Centralia and Halloween Party I - A little late of a post

Last weekend was pretty awesome. I would have added a post sooner, but being without Internet at home and sheer laziness of going somewhere with wi-fi kind of got in the way.

Friday night, a few co-workers and I met up with my creative writing bud A. and headed to Gravestone Manor, a theatrical haunted house in Wilkes-Barre, where two of my other creative writing friends work. It was pretty cool. Then, we hit up Old Tyme Charley's in Plains for a little 40lb. Head and a lot of bomb shots- Jager bombs. Grape bombs. Raspberry bombs. I also ran into some old radio buds, so that's always fun!! With a case of heartburn, we then hit up Flaherty's in Edwardsville where we pretty much closed down the place. It was nice little tour of some of the finest bars in NEPA...

Saturday, I hibernated all day until it was time to get ready for A and C's annual Halloween bash. I'll post some pics later of that. Fun times ensued as usual. I reigned champion at Beer Pong, and then the Flip Cup team I was on also rocked. My friends may have had a pole, too. And you know what that means for a drunk Donna. There may or may not be videos.

Sunday, it was a hungover road trip to Centralia... you can read more about that on the post below. But I saw a part of Centralia I never saw before- the portion of Route 61 that is closed off. It goes on for a few miles- we walked a lot of it- really getting some exercise, too-- you just don't realized it's a big hill when you go down... haha. The big crack in the road was quite impressive- trees were growing out of it. But what was even more amusing was the graffiti painted on the road. Craziness.

So much changed in Centralia since I first started going- a lot more has been torn down, but there was still cool stuff to see. I just really enjoyed the weekend. I was completely exhausted by Monday! But what a great weekend- a haunted house, a few bars, a great party, a cool road trip and still some good sleep!

I still have yet to get my TV and washer and dryer, but I guess I'm not really home enough to watch TV. My two new neighbors commented on that fact last night, as I ran into the house to change and then leave again for dinner with co-workers at Rustic Kitchen at the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs casino. They were outside smoking and said, "When are you ever home?!"

Berks County Roadtrip: Crystal Cave and Roadside America

Today was all about reliving old memories, while making new ones. I had a very cool childhood. I was fortunate enough to spend almost every weekend on the road to music gigs- and during our travels we always made it a point to stop at roadside tourist attractions. I think that's why I always bonded with the Griswalds. At any rate, Dave hasn't been to any of these cool places I've been to. When we first met, he told me that he loved trains. And for four years, I've been trying to go on a day trip to check out Roadside America, the world's largest miniature village. Since Crystal Cave was in near by Kutztown, I plotted a spontaneous Sunday afternoon.

Roadside America, Shartlesville

Roadside America is just amazing. Of course last time I was there I was a kid, so things looked a lot bigger- but this roadside Pennsylvania attraction is definitely one to take in. The 1,500 square-foot attraction was started by brothers Larry and Paul Geiringer. The story is that when the two were boys, they lived on a mountain and saw all these 'miniature' houses and buildings. They were fascinated by them- even upon learning they were regular size buildings.... They began to build models and train sets and their passion eventually led to Roadside America. Paul became and priest and moved to Ohio, while Larry kept going. He passed away in 1963; his wife took over until her death in 1973 and to this day, the same family runs Roadside America.

What is so cool about Roadside America is that all the miniatures are hand-made from simple tools-- the hard way-- but also as I like to say, "the heart way." The stained-glass windows on the little churches are all hand-painted. So, so cool.

Some things that you'll see at Roadside America in addition to streams, waterfalls, trains and trolleys are: Indian tee-pee villages; snowcapped mountains with winter activities and working cable cars; tribute to the coal, lumber, steel and energy industries; the Old West; rural farms with a hoe-down in the barn; a modern zoo; early colonial towns with great architecture; a circus; an airport and so much more. There is music playing throughout, as well as buttons you can push to make certain things work- very, very cool.

Every half-hour Roadside America tells everyone to take a seat and they play patriotic music as they turn down the lights so only the lights within the village are on- it is kind of like a sunset, night and sunrise show. Very cool. The only thing that I didn't like was in the slides was a picture of Jesus- that was unnecessary to me, but this IS after all a family business and they seem to have religious roots.

No matter how old you are at Roadside America, you feel like a total kid again. I should also mention there is a gift shop which of course sells Roadside America souvenirs, but also lots of train items and a selection of PA Dutch and Amish items, too.

Crystal Cave, Route 222, Kutztown, Pa.

I wrote so much about Roadside America that I don't want this post to be too, too long. I was at Crystal Cave many times as a kid, so it was cool to bring Dave here as well. The site closes Nov. 30, so the season was winding down- this was good because we had a small group. We had a spunky teenage tour guide, Steph I think her name was. Very funny and good with the lingo. It always helps when you have a knowledgeable tour guide!

This cavern is very cool- a great geological lesson for sure! We got to see stalactites, stalagmites, flowing rock and other geological marvels made only from sediment and water over the course of hundreds of years. It's amazing that this structure exists underneath Pennsylvania farm country. What was kind of cool to learn was that early visitors were allowed to saw off stalagmites/tites as souvenirs, so some of the cave's treasures are now family heirlooms! 54-degrees year-round, Crystal Cave is definitely literally cool as well.