National Slavery Museum goes bankrupt without ever opening

by Sean McLachlan on

The National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia, has filed for bankruptcy.

This will make little difference to potential visitors, however, since the museum doesn’t actually exist.

Former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder, shown here in this U.S. Government photo, founded a nonprofit organization in 2001 to create the museum. It was supposed to open in 2004 but never did. A small memorial sculpture garden was opened in 2007.

Since 2008, the organization has owed taxes on the property, which have now risen to $215,000. The city has stepped in and is now trying to sell the land. The museum’s filing for bankruptcy is aimed at stopping this from happening. Its bankruptcy paperwork says the organization has more than $3 million in debts.

The museum is also embroiled in a legal battle with Therbia and Marva Parker, who donated almost 100 historic artifacts with the understanding that they’d be put on display. Since it’s obvious that’s not going to happen, they want their artifacts back.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg announces Verbolten for 2012

by Joel Bullock on


Last weekend, Busch Gardens Williamsburg confirmed their new 2012 roller coaster Verbolten. The multi-launch steel roller coaster will be built on the former site of the Big Bad Wolf. And, like that classic coaster, Verbolten will use the park’s beautiful and hilly terrain. During its 2,835-foot course, the ride will dive to the Rhine River. The Zierer-designed roller coaster will include two launches, lap bars instead of over-the-shoulder restraints, and a top speed of 53 mph.

In a departure from fabled creatures from European folklore like the Loch Ness Monster and Griffon, Verbolten’s theme will be more modern. The ride will feature what look to be trains themed as sports cars. Based on what little is known about the ride, we do know that it will include an exciting car ride through Germany’s Black Forest that goes wrong. It’s an appropriate theme considering it’ll be in the park’s recently revitalized Oktoberfest area in the Germany section. The most intriguing part of Verbolten may occur inside a building during the indoor portion of its layout. This indoor section is said to hold some surprises as it will incorporate darkness and changes in weather. Aside from these details, not much else is known as the park did not release a full animated POV or off-ride videos like parks do with most new ride announcements.

In what appears to be a new trend, Verbolten will be another launch coaster from SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment that’s more along the lines of a family-friendly joy ride than a white knuckle, g-force intensive thrill ride. Reviews of Busch Gardens Tampa’s Cheetah Hunt reflected its somewhat less than intense ride and the park chain announced another somewhat similar launch coaster (Manta at SeaWorld San Diego) earlier this year.

I’m looking forward to Verbolten, even though it may not be create an insane adrenaline rush. I’m confident that it’ll be impressive from a theming and overall quality stand point like almost all of this park’s roller coasters have been in the past. Here’s a teaser video for Verbolten at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

The 5 ugliest states in the country

by Meg Nesterov on

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. San Francisco Examiner writer and occasional Gadling contributor Bob Ecker doesn’t behold much, at least for a few unlucky states. Ecker previously named the prettiest US states including coastal California, exotic Hawaii, diverse New York, historic Virginia, and verdant Washington. He’s now determined the unfortunate ugliest states, measured by landscape, not people:

  • Connecticut: the Constitution State is called a “suburban hell”
  • Delaware: small and boring
  • Kansas: land-locked and a “throwback,” in a bad way
  • Nevada: outside of Las Vegas, it’s a “desolate and forbidding wasteland” (what about Lake Tahoe, Bob?)
  • Oklahoma: another flat, hot, and boring state (don’t tell Lonely Planet’s Robert Reid, an OK native)

Obviously the article is tongue in cheek — there are beautiful corners in every great state in this country — but Ecker’s skewering provides a good starting point for thinking about vacation destinations. Do these places deserve to be called ugly? What do you think the ugliest states are?

Photo courtesy Flickr user Gage Skidmore

Civil War graffiti covers this Virginia home

by Libby Zay on

Graffiti is now a fairly common part of our culture’s dialogue, but did you know soldiers in the Civil War also tagged, doodled, and conversed with one another on walls? Inside a two-story home in