Currently viewing the tag: "Harrisburg Pennsylvania"

Local Flavor

By On · Add Comment · In Columns

by Valerie Nusbaum

Last week, Randy and I drove up to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to visit a museum there. We were very excited to be out and about because we don’t get out much anymore.  Our last big road trip was the trip we took to Michigan two years ago. Other than a few weekends in Ocean City, Maryland, and a short trip to Chincoteague, Virginia, we’ve been spending our time in Thurmont. This is due to family obligations, work schedules, and not feeling up to traveling for one reason or another. That day, we spent over an hour together in our truck, reminiscing about trips we’ve taken in the past. We miss those days.

As we drove through Dillsburg, heading to Harrisburg, we remembered the year we celebrated my birthday by going to Williams Grove amusement park. The park is closed now, but even back then it had seen better days. I remembered going there as a child with my parents and my brother. Randy had never been at all, so the two of us went exploring. We went up on a Friday, and as luck would have it, Fridays were “Hot Dog Days.” Every customer in the park got a voucher for a free hot dog and drink. We always enjoy a freebie, so this was an added bonus. Randy and I laughed as we remembered riding the Himalaya. The guy in charge of the ride must have fallen asleep, because that thing went around and around and up and down for a full twenty-two minutes. I know because I timed it. Going forward wasn’t so bad, but those backward rotations didn’t do my stomach any favors, especially with the free hot dog in there. We got off the Himalaya and headed toward the roller coaster. It was my fault. I honestly thought we were in line for the kiddie coaster that I remembered riding as a kid. Nope. This was the full-size wooden coaster, and it shook and jarred us until our teeth hurt. There were two young boys in the seat in front of us, and one of them turned around and said, “Hey Lady, it helps if you scream.” It didn’t. The Tilt-A-Whirl is my favorite ride, and we saved the best for last, which proved to be a bad idea, because when we got to it, the ride was on fire. Upon reflection, this might have been a good thing.

Still driving through Dillsburg, we reflected on the last time we went to the drive-in. We saw the sequel to the Halloween movies, with a grown-up Jamie Lee Curtis, so you know how long ago that was. I remembered that Randy was mortified because we hadn’t had dinner, and I begged him to stop at the Chinese restaurant in the strip next to the drive-in for some moo goo gai pan. Randy didn’t think that we should take food into the drive-in, but I promised him it would be fine. It was, but I still remember him trying to cover it up as we paid for the movie. It turned out that the dinner was better than the movie.

We love a factory tour or a good tasting, and as we drove further into Pennsylvania, we reminisced about the time we did the Turkey Hill experience. All the ice cream and iced tea samples we could eat and drink for the low price of $9.99 each. We opted not to pay the additional fee for creating our own flavors. We’re basic chocolate and vanilla people. We could have gone to the grocery store and bought two half gallons of Turkey Hill ice cream for $5.00 on sale, but we reasoned that this had to be better. Besides, we all know that a carton of ice cream is no longer a half gallon.  Not even close.

We shared some laughs about visiting the Cape Cod potato chip factory when we were in Cape Cod. We could smell those chips frying from miles away, and we just followed our noses to the plant. It’s fun to sample everything, and we did. There’s a pretzel factory in the Poconos. I don’t really like pretzels, but when in Rome… The pretzel pizza wasn’t bad. Randy and I did a bit of Christmas shopping at the Utz and Snyder’s factories in Hanover, Pennsylvania. The folks on our gift list enjoy edible things because nobody our age wants more knick-knacks or decorations.

Wine tastings are another thing we enjoy. Learning new things is fun, and since my dad used to make wine, I’ve always been interested in it. We enjoy tasting the wines, but neither Randy nor I are big drinkers, so the five full glasses I was given at Elk Run Winery was probably a mistake for me. Ditto for the thirty-four tastes with cheese pairings at Linganore Winecellars.  We remembered visiting wineries in Panama City, Florida, as well as in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I even brought home a bottle for my mom, called Wanda’s a Fruitcake.

The time passed and we made it to the museum in Harrisburg. We probably should have kept going.  At the very least, we should have done some research on the exhibits.  The lady selling tickets looked us over and felt the need to tell us that the downstairs exhibit was “provocative.” She was correct.  When I stop shaking, I’m sure this will be another funny memory for us.

Mineral Bob’s Great Outdoors

By On · Add Comment · In Columns

by Bob Warden

It’s hard to believe we have gone through another hunting season and made it through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays without gaining too much weight (yeah, right). Now we start a new year.

I hope your season went well, or at least better than ours. It seemed like a tough hunting year for a lot of folks out there. I talked with lots of people who are wondering where all the bucks got to. I know we didn’t see many good-sized bucks during the daylight hours, but we had some dandies on the trail cam at night. I only hope they made it through the season. I’m not sure about the reason for the night-time-only pics; it may have something to do with the warm weather and the rut activity that only seemed to pick up right at dark and only for a few days.

But, anyway, another year is over and we start to think about and plan for 2016 events and hunts. Where to move stands, and if we need to move stands, do we put in more food plots and take care of existing food plots? Seems like hunting is getting to be a year-round adventure and lots of work! But that makes it all the more rewarding when we see all our hard work pan out, with better turkey production and a healthier deer herd.

Also, I would like you to start thinking about the upcoming outdoor shows, which ones to attend, what new products to check out, and which ones to try out. The ATA show is already over in Kentucky and the Shot Show in Vegas just ended. The Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is getting ready to open on February 6-14, 2016. So, get your walking shoes on and head to Harrisburg; I hear it’s going to be better then last year!

On the new product front, I see Bear and Browning are getting into the crossbow craze . I guess they see how sales of crossbows have caught or passed sales of compounds. Rage, Muzzy, and Ramcat (to name a few), have new designs in their broadheads coming out for 2016. Moultrie is also coming out with a field modem to adapt to your trail cams, to send pics to your phone through the Verizon mobile network. They also have a new 10 MP camera coming out for under $100. Spypoint trail cams is causing a big stir by unveiling a camera with 0.007 second trigger speed that has solar panels to power it, with a battery backup system. I always wonder what trail cam manufacturers are going to do next. Seems like they get faster trigger speeds, higher megapixals, and smaller camera bodies.

On the clothing front, I have been watching a company that seems to be trying to compete with Under Armor. They have two divisions: HUK gear (for fishing) and NOMAD gear (for hunting). I have purchased some of both, and it looks and seems well made—pricing is a little cheaper than Under Armor. One thing I did buy this year for hunting season was heated vests and gloves. They run on 7-volt lithium batteries and last up to six hours, depending on what level you run them on. They are not cheap, but I am tired of getting cold on the stand. Now, this year was not that cold for a good test, but they did seem to work as advertised. Maybe next year will be colder and more of a test.

As a side note, if any of you older folks remember The Fishin’ Hole with Jerry McKinnis (I grew up watching that show). Well, anyway, he just wrote a book, which is now available on Amazon. Its titled, Bass Fishing, Brown Dogs & Curveballs. I just finished it; it’s a good read with lots of interesting stories of his life before, during, and after The Fishin Hole.

Well, just a few thoughts and ideas for all of you for the new year. You can check out what’s going on in the industry, on the show front, on the product front, and on the personal front, by visiting the sites at theoutdoorwire.com and archerywire.com. It is new information every weekday from the outdoor wire, and new information once a week from the archery wire.

As always, be safe in the outdoors and be a good ambassador for our sport! Hang in there…turkey season is right around the corner.