Soooo… we may have been having a bit of a hard time lately coming up with new places to go. I mean we haven’t completely run out of the usual options of cemeteries, hiking paths, and antique stores, but sometimes it’s nice to do something a little different. This time I let my travel companion conspire with Google for something on the unusual side. And that’s how we ended up at the world’s most apathetically named theme park – The Dinosaur Place.
Neither one of us knew what to expect but there were rumors it was near an antique store so if we didn’t like it there was always a second option. Well! Things got very weird right from the start when we pulled into the parking lot and were greeted by a life size T-rex sporting sunglasses and a bottle of coke. Behind it there was a gift shop and what looked like maybe a miniature golf course. We went into the gift shop to buy tickets. Neither one of us were expecting it to cost $29.99 a head for adults. Thank God we weren’t teenagers as they seemed to have an additional tax at $33.99. We’d find out why in a few minutes. We forked over the dough and hoped for the best.
I feel it’s pertinent to note that it was no less than 86°F that day (that’s 30°c for the rest of the world) and I had remarked that “Maybe we should find something inside to do today…” I was assured it’d be fine. There was a “splash zone.” Whatever that meant.
So we walked in and right away there was a bathroom stationed there with a dinosaur in a dress for the ladies and I was a little too entertained by this I admit but that’s perfectly OK. Beyond that there seemed to be a very run of the mill playground for small children, though one of the things to climb on looked like a dinosaur skull and beyond that there were velociraptors on the roof of a nearby building. Cute. This was also where the “splash zone” was and in it there were gaggles of wee children playing in what looked to me like glorified sprinklers with some slidey bits. I wasn’t surprised by this turn of events. I mean when you build something in a dinosaur theme you probably have a very key target audience – wee children under the age of 8 or so. No matter. I could be an 8-year-old at heart, though I did wonder at first if this was worth two old farts like ourselves to pay $30 a piece for. And I could tell you with certainty it wasn’t worth paying an extra fee for a teenager to loiter here with the babies. They’d be bored out of their minds.
We looked at the little You Are Here map and started to amble around the perimeter. There were far less people beyond the splash zone. In fact there was almost no one at all. We were alone for most of our trek. That’s when we started finding random life size dinosaurs nestled in the woods just off the path and suddenly the whimsy overtook the both of us and it became worth both the money and the truly oppressive heat and humidity which was absolutely befitting the Jurassic era.
I took lots of photos but sadly had the wrong camera. I have one that’s great for indoor photos and one that’s great for outdoor photos. I have no idea why they function this way but having my indoor camera on such a bright day seemed to make most of my photos seem washed out. Not the mention it kept focusing on random branches instead of the dinosaurs. UGH. But even so I was absolutely delighted to see the dinosaurs scattered throughout the park like this. There were even a few you could approach and I can only imagine they would have made for some truly delightful family vacation type snaps if we had any kids in tow. I have to admit my heart may have melted a little bit when one of these ended up being my childhood favorite – the parasaurolophus (otherwise known as the dinosaur with a trumpet on its head) – lying on the ground with a nest of eggs. I squeed a little and pet her on the head for good luck before returning to our little jaunt around the park.
The park is not large and most of the walking paths are surrounded by fantastic shady trees and a body of water of some sort but even so the heat was killing me. I drank about a gallon of water and it still wasn’t enough. I had to sit down and rest about 2/3rds of the way through before I melted into the pavement. Even my companion who works forging iron in the bowels of Hell (OK not really but still) was pouring sweat, absolutely drenched, big droplets of perspiration dripping off his nose. I must have looked even worse.
I don’t think we were there long but it was enough. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was particularly amused in one of the two caves when an animatronic dinosaur spit and nearly soaked my companion who darted out of the way just in time. “Any kids who have seen Jurassic Park are going to be scarred for life getting spit on by that thing!” AND IT’LL BE WORTH IT.
When we got back to the gift shop we loitered there like delinquents because they had their AC cranked and I was overheating badly. When we got back outside it was still gross out there. We noticed an ice cream parlour and drunk from heat exhaustion forked over $5 for a scoop. I guess this is normal for amusement parks. I’d only been to one in my life when I was five and my well-meaning father brought me to Whalom. I remember one ride that entire day – the little helicopters. My brother was much older but didn’t fair any better as he was prone to motion sickness. This would be the last outing I remember taking with both my father and brother. Ah, memories. Anyway. I was too hot to really eat the ice cream. By now my body was rejecting water but I still managed to VERY SLOWLY eat it without throwing it back up. As I finished the last bite there was a sudden downfall of rain and I just opened my arms and almost yelled, “BRING IT ON!”
My companion was less happy about this as the rain didn’t cool anything down. In fact the second it hit the pavement it turned into steam rising from the ground. SIGH. From here we would move on to Nature’s Art Village which are the shops next to The Dinosaur Place.
This was possibly the most bizarre destination I have ever ended up at. It’d been suggested by several people, and of course the Internet, but no one had much to say about it, just that I needed to go. On this particular occasion I ended up with quite a carload, my mother, a cousin, and my great-aunt. We had five hours to waste so I suggested we go to 
First off let me tell you the area it’s in is picturesque Maine seaside, absolutely beautiful, and there’s so many things to get happily distracted by including a series of high end galleries. Then there’s Nellie’s which… is so far from that scene it might as well be its own planet. When I drove in my mother didn’t want to get out of the car, “This looks scary!” She yelled, pointing at a heap of rusted metal lying haplessly in the woods. I made her get out. I always do. Besides everyone else was already bounding out.
Here, instead of the cute little jam shop I expected there was an entire Wild West village, run by an army of fronteirsfolk who happened to be made of scrap metal, recycled miscellany, and clay. They were both fascinating and terrifying, somewhere between sweet whimsy and an apocalyptic hellscape. And there was everything… a general store, a saloon, living quarters, a jail. Oh, we had fun in the jail, burbling to a couple who’d apparently made this a destination whenever they got bored. Very sweet people. I thought it was just a little mock village but this thing kept going and going and going. By the end I found myself out in the woods staring at a dead knight being loomed over by a dragon, a plywood castle half completed in the background. The Wild West town was more Whimsical but by the time I got to the knights and the dead Viking, being sent off in a half decayed boat, everyone was getting lightly unnerved. In fact the creatures drawing the wagons and carts had gone from quirky to “Soooo…. that last tab of acid is what did it, huh?” Clearly this artist had as many voices in his head as I do (which I can truly appreciate!)
I love places that encourage the desire to play in everyone from small children to the elderly. It just really brightens my day, but this isn’t even mentioning the jams! They really do have jams! And jellies! Preserves! And chutneys! All of which are free to sample at the little shop on crackers, or if you’d like to pay for a scone there’s a sweet little cafe sitting area to enjoy. Of course I sampled everything and 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Recently I decided I should start going to more extroverted places on the weekend, maybe quirky little mom and pop shops, museums, or festivals, leaving my more isolated hikes into the woods or cemeteries for weekdays. There’s always more things to share about New England after all! Every time I feel like I have scraped the bottom of the barrel I always find way more! And so it was that a few days ago I got a fantastic lead – the Tiny House Fest in Brattleborro Vermont, an annual event right dead in the center of this adorable little Vermont town filled with vendors, educational lectures, and thirty tiny houses from all over the country. You could visit the vendors and walk for free, pay $15 to go on a self guided tour of the tiny houses, or pay $25 and have access to all that plus the lectures going on all day in three separate areas. Since this is a subject of great interest to me I splurged on educating myself. $25 and some gas for Daisy, off we go!
My mother decided that morning she wanted to go with me, which is fine, I did ask if she wanted to accompany me as she loves the tiny houses too. It was supposed to have intermittent thunderstorms and downpours all day, which I think kept the faint of heart away. Not me! I struggled to find parking because I am not familiar with Brattleborro and ended up going into town around noon when most of the festival goers were also seeking parking. So I drove up and down main street, in my heavily Sharpied car, probably about five times before I figured out what I was doing and found a suitable parking space. It’s Vermont. My crazy car and neon orange hair barely lift an eye brow here (which is probably why I adore the area so much…) Of course the second I pull in it starts to POUR. I mean hurricane level rain, washing people down the hills… SIGH. I got out, pulled up my hoodie, handed my mother the umbrella, and tried to pay for my space. The machine had other ideas and would not accept my card, or my mother’s. I had to go back to the car, drenched, and rustle around for change. Thank God it was cheap. Thirty cents an hour. Now that’s a price I didn’t mind paying!
Off I went. We first toured all the tiny houses and it was an impressive assortment I must say. Some were just shells, some were completely tricked out, some were built onto trailers, some were in buses and vans, and some were big enough to feel like actual normal houses. The innovation was wonderful! People formed polite ques outside of each and poked in with the same burning curiosity I had. Often the makers of these homes stood somewhere along the way and spoke to people who may have had questions. Several of them I was really impressed with.
From here I attended a few lectures. I learned about a crazy variety of things: the many uses of pee, how to garden under solar panels so that arable land isn’t wasted, how to bring a town back to life with “pop up” stores carried in vans, much about community organization, much about teaching others, as well as how people can live in a bus or a van, and an ungodly amount of information on the construction of a gypsy wagon styled travel home that had my eyes glassed over for the entire half an hour.
When I drove up the parking lot was HUGE and pretty empty. I got out of the car, took a quick snap of their glorious wonky polar bears standing above the park’s sign. Oh, this was the kind of roadside kitsch that I live for. Still, the building was very nice, had a HUGE gift shop filled with all sorts of shiny, sparkly, and fluffy things, and the staff there were super sweet. I paid $20 for a ticket and an extra dollar for a little bag of corn to feed the ducks and deer. Who knew a place like this had ducks and deer!
