Go BIG or Go Home
What Happens When A Small-Town Family Visits The "World's Largest"... Whatever!

Archive for New York

World’s Longest Line Dance; the Hokey Pokey in Poughkeepsie, NY

We’ve broken a world record! On Saturday, we were part of the world’s longest line dance, the Hokey Pokey, across the Walkway Over the Hudson bridge in Poughkeepsie and Highland, NY.  This bridge, by the way, is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge!

Hokey Pokey

Limbering up!

There were 2,569 people stretched across the pedestrian bridge for a 9:30am kick-off.

world record

People as far as the eye could see...

Our “Go BIG” Hokey Pokey team consisted of the four of us, and two other families. I’m so grateful they came out to participate with us, but I think everyone was pretty stoked to be a part of a new world record.

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Bronx Zoo: World’s Largest Urban Zoo

Bronx Zoo

I just love the Beaux Arts architecture. The information center behind us was the original elephant house, built in 1911.

Here’s a bit of trivia about The Boy – he was born in The Bronx. At the time, we lived in Westchester County, about 20 minutes north of the hospital where my OB delivered babies.

He thinks it gives him a cool street cred. Which is negated every Friday when he skips off happily to Webmaster Club, toting his very own Ninja-shaped thumb drive.

But a drive south to the Bronx Zoo always elicits smiles and memories when we pass the exit for the hospital where our lives changed forever.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

We’ve been to the Bronx Zoo many times, and never knew it was the world’s largest urban zoo! Zoos, especially expansive facilities like this one, are a treat for all ages. With two kids of opposite genders, seven years apart, it’s not always easy finding an outing everyone can agree on.

Plus, the Bronx Zoo is open year-round, which makes it an ideal day trip for us in the spring and fall when other seasonal attractions are closed.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

The outdoor animal habitats are huge, which make me feel like they’re living a decent life despite the whole “captivity” thing.  In fact, the Congo Gorilla Forest is the world’s largest gorilla habitat. The size also gives them plenty of distant corners in which to hide, leaving you to explain to your anxious kids why they won’t be able to see the giraffes today.

For guaranteed animal sightings, head to the indoor exhibits, where you get an up-close look at smaller creatures behind glass. Our favorite spaces to see animals include JungleWorld, the Sea Lion Pool, and the World of Birds.

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We’re Going to Break a World Record! Join us!

We’re going to break a world record! Well, us, and 2,996 other people. We’ve registered to participate in the world’s longest Hokey Pokey line! This event is taking place on Saturday, June 9th, across the Walkway Over the Hudson bridging Poughkeepsie to Highland, NY. We want you to come and join us!

The organizers are hoping for 3,000 people, since the current record, set in June 2008, involved 2,350 people. The Guinness World Records organization will be there to authenticate the feat!

We LOVE the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park – the views are phenomenal, and it’s practically in our own backyard!

Walkway over the Hudson

The View Southward from the Walkway Over the Hudson

At 6,768 feet (or 1.28 miles) it’s the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge. At 212 feet high, it’s also one of the highest. {gulp} We’ve written about our first visit. The Boy and I have become braver since then.

Won’t you join us? We’re organizing a “Go BIG or Go Home” Team to meet up and do the Hokey Pokey together! We’ll outfit you in nifty “Go BIG” buttons, and ply you with snacks.

If you’re interested in registering (and WHY wouldn’t you be??? You can tell your grandkids you broke a world record!!), you can do so online at the Walkway Over the Hudson site.  It’s $15 / person, which is a tax-deductible donation to help fund the Walkway’s operating costs.

The Guinness World Record organization will only count participants seven years or older. You don’t have to register and pay for people younger than that, although they can still do the H.P. with us! The Girl is working on her left foot / right foot differentiation skills as we speak.

Let us know in the comments below if you’re “in!”

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World’s Largest Globes (two ways)!

What passes for excitement in these parts is seeing not one, but TWO “world’s largests” in one day. In September, we went to the world’s largest DIY Festival, the World Maker Faire, held at the New York Science Center in Queens. It was A. MAZING. But this post is about globes.

