Road trip: State Fairs

Gobble down a bunch of deep fried Twinkies and head for the nearest spin ride - it's time for the State Fairs to begin!

If you've got a road trip coming up, see the dates and websites of all the State Fairs here.

I'm going by two of them on my trip next week. I'm hoping to run across a Tango, a rare ride in North America. Taller than a Ferris Wheel, you're in a standing position on the ride while it flips in various directions.

But State Fairs aren't just about the rides - there's also the food! So far, I've tried deep fried Twinkies, Oreos, and Snickers. But this year, even though they look disgusting, I'm trying deep fried Mars Bars. How could they not be good?

As for the games, I usually can't pull myself away from the deep fried heaven of food and the rides. But if you can, check out this website to see tricks of winning games like the ladder climb, ring toss, guess you birth month, balloon dart game, or basketball free-throw.

A sibling of Darien Lake's "Twister"

If you like flipping upside down, I'm sure you've been on Twister at Darien Lake. Something frequently heard coming from the ride - people counting how many times they go upside down. Usually, the number is about four or five.

If you were riding a similar ride overseas though, the number would be a lot higher. Manually running rides is an art form in other countries and results in each ride being a completely different experience.

Check out this video of a Top Spin in Germany (same thing as Darien Lake's Twister, but with a different name). Imagine being lucky enough to get on a ride that's run like this!

Pirate Master cancelled...

Effective immediately, CBS has removed this disaster of a reality series from its schedule. But don't worry, they're not going to leave you hanging.

For putting up with the annoying contestants this long, you'll be rewarded with the final five episodes. CBS will be posting an episode per week every Tuesday for the next five weeks at cbs.com - after that, the show will be hopefully forgotten forever.

Half the time, I don't think the producers even knew what they were doing during this show. The rules were never completely explained until about three or four episodes in. Maybe that's why the contestants were so clueless. I doubt it though - I think they just cast some really boring people. It seems no one ever wanted to try to challenge the big winners, who then just kept winning, making the show even more boring.

I know, why'd I even watch the nightmare if I thought it was so bad? Especially when I'm not a fan of pirate themed things.

First, it's a reality show. Second, reality guru Mark Burnett was behind this show, so I knew it would be good (okay, I was wrong there). Third, after watching the first episode and seeing how bad it was, I couldn't resist watching again to see how much worse it could get. And it didn't disappoint there - the cancellation being proof.

Win an Indiana vacation...

Win a trip for four to one of two Indiana amusement parks!

It's the Great Indiana Getaway, sponsored by the Indiana Office Of Tourism Development. In addition to the vacation, you could win gas for the trip and an RCA digital camcorder & mp3 player to record the vacation!

Just write up a brief essay on why you should win and submit it online. But hurry, the deadline is July 27th.

Good luck choosing between these two parks. I know I wouldn't be able to decide and would just have to visit both of them.

Indiana Beach has a kind of Crystal Beach feel to it. The Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain is one of the weirdest roller coasters I've ever been on - it's an extremely unique wooden, partially inside, ride forwards or backwards coaster that you have to see to understand. Then there's a Chaos ride, Cornball Express, Air Crow, and the whole atmosphere on the lake - this is one of my favorite places to go in Indiana!

Holiday World has three incredible wooden roller coasters (including The Voyage - the world's top "air-time" wooden coaster), a gigantic water park, some very cool holiday theming, and unlimited free soft drinks. It's a perfect park for families and has been voted cleanest park for the past 7 years and friendliest park for the past 9 years by Amusement Today, an amusement industry trade publication.

Let me know if you win. Actually, forget that, just take me with you if you win!

A "Harry Potter" refresher...

The final "Harry Potter" book is out this Saturday morning at 12:01am. If you haven't started yet, chances are you won't be able to re-read the previous six books before then.

Here's a website that gives a brief review of the previous books. There's BIG SPOILERS there, so don't look if you haven't read them yet.

And if you're so psyched about this that you need to party leading up to the book release, head over to Borders Books across from the Walden Galleria. Friday night starting at 9pm will be the Grand Hallows Ball. There'll be trivia, games, and of course, the book will be sold at midnight. And don't forget to costume up if you go!

All other area Borders stores (Quaker Crossing, Eastern Hills Mall & Boulevard Mall) will be partying as well Friday night, starting at 9:30pm.

Le Grande Cirque at Darien Lake...

When I'm at an amusement park, it's always all about the rides. The restaurants, games, stores, and shows are things I don't even consider bothering with. Especially the shows as I'm not a fan of theater or musical productions. Le Grande Cirque is something completely different though.

Le Grande Cirque is the new show in the Galaxy Theater at Darien Lake. It's free with admission to the park. I heard that if you go to Darien Lake and only see this show, you've still got your money's worth. I was skeptical.

Turns out, it's true. And factual - the only other Le Grande Cirque in North America is in Myrtle Beach at the Palace Theatre. Ticket prices to see the show there range from $28 - $44 for adults. So you're actually getting to see the show at Darien Lake for less than the cost of seeing it in Myrtle Beach AND getting a full day at the park on top of that.

In addition, the show runs up to four times a day at Darien Lake and you could see all four 40-minute performances if you want. That should include all the acts and segments that rotate (as every show is different with the acts being swapped out throughout the day).

Click here to see a video preview of Le Grande Cirque at the Darien Lake website. I'd suggest not watching the whole video though and instead, go see it live. Forget "suggest", I highly recommend it.

The Wheel Of Death is my favorite. The tumbling through the raised loops was incredible (and surprising). The contortionists and acrobats blew my mind. Even the "ringmaster" who never said anything was very entertaining - and that's a shock, as the ringmaster is usually as obnoxious and annoying as clowns (which there are none of in this show - another plus).