Sure enough as I walk in there’s a line of little aviaries, each housing 2-3 pheasants, and a deer pasture filled with Fallow Deer. Aside them some ducks swam in some murky water. There was a group of Asian tourists already there playing with the deer so I put my corn in my pocket and headed towards the caves, promising myself I’d stop to dole out my treats before leaving.
That’s when things started to get just a smidge strange. Suddenly I found myself overlooking a spiderweb of wooden pathways and stairs climbing up and down in every direction. It was like a real life M C Escher sketch. Total chaos. I had no idea where to go or why. As it turns out it didn’t matter. The vast web in the middle was just some sort of trap for small children. Eventually if you walked to the other side you’d come across the entrance to the “caves.” Mind you, when I thought of the word cave I thought this would be a cavern underground, maybe with a few slimy stalactites and stalagmites. You know… like most cave tours in the US… Instead “cave” in this instance seemed to be a very loose term to describe the various hollows and holes that formed under a giant pile of granite rubble. Some of them had little metal stair cases to get down into and since I am here I might as well go down to see them! That may not have been the brightest idea. I’m 5′ 8″ and maybe 140 or 150 pounds and had a hell of a time not bumping my head and squeezing through. I noticed all the other people here (maybe 10 or 15 in all) were content to watch me be the only foolish one to try. But dammit, I paid my $20, I was going to see it all!
I read online, “bring a jacket because those caves are cold!” Seeing as caves generally are cold I did wear an over shirt, but between the humid heat above ground and the strange physical positions I was putting myself in, I was soon sweating bullets. I mean just soaking wet. Totally drenched. In seconds. Welp, that didn’t go as planned. I used the over shirt to sop up the excess sweat and moved on.
It didn’t take me long to go through the whole park. There’s a few things there that weren’t open yet – a “maple house” (I’d call it a sugar shack) a rock climbing wall, and some precipice you could “gently repel down.” All and all I think this would have been a great place to go if I were seven or so… I don’t honestly suggest anyone my age or childless should go check it out… although that being said I did have a ton of fun feeding the ducks when I got out of the caves. I really miss owning ducks. They’re such funny little creatures. I moved on from them to feed the deer who were basically rabid for corn. WOW. I got covered in soooo much deer drool. And isn’t that what life is all about? I still had fun!
Acadia is one of my favorite places to go. The park is enormous and has something to offer everyone. It has hiking trails of all levels and capabilities for the athletic among us but it also has a variety of stunning views you can either see directly out your car window or very easily access. If that’s not enough to tempt you there’s also a number of beaches both rocky and sandy and a few other attractions that lure the curious.
I have been to Acadia two or three times already, always off season, and I didn’t pay anything to get in because of this, but I guess I was either too early this year or they changed their policy. Some of the park remained free – like the drive up Cadillac Mountain, but by the time I got close to Thunderhole I approached a toll gate and had to fork over $25 for a week’s pass. That’s OK though, it was worth it.
This visit was a short one as I was busy socializing for most fo the day and only arrived at 2PM but I still packed a lot into a few hours! I especially wanted to drive to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to get a few nice foliage photos and enjoy the fresh mountain air. I was shocked how many people were here! But I guess when the weather is a freakish 70-some-odd degrees people are more likely to come out and enjoy nature at its finest. I stopped at several points to take a few snaps and enjoyed the summit as well as the Overlook at Blue Hill the most as far as the mountain went. I ended up shuffling out onto the bare rocks at the summit and enjoyed a bit of time just soaking in the view – which included all the colorful trees I could wish for, a delightful pond, a few islands off the coast, and unseasonably blue skies. It was hard not to stay here forever. Unlike many parks Acadia is open 24/7 all year long…. Obviously this means I must return once more… at night. The view must be amazing then! I wonder if you can hear loons or if wolves exist in the park…
Anyway, that flight of fancy erased from my mind I continued onwards, driving back down the mountain. On my way I had to stop the car to let a deer pass and took a shot out my car window of a second that was staring at me from a few feet away. I got one good snap before another car barreled by in the travel lane scaring them both off.
 I wanted to see Thunderhole – which is this rock formation at the coast that makes a thunderous noise when the waves from the ocean rush through it. I have been told about it for years from all sorts of relatives ad friends and had yet to check it out… but first I passed Sand Beach, the main sandy beach in the park, and had to get out to amble for a bit. It was low tide. I had never been here during low tide. I must say all the exposed rocks gave it extra character! There wasn’t too many people there at this time of day, or year, certainly no polar bear swimming club to be seen, but there were a few families playing with nerf balls and kites. I’m surprised there weren’t any dogs – as they are allowed in the park.
Truth be told these people were probably all here to take advantage of the sunset which was closing in soon. It was a good vantage point for that – though not the best conditions today. It was a bit gray out.
