What do Michael Jackson and Bigfoot have in common?

August 2, 2010 –

Well, the good news is that I made up for not taking any pictures yesterday by taking about 5 gazillion today. How could I not on a day when we met Johnny Depp?

We took a little walk around Grandpa and Grandma Deb’s property this morning, and then after a home-cooked breakfast, we headed into Newport. It’s kind of a funky, cool little touristy coastal town, and we started off by visiting the sea lions. Then we got combo passes to visit four very important historical and scientific “museums” of the area. Okay, maybe museum is too strong of a word even when used in quotes, but we all had a lot of fun.

The first fine establishment we visited was the Wax Works Living Museum. Although it was a little corny as we expected it would be, it was also a blast. The kids loved it. We saw the cast of MASH (including Klinger in a dress) although that display didn’t mean a lot to the kids, but we also saw Michael Jackson, the Terminator, Sacagawea, Gollum, Sherlock Holmes, many Star Wars characters, and even Bigfoot – sorry, Brian, he does exist, but you won’t have to worry about him since you’ll be safe inside Folsom Prison once you’re convicted of a crime you didn’t commit. Anyway, the highlight of the Wax Works was a karaoke American Idol recording studio complete with Wax figures of all the judges and the host – we are the only Americans who do not watch the show so I don’t know their names – but we all had a ball. The kids sang YMCA, Soul Man, Let’s Do the Twist and Becky and I sang (if you call what I do singing) I Love That Old Time Rock and Roll. A great time was had by all. I would definitely recommend Wax Works to any fun-loving family passing through Newport.

Our combo passes also included admission to an Underwater Garden which was basically a funny guy in scuba gear playing with sea critters in a huge tank that looked like the ocean floor and formed an oval surrounding the viewing area. There was also a petting area for the kids. I’m sure it was very politically incorrect to allow four-year old Katie to pick up a starfish with her grubby hands, but hey we had fun and maybe learned a little at the same time.

After that we walked through a Butterfly Garden, and my comment about Katie and grubby hands would have to big a big ditto here applied to all of the kids – and me too for that matter.

The final “museum” we visited was Ripley’s Believe It Or Not – a wonderful mix of amazing, bizarre and ridiculous trivia and re-creations that sucks in both children and adults alike. It felt like we were walking through an issue of the National Inquirer. Do they still publish that newspaper?

We then proceeded to the foggy, windswept beach where the kids played in the Ocean anyway. It did have really cool sand dunes, and Katie kept crawling around like she was dying of thirst in the Sahara. How she managed to get sand into every crevasse is beyond my understanding.

We finished the day off with dinner at Izzy’s – one of the best buffets I’ve ever had, and it also was built on a cliff with an awesome view of the beach and ocean. I would recommend the ribs, specialty pizzas and fudge-frosted brownies. Just an FYI.

As I’m writing this, Katie is sleeping, but Becky, Alex, Grandpa and Grandma Deb are all watching New Moon. Good thing I have this blog to keep me busy.