Parchment Paths

The answer I’ve come up with is not quite but it’s getting close. Walt Disney’s original plan for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) was not a theme park at all but an actual, if futuristic, living and working community.   So, in that regard, no, Epcot is not being transitioned from theme park to community.             What makes me feel as though EPCOT is almost living up to Walt’s initial dream is the fact that the park is actually making substantial changes and upgrades. A great irony of the park is that while its main theme are change and growth, there has been very little of either in the past years.             While plenty of attractions, even entire buildings of attractions have closed, such as The Wonders of Life Pavilion, the only new attractions in recent times have been Mission Earth and Frozen Ever After. Then, bit by bit, Disney began announcing even more new additions to what some naysayers call the least popular park.               At firs

The gates of the Shire of Mount Hope, aka, The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, have opened for the 2019 season. Aside from longing to be back, I was excited to meet with good friends to enjoy the weekend. We talked, saw shows, mingled with people of the Shire, ate good food, and just enjoyed each other’s company.   While the Shire is a wonderful place to be no matter the company, but the company always changes and enhances the day. Good times and places are always best shared with good company after all. After the second day of the faire, some of us visited the delightful town of Litiz where we tasted exotic cheeses and bought chocolate . Then because, you can never have enough chocolate, we visited Hershey Park and Chocolate World, where we made our own delicious candy bars.  Revisiting my second home at the faire, catching up with good friends, and having adventures; what could be better?

         Anyone who’s watched the Netflix original series StrangerThings will find themselves nostalgic for the 1980’s, cassette tapes, arcades, big hair, and the now classic movies that influenced every kid who saw them.           Most of us 80’s and even early 90’s kids longed to find pirate gold, fly our bikes over town, and save the town from evil, yet hilarious witches. Stranger Things brought back all of those childhood adventures and the feeling that while being a kid was hard, it was also amazing, adventurous, and inspiring. Being an adult can be all of those things, even if we are not helping neighborhood kids defeat monsters.           So, if after watching all three seasons that Netflix has to offer leaves you wanting more of similar adventures then here are five suggestions for you. 1. The Goonies (1985) Much like Stranger Things , young kids and teenagers, often on bikes, save their town. They encounter bullies, escaped convicts, an unlikely friend, and