Baby back ribs, Irish stew, take your pick!

I have just posted new information on dining safely with food allergies at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg! After all, you don't want a run in with gluten (or whatever you're allergic to) putting a damper on your adventurous spirit during your travels. Go to "Make the Most of Your Visit" at the Unofficial Guide to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and click on "Food Allergies." Personally, I am leaning towards the scrumptious-sounding dining at Trapper's Smokehouse in New France and Grogan's Grill in Killarney.

The Story of Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Part I

The "Rhine" comes to Williamsburg

Busch Gardens' The Old Country, as it was initially called, opened in Williamsburg VA in 1975. Despite soggy weather delaying the opening (this is, after all, Virginia), The Old Country opened in May to rave reactions. Marylanders, Virginians, and Washingtonians flocked to the park, and by the end of just its first season, over 3.1 million visitors had passed through its gates.

An Afternoon in Dogwood Canyon

Cornus Florida, a.k.a. Dogwood

Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, south of Branson at the Missouri-Arkansas border, is a beautiful nature park that Johnny Morris, the owner of Bass Pro Shops, purchased the park in 1990, putting it into a trust to permanently protect the beautiful 10,000-acres from development.

The park includes a riding stable, but having already finished a trail ride the previous day at Big Cedar Lodge, I figured I would use my own two feet this time. (Okay, so I didn't know about the Dogwood Canyon stables till I got there, but I'll remember to make reservations next time.) Anyway, I took the six-mile walking path by foot, photographing the many beautiful scenes along with way. The leaves were just beginning to open, slowly adding color to the grey deciduous trees. 

However, even in winter the canyon must be colorful, due to the surrounding red cliffs  riddled with mysterious caves. My father and I spied a vulture staring perspicaciously from the mouth of a deep cave high above us, which a wooden sign nearby cheerfully dubbed "Indian Burial Cave." I wish I knew the history behind that!

Vulture on the rocks, please...

I'd turn back, if I were you...

Later, the divulging of a covered wooden bridge from among trees at the end of the winding path created one of my favorite images. The bridge was built by the Amish (or was it Quakers?).

And I have never seen a wider variety of waterfalls. From a faint trickle over mossy rocks and wild flowers, to a cascade waterfall pouring into a glassy stream, and enough block and tiered waterfalls adorning the gurgling streams to inspire the Keats in even the most unpoetic traveler.

The Hope Wilderness Chapel was a nice surprise to come upon, and their wedding brochure online says that you can arrive in a horse and carriage. Unfortunately, they were running short on grooms that day, so after taking a few snaps of the photogenic chapel I trudged on ahead, still, as the old vernacular would say, a spinster.

Hope Wilderness Chapel

The finale of the walking tour was the Jumping Hole -- I mean Glory Hole! The site of the crystal clear water really does give you the urge to go swimming. Behind the plunge waterfall gaped a deep, dark cave that looked right out of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or Journey to the Center of the Earth. If you don't know what I'm talking about, spend a few lunch breaks getting acquainted with Mark Twain's and Jules Verne's fertile imaginations.

The grey sky that day could not minimize the canyon's beauty one iota. I left the canyon that day with a new love for, well, everything about it, but especially dogwood trees--now I want a house just surrounded by them!--and mossy stone bridges, not to mention a new addition to my photographic collection of unique signs.

And I just found out that Dogwood Canyon stands in the Mark Twain National Forest. Mark Twain! Now if that ain't cool, I don't know what is.

The Charm of Downtown Ellicott City

Some of the most fascinating places I have visited are the small, historic downtown areas, where chain restaurants are nearly non-existent and the town has its own distinct ambiance. The mists in the morning at Carmel, California, the wildness and solitude of Whidbey Island, Washington State--small as they are, each place is distinct and unforgettable.

Ellicott Mills Railroad Station

One of my most memorable downtown visits was in fact 3,000 miles away from the aforementioned charmers.

The Unofficial Guide to Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Voted the nation's most beautiful theme park for twenty-one consecutive years, Busch Gardens Williamsburg  successfully merges beautiful gardens and European architecture with top-notch rides and shows. 

BGW is the only place where you can watch an Irish dance show, plummet straight down at 71 mph, stroke a Clydesdale's nose, ride the world's only coaster with interlocking loops, admire the handiwork of Italian artisans, channel your own inner pottery muse, scream your head off on a dive coaster, scratch the back of a cuckoo bird's head, survive the Alpengeist, escape the wrath of Mount Vesuvius, lose yourself in natural beauty, and take on a wild coaster ride through a "Verbolten" forest all in the same day.

So, take a stroll through my cool new website, The Unofficial Guide to Busch Gardens Williamsburg!

Roses and Rollercoasters

Busch Gardens Williamsburg has something for everyone. My mother, for example, loves the shows, architecture, gardens, as do I.  As kid, I once brought a sketch pad and spent hours in San Marco's Pompeii-style gardens sketching the statuary.

However, my delicate-lover-of-art-and-roses phase gradually transitioned into a yeah-cool-gardens-now-show-me-the-roller-coasters frenzy.

The Gardens boast fantastic roller coasters, ranging from the smooth and soaring Apollo's Chariot to the wild Alpengeist and record-breaking Griffon. Busch Gardens not only has something for everyone, but also something for whatever phase in life you're going through. My Irish dance craze was (is) easily met at Killarney.

Anyway, returning to coasters, I cannot wait to ride Verbolten, due to open in Germany in Spring 2012! BGW's official site describes the coaster as "an all-new multi-launch, indoor/outdoor roller coaster."  The storyline involves a German tourist car going out of control in the "verboten" (German for forbidden) Black Forest. I don't know any more about the concept, but I can say one thing: by altering "verboten" to "verbolten," BGW more than hints at the roller coaster's speed. The coaster also, wisely, maintains the plummet off the cliff towards the Rhine--one of the most distintive features of the Big Bad Wolf, which Verbolten is replacing.
The Big Bad Wolf had many of devoted fans (including yours truly), and it will be missed. As TheUltimateRollerCoster.com reported when Wolf closed in 2009:

The Big Bad Wolf is notable since it's the world's first suspended coaster and is credited with taking roller coaster design to a new level when it opened in 1984. Since its debut more than 29 million guests have ridden this roller coaster.
Besides its signature drop over a cliff above the Rhine River, one of the best attributes of The Big Bad Wolf is its 42-inch height requirement, which is six inches less than most comparable roller coasters its size. As a result The Big Bad Wolf has many fans — young and old alike — who often cite it as their introduction to the coaster experience. 

In fact, it was the only roller coaster I could ever get my mom to ride--it was just so much fun, even she forgot how much she hated coasters! Verbolten, Mama better like.

About Verbolten: BGW's official website describes the coaster as "an all-new multi-launch, indoor/outdoor roller coaster."  The storyline involves a German tourist car going out of control in the "verboten" (German for forbidden) Black Forest. And by altering "verboten" to "verbolten," BGW more than hints at the roller coaster's speed.

Check out BGW's official site for a really cool teaser video, a making-of video, and a lot more!