Showing posts with label A Christmas Story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Christmas Story. Show all posts

Monday, August 13, 2012

A Visit To Rock N Roll Hall of Fame

 On Saturday, the folks set out to see the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. This was a place that Dad wanted to visit and Mama was not so sure about because she is a country music fan.  Dad is a rock fan.  In the car, they compromise and listen to classic rock.

They decided to eat lunch before visiting the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.  They stopped at a place called Brewsters. The parking lot was full of motorcycles. They went in and found the place not open for lunch but registering the motorcyclist for a fun run of some sort. They checked GPS and it said there was a Beef O' Brady's nearby.  That is a restaurant that Mama loved in Florida. It turns out that it is now Brewsters. They hopped back on the highway and searched the GPS again. It said there was an Arthur Treacher's nearby.   They haven't seen one of those in years, so they decided to try it.  They had to take a lot of back streets to get to it and after about two miles, they arrived.  It was now gyro place.  They were not having good luck. They passed a place called The Dolphin.  It is a family style restaurant.  They pulled in there. Mama was not sure about it but she was tired of looking for a place to eat.

The Dolphin is a family restaurant.  It has a lot of dolphin statues on the inside.  The service was good, but not fast.  They serve a wide variety of foods, but Mama decided to have a bacon cheeseburger.
Bacon Cheeseburger - Dad's Atomic Burger which had hot sauce on it is in the background.

See the bacon
Mama said it was good. It was not the best she has ever had, but not the worse.  Dad agreed.  He was worried his burger would be hot, but it wasn't.  They both ordered the 10 ounce hamburgers with onion rings and they were full.  Would they eat there again?  Maybe.

Dolphin Family Restaraunt on Urbanspoon

 Finally, they were on the way to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. The drive to it was easy. It is so different than Houston. We really are enjoying our stay in Ohio. Mama was surprised when she found out they had to pay to park. She thought the $22 per person to see the museum was enough. They followed the signs to parking and it said it was $10 but with validation from the museum, it was $8. They found cheaper parking as they were leaving, but that is what happens, doesn't it? They had to wait in line for about 15 minutes to get tickets. They must have gotten there at a busy time because later there was not a line at all. Mama was very disappointed that cameras were not allowed inside the exhibits. She told Daddy, "...but I'm a Blogger!" LOL Here are the photos she could take.
Front of Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
Back
Decorated guitars are all around the front - actually there are guitars around the downtown Cleveland area.


Johnny Cash's tour bus.  Mama was excited to see it.  Our RV is much bigger since we have slides.  No one could pass each other in this.  
Inside Johnny's bus - microwave and TV


TV in bedroom - couches turn into beds
Cars hanging inside museum


Elvis has a nice exhibit
 The lowest level of the museum has so much to see.  Elvis is there as well as the Beatles.  The Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Rick Nelson and, of course many others are there.  Mama didn't know some of them, but Dad did.  She wasn't excited about going, but she enjoyed it once she saw people she liked there.  There are movies to watch and music to listen to.  She just wishes she could have taken photos.  She really liked the Elvis exhibit.  She has been to Graceland, but it was nice to see more of his items here.  She didn't see anything from Elton John except for his signature on a wall. She recommends visiting even though the price is a bit steep.

Dad bought a t-shirt at the museum.  His t-shirt has all the inductees listed on the back.  Mama bought a magnet.  The folks have a magnet collection of all the places we have visited while traveling in Goldie.
Our magnet collection that hangs in Goldie
After leaving the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.  They visited the Christmas Story House.  If you missed that post, here it is .  She loved it, but you have to be a fan of the movie to enjoy it.

They were gone a long time, but decided to stop for dinner before getting home.  They stopped at a place that had some bad reviews.  Mama asked a neighbor here about it and she said she liked it, but her husband didn't.  She said the salad bar was good.  Mama saw a commercial for it, so they decided to try it.
Eat N Park
Mama ordered the roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy as well as the salad bar.  The salad bar was good.  It wasn't huge, but all the food on it was nice and cold and good tasting.
Roast beef sandwich on toasted bread with mashed potatoes and gravy - Yum!
Dad's meal - Seafood Pasta Bake - Shrimp and crabmeat baked in scampi butter and Alfredo sauce, served on a bed of penne pasta. Served with garlic toast and your choice of one side.



