From the Mountains to the Sea: Busch Gardens Old Country

Part Four: Make That "Not-so-Old" Virginny...

SATURDAY, MAY 25

Train Ride at Busch Gardens - Williamsburg, Va. TODAY is Busch Gardens day. After another great breakfast at the hotel (Breakfast Bar: All You Can Eat.. oh yeah !), we leave for Busch Gardens, not far away. We spend all day and evening here. It is hardly possible to describe the events of the day in detail.
Actually, most of it is spent waiting in lines. Here is a list of some of the things we do and see today:

SKYWAY - From ENGLAND to FRANCE
LE SCOOT - A log-flume ride in NEW FRANCE (Canada)
TRAIN - Around the park & back to NEW FRANCE
QUESTOR - Multi-media thrill ride. Linda, who suffers from Meniere's Disease (which causes intense dizziness and vertigo), is not really sure about going on this ride because of the possibility of it triggering a seizure, but her courage pays off and she enjoys it so much she wants to go again later (the line is too long, though)
LOCH NESS MONSTER - No! Nuh-uh! Linda doesn't have that much courage. She waits in the shade while I get to ride the twisty steel roller coaster alone (well, not exactly alone -- there were about 200 other people in line with me). Anheuser-Busch Brewery Tour

MONORAIL - To/From the Anheuser-Busch brewery where we take a self-guided walking tour and stop at the visitor center for free beer samples.

After this, we walk to GERMANY. Linda says she feels as if we really are walking to Germany (it is a long walk, the first half uphill, the second half downhill, the third half uphill again). In GERMANY we eat lunch at the huge FESTHAUS, made to look like a Munich bier hall. The lunch served here is humongous as well. We split an enormous corned beef on pumpernickel sandwich (at least eight inches thick), with a heaping portion of German potato salad, pickle and beer. Oh yes, and also big slices of carrot and Black Forest cakes. We are just in time for the Octoberfest production, with oopah band and polka dancers. It goes on for quite awhile. We do not stay for the end.

After lunch, we waddle back to ENGLAND to watch the Carvalho Bird Revue, an amazing show starring such parrots as Martha, a multi- talented sulphur-crested cockatoo, Harold, a green-wing macaw (and major clown), a yellow-naped amazon, and a beautiful (and rare) hyacinth macaw, which especially fascinates Linda. We sit right in front in the second row center.

After the bird show, we walk an even longer distance to ITALY and the ROMAN RAPIDS, a whitewater raft ride where one is guaranteed to get wet, and without a doubt, today I am The One. I enjoy it, though, and the coolness sure feels good.

While in ITALY, we also decide to ride the GLADIATOR'S GAUNTLET, a thrill-ride featuring a large car with passengers seated in two sections, facing one another. As the ride commences, to the sound of screaming metal and engines, the car twists and yaws on its two support pilings, while elevating high into the air. Suddenly it splits in two, with one section pulling up and away from the other, then coming back together. A quick twist and the positions are reversed, with the second section now pulling up and away from the first. Linda is unsure of trying this ride, too, but again she braves it, and enjoys the ride with no vertigo effects.

Questor Loch Ness Monster By now it is getting late, and after checking the line to see if we'll go on the QUESTOR ride again (the line is much too long now), we head back to the hotel to get cleaned up to go out with Jamie tonight.

Unfortunately, Jamie (who is responsible for chaparoning these schoolgirls) doesn't think she can get away long enough to go to a show. Instead, we drive over to the TraveLodge where she is staying (not far from our hotel) and visit with her there. The kids are all out swimming in the pool. When they return they need to use their the room to change clothes, so we grab a chance to kidnap her (she got permission) and we all go to the nearest bar (Basett's) for Bloody Marys. It is a good visit, and it gives us all a chance to high-five each other with a sense of accomplishment for bringing it off more or less as planned.