Adventure at Otherworld

As I mentioned in my latest post about my recent heart attack, I’m getting back to business with the blog. I’ve got lots of plans to get on with and, as you may know, there’s no more procrastinating in my world! Life is just too short! The girls and I didn’t end up having girls’ day in January due to a COVID situation with one of us, but we did, indeed, have February girls’ day hosted by me. Overall, it was a relaxing day for all of us – we did Valentine shots at Teeny’s place, took in the sites and had an adventure at Otherworld and then headed to Fado Irish Pub at Easton for lunch.

A Shot a Day…

Well, none of us actually takes a shot a day (at least I don’t think we do), and I don’t think it would keep the doctor away, but…we do like our shots now and again, thank you very much 🙂

A while back I saw these fun little Valentine shooters on a FB post from Delish. I saved them and, as is par for the course, it took me a few years to get them on the books for one of my events. AKA, previously a procrastination girl, but no more!

Anyways, the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Shooters were definitely worth waiting for 🙂 I did tweak the recipe a bit – no white chocolate liqueur at the liquor store, so I substituted Creme de Cacao instead at the urging of the liquor store guy! I assume it would have been tastier with the white chocolate liqueur, but ours were pretty darn good too! I’d definitely make them again. Perfect V-Day treat as far as I’m concerned. Candy? Who needs candy?

Off to Otherworld

Like everyone else, we’d been hearing about Otherworld for a few years and, in fact, had a trip planned to visit right around the time COVID originally hit. Of course, that particular adventure at Otherworld was cancelled and it took us nearly two years to get it rescheduled.

We headed off to Otherworld after the nummy shots at Christine’s place. We did have a specific entry time, as we had to purchase timed tickets ahead of our visit. While I fully understand the whole COVID restrictions situation, I’m sorry to say I fail to really see how timed entry helps, other than boatloads of people not lining up for tickets at one time. In my opinion, timed entry would only help if there was also a timed exit, i.e. 2-3 hour visit and then leave. Instead, you’ve got people staying in for a LONG time and some for a short time! I just don’t understand how the timed entry is that beneficial, because it was packed when we were there!

Anywho…I digress! Otherworld is certainly unique and one of those places everyone should visit at least once. Although ours was a girls’ day situation, this would be a great spot to take the kids and let them roam around! So much to see! Think of a combination art museum and an interactive art installation and you’ll be somewhere in the ballpark of the Otherworld experience. Upon arrival, you slowly follow the path (though you can kind of go any direction you choose) through room after room of interesting and unique installations – some are quite obvious and others are extremely interpretive and subjective.

Each little room or exhibit had its own personality…I mean I sort of got a Star Trek kind of vibe with this one…Beam me Up, Scotty? Eek…wouldn’t it have been something if we WOULD have been beamed somewhere else…like a beach in the tropics 🙂 A girl can dream, right? I told you there would be adventure at Otherworld 🙂

The tree area was kind of fun and, if you’re as old as I am, a bit reminiscent of the talking tree from downtown Lazarus. Man, I’m REALLY showing my age here. But c’mon…how many of you remember that amazing taking tree at Lazarus! Hell, how many of you remember Lazarus for that matter?

That tree is so iconic it has its own Facebook page. This exhibit sort of reminded me of the tree, but honestly, it wasn’t nearly as sensational. That damn talking tree was in a league of its very own.

As we continued our adventure at Otherworld, we saw lots of fun stuff. This next area we hit was a little alienesque or movie-proppy! I’m not really sure what we were looking at, but eyeballs definitely came to mind!

Next up was this unique area that was very optical-illusiony 🙂 Yep – one of my oft made-up words – illusiony! Hush, I like it. Maybe I’ll make it into Webster’s dictionary someday with one of my words! Mirrors, funky lighting and poles made up this cool spot that made for an excellent photo backdrop.

We continued through the Otherworld maze and made a quick stop in a quaint little purple paradise! Basically, we were distracted by the pretty flowers on the wall!

Strands and strands of beads and lights dangled from the ceiling in the next area, where you had to make your way through to the other end. Almost felt like being in a one-of-a-kind nightclub! See…I head straight toward the cocktails, let me tell ya! Now, if I’d have been walking through these things with a cocktail in my hand, we’d have surely had an adventure at Otherworld! My guess is the other patrons would have, as well 🙂

Next up, we hit the strange bull/cow creature. It reminded me of some sort of ancient idol that required a sacrifice or something. He was totally interactive, as you had to push buttons in the right order to get him to change colors. It took a few groups of folks coming through to get em’ pushed in the right order.

There was also a fun little section with these light-up hanging swings, which we all enjoyed. I mean…who doesn’t enjoy a swing – no matter how old you are. I guess nowadays I like a more relaxed swinging situation as opposed to the ‘let’s see how high I can go’ from when I was younger. Of course, if I could still get over the top of that swing set, I’d absolutely go for it!

About halfway through our visit at Otherworld, the ladies and I headed off to the snack bar area where we each grabbed a brew and sat down for a wee bit of relaxation. Not sure if we needed a quick rest or if we really needed a quick brew 🙂 I’m inclined to think it was the later.

After our quick respite, we headed back into the magical and psychedelic rooms of Otherworld.

Heidi and I had fun in this weird, old-timey mannequin room! These guys were a bit over the top and reminded me of something you’d see in an old Punch and Judy puppet show.

We popped a quick squat in the Victorian Hall of Mirrors! We’re old and need to relax a bit. Might have been better if we’d been sipping a brandy or something, but again I’m digressing into the thought of cocktails 🙂

There were lots of other sights throughout the day that I grabbed snaps of!

If you have a chance, you should definitely put an adventure at Otherworld on your to-do list! Whether you go with your gal pals or take the family and the littles, it’s a fun adventure that will fill an hour or two of your afternoon! And, at a $25 price tag, it’s pretty affordable, which is a rarity these days.

FADO IRISH PUB

The atmosphere was nice – just what you’d think in Irish pub might be like! Unfortunately, the music inside the restaurant was quite loud and really didn’t allow us the conversation that we typically like – I mean, we all have lots to talk about and we can’t have overbearing music mucking up the conversation portion of the day 🙂

Heidi and I, as usual, chose to go with our favorite – the classic Bloody Mary! Which, I might add, were EXCELLENT. Would definitely recommend a Bloody Mary at Fado anytime you visit. I’d give it a 4 out of 5 on the Bloody Mary rating scale! Julie had some sort of blackberry mule, which she seemed to enjoy, as well. Our Teeny just stuck with water this time around 🙂

Food wise, we started off with a yummy, yummy appetizer of Cheese Dip & Wedges. OMG! Yum, yum and another big yum! Please try these if you visit – they were amazing!

For our entrees, three of us went with the traditional fish and chips, which were pretty tasty. Christine chose a Chicken Boxty Quesadilla, which in her mind was so-so and a light salad.

We hung out for a bit, enjoying dinner and attempting to converse over the music! I think most of us would visit Fado again, but it’s definitely not the spot to visit if you’re looking to hold intimate conversations with your pals.

Regardless, we enjoyed our time together, completing yet another great girls’ day! After my March 12 experience, I can honestly say these moments mean more to me than ever.

There really is only so much time and I can’t wait to fill my calendar with amazing girls’ days with my besties, family time with my loved ones, vacations, travel, new experiences and everything else this amazing life has to offer.

Until next time, go make memories and enjoy everything. Life is, after all, a remarkably short moment in time to waste!