Eat'n Park on Urbanspoon

The folks liked this restaurant and are not sure why the rating is so low. They may re-visit it when Grandma and Grandpa are here. I guess you can't always go with the ratings because they visited a place last night that had 100% of the people liking it and Mama was very disappointed in the steak.   We will tell you more about that tomorrow.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Stayed Home And Slept This Weekend

Sunday, August 12, 2012

A Christmas Story - Tour Of The House

Yesterday, the folks set out on sightseeing and boy, did they spend money.  They visited the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame which was a little pricey to visit.  Mama said we will talk about that tomorrow.   She wants to tell you about a place that she was excited to see and she knows her BFF is anxious to see hear the full report.  She teased her with a couple of phone photos yesterday.

We are not sure how many of you are familiar with A Christmas Story.  It is a movie that came out  in 1983.  It was a flop at the theater, but then TBS (TV station) bought it and started showing it at Christmas time.  It is now shown 24 hours on Christmas.  It is now a hit. It is about a little boy, Ralphie, who wants a BB gun for Christmas.  Everyone tells him he will shoot his eye out, even Santa.  The movie is set in the 1940's.  The first time Mama saw the movie, she didn't like it, but now she thinks it is cute and funny.  I even watched it last year with her.  When Mama found out that the house was in Cleveland and they offered tours, she said she had to see it.

The house was bought by a man who became a fan of the movie after his parents sent him a lamp that they made that looked like the famous lamp in the movie.  He started making the lamps and selling them. He found out the house was for sale on Ebay and wanted to be sure he got it, so he offered $150,000.  He lived in California and had never been to Cleveland. When he actually saw the house in person, he realized he overpaid.  It is located in a neighborhood that is run down.  He fixed the house up though and watched the movie frame by frame to make sure it was as authentic as possible.  He didn't plan on charging admission, but maybe items from the gift shop didn't sell as well as he had hoped or maybe he realized people would pay to visit because the admission is $10 a person.

Mama didn't know if the tour would be worth the price of admission, but she wanted to take a chance. She was not disappointed.  You know how when you visit most places, you are told not to touch?  Well, you are encouraged to touch here.  You can try on the hats the kids wore, sit on the furniture, play with the BB gun, sit in the kitchen cabinet (if you know the movie, you know about the kitchen cabinet).   It is a fun place to visit if you are a fan of the movie. Mama said that everyone on the tour seemed to love the movie as much as she does.  Dad even thought the house was a fun visit.
Ralphie's House!

Looking into the kitchen.

Box with the lamp sitting next to it.

Hats the kids wore.

Photos of the family.

Famous kitchen cabinet.

Kitchen


Turkey, Christmas dinner - which was eaten by the neighbors' dogs in the movie.

Phone that Mother used in the movie.

Notice soap on the sink - Ralphie was punished with soap in his mouth.

Little Orphan Annie Comic  and decorder ring

Pink Bunny Suit in Ralphie's Room - Visitors can try it on.

The famous lamp

The BB Gun

Radio that Ralphie heard Little Orphan Annie on.

Notice the bowling ball under the tree?

Numerous electric cords that were seen in the movie.



I told you people were encouraged to get in the cabinet.

Backyard where Ralphie almost shot his eye out.

The car from the movie.
The movie is based on a true story.  The man who narrates the story is the real "Ralphie". He actually appears in the movie.  When Ralphie gets in line to see Santa the man tells him "the line ends here, it starts over there." that is the real Ralphie.

Across the street from the house is a museum which has items from the movie.
Clothes the kids wore.

The mother's clothes.

Clothes the waiters from the Chinese restaurant wore.

Ralphies coat
There were a lot more items, but we have probably overloaded you with photos today.  Mama is anxious to see the movie again after visiting the house.  They accidentally passed by the store that was in the movie where Ralphie saw Santa.  If they have time, she would like to visit downtown Cleveland to see the other filming sights.  They were not planning on visiting the house yesterday, but when she realized it was just a few miles from the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, they decided to see it.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Thinking of Christmas For Some Reason

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