And things don't always go exactly as planned during the performance. You really never know what's going to happen, which makes it even more fun as you root for things to work out for the performers.

I'll probably always take a ride on the Silver Bullet on the way to the Galaxy Theater, but this show has managed to pull me from the rides for at least an hour or two while at the park. Go see it soon - it's only here through Labor Day.

And no, this is not a paid commercial for the park. Anyone who knows me well knows Darien Lake is one of my favorite places on the planet already. Le Grande Cirque has done the almost impossible and made Darien Lake even better!

An insane ride...

You won't find this at an amusement park.

First you'll see the zip line in its entirety. Then watch the on-ride footage, followed by the ride stats.

Make sure to have your sound on when watching.

This is a thrill ride!

(Click on the picture for the video.)

Darien Lake - year round?

There's a proposal out there for a 109-million dollar expansion to make Darien Lake a year round park. This would involve an expanded hotel, an indoor waterpark, and possibly indoor rides.

This proposal is the focus of an article in last week's print edition of the Rochester Business Journal. But don't expect it overnight - it could take a few years to happen.

Road trip: Centralia, PA

If your travels take you through Pennsylvania this summer (or anytime), try to make your route go through Centralia.

It’s a small, almost abandoned Pennsylvania town with a big problem. A mine fire has been burning underneath the town for 45 years - and it can’t be put out!

The main highway through the town (route 61) has been rerouted around the worst of the fire. Some daring (and obviously crazy) people have parked their car and walked down the abandoned part of the highway. That would be at your own risk as it’s highly dangerous. I would advise just looking from that point and not going any further. The sign posted there says it all.

Just by staying on the main highway, you can see some of the smoke seeping up through the ground. It’s like you’ve entered the underworld in some spots - definitely spooky. Especially seeing all the empty (and condemned) houses and stores, all just waiting for their eventual collapse into the ground someday.

The scariest sight - one of the cemeteries on the hill that has smoke rising out of the ground all through it. That’s right along the well-travelled highway. Again, just look - don’t wander in.

Believe it or not, it’s not a complete ghost town. There’s still a handful of residents who refuse to leave their houses. While nobody is allowed to move into the area, the state has been unable to evict the residents who were already there. Sadly, the constant exposure to the gases will probably get to them soon and they’ll finally leave (on their own or not).

Check out Offroaders.com for more info and lots of awesome pictures of Centralia. And if you visit and must stop, park only alongside the official highway (there are a couple of parking areas) and don’t go far from it!

Here's the mapquest link to get there from Buffalo.

The brutal Crystal Beach Cyclone...

This time of year brings back fond memories for many in our area of Crystal Beach and its amazing amusement park. And the Comet!

But some might remember something a lot wilder and older than the Comet. From 1927 - 1946, there was a Crystal Beach Cyclone roller coaster.

Thank you to the Coaster Enthusiasts of Canada and CoasterGlobe for the pictures.

Check out video of the Crystal Beach Cyclone here. I can't imagine any safety inspectors would consider letting something like this operate now. It actually looks like it'll fall apart at any second. Look at the first drop - it's insane!

Want to take a virtual ride on the Cyclone? Go here for the excellent animation. I’m sure this portrays a much tamer ride than if you were actually on it. Especially when you consider there was a nurse on duty at the ride!

As for the Comet, go visit it at its new home on the other side of the state. It’s a slightly modified Comet, but still a good ride. You’ll find it at The Great Escape in Lake George, NY. And if you have a Darien Lake season pass, this year only you can use it to get in free at The Great Escape!

A Niagara Falls, NY aquarium!

This weekend, some friends from Rochester came over and we decided to go somewhere we’ve never been before - the Aquarium of Niagara.

While I've been to Marineland and Sea World, I've never been to just an aquarium. I had no idea what to expect.

The New York side of Niagara Falls is always blasted for having nothing to do, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. The park alongside the falls is amazing - you could spend an entire day just there and have a great time! And there's now a lot of fun attractions to check out too.

One of them being the Aquarium of Niagara. While it’s within walking distance of the falls, it’s all but invisible on 3rd Street. There’s free parking if you visit the aquarium and it was only $9 to get in, $6 for kids, and free for anyone three & under (and there's discounts for AAA members).

The penguins were fun to watch (the highlight for Mary & Nicole was watching the penguin feeding) and the sea lion show was great. They even had a Vegas-like magic show upstairs with Rob & Carol Allen.

My favorite part was the seals in their outside viewing area. At 11:00am and 1:45pm, you can buy a cup of fish to feed the seals. Make sure you read the bios for the seals too - each one proves how nice this aquarium is. And the demonstration and Q&A session was informative and entertaining.

The aquarium also has intimate “Encounter” & “Trainer For A Day” programs available. Check out their website for all the details.

I also enjoyed seeing the piranha and the anemonefish (yes, the “Nemo” fish) along with the many other aquariums throughout the building. Make sure you notice the little cartoon captions above some of the aquariums - they're pretty funny (and easy to miss if you're not looking for them).

And try the interactive games scattered around. One of them is to see how long you can hold your breath - can you beat my 1:02? My friends sure couldn’t. I could have gone a few more seconds, but that number seemed a good time to stop.

I can’t believe I’ve lived in western New York most of my life and have never been here. I'll definitely be going back!

So if you’re looking for something to do, check out the Aquarium of Niagara - I promise you, you'll have fun. And the penguins, seals, sea lions, sharks, and even the piranha will be happy to see you. Just watch out when those piranha smile...