Parchment Paths

After a year's absence I finally made it back to one of my favorite places, Knoebels!    I've been going there ever since I was about five year's old and have loved it ever since then. It's a free admission park, mostly surrounded by forest, so you feel like you're at a small time carnival, but with much better rides, like the new Flying Turns. It's a wonderfully smooth riding, trackless roller coaster. It's modeled after a bobsled track but meant to simulate flying. The only negative is that it's very short ride.    Then, there's my favorite The Twister! It's a great coaster with lots of sharp and swooping turns. There is also an old fashioned carousel where you can catch brass rings and a carousel museum that houses horses from all eras  and gives the history of the merry go round.   Inside the museum There is also a coal mining museum and museum recounting the history of the park.   Coal Mine wing   Knoebels Win

  After a year of waiting the gates Mount Hope have swung open for another span of faire days upon the shire. This time  however, we welcomed a new pair of monarchs, King Henry the VIII and Catherine of Aragon.  It was exciting, yelling out "Long Live the King" for the first time, since there's never been a king there as long as I've been attending. As with any new cast the first weekend is a bit stiff, but I'm looking forward to seeing them completely at one with their roles. Also, there's so much to see even without attending the shows, the glittering jewelry shops,  colorful glass ornaments, wooden and steal swords, leather goods and that's just the sights. The shire smells of roasted turkey legs,  incense, handmade soap, apple wine, funnel cakes wrapped around sticks which are so delectable that it negates the anachronism of deep frying in Tudor Times.   The best part of it all was being there with friends and making new ones. One of the cast,