Happy birthday, my dear and precious ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnyhugger.
So. Besides the riding, and besides the informal takeovers of various rides from the Grand Prix bumper cars to the Noah's Ark walk-through funhouse, was the climax of the KennyKon social events. This was a group dinner, in one of the pavilions hidden behind Steelers Country and all that.
We met up with some of our new temporary friends, people we'd met I think in line for the Steel Curtain coaster but who can really say at this point? Fun folks to talk with, at least, and a big enough circle of family and friends there that we didn't have to feel awkward just listening or, when the time came, joining the line for food. I had thought initially to let the line thin out a little bit, but it didn't seem capable of thinning. I suspect people were going around for seconds even before everyone had gotten firsts. It happens.
The main dishes held out, and they even had enough vegetarian options available, even if those were just noodles with side dishes. You know me, I can eat an enormous amount of potato salad as long as it's not too vinegary. What didn't hold out were desserts; apparently people were either eating very fast or were grabbing ice cream sandwiches with the rest of their meals and eating those before they melted. By the time bunnyhugger and I were done eating dinner-type food they were down to frozen ice pops and I could leave those, even on a hot day like this.
And there were presentations. Awards of various kinds for amusement park-related stuff. Speeches from American Coaster Enthusiast and from Kennywood people. The winner drawing for people who had completed their Bingo cards. I was nowhere near complete, even with a whole day and other KennyKon attendees marked by their badges. I don't think anyone won anything besides bragging rights, but it was all quite merry.
But then there was ... the celebrity appearance!
Kennywood's main mascot since the 70s has been Kenny Kangaroo, a quite genial figure with a design that is not bad for pre-furry-fandom mascot costuming. The snout is wider and rounder than furries would do, but it's not bad the way outsider fursuits usually are. Thing with Kenny is he's rarely seen in person these days. Grant that bunnyhugger and I have not been to Kennywood many times, for all that it looms in our imagination; we think it's a good year if we've spent one day there. It would be easy not to catch his appearances; we only see the Peanuts mascots at a Cedar Fair park once or twice a year and we make a dozen visits to one of them. (Although this year we'd seen them at California's Great America, Michigan's Adventure, and just last week at Cedar Point.) But we have seen Kennywood's secondary mascot, Parker the Arrow, a couple times. And forum discussions bunnyhugger is privy to suggest that yeah, Kenny is a rare spotting.
So his visit does not count as the truly magical thing, having a random encounter with Kenny Kangaroo. This is after all the one time of the year you could expect to see Kenny or have very petty calls to Corporate demanding the reason why. But we did see him. I told Kenny, truthfully, I've been hoping for a decade now to meet him, and I got a hug in. Someone --- just another ACE attendee --- even got a good picture of my hug on her phone and sent it to us, so we've got a first-rate souvenir.
I know it's no controversial stance around here to come out in favor of kangaroo-hugging but I do recommend it anyway.
Laceleaf Japanese Maple, some of the trees inside that food court area. (It also has a couple gift shops and some performance spaces.)
From the shaded area --- appreciated in the warm weather --- we could also see the monorail, in a wonderful 70s blue there even though it's several decades younger than the 70s.
The food court area blends seamlessly into Camellia Garden, which I believe was one of those paths seen in those photos yesterday.
Gift shop items. Yes, those are plush garlic cloves, of Gil and/or Roy. Also you can see the park logo featuring a rendition of the Basket Tree.
And here by the monorail is another Circus Tree, this one, Four-Legged Giant. Apparently it was the first 'major' Circus Tree. It's made from four American sycamores.
And here's the plaza with the Sky Trail monorail ride --- the station's just behind the sign there --- and also a Mexican restaurant that we considered but didn't eat at.
Trivia: The American Eagle, a ship which docked on New Year's Day 1800 at Newport, Rhode Island, and carried Eleuthè Irénée du Pont to the United States, took 91 days to cross the Atlantic, a month longer than Columbus had needed in 1492. Source: Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History Of The Explosive That Changed The World, Jack Kelly.
Currently Reading: Rocky and Bullwinkle: Complete Newspaper Comic Strip Collection, Volume 2, Al Kilgore. Again, no idea who the editor was.
