TRAVEL UPDATE

Today the family and I went to Legoland, California, where everything is made out of Legos, including the family.

They had a Lego replica of the inauguration:

It included a Lego replica of (I swear) Aretha Franklin, which I hope is visible in this CrapCam blowup:

Incredibly, they did not have a Lego replica of the World Famous Lawn Rangers.

Comments

[philinTexas]

You should visit Jacksville, Arkansas... A giant hog sculpted from jacks.

[ron]

Nice family there.Who's the guy in the shades?Help. Anyone?

[NotSoShyJan]

What is the point of building a replica of the inauguration if the Lawn Rangers aren't in it?

[gfunksizzle]

That's an interesting job to make Aretha's giant saggy bits.

[Annie Where-but-here]

Yay for Legoland! Mrs. Blockg looks lovely.

We went at Christmas time. There were teeny Santas crawling all over Miniland. Funny, in a creepy, pseudo-nerd way.

[Elon Weintraub]

They got the stupid hat perfect!

*Hopes this doesn't break the rule of ne'er insulting a dame's choice of clothing*

[Siouxie]

Sophie looks younger in that photo. Oh and nice rack on the Mrs.

[just kiddin']

ron, paul mccartney?

(seriously though, Dave maybe looks a bit thinner?)

[Annie Where-but-here]

Video here, realistic right down to the lines at the porta potties.

Dave, sure hope you got to have sample those delicious apple fries.

[Cheryl Howard]

Wow! Everything looks so authentic. I wonder, what blocks did they use for Daves hair?

[SW]

P-L-A-S-T-I-C
That's what Legos mean to me
P-L-A-S-T-I-C
Made with, PVC
Sock it to me, sock it to me
Sock it to me, sock it to me...

[Horace LaBadie]

I could be mistaken, but all our government officials appear to be blockheads.

[Annie Where-but-here]

...got to have sample...
Sigh...sorry. Trying to blog whilst under attack by nerf guns.

[Cat R]

Leg-o my Prez-o!

[djtonyb]

*quickly builds an irate Etta James figure to diss the Inauguration Ball replica of Beyonce*

[SW]

Looks like Aretha changed into a more enticing dress in honor of Dave's visit, compared to what she wore for annie's vid.

[Tourist Destination Blog]

I love Lego's very much since then until now. A traveling guide for tourist vacation and destinations around the world.

Tourist Destination Blog

[Guin]

Do they have somewhere you can actually PLAY with the legos, instead of just admiring them?

[ron]

A serious guy such as Dave would never go to where they allowed people to play with Leggos.

[Bill Hudgins]

Dave - just got back from the area. If you are staying near Carlsbad, I recommend King's Fish House: http://www.kingsfishhouse.com/locations_carlsbad.html
Of course, coming from Miami, you maybe DON'T want seafood...

[queensbee]

they looked like blockheads to me too!! what a riot!

[Rex Range]

Dave, we live just a few minutes north of Carlsbad in Oceanside. I wish I had known you were going to be at Legoland, we'd have wanted to come see you. Of course, we and thousands of other fans/stalkers, which is probably why it's just as well we didn't know...

[Meanie the Blue]

Looks like Dave has writer's block.

[Renee (the First)]

Took me a minute to find Aretha, but as I was searching for her, I swear I spotted two Blagojeviches. Not one but TWO. That is just not right.

[Punkin]

Renee - don't you mean Legojeviches?

[Cheesewiz]

Nice smooth finish on Dave's red, lego-car.

[Cheesewiz]

Hot-tea-out-the-nose-snork @Punkin.

[NotSherly]

Making a living playing with Legos. Very appealing.
Eternal youth. *sigh*
Fitting for your Peter & Starcatchers tour, Dave.

[Punkin]

*sends burn cream to Cheesewiz*

Thanks for the snork, but please snork safely!

[Margaritaville]

Ron,the guy in the shades is a replica of Dave Barry I think. It's about to fall over to the left.

[Travel to Chile]

Wow!!! The place is amazing. I have seen the Lego land on Discovery. Your Lego family looks beautiful :)

[Renee (the First)]

Punkin -- of course. What was I thinking??

