Fun Chicken Memories

Do you ever find yourself staring directly into your own past after spying some random person, place, or thing from your childhood?

That's what happened to me last weekend, when ArcherVision and I went to the Cape for the Cranberry Harvest Festival and to celebrate JaxMum and JaxDad's anniversary - 51 years!

It was a rainy weekend, and we found ourselves driving up Route 28 in search of cool coffee places. On the way, I pointed out the Zooquarium, a tourist trap in Yarmouth that I've never actually been inside before. We swung in with a 'what the hell?' attitude and paid the $9.50 to get in out of the rain -- only to find that half the zoo is actually outside.

It was a fun time, though. We saw lots of animals indigenous to the Cape, including scup:

turtles:

and this freaky albino chipmunk.

Outside is a petting zoo with sheep and goats and alpacas, as well as a lot of birds and a couple of snuggling tortoises. ArcherVision and I checked out the magic mirror for a minute

and that's when I saw it. I don't remember if it was in the laundromat near my parent's summer home or the Ground Round near my sister's college, but at some point in my childhood, I frequented a place that included THE FUN CHICKEN.

This is the deal. The chicken, powered by a mere quarter, comes to life by spinning in a circle and going 'bawk! bawk! bawk!' for about 10 seconds. Then, the machine spits out a plastic egg with a prize inside. Prizes are little rings and bracelets and bouncy balls; but if you're super lucky, you might get the coveted golden egg, which usually has either double prizes or a cooler prize. I think I recall that, sometimes, the golden egg had actual money inside. But this may be a kid-sized urban myth.

The entire experience was damp, but a nice escape into juvenile bliss.

tags: zooquarium  fun  chicken  

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit