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Archive for Miscellany Monday

Miscellany Monday, and ANOTHER Giveaway!

VERY exciting goings-on here lately at GBOGH HQ!  (Hi, I’m Traci, and I’m an acronym-aholic.)

First, we were delighted to be included in the Go Green Travel Green website’s list of Best Travel Writing of 2010!! Our post about the Walkway Over the Hudson,  the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge, was included.  Having given new life to an unused railroad bridge, The Walkway is an inspirational example of recycling on a gargantuan scale.

Second, we’re thrilled that Alltop® has now included our blog within its Travel category. Alltop is a “start page” which categorizes feeds and filters the top news on the subjects of your choice. We’re expecting a lot more eyeballs will find their way here!

Alltop. Seriously?! I got in?

And now, for the really exciting news! We’re giving away a copy of a children’s book which is just hitting stores TODAY!

Quick back story: The Boy is a voracious reader, so I’m always on the lookout for books he may like. On Facebook, I happened upon the page for popular children’s author Dan Gutman. (The “My Weird School’ series and more).  I found out that he was releasing a book about a cross-country road trip, with kids visiting quirky roadside attractions, and I was hooked.

I contacted Dan, and asked if he would consider offering a book to our readers. He graciously said “yes,” and added that he thinks this blog is “cool!” (Wait, a few more !!!!!!!. There, that’s better.)

Here’s an intriguing video and synopsis of his new book, The Genius Files:

In eight days, Coke and Pepsi McDonald are going to turn thirteen. Before then, they’ll jump off a cliff, get trapped in the locked basement of their burning school, get chased cross-country by murderous lunatics, left for dead in the pit of a sand dune, thrown into a giant vat of Spam, and also visit the largest ball of twine in the world. Read all about it in “The Genius Files” brand new from Dan Gutman.

Did you see the world’s largest ball of twine?! You know that’s on my bucket list, right?

Want to enter to win a copy of The Genius Files? Just sign up to receive our e-mail notifications (see upper right hand corner). If you’re already a subscriber, just comment below and give me the name of your favorite book from your childhood (I call Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret).

A winner will be chosen randomly and will be notified next Tuesday (2/1/11), and will be asked to provide a mailing address.  The prize will be mailed directly to them from the author, so the winner must reside in the U.S.

Or, if you want to make sure you get a copy, get yourself to a bookstore and add this treasure to your collection!

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MISCELLANY MONDAY

First, a friendly reminder that there are only THREE days left to enter our giveaway drawing for a copy of Walt Disney World Extreme Vacation Guide for Kids by Kathleen Reilly.  We included this fun prize in our post last week about the world’s largest Disney store in Times Square!

Cobra Bubbles

Cobra Bubbles! Credit: Fotolog.com

You can find more information about entering your name here. We’re asking for a name of an obscure Disney character.  Fiona likes Roquefort the mouse from The Aristocats. Linda loves Bruno , the dog from Cinderella. Personally, I like Cobra Bubbles from Lilo & Stitch; such a conflicted, multi-faceted character! If you need a list of Disney characters, this one is pretty complete!

We were flattered to be interviewed last week for the Sharing Travel Experiences website about Go BIG or Go Home! Spreading the gospel about BIG things…is this my calling? 😉  You can read the whole article here.

And, because this blog is just so cool, it is also featured on TravelBlogs.com this week! I’m not generally inclined to say “Hooya!,” but it seems appropriate in this case.

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MISCELLANY MONDAY

Who else is suffering from the world’s largest food hangover? Show of hands…

A few fun items to report today…

Be on the lookout for another contest & giveaway this week! Can’t tell you what the prize is yet, but here’s a clue: rhymes with “bisney.”

We’re SO delighted to be the focus of an article in Perceptive Travel, an award-winning webzine! The site includes a “biggest highest longest category” where they highlight unique, bizarre, and eccentric sights…can you dig it?!? We can!

Also, please check out our recent guest post for Travel Mamas, a fun family travel website. We shared five of our favorite “Go BIG” kid-friendly attractions!

Hey, did you know that the world’s largest disco happened this Saturday night in Buffalo, NY?  The event sold out — and 7,000 people got their boogie on! It’s an annual fundraiser, and has raised over $1,800,000 for Camp Good Days and Special Times, a camp for children with cancer and several other children’s charities. Henry Winkler (aka “Fonzie”) was there! Did anyone else have a little bit of a crush on him growing up? Yes, we’ve already established that I’m OLD. No need to remind me.

Disco

World’s Largest Disco! Photo by Joe Cascio. www.JCascioPhoto.com

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MISCELLANY MONDAY

And a chocolate winner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered our first “Go BIG” contest / giveaway! In honor of Halloween, we’re giving away a supply of the new Butterfinger Snackerz. All I can say is… it’s a good thing Nestlé didn’t send them to me to mail to the winner. She would have received a nice bag of empty wrappers.

Our winner was chosen randomly from the list of our new e-mail subscribers since last Tuesday. And by “randomly,” I mean I showed the list to The Girl, who can’t read yet, and said, “pick one.” Her little pointer finger went to Cindy B.  Congrats, Cindy!

A couple of world records were broken in the past three days; all food-related. Matt, who can’t function in the morning until his coffee IV drip is flowing, is especially fond of this one:

The World’s Largest Cup of Coffee, created by GourmetGiftBaskets.com. This cup holds 2,010 gallons, or enough for 32,160 normal cups. About a week’s supply for Matt.

Worlds largest cup of coffee

They set this record on Friday, then set a new record for the World’s Largest Cup of Iced Coffee on Saturday!

