Rants

Mind Your Mini-Golf

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

The New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York, recently launched a new astro-attraction: Rocket Park Mini Golf, a valiant educational effort that attempts to teach kids about physics through the joy of amateur putting (And we don’t mean discovering how time seems to stretch out into infinity when stuck behind slowpokes trying to […]

Turn Off, Tune In, Drop By

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Luckenbach, Texas was never a bustling metropolis. In 1904, its population peaked at a far-from-astounding 492. And by the 1960’s, Luckenbach was three citizens short of being a complete ghost town. Then, in 1970, a group of friends (Hondo Crouch, Guich Koock, and the normal-named Kathy Morgan) bought the entire kit and kaboodle for $30,000 […]

Ironworld Loses Its Mettle

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Back in the 1990s, a tourist attraction named Ironworld U.S.A. was a popular stop in Chisholm, Minnesota. It had a teepee, a goofy-looking dinosaur, and a train ride along the rim of an open-pit mine “to enjoy the scenic wonder of an open-pit mine,” according to its brochure. It wasn’t technically accurate (cartoon dinosaurs rarely […]

Cost in Space

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Plain old earthbound tourism has seen plenty of price-cutting and bargain hunting in recent tight-fisted times. But when it comes to Space Tourism, the price is skyrocketing! Russian Space agency Roscomos announced that it is nearly doubling the cost of a trip to the International Space station. If you want a seat on the Soyuz […]

The Last Temptation Of A Souvenir

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

If a tourist attraction succeeds, thrives, and endures long enough, it accumulates a storeroom full of old brochures and souvenirs. While many owners toss yesteryear’s marketing into the trash and merchandise into the 25 cent bins, some hold onto their creations. They open a “museum” about the attraction’s past, to put tourists in the proper […]