On the walk from the parking lot to the main gate, we stopped by the world’s largest globe. The Unisphere in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was built for the 1964-1965 World’s Fair as a symbol of world peace. It is 140 feet high (that’s 12 stories) and 120 feet in diameter. Made of stainless steel, it weighs 900,000 pounds! It is stationery. It is beautiful.

Unispehere

Wearing our goofball T-shirts in front of the Unisphere

Of course, we’ve also seen another BIG globe, specifically, the world’s largest rotating globe, at the DeLorme headquarters in Yarmouth, ME.

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Maker Faire: World’s Largest DIY Festival

Maker Faire

Just the indoor exhibits...

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

We didn’t know exactly what to expect on our way to Queens, NY for the 2011 World Maker Faire NY, but we did knew that it was going to be awesome! We had spent some time on the Maker Faire website, which is chock full of videos of people making all sorts of things. The emphasis is on science and technology, and the flashy gadgetry drew in Matt and The Boy like moths to flame.

As the world’s largest DIY festival, it’s a celebration of making “stuff” with your bare hands, with an emphasis on inventing entirely new stuff, or finding a better way to create the stuff already out there!

WHY did you go there, exactly?

The World Maker Faire is an annual event in NYC, and we didn’t want to miss our opportunity to check it out. A cycle of smaller regional Maker Faires around the country begins in the spring and runs through the fall. Several are still to come in various cities through October, so check the website for dates in Phoenix, AZ; East Bay, CA; and Pittsburgh, PA. Next year, they will hopefully return to cities like Toronto, Detroit, Kansas City, and Raleigh/Durham.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Maker Faire is like a school science fair on steroids, with over 500 exhibits in themed areas, such as robotics, “hackerspaces,” steampunk, art and crafts, and sustainability. They ranged in scope from the earnest 12-year old explaining the house sensor system he built and programmed himself, to the wildly fun Sashimi Tabernacle Choir, a Volvo covered with 250 opera-singing fish and lobster (you know the kind you normally find hanging on the wall affixed to a wood plaque?).

Sashimi Tabernacle Choir

The singing sea creatures of the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir

Over two days, there’s a packed schedule of free workshops. First on The Boy’s agenda was the one teaching how to pick a lock. In ten minutes, he was picking padlocks like Houdini with excited satisfaction! He’s been pleading with me ever since to let him try picking the bolt on our front door. (Ummmm, the answer is still “no.”)

how to pick a lock

A useful life skill

There were robots of every size, shape, and purpose, including several places to build your own. The “Young Makers” pavilion catered to the school-age set, and The Boy closed in on the LEGO table like a homing pigeon. There’s a heavy “green” message here too. At one table, the kids made art out of reused CD cases, weaving fabric bits through rubber bands encircling them.

I wasn’t sure if The Girl would be as entertained as her older brother. But she was totally on board from the moment we set foot on the GE Carousolar, the world’s only solar-powered carousel. We also climbed aboard the Bio Bus – a traveling mobile science lab – for a quick hands-on presentation about microscopes. We spent some time at the CLIF bar tent, snaring some free samples and making a hat out of recycled packaging and LOTS of stickers.

Carousel

She's never met a carousel she didn't like!

In addition to the exhibits, we enjoyed two fantastic shows, including the fizzy fountain explosions of over 100 Coke Zero bottles after Mentos candies were dropped into them. The other hit was the life-sized recreation of the game Mouse Trap, based on the Rube Goldberg method of building complicated contraptions to solve simple problems. The show, which ended with a giant weight crashing into a car below, included cheeky antics by a vaudevillian cast. Check it out:

 

How it rated on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = snoozefest, 10 = add to your bucket list): [rating=9]

9!!! Maker Faire was a treat for all our senses! At once entertaining, educational, inspiring and awe-inspiring! I can’t wait to go again next year. The only drawback was the lack of food vendors for the size of the event. The vendors who were there were very good – several ethnic food trucks – but the lines were mercilessly long.

