Okay, here’s my attempt at blogging with a cold. We feed, clothe, and house two Petri dishes, and they re-pay us with post nasal drip.

We hang at the Danbury location.

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

I don’t know anyone who actually enjoys grocery shopping, especially with kids in tow. Things are different when we go to Stew Leonard’s, the world’s largest dairy store. There are four locations in CT and NY, and we usually end up in Danbury. I get no arguments from anyone when I announce, “We’re going to Stew’s!”

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Granted, a grocery store is not necessarily a travel destination. But if you’re driving near their Danbury or Norwalk locations during the warmer months, you can stop in for a little diversion, and eat outside at their “hoedown,” which offers grilled cheeseburgers, chicken, hot dogs, as well as steak sandwiches, lobster and fries.

Stew Leonard’s is in the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records for having the “largest sales per square foot for a single grocery: $115 million in sales, $3,470 per square foot.”  The “World’s Largest Dairy Store” title came from Ripley’s Believe It or Not.  Regardless, the offerings go way beyond dairy. The bakery, deli, and meat department are also stand outs, and the prepared foods make a lazy cook out of me.

If a trip to Stew’s is in the forecast, I ditch the weekly meal plan like a hot potato. Yes, I’ve recently attempted to plan dinners a week in advance. Because I like to pretend I’m organized and in control. Until 4:00 comes around, nothing is defrosted, and the cereal boxes start calling my name.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Girl: “Don’t pull the rope!” Boy: “I’m pulling the rope…” Cow: MOOOO!!! Girl: “AAAAAACK!”

Stew’s strategically elevates the supermarket to quality entertainment. The largest elements of this are the animatronic animals, food, and other characters. Push a big red button, and Twinky the Kid pops out of a box and says “Hi” with a friendly twang. The Farm Fresh Five dairy band jams over the frozen food cases, mesmerizing the kids while I peruse the nugget selection. There’s a parrot, chicken, donkey, bears, and a pine tree all ready to greet you.

And then, there’s Clover the Cow. The Boy, at ten years of age, has just recently gotten over his fear of her loud, deep “moo,” initiated with a yank of her rope. The Girl will still shake and plead “No cow!” when we pass near her sweet face. Both would much rather stand in front of Chiquita Banana, shimmying and singing along with her.

Do you know the words to the Chiquita ditty? I thought these might help, because once you watch this video, you’ll by humming the tune all day. Curiously, the official lyrics are not the ones sung by this big banana.

Whoever designed the store layout was a genius. Instead of straight aisles, there’s a winding path through each department, with occasional cut-throughs. You’re forced to pass by every single item sold at Stew’s. Not that you’ll mind. The quality is above par, and the prices are reasonable. Frequent free sample stations of both hot and cold foods lessen the burden considerably!

“Slim Skim” is secretly jealous of “Rich Milk,” who gets to sing lead. The cookies are just throwing themselves at him.

Read the rest of this entry »

Meet Chomsky!

Up until April of this year, the world’s largest garden gnome was Chomsky, the jolly, 13’ 6” bearded fellow who welcomes you at the entrance of Kelder’s Farm in Kerhonkson, NY. Another feather in our Hudson Valley cap. I’ve learned there are two taller gnomes; one in Iowa, and the other in Poland.  I’m bummed. I have to categorize this post as “Biggish,” not “Biggest.”

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

At the strike of midnight on September 30th, we begin the excited preparations for Halloween. It’s a long month of discussing, analyzing, and comparing costume choices; putting up decorations; watching Halloween TV specials (we own It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) and reading our favorite books, most notably Jerry Seinfeld’s Halloween. Both kids can now recite the Halloween Three-Step Program by heart.

And of course, there’s the pumpkin picking. This year, we’re going to make Jack O’Lanterns, so inspired are we from going to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze.

