September 15, 2005
Love and rockets
Rocket!
Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center
Because I'm not just a girl (I'm an unemployed engineer and former NASA intern), we had to see more than ponies. Besides, Oz broke the NASA badge holder I got him from Langley and needed to replace it. There's not a whole lot at the visitor center which, I must say, has quite a lot of space which could be used for more exhibits. They do have a movie theater where they show a film of astronauts having fun in the shuttle by playing kids' games in zero gravity: yoyos, jacks, marbles, and more! The static exhibits deal with the WFF projects like rockets, giant helium balloons, and other basic research. One section dealt with Sam the monkey and his trip into orbit. Oz was a kid when Sam got shot into space and remembers how he was jealous of the monkey, because he'd had a picture in his head of the monkey in a space suit getting to fly the rocket and do experiments.
Another non-pony activity was eating ice cream.
Mister Whippy
Maddox Avenue, Chincoteague
Oz loves Mister Whippy, although I think half the appeal is saying "Mister Whippy!" Try saying it out loud a few times and you'll find that you start speaking in a falsetto. It sounds kind of cute, but slightly naughty. They have chocolate, vanilla, or chocolate-vanilla twist, and various sundaes and shakes. The hot apple sundae is pretty good. Next time I'm going to give the brownie sundae a try. We actually ended up scheduling meals around Mister Whippy. That's harder than it sounds, because if you fill up on great seafood then you don't have room for ice cream, even if it is "97% fat free."
At this rate, the write-up will take longer than the demi-vacation did. It's just as well, because I have so much translation work that I won't see the light of day till the end of the month and the WFF Open House.
333 words | September 15, 2005 08:45 PM | Wish you were hereI've been reading your blog for a little bit now..and am now just commenting, only because I have something to add. :oP
Chicoteague is very beautiful but when you were born and raised on the Eastern Shore (Onancock), it really loses it's beauty, in fact it's just plain boring. Very boring. I now live in Richmond, lots more to do and to see. I'm glad you had a good time though.
By the way, I love the first 3 chapters of your book!
--Paul
One of my fellow engineering students was born and raised on the Eastern Shore, I don't know where, and she couldn't wait to get back. In our required speech class, one of her speeches was about how great it was and we should all go there. So, I guess it just depends what you like. I like visiting rural areas, they are very exotic to me, but I don't know that I'd want to live an hour's drive away from Target, Thai food (although the Vietnamese place on Chincoteague was quite good), really big libraries, or all the other conveniences I take for granted.
Thanks for your comment, and thanks especially for reading the beginning of my book!
Posted by: Nee-chama at September 17, 2005 08:30 PM