would do you and your family a favor by making plans to visit this summer. Their 2010 season begins March 27!

Enchanted Wonderland

Today, another theme park attraction based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This one is gone, but not forgotten!
The super awesome Enchanted Forest, which I grew up just down the road from, was also home to a unique Alice in Wonderland ride. The Teacup Ride - as it was officially called - is pictured above. The photo was in the parks brochure along with the description: See how the adventurous Alice in Wonderland becomes ensnarled in her many fabulous adventures deep underground. Visit this subterranean fairyland when riding the Teacup Ride to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and into the Court of the Queen of Hearts.

The Teacup Ride was essentially a train pulled by a giant teapot. Guests could sit in oversized teacups or there were also benches available for those who couldn't handle the thrill of sitting in a big cup. The tea party train would take a brief trip through the park before entering a dark tunnel. Eventually, the train would stop and guests would disembark the train and follow the story of Alice in Wonderland through a walking tour.

The walking portion of the attraction featured scenes from the story recreated in huge three dimensional dioramas. Some of the scenes you would walk right through. There were other portions where you traveled through tight cave corridors and along bridges through cavern like scenes. I remember walking through the courtroom scene which was both scary and intimidating for a kid. The huge card soldiers stood on both sides of you, and the wicked Queen of Hearts was staring down at you above the room's exit. The day-glow lighting and musty, creepy atmosphere probably didn't help things either! In all honesty, this attraction (along with a few others in the park) down right scared me and I can remember skipping it on a few visits.

The ride closed before the rest of the park met it's fate. The Teacup Ride did not pass safety inspections and was closed for the 1994 season. Most of the figures from inside the ride are lost but pieces of the Teacup Train have been restored and are now a part of Clark's Elioak Farm.

Here's a recent photo of my boys and I sitting in one of the Teacups from the ride:

And here's the Teapot, which housed the engine and the driver:
Both of these are part of The Enchanted Forest Maze attraction at the farm.

And finally, here a wonderful photograph of the teacups sitting in the closed park deteriorating. This photo was taken in 2005, shortly before or right around the time the Enchanted Forest was starting to be saved:

Reference and Photo Collage credit: Nan Sherman's Websites America
Also read: The Enchanted Forest Saga and Riding Through Wonderland.

Sit On This, Lincoln!

Everyone loves a good statue, but who says they all have to be dead presidents or civil war soldiers!?! Here's a handful of kooky, crazy statues around the country that you might want to visit on your next road trip!

Bob Newhart - Chicago, Il Cable outfit TV Land installed this "interactive" statue of Bob Newhart as his character Dr. Bob Hartley from the 1972 - 1978 sitcom "The Bob Newhart Show." Dr. Hartley was a Chicago psychologist so here you can lay down and tell your problems to Dr. Bob - even though he won't really help you out...because he's a statue! They originally installed this statue in front of the actual building that was used as Dr. Bob's office exterior on the show. Later, they moved to piece to Navy Pier - a major tourist attraction a mile away.

Popeye - Crystal City, TX This fine country of ours actually hosts four different Popeye statues. This one here was erected in the small Texas town that claims to be the Spinach capital of the world. I think what makes this statue extra special is the fact that it sits smack dab in front of City Hall. There's another Popeye statue in Chester, Il - the home of Popeye creator E.C. Segar. There are two more in Arkansas. But Crystal City IS the spinach capital of the world and to prove it they hold an annual Spinach Festival...which just happens to be this weekend! Get your airline tickets!

World's Largest Catsup Bottle - Collinsville, Il Another score for the great state of Illinois. The problem with any "World's Largest" is that it's not really what ever it's supposed to be the "world's largest" of...I mean, that's not a real catsup bottle - it's a water tower. Which I guess also makes it not a statue...but a water tower, so why did I even bring it up? Either way, that's a 100,000 gallon water tower which I assume means it could also hold 100,000 gallons of catsup. The way my kids use catsup on everything, we'd need one of these giant bottles of the red stuff to get us through a month! The World's Largest Catsup Bottle even has it's own website!

Superman - Metropolis, Il Clark Kent's hometown might be Smallville, but Superman belongs to Metropolis. The current version of this super structure is 15 feet tall and weighs two tons! There was an earlier version of this tribute, but everyone wanted to see if he really was the Man of Steel and destroyed the statue by throwing stuff at it. Now Superman stands tall in Metropolis' town square which they call Superman Square. The town is home to a Superman Museum, a Harrah's casino, a Huddle House (good eats!) and of course the Annual Superman Celebration.

Down The Rabbit Hole

A few weeks ago I told you about our trip to the fantastic Storybook Land park just outside of Atlantic City. I promised a more in-depth look at one of their more unique attractions and today we're going to make good on that promise with a photo tour of their Alice in Wonderland walk-through attraction. The attraction was designed and built in-house, meaning Storybook Land didn't hire an amusement park ride company to come in and create Wonderland. It's a homemade affair. When you approach the attraction, you're greeted by the White Rabbit several times as he's looking at his watch and realizing how late he is. You follow him into a tunnel...

...and kids are invited to slide down the rabbit hole into Wonderland!

(There's also a ramp for Moms & Dads!) Once down the rabbit hole there's a series of brightly colored caves and tunnels. As you follow the path, the story of Alice in Wonderland unfolds on the walls around you.

To say the art work is inspired by Walt Disney's 1951 film adaptation is a slight understatement. The scenes and characters depicted on the walls are clearly lifted right out of the famous cartoon. That's not to say that the artwork isn't beautiful. The whole attraction (as well as the park itself) looks like it just got a fresh coat of paint the morning of our visit!

Several spots along the path have small windows where displays of dolls, antiques and stuffed animals illustrate the story in another medium. In this Tea Party scene you can make out the Disney version of the White Rabbit on Alice's petifore, as well as some antique Disney Alice in Wonderland china.

Kids love a good tunnel their size. Adults can choose another path which doesn't involve eating a cookie to shrink down to the size of a three year old!

The finale of Storybook Land's Alice in Wonderland experience is the escape from The Queen of Hearts in a maze of card soldiers.

The path leads out from the cave into a huge maze of playing cards. The maze is quite large, but the wrong turns are short so you never really get lost. My kids had a blast running through the deck of cards and thinking they were completely lost.

Storybook Land's Alice in Wonderland is a completly original and charming attraction tucked into the middle of a charming little park. It's a shame more amusement parks don't have similar low-tech experiences for families.