So this year, we went to get our pumpkins about an hour away, on Kelder’s Farm in Kerhonkson, NY.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

We’ve been there to see Chomsky once before, but it was in March when the farm stand wasn’t open. We went to get a better look at the world’s second largest garden gnome, with the added benefit of getting our pumpkins and having some fun on the farm.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Read the rest of this entry »

Walkway Over the Hudson

As I mentioned in the post about the World’s Largest Kaleidoscope, I ♥ the Hudson Valley! I look past the winter weather in anticipation of the bright, verdant springs and the brilliant snap of fall. (Exception: last winter’s ice storm which knocked out power for three days; that one left a mark.)

It’s the valley topography which lends itself to amazing scenery of undulating tree-covered hills and mountains. (It’s also the perfect holding vessel for seasonal pollen, which brings on the annual allergy attack and sinus infection, but again, LOVE the HudVal!)

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

Last year, the Hudson Valley earned its place on the tourism map with the opening of the Walkway Over the Hudson, which is The World’s Longest Elevated Pedestrian Bridge.

We’ve been a few times since then, as a family of four, and twice more when out-of-town family has visited.

Was coercion necessary? If by coercion you mean “put on the big girl panties and force a brave face in front of the kids because you are too chicken shit to go all the way up there on an open-air bridge,” then yes, I had to coerce myself into going. I also had to convince my son (Trip #1) and my brother (Trip #2), because we all share the gene for “fear of open heights.”

It’s also one of the reasons why Matt and I could never win the Amazing Race. Well, that, and my inability to drive stick shift.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Read the rest of this entry »

Why I love living in New York’s Hudson Valley: there is some funky big stuff to see, like a 13-foot garden gnome, a 37-foot Buddha, a 31-foot fork in the road, and a tall Paul Bunyan statue complete with chest hair. Settle down, we’ll eventually get to posts about all of these!

Here’s a little something to tide you over:

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

The kaleidoscope is inside this 56-foot tall silo

Curiosity and proximity have lured us to the World’s Largest Kaleidoscope in Mt. Tremper on two occasions.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

The four of us frequently head out in the family roadster to see the local sights. Mainly because if we stay home, I’m forced to listen to the background music of the Mario Galaxy game which The Boy plays on the Wii, and it makes me cranky.

The first time we went, we were on a weekend trip with friends. Our families meshed perfectly; the moms were friends, the dads were poker buddies, my son and their daughters were about the same ages. These were the tranquil days before The Girl arrived to rock our world. It was one of those sweet “family dating” relationships where everyone gets along in shared interests. Sigh.

The second time, The Girl was on the scene.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Read the rest of this entry »

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

First 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!!!

—————————————————

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.

——————————————————

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…

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.

It’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.

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 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?

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!

So, we don’t always go to see the world’s largest stuff (you knew this was coming, right?). There are many huge, gigantic, sizeable, immense, jumbo, mammoth, BIG attractions out there to love, even if they fall short of the title. That’s why we’ve created a “Biggish” category where we can share information about intriguing BIG sites which are still worth a visit.

For example…

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

China? Korea? Nepal? Nope. Upstate New York

Hey, we don’t limit ourselves to just the quirky, “ball of twine”- caliber attractions either! Occasionally, we have the need for some highbrow culture and enrichment. We just do it on a BIG scale.

So on a sunny but crisp fall afternoon, I took The Boy for an outing to the tranquil Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, NY, home of the largest Buddha statue in the western hemisphere. My son only had a half-day of school, and would rather have been parked in front of the Wii all afternoon. Unfortunately, he was cursed with a mother who can find a “teachable moment” at Jiffy Lube. And so, off to learn and explore…

He was eight years old at the time, and mature for his age, so I knew he would behave properly. The Girl was at daycare, and I know now that she probably would not have done well there.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

It’s true what they say about not appreciating what’s in your own backyard.  I knew that the Buddha was located in our neighboring county, but it was years before I made the (literally) 20-minute trip go see it.   It takes me longer to drive to B.J.’s to get The Girl’s Pull-Ups.

Time was of the essence, because the grounds are only open to the public April through December, and it was already November.

One of Buddha’s disciples, looking for a handout

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Read the rest of this entry »