One of the open stores was for used CDs and disc media. Too bad most of his wares were overpriced. I saw a few things that were tempting, but I didn't get anything. The paranormal show on ghostly activities just added to the seriously creepy atmosphere in the store and the mall.
Ironically, their Pier Arcade was slightly larger than the one at Colonie, and in much better shape. Every game worked. While I didn't get much out of it, I did roll my first 10,000 slot on skee ball.
After we left the Aviation Mall, we headed down the road to Six Flags Great Escape. They've considerably simplified parking in the sixteen years since we first started going here. Lauren just showed them a voucher she printed offline, and we went on our way. She parked in the Twix 3 lot (all parking lots at Great Escape are named for Mars candies), and we headed over the bridge to Great Escape.
Great Escape began in 1954 as Storybook USA. My older friend Linda Young attended it in is original form. Lauren says she's been coming here for as long as she can remember. It's pretty much what you would get if you crossed Storybook Land in Mays Landing with the New Jersey Six Flags, Great Adventure. The first thing we did when we arrived was explore the tiny Ghost Town western buildings. Lauren is five feet and can walk in easily. I'm 5'4 and mostly poked my head in to see the interior of a little hotel, school, church, county hall with a judge's desk, and boating office.
Headed over the Skittles bridge and into Hot Rod USA. This is the home of the "ring of fire" coaster Greased Lightin', the drop ride Sasquatch, and Flashback, a roller coaster that runs backwards. Our main interest in this area is Thunder Alley. Families drive small 50's-style cars around a fixed track. Boards telling the story of a ghost family going on a picnic in a graveyard joined the usual giant Technicolor tulips and vintage billboards for Storybook USA in its original heyday.
In fact, Great Escape was downright spooky. In addition to Oktoberfest, they'll be beginning their Fright Fest next week. Cheesecloth spider webs covered houses and entrance queues. The Ghost Town buildings were decorated with corn stalks and Indian corn. Scary statues of ghouls, ghosts, and gruesome horror icons were set up throughout the park. We ducked around them as we headed to the Fest Area for lunch.
The reason we came is for their Oktoberfest. The Festival Marketplace restaurant sold kielbasa, apple chicken sausage, pirogis, cole slaw, strudels, German chocolate cake, and Bavarian pretzel sticks. Lauren had the kielbasa and apple strudel. I had apple chicken sausage, apple strudel, cole slaw with raisins and walnuts, and Bavarian pretzels. We listened to a polka band in traditional German dress play polka versions of "Country Roads" and "Sweet Caroline," even bringing the kids in the audience play along at one point.
We had no intention of playing games after everything we did at the Big E, but we did try some cranes. I struck out here. Lauren won a cute printed jack-o-lantern wearing a witch's hat.
Lauren suggested our next ride. The Balloon Ride floated over the Fest Area, its colorful gondolas easily seen from the dining patio. It looked like fun...until we got on it! The around and around and up and down motion made me feel a little queasy. Lauren, who gets motion sickness, got a bit greener.
Headed to the Sky Ride to get the lay of the land and let our brains settle after the around and around. This ski lift lazily circles the area over Hot Rod USA and the lower part of the Fest Area. We admired empty stages, ponds, and Fest Area houses under us.
The Storytown Train is barely a two-minute walk from the Sky Ride. The train takes a long route past the River Dee, which seemed quiet and empty with the Swan Boats being refurbished. We passed Popo the Purple Cow (who seemed more like a friendly dragon) and a turquoise clock that was probably supposed to be Hickory Dickory Dock. The train turned through the woods, giving us glimpses of wrecked Ghost Town vehicles and the remains of the abandoned Jungleland rope bridges and animals.
Despite it being cloudy and barely in the 60's, Lauren wanted to ride the Raging River rapids. It's her favorite ride in the whole park. I wasn't sure that was a great idea. I had the chance to consider it. It was briefly closed when we went over there, but it reopened around 3:30. We finally ended up doing it together. Yeah, we got wet and cold, but it was still fun splashing around corners and under sprayers and mini waterfalls. If nothing else, the chilly day and this being the only ride currently operating in its area scared off other customers. This is the first time we went on the Raging River and didn't have to wait a half-hour or more for the ride. We didn't have to wait at all. We got on right away, with no one joining us.
We opted to dry off in the Alice In Wonderland walk-through. It was very dark and spooky inside. Once you get outside, you can see some of the nifty figures, like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and Alice caught in the White Rabbit's house. I thought the Queen of Hearts looked much too pretty to be ordering anyone's head to be chopped off!
I got the last ride of the day. The merry-go-round is too much around for Lauren, but I love carousels. This one is really neat, too. I rode a handsome orange jack rabbit with long ears. I also saw a dragon, a cat, a lion, a zebra, and a camel, along with horses with beautifully decorated saddles. I just wish two teenage boys hadn't spent the ride jumping off horses and climbing onto others, standing on the horses, and otherwise doing things they shouldn't have been.
By 4 PM, we were wet, cold, and tired, and the clouds were getting darker. It was time to pack it in and buy our souvenirs. She bought an Oktoberfest shirt that said "I'm at my Wurst" and a cute rolly-poly lavender walrus at the candy store. I found a chocolate brown Japanese-style kitty named Kona Coffee in the candy shop. Orange Thai Tea had her eyes closed, and yellow Coconut looked a bit grumpy, but Kona was adorable.
We had dinner back at Aviation Mall. They have a Friendly's on a separate outparcel overlooking the mall. Lauren had broccoli and cheese soup, a grilled cheese, fries, and a black raspberry sundae with peanut butter sauce. I had a chicken quesadilla, clam chowder, and a scoop of Viennese Mocha Chunk.
It finally started to rain as we turned onto the highway and headed home. The showers continued through most of the drive across New York. They slowed down as we neared the Massachusetts border and ended all together by the time Lauren pulled into their garage. It was rather cozy as Lauren turned up the heat and we sang Monkees and Weird Al Yankovitz songs all the way home, with Kona on my knee.
Finished the night on YouTube with the Sunday Match Game Classics marathon. Blonde beauty Elaine Joyce appeared frequently from early '73 through the very end of the syndicated run. Elaine could be annoyingly ditzy in some of her earlier appearances, including with her husband Bobby Van. She did help out with poor, shy Evie, the show's most nervous contestant, in early 1975, and appeared on the hilarious week with Bill Macy later that year. She and Bobby also got one of the funniest - and most controversial - answers as to what Batman and Robin did together.
Elaine did her best work during the early 80's syndicated run, after motherhood mellowed her out and calmed her goofier tendencies. Gene took advantage of her fondness for tight pants and blouses by letting her show off her looks to the audience frequently. In one of her last appearances, she brought her daughter Taylor Van to the panel to show off her too cute Polish dancing outfit.
Strut your stuff with the blond bombshell of game shows in this wild marathon!
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