June 21, 2023
We were supposed to work today but the load was very light and the Holmes’ gave us the day off. So we decided to take advantage of it and go to the US Olympic / Paraolympic Museum. It was very interactive and well worth the $20 entry fee for seniors. You walk in and once you pay, they give you a lanyard and a card. You now go to a bank of computers and enter your name, email address, etc. The reason for this is that this information is tied to your ID card that you are wearing. At a lot of the displays there are readers and will greet you personally. These readers will also track your scores on certain areas and will send you an email afterward. It is very cool.
After your computer entry, you move to one of several 10 feet tall screens and it will tell you about every Olympic athlete in the Hall of Fame. Of course you have the option to move from one to another. Or select by name or sport. Once an athlete is chosen, it gives you a brief bio and a brief bit about their accomplishments or reason they are in the Hall of Fame. Some contain brief videos. For me, as a youngster and teenager, I watched the Summer Olympics each time they played. I remembered so many names. It was great.
Next you went to an elevator and it takes you to the 3rd floor and you work your way down. It starts with the history of the Olympic games. I believe it is the next floor down that you encounter a very interactive area. First you can run a short dash. This is where your ID card comes in. Once you finish the race, you go to a kiosk and it will read your card and you select if you were in Lane 1 or Lane 2. It records your time. There are many other “training” activities to try. You can try your luck at a reaction area. There are five zones that you have to try and block like a soccer goalie. There are no actual balls hurtling at you but it is done with lights and sound. Not easy at all.
If you want something a little less physical, you can try and decide the best action of a Paralympic ice hockey game. Or move over to try your hand at slalom skiing or a luge. My favorite was electronic archery. They always give you pointers and how to play the game. You also have a practice round and then it keeps score. This was really cool.
There are a lot of very cool artifacts on display and a lot of great memories. The one thing I was surprised that wasn’t displayed more prominently was the 1992 Dream Team. There was a small picture and a brief blurb. At the end of the museum, you enter a theater and watch a brief video on what it means to be an Olympic athlete. When the video is over you exit through to the Gift Shop and then you exit the facility. We also found out that you can tour the Olympic Training Center. Very cool day.
One of the great things about being an RVer, especially a host, is that you meet so many nice people. We met and talked to John and Jeanne, who were in the site across from us. We decided to go to dinner tonight. We went to the Phantom Brewery. Of course I had to try a few different brews by ordering a flight. I tried the Dos Lunas (a Mexican Lager), Alpenglow Hefeweizen, Boxcar Amber Ale, and Northstar Pilsner. All were very good. For food I had the Brisket and Pimento Cheese sandwich. Nancy had a Beet Salad with Shrimp. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed our food. And it was a wonderful evening with our new friends. We finally decided to leave the restaurant and it was a real good thing we did. Our timing couldn’t have been better. Just after we got inside we had a downpour! And surprise, surprise we had hail! Ironically there was nothing showing on radar. It just popped up out of nowhere. Still a wonderful evening.
