I remember one time I slept on a retired aircraft carrier for a couple of
days. I went exploring it and got lost in the depths of the inner city
of it. There were no lights down there except my flashlight, and I
found decks of cards thrown all over the floor. It was creepy hearing
the creaking and swaying of the ship. Then I came to an exit, which
lead to a catwalk on the side of the ship. Nothing but rusted stairs
keeping me from falling down 30 feet to the water. I made my way up
to the deck among the post World War II remnants...
Advance to: chp. 2 Ghost pilot on deck or Chp 5.
Benny loses big time?
Chp. 5 Benny looses big time
After making my way to the deck, I found that our tour bus was leaving,
so our stay on the aircraft carrier New Hampshire was over. Our next stop
would be five hours away, in a small town called Silverton. Silverton is
known for its late nineteen century silver mines, which sparked the great
folklorist battle of Benny and Phillips. The tale states that Benny was
running the mines east of the Chattooga River when Phillips moved into
town. Phillips wasn't a miner, but he knew where the money was to be had.
Having already won large sums of money in the previous town with his gambling
he decided to open his own casino in Silverton. One night, Benny and his wife
decided to stop into the casino and Benny loses big time...
Advance to: Chp 6. The lost treasure of Benny or
Chp 11. Hot dogs in paradise
Chp 11. Hot dogs in paradise
"Wow
that was a close one!" I said. Jenny threw again, missing the
balloon on the wall. Jenny was a sweet nineteen year old girl whose uncle
died and left her money to take this trip after she graduated high
school. Pop! "Oh you hit one Jenny, that’s great!" I
yelled. She lifted her hook and pointed towards the stuffed monkey
holding a banana, "I’ll take that monkey sir." Jenny had
lost a hand in a trampoline accident when she was fourteen and that’s why it
took her longer to finish school. We had met on this trip, but I hadn’t
really spoken to her until her excitement for the carnival eased me into
conversation. I was taking this trip to try and find the part of myself
that had been missing, so I wasn’t here to make friends, but Jenny seemed like
a nice girl, and I got to admit, the hook on her left hand held a mystery to
me. "I’ll hold the monkey for you Jenny," I said, as we walked
around the carnival. It was a hot day and the breeze blowing in from the
coast reminded me of one night I spent eating hot dogs at the Paradise Café,
out on Navy Pier…
Advance to: Chp 12. The Paradise Cafe incident or
Chp14. Held up in Smoke Town
Chp 12. The Paradise Cafe incident
It was
early, one late summer evening when I decided to take a stroll out to Navy
Pier. I had heard of an event that had drawn a lot of news: The
Paper Airplane Contest. I had heard about this kid from Toronto who had
created—what the papers called aerodynamic genius—a paper plane that could fly
for over thirty minutes. I had to see this. On my way down the pier
I could see, what looked like a business man’s briefcase emptied into the
air. There were so many paper planes in the air that I could not determine
how they could judge such complexity. After about an hour, I decided I
would grab a hot dog at the Paradise Café, which stood at the end of the
pier. I took the Chicago style dog, in which the mustard is applied
before the wiener is laid upon the bun. The problem with this style is,
that sometimes the bottom of the buns rip and the mustard drops on your
shirt or, in general, is just a complete mess of pure ecstasy. I usually
grab a few napkins to prevent this and this time wasn’t an exception.
With my hot dog, I walked to the edge of the pier so I could view the planes
flying when all of a sudden a gust of wind almost knocked me over but instead
ripped the napkins from my hands and lifted them into the air, crashing into
the contestant’s planes and causing them to fall into Lake Michigan. With
this I noticed children yelling and pointing at me, while large men began
moving towards my direction and that’s when I decided
to…
Advance to: Chp 13. Blame it on Reagan or Chp 16.
Motel Knights
This just made me way happy :) Definitely would choose Chp. 13. Blame it on Reagan next.
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