[Annie Where-but-here]

Do they have somewhere you can actually PLAY with the legos, instead of just admiring them?
Posted by: Guin | February 16, 2009 at 06:36 AM

Yes they do - it's called 'Build & Test,' a play area inside Legoland. You give your name at the door, pick the wheels you want, then build a race car and race it down ramps with electronic timers, etc. against other Lego-maniacs. It's supposed to be for kids, but some of the adults get a bit er, competitive. If your car is slow, you go back and adjust your legos accordingly -more weight in the front, etc. (no, SW, that's not a euphemism)

I could just see Mrs. Blog trying to drag Dave outta there.

I highly recommend Legoland. Prefer it over the Mousie place by far.

[Margaritaville]

But make sure you wash your hands after handling all those Legos that others have handled in this flu season!

[Annie Where-but-here]

For Dave. There's also this remote control monster.

[christine]

A long time ago I took my five kids into Boston to a huge department store which had a similar amazing Lego display of historical buildings and monuments. Yes, I am certifiably insane. The kids were infant to seven years old. The three-year-old crawled under the movie theatre style rope to investigate the White House. Fortunately, I was able to retrieve him before he collapsed the room of this huge Lego creation.

[SW]

That 'Build and Test' room that annie described is the one place my boys could spend ALL DAY, forget the rest of the park, when they were of that age.

There's another spot just across the way where you check out lego-building kits from which you make moving motor-powered things like a carousels and ferris wheels, and sit down at a big table for some 'quiet time.' As I recall these kits were not even available for purchase, at Legoland or in stores, so it was kind of special.

[Cheesewiz]

It doen't look like the Leginauguration is very cold. Shouldn't there be little legicicles and legovercoats?

[Annie Where-but-here]

My fave part of Legoland was on the boat ride thru the twisted fairy tales. Prince Charming was on his cell phone. You could hear his 'princess' on the other end of the line, ripping him a new one. Har.

[SW]

Yeah. She sounded like a royal pain-in-the-a$$.

[ron]

Is that Barry guy molesting Lego mom in any way?He does seem to be listing to port a lot more than is necessary.

[Diva]

I kept waiting for the female reporter to fall over on all the Legopeople.

[Cheesewiz]

One wonders where Dave's left hand has wandered off to.

[Cat R]

Me too, Diva. That was one precarious squat.

Hey!

Precarious Squat WBAGNFARB.

[Tina Marshall]

Haha, this is great! I wonder how much their "lego engineers" (or whatever they're called) get paid to put together all of those legos.

Also, Peterman's Eye Travel is hosting a travel photo contest- pictures like these would be great to enter!

http://www.petermanseye.com/travel

Cheers!

[Flower of Life]

I am always suspicious of man who hangs out with synthetic women.

[Mikki & Lee Feinberg]

Jake is particularly jealous you went to Legoland.

We especially enjoyed the Lego Aretha, complete with that special hat.

Did you make it to the Wild Animal Park while you were out there?

The Feinbergs

[Beth Besner]

Hi Dave and your lovely family - my boys and I enjoyed meeting you all at the inauguration exhibit at Legoland the other day. Hard to believe that my son met one of the author's he's actually reading right now = how often does that happen in life? We hope the play opening went well in La Hoya. We look forward to seeing it on the big screen.

I look forward to emailing your assistant to see if we can talk when we are back in FL about the foundation we started in memory of my son, Ian who I mentioned to you died in 2006 at age 11 from complications from leukemia treatment. Hope you'll visit www.icareicure.org. Best, Beth Besner.

[Beth Besner]

Hi Dave and your lovely family - my boys and I enjoyed meeting you all at the inauguration exhibit at Legoland the other day. Hard to believe that my son met one of the author's he's actually reading right now = how often does that happen in life? We hope the play opening went well in La Hoya. We look forward to seeing it on the big screen.

I look forward to emailing your assistant to see if we can talk when we are back in FL about the foundation we started in memory of my son, Ian who I mentioned to you died in 2006 at age 11 from complications from leukemia treatment. Hope you'll visit www.icareicure.org. Best, Beth Besner.

[shubh]

Indeed good information and photographs. It seems that I have missed some thing important that had special value. Next time, I too will be there.

[indoor antenna]

Have to agree with Horace!

But nice work on the inauguration piece. LEGOs do kill a lot of time!

[flac to mp3 converter]

One wonders where Dave's left hand has wandered off to.