Hey YOU! Go BIG:

Maker Faire New York

The NYC location in 2011 was the New York Hall of Science

47-01 111th Street

Queens, NY 11368-2950

 

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New York Roadside Attractions, and Other BIG Things to See in the Empire State

It’s no secret that I ♥ NY; my family calls it “home.” It’s been so disheartening to learn of the destruction caused by Hurricane Irene in many parts of New York, but particularly here in the Hudson Valley. Hundreds of homes and working farms have been washed away by flooding. Last week I dedicated a blog post to Vermont, which also suffered incredible damage. This week, I wanted to do the same for my Empire State.

Dinosaur skeleton

Doesn't get much bigger than dinosaurs!

(I also made a donation to the Red Cross, which has been working tirelessly in the affected areas. If you’re interested, here’s the link.)

There are a lot of BIG things to love in New York (state income tax not included). Over the past several years, the “Go BIG” family has traveled far and wide looking for the world’s biggests, longests, and tallests in NYS.  Why not go see these entertaining sites and attractions for yourself?

Here’s what we’ve found so far, beginning in New York City, with links to our posts.

The World’s Largest Dinosaursan exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. (Open only until January!)

The world’s largest toy store the Toys R’ Us store in Times Square, AND the world’s largest Disney store, also in Times Square.

The world’s largest indoor theaterRadio City Music Hall.

The world’s largest public collection of video gamesat the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, part of The Strong and the National Museum of Play in Rochester

The world’s largest collection of glass within the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning

The world’s largest pancake griddle – Penn Yan, NY

The world’s largest premium outlet shopping center- Woodbury Common, in Central Valley

The world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridgeThe Walkway Over the Hudson, which links Poughkeepsie to Highland over the Hudson River.

The world’s largest kaleidoscope– located within the Emerson Country Store in Mt. Tremper

The largest Buddha statue in the western hemisphere — located within Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, NY

And my personal favorite:

Garden gnome

Chomsky is the DEAL!

The world’s second largest garden gnome—  “Chomsky,” on Kelder’s Farm in Kerhonkson, NY.

Chomsky’s fifth anniversary at the farm is being celebrated this weekend! If in you’re in the Hudson Valley, stop by for some fun! It should be noted that the farm was under ten feet of water following the hurricane, but it’s drying out, and they are determined to party! Hooray for them!

These are places we’ve been, but are returning this month to “research” their “world’s largest” claims:

85th Annual Feast of San Gennaro

Who knew it was the world’s largest outdoor religious festival? The Go BIG or Go Home family will go to this street festival in NYC’s Little Italy for “research”… which in my mind means zeppole and sausage and peppers.

Bronx Zoo

I always knew it was big, from our inability to walk the entire thing in one day. But it’s actually the world’s largest urban zoo, and features the world’s largest man-made rainforest, the Congo Gorilla Forest.

New Yorkophiles, what BIG things have we missed?

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Toys R’ Us: World’s Largest Toy Store

We made it out alive. We went into New York City this week and stopped at the Toys R’ Us store in Times Square; the world’s largest toy store. And while my statement about making it out alive is meant sarcastically, we were in the store at the same time the 5.9 earthquake — which originated in Virginia — was felt in Manhattan.

Many buildings were evacuated after the shock was felt. All we felt were the vibrations of the 20-foot animatronic dinosaur in the Jurassic Park section of the store.

Dinosaur

The Girl kinda freaked when he started growling and moving

It was surreal, getting frantic texts from concerned friends and family while standing in the two-story, 4,000-sq ft Barbie dollhouse, waiting for The Girl to make her selection between the fairy Barbie with pet unicorn and the mermaid Barbie with pet dolphin. (She chose the mermaid).

Barbie

Decisions, decisions

Barbie

"Does Barbie live here?"