I like this one, too. A Mexico City borough made the World’s Biggest Enchilada yesterday! It’s 230-feet long, and almost 1 1/2-tons! Qué rico! Actually looks pretty tasty, too.

 

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Miscellany Monday

Some updates on our Go BIG travels, news, and links to sites we like!

Babble.comFirst order of business today…me begging for your vote!

I’m not ashamed to say that I nominated myself to be on Babble.com’s list of “Top Twitter Moms” under my Twitter handle, “GoBIG_GoHome.” I’m trying to get some publicity for the blog. Currently, I’m ranked around #65. 

If you are willing, could you please go to this page by clicking here to vote for me?  Search for me on page 2, listed as “GoBIG_GoHome.” If you click “Like,” my ranking will improve tremendously! THANKS!!!

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We’re very excited to be the FIRST guest bloggers on The Wanderlists!  This is a a great site dedicated to exploring the world with kids by your side. Check out our post here.

Our guest post for Trekaroo also came out this past week! We’re spreading the word about BIG family fun!

We were also hugely, largely, bigly (okay, not a word) flattered to be included on this list of fun family travel links on the Travels with Children blog.

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Last Thursday the kids were off from school, so we went into NYC for a day of fun in and around Times Square. Our agenda included Madame Tussauds’ wax museum (creepy), the new Pop-Tarts World (sugary), Bryant Park (lovely), the Hard Rock Cafe (yummy), Midtown Comics (super hero-y), and the Hershey’s Store (chocolately)! 

To our delight, we noticed a couple of “world’s largest” items in Hershey’s…

Hershey Bar

I’ve trained them to sniff out and locate the largest pieces of chocolate they can find. In this case, the “World’s Largest Hershey’s Bar,” five lbs. of choco-heaven. Good job, kids. Now put it back.

Hershey's KissIt’s the “World’s Largest” Hershey Kiss! Actually, it’s a huge, hollow Kiss containing a bunch of individually-wrapped Kisses inside it. Commence salivation.

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Miscellany Monday

Some updates on our Go BIG travels, news, and links to sites we like!

Anguish. Despair. Sorrow. We MISSED the world’s largest cannoli this weekend! It was made Friday at a bakery only 25 minutes away! They served it up on Saturday, and we read about it in the newspaper on Sunday. Sniff. It was seven feet long, and 123 lbs.

World's Largest Cannoli

World's Largest Cannoli Photo Credit: TOM BUSHEY/Times Herald-Record

To ease my grief, we’re heading into NYC tomorrow to see the first ever Pop-Tarts store, in Times Square. If anyone’s been, let me know what we shouldn’t miss. We’ll also check out Midtown Comics, which isn’t the world’s largest comic book store, but it’s up there.

We’ve already been to the M&M’s store a few times, so we probably won’t get there this time. I’ve read that the wall of M&M’s in the Times Square store is the world’s largest. (Of course, how many could there really be?) Am trying to get official confirmation of this! Anyone know anyone at Mars candy company?

Light Bulb

We were proud to be featured as a guest blogger on Travel Savvy Mom recently. Our “Sidetracked” post covered our day trip to the Thomas Edison Center in Menlo Park, and of course our pilgrimage to the World’s Largest Light Bulb!

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Miscellany Monday

Some updates on our Go BIG travels, news, and links to sites we like!

We just got back from Montréal! I didn’t realize that I had the power to control the weather, but whaddya know, I do. It was perfect – sunny, warm but not humid, and breezy. The locals we met raved about how lucky we were. Over four days, we visited three sites which will be featured in future posts:

The World’s Tallest Inclined Tower, the Montréal Tower in Olympic Park. You ascend to the top in a funicular, at a 45-degree angle. Over 570 feet of “dear God, please don’t let today be the day those steel cables snap.”

The World’s Largest Underground Pedestrian Network. Nearly 85% of the city’s downtown is connected underground by“RÉSO,” over 20 miles of tunnels connecting malls, office and apartment buildings, hotels, museums, universities, metro and train stations, the convention center, and more. Over half million people per day use the network during the winter, which is quite a civilized way to stick it to Mother Nature.

The Montréal Botanical Garden, the world’s second-largest botanic garden, was a trip highlight, even for the kids. They loved acting like explorers along the pathways in the Alpine and Chinese gardens; riding the red tram around the perimeter, and blowing off steam in the playground outside the Insectarium.

Usually coming home from vacation is a BIG letdown. I, however, now get to enjoy the World’s Largest Pile of Laundry.

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On Friday, we were oh-so-thrilled to be the featured guest blogger on Nerd’s Eye View, one of our favorite offbeat, sincere, amazingly written sites!!

GBOGH is now listed among an illustrious group of favorite blogs on Larry Cultrera’s Diner Hotline Weblog! Love retro diners? Check out this site!

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I attended the BlogHer conference on August 6th, one of the oldest and largest annual events for professional bloggers, particularly women. I participated in a few seminars on creative writing and social media, networked with other bloggers, and visited the exhibit hall, where 100 companies vied for the attention of powerful, influential women bloggers like…the ones standing next to me.

Through a sea of some 2,500 attendees, I was fortunate to meet several great travel and lifestyle bloggers. It was reassuring to meet others who are equally enthusiastic about sharing their own unique point of view. I invite you to visit their sites and see what I mean: 

Anne from Hip Travel Mama

Glennia from The Silent “I”

Holly from The Culture Mom

Julie from Coffee with Julie…

Julie from Road Trips for Families

Lexy from KissMyCountry.com

Lisa from Frisco Mama

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