I tromped through the pumpkin patch: Rise of the Jack o Lanterns at Descanso Gardens

October 20, 2014 Comments Off read Attractions, California, Pacific, Travel, USA, West

It’s no surprise that I’m an ardent lover of Halloween and all its trappings, so it should also come as no surprise that I follow a bunch of people equally as nutty about the holiday on Instagram. On my most recent trip to San Diego, I woke up one morning, checked Instagram, and saw that someone had posted a picture of amazing pumpkins and had tagged it with “descanso gardens“. I decided to find out where that was, and as luck would have it, not only was it just outside of Los Angeles, but they also had a few tickets left for that evening! SCORE. As we made the drive to Los Angeles, I wondered how it was that they had carved pumpkins on display for the entire month of October, because mine have always rotted after a few days. Were they fake? Did they carve a new batch every week? When we arrived, thankfully someone had already asked that question of a carver at work near the entrance. He told us that bacteria does begin to attack pumpkins as soon as the skin is penetrated, but as long as as he squirts his carved area (inside and out) with a bleach solution and covers it every night with a damp cloth soaked in the same solution, he can keep pumpkins looking fresh and display-ready for up to four months. I don’t know that I’ll want to keep mine on my porch for four months, but it will be nice to have some techniques to make sure they last from the pumpkin carving party until Halloween proper without looking scarier than I intended.

I already knew from the photo I saw on Instagram that there were some amazing pumpkins on view, but photos can’t even begin to compare to reality. The technical detailing is un-fricking-believable. I began to annoy myself with all of the times I breathlessly whispered “Oh my god, this is incredible. This is so incredible. These are so amazing.” I’m going to share a billion photos with you because I can’t bear to cull them, but in no way do my photos do them justice, especially because I was hand-shooting and I tend to be a little shaky and nowhere is that more evident than in low-light photos.

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The Seattle Museum of History and Industry

October 13, 2014 2 Comments read Attractions, Pacific, Travel, USA, Washington, West

The Seattle Museum of History and Industry (or MOHAI) manages to perfectly blend education and fun, which I personally believe is the sweet spot for most museums. Not all–you don’t want to risk making light of some serious topics–but there are plenty of museums that can benefit from some interactivity or lightheartedness to keep the tone from being too dry. MOHAI nails it, pumping visitors full of information in an entertaining fashion with a bit of quirkiness as well. It’s like they made the museum specifically to appeal to me–I best retain information when it’s conveyed with a sense of humor.

Each part of this display has an interactive component–some parts light up. The orcas jump in the waves. The sushi rolls down the conveyer belt. The clam pedals its bicycle. Black Bart draws his gun. It is so flipping cool.

They also have one of the two Toe Trucks on display–the left. Where the right one is, I’m not sure, but I remember reading about the Toe Trucks way back when I bought my first Roadside America book something like twenty years ago, so it was very cool to finally see one in person.

The typewriter of my hipster dreams.

They also had the best educational video I’ve ever seen. When my friend and I decided to swing back by the room about the Seattle fire when the video was scheduled to start, neither one of us expected the hilarity that was about to unfold in front of us.

They also had a slot machine that had a game about pioneer life in early Seattle that reminded me a lot of the one at the Astoria museum. Maybe because they both killed me off right away.

When I saw this rubber mallet and the railroad spikes set up in front of a monitor, I thought it probably wouldn’t hurt if I whacked a spike just a little with one, one time. As it turns out, it’s an interactive display that requires you to pound the spikes with the mallets, over and over again, for something like fifteen minutes. In order to get through the entire educational segment about the transcontinental railroad, we both ended up hammering with a mallet in each hand to speed the process. By the time it wrapped up, I had broken into a light sweat. That is how serious they are about getting you to work on the railroad all the livelong day.

Unfortunately, after the railroad, development on public transit basically stalled out permanently, which is why most of the suggestions about how to redesign the city involve transit. Though “dogs in sky for candy” would be good, too.

The Lusty Lady may be gone, but the sign lives on at MOHAI!

The innovation section of the museum is an excellent way to remind visitors of the astounding number of things that have revolutionized modern life that have their roots in Seattle. Not just $5 coffee, but computing, engineering, even the way we purchase goods! There’s something about the culture of Seattle that encourages invention, and MOHAI is right there, asking visitors what they will create to change the world. It’s refreshing and inspiring, and I resolve to introduce at least one new fart joke into the general lexicon, because that is what I can do. MOHAI is a top-notch museum, and absolutely one of my favorites. I’d definitely recommend it alongside the Underground Tour for anyone interested in learning about the history of Seattle.

Spotted on the Roadside: A Man-Eating Fish

October 10, 2014 Comments Off read Pacific, Spotted on the Roadside, Travel, USA, Washington, West

In Bremerton, the fish have completely turned the tables on your average lusty Washington fisherman, battling him out of the water (much to his surprise). All that remains is to gut him, clean him, and prepare him for dinner–may I suggest sus-he*?

Spotted on Fourth Street in Bremerton, WA *Worst. Pun. Ever.