 

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Six Flags: World’s largest regional theme park company

Six Flags Great Escape

How to use a beach towel as a raincoat

I get worked up making sure we visit title-holding “world’s largests” for Go BIG or Go Home. I try to find a way to make all our travel fit in somehow. Usually, I can find some BIG link, however insubstantial. This time, we didn’t go to the world’s largest theme park. We didn’t even go the largest park within the world’s largest theme park chain. But we DID go to a Six Flags theme park — one within the world’s largest theme park company — so we’re counting it!

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

On paper, it was a kid’s dream itinerary for a long weekend. Three days spent at the Six Flags Great Escape theme park in Lake George, NY , with its Splashwater Kingdom outdoor water park. Two evenings to enjoy the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge, which has the White Water Bay indoor water park.

Dreamy, except for the torrential rains and temps which never exceeded 65°F.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Have you seen the Six Flags commercials imploring you to “Go Big, Go Six Flags?” For some reason, the slogan resonated with me. 🙂  Actually, I had an assignment to write this review for FamilyVacationCritic.com, so we were going regardless. But some quick research lead to the discovery that Six Flags is the world’s largest regional theme park company, based on the quantity of properties.  I didn’t realize that there are 19 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

We’ve now added Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ to our bucket list, because it’s the largest Six Flags in the country, and it’s home to some BIG attractions: Kingda Ka, the world’s tallest roller coaster; the world’s largest drive-thru safari outside of Africa; and one of the world’s largest adventure rivers.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

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BIG Balloons

Fireworks are great and all that, but the highlight of our holiday weekend was watching a group of 12 hot air balloons lift off during the 2011 Dutchess County Balloon Festival. It’s one of our favorite annual events here in New York’s Hudson Valley, where we’ve lived for over 10 years. What made it really special this year was watching it from the span of the Walkway Over the Hudson, which is the World’s Longest Elevated Pedestrian Bridge.

We’ve now been up there several times and have described it here on the blog.  While it’s the span — 6,767 feet, or 1.25 miles – which breaks the world record, it’s the height which gets to me. The span ascends 212 feet above the water at midpoint. This was the first time I went up there and didn’t get weak-kneed. Open heights are NOT my thing. But the perspective of watching the balloons lift off from below us, rise to our level and then float higher, was amazing.

Overcoming my fear of heights — and getting up at 4:30am for the 6:00am launch — was worth it for this view.

Hot air balloons

 

And this one, facing away from the sunrise, was nice too.

Balloons

 

Sigh. I love living in the Hudson Valley!

 

 

 

 

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Strong Musuem: World’s Largest Public Collection of Video Games

Pikachu

Happy Kid #1

Hey, who’s going into NYC this weekend to see the Macy’s fireworks show? It’s the world’s largest Independence Day fireworks display, with 40,000 fireworks synchronized to a 25-minute musical score! We’re gonna wait a few years before exposing The Girl to that kind of “revelry,” but if anyone goes, tell me about it!

But here’s a crowd-pleaser for all ages:

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

After we planned our May road trip to Rochester for the Lilac Festival, we read about the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG), which has one of the world’s largest collections of electronic games, as well as the world’s largest public collection of video games. The Boy couldn’t get there fast enough. Then again, neither could Matt. Meet the Go BIG version of the apple and tree.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

I wouldn’t make a six hour drive just for an exhibit of electronic games. The ICHEG, however, is part of The Strong, a non-profit institution dedicated to the study of play. Another part of the facility is the National Museum of Play, the world’s second largest children’s museum.

So, while The Boy (and his father) got all worked up and frothy in anticipation of seeing all those bits and bytes, I was reassured that The Girl would be happy with all the toys and games at the museum.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

The actual collection is expansive, and not all of it is on view. What you do see is the permanent exhibit, eGame Revolution, within the National Museum of Play. Our first stop was to pay homage to The Brown Box, the 1968 precursor to Pong invented by Ralph Baer. The Boy and I stepped up, manned our paddles, and…waited…for…the…ball…to cross the screen. Remember when Pong was new and unbelievable and everyone wanted it? Now I can only think about how much time we wasted waiting for the ball to cross that dang screen!

ZZzzzzzzzzz....

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