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Archive for The BIG Times

The BIG Times, June/July 2013

A round-up of BIG news highlights across the globe, and other BIG finds we want to share!

NEWS OF THE LARGE

News which caught our attention over the past month:

The standing world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Superman was broken on June 5, by a group of 566 people! Sears organized the event at its corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It tied in with this month’s release of the movie “Man of Steel,” in which the character Clark Kent’s father Jonathan works at a Sears.

Photo Credit: Guinnessworldrecords.com

Photo Credit: Guinnessworldrecords.com

Save the Date! The AutoFair, the “World’s Largest Automotive Extravaganza” returns to the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, September 19-22. More than 1,500 collectible vehicles of all makes and models will be available for sale in the car corral that rings the 1.5-mile superspeedway. The AutoFair will also feature a collector car auction.

FROM OUR FRIENDS AND READERS

I love that I got an email from the people behind the World’s Largest Wind Chime and the World’s Largest Golf Tee just to say “hello,” and let me know all the BIG things going on in little Casey, Illinois!

wind chimes

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The BIG Times, May 2013

A round-up of BIG news highlights across the globe, and other BIG finds we want to share!

A FUN FIND!

I got to do something last week that I’ve wanted to do ever since moving to the Hudson Valley: tour Bannerman’s Castle on Pollopel Island in the middle of the Hudson River. In the early 1900’s, Frank Bannerman was the world’s largest buyer of surplus military equipment, and he built this castle to store it in! Public tours have started for the season. You can take a boat to the island, walk the trails, and enjoy amazing views of the castle, Bannerman residence, and the river.

Bannerman Castle

Bannerman Castle, on Pollopel Island in the Hudson River

NEWS OF THE LARGE

News which caught our attention over the past month:

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The BIG Times, April 2013

A round-up of BIG news highlights across the globe, and other BIG finds we want to share!

A FUN FIND!

Matt called me from his guys’ weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he went to watch the college basketball MAAC tournament in mid-March. “I’m at the Basketball Hall of Fame, and a huge basketball is part of the building,” he said. “Google it and see if it’s the world’s largest.”

Basketball Hall of Fame

Well, it isn’t. The world’s largest basketball is actually part of the architecture of the Women’s National Basketball Hall of Fame building in Knoxville, Tennessee. But this one is pretty cool in its largeness, too! It’s a steel, three-level, hemisphere-shaped dome. The 80,000-square foot interior contains a full-sized basketball court, as well as exhibits.

NEWS OF THE LARGE

News which caught our attention over the past month:

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The BIG Times, February, 2013

A Round-Up of BIG News Highlights Across The Globe

It’s the second edition of our new monthly feature, the BIG Times, to share our finds of BIG-ness!

GBOGH Awarded!

There was some BIG satisfaction from learning this month that two blog posts from last year earned “Finalist” spots in the 2012 NATJA (North American Travel Journalists’ Association) Awards! In the category of “Internet/Family Travel,” our post on Gatorland’s world’s largest collection of white alligators was recognized. In the category of “Travel Tips & Advice,” this post on “How to Find a Kid-Friendly Hotel” earned recognition as well.

World’s Largest Stuff-of-the-Month

The Topps company celebrated the launch of 2013 Topps Baseball Series 1 and the start of Spring Training with the unveiling of the World’s Largest Baseball Card this month at spring training in Florida.  It would take 82,944 cards to make up the size of this card, which was 90 feet tall and 60 feet wide!

baseball card

Credit: Topps

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The BIG Times, January 2013

A Round-up of BIG News Highlights Across the Globe

There’s just so much BIG stuff going on every month; it’s difficult keeping track! We’re starting a new monthly feature, the BIG Times, to cover some recent highlights of BIG-ness. A Compendium of the Colossal…an Overview of the Oversized… a Summary of the Substantial…okay, I’ll stop playing around on Thesaurus.com now.

BIG Events

1. You never know what you’ll happen upon in Grand Central Station in New York City. When I took the train into NYC this month for the New York Times Travel Show, I was surprised to find the world’s largest squash spectator event – the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions – taking place inside Vanderbilt Hall. I stuck around and watched a practice session for a few minutes, imagining myself as a squash player, and wondering how long it would take for me to get pelted with the ball.

J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

The World’s Largest Squash Spectator Event!

2. This isn’t news if you live in Seattle, but the World’s Largest Snowball Fight took place this month, as 162,000 lbs. of snow was trucked into to a snow fort village, and six thousand people chucked it at each other! The real bonus was that the proceeds went to the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County.

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