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.

Old Malls: Harundale Mall

I love old photographs of malls. Especially when they are soaked in 1960's and 70's decor and fashion. Here's some great old pics I found online of Harundale Mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

I wasn't a frequent guest at this mall, but it was near my grandparent's house and then later in life I had some friends who lived near by, so I did visit the mall on more than one occasion. Harundale Mall was one of the nation's first enclosed malls and at the time of it's opening in 1958 - the only enclosed mall east of the Mississippi River. It was not a very large mall (by today's standards) but it was very grand. It had a unique layout and even when visiting it as a child in the 80's I could tell that the mall was from another era.

I remember the mall had a Horn & Horn Smogasbord Cafeteria, which were hard to come by by the time I was in high school. There was also a Polock Johnny's stand in the middle of the mall which I don't need to tell you...was some good eats!

Here's a shot of the movie theatre, which was actually a separate building in a parking lot across the street. I know I had seen a small handful of movies there but the only specific one I can remember is my mom taking my brother and I to see Back To The Future. Eventually the theatre became a second run/dollar theatre before closing. I think it's a church now!?!

I actually worked at Harundale Mall one night. One of my first jobs was with a photographer who ran the Santa Claus operations at a number of malls. I worked at a mall near my house, but one night I filled in for somebody at Harundale Mall on the night they were having Pet Photos with Santa. (I hate animals...it was an interesting night!) Another fun memory I have of the mall is the time my buddy and I were escorted out by security for trying to videotape in the mall. I didn't know you needed permission from the mall to shoot inside and I guess it didn't help matters that I was working on a school project and had a full size professional-grade TV camera with us. Ah...memories! If I remember right, we put the camera in the car and went back inside and got some Polock Johnny's.

The mall was built by James Rouse who much later went on to build the bigger and fancier Marley Station Mall right down the road from Harundale. Over time, Marley Station put Harundale and all the other malls in the area out of business. Harundale Mall hung on until 1998. The following year, Harundale Plaza debuted in the same spot as the mall with a supermarket, Outback Steak House, Hollywood Video and other boring offerings.

Good Eats - O.C. Edition

So, we just spent the better part of the last two weeks in beautiful Ocean City, MD where, besides that sand and ocean thing that everyone loves, there are plenty of great things to eat! Here's some thoughts and reviews on some of the places you might (or might not) want to visit on your next trip down the ocean!

We had some friends that were also down there the same time we were. About a year ago they had mentioned this place they always go to for breakfast called General's Kitchen (74th St. & Coastal Hwy.) I was informed that the General served up a Creamed Chip Beef Omelet that was out of this world. I couldn't wait to try it out. The place seats about 70 people and the line to get in can get kind of long. We had a fairly short wait considering there were 9 people in our party. Since the Kitchen was known for their cream chip beef, I decided to order the classic way...over toast! It was fantastic, and easily the best cream chipped beef I've ever had. Really, really good! They've got all kinds of other breakfast goodies on the menu. Someone got a Spanish omelet that looked really good, and Elias gobbled up two helpings of Silver Dollar Pancakes (with ketchup!) I'm looking forward to another visit to try the cream chip beef omelet.

Castaway's (64th St.) is a new place down there that caught our eye. The promise of a Caribbean inspired menu is what drew me to the place. The restaurant is very large, with plenty of seating indoors and out and should cut down on wait times in the heart of the season. The whole place has a tropical/Jimmy Buffett kind-of-thing going on. There was even live steel drum music playing when we got there. Most of the people at our table seemed happy with their selections except Joey and I. Our waiter went on and on about how amazing their Caribbean Crab Cakes were. They were unlike any other crab cake we'd ever had, he swore! And that they were all meat, no filler...he added. Well, they were just about the worst crab cakes I've ever had. They tasted frozen, there was plenty of filler, and they were generally disappointing. A side dish of lumpy, redskin mashed potatoes didn't help matters either. Regardless of the waiter's recommendation, at the prices they were charging I should have had better crab cakes. I doubt we'll be returning to Castaway's in future vacations.

Right here your looking at a delicious plate of Crab Nachos from Crabcake Factory U.S.A. (120th St.) We probably would never have discovered this place if we hadn't stayed so close to it. Crabcake Factory isn't a fancy place, it's kind of a hole in the wall...but what they lack in appearance they make up for with a fantastic menu filled with all sorts of tasty fresh seafood. These Nachos were yumm-o on their own, but they were also covered with mounds of crab meat. There must have been at least three crabcakes worth of meat piled onto those bad boys. I'd say one of the best things we ate while we were down there! We also had REAL Crab Rangoons. Usually you find Crab Rangoons or Crab Wontons at Chinese restaurants where they are just filled with vegetable cream cheese. These rangoons were filled with real honest to goodness crab meat. Quite a treat after enjoying the cream cheese versions for so long. Crabcake Factory U.S.A. is a nice quiet place that never seems to have a line and always serves up yummy seafood dishes. It's home to the Ocean City chapter of the Ravens Roost Fan Club, so if there's a Ravens game when you're in town, you might want to find somewhere else to go.

I'll try and hit you up with some more Good Eats: Ocean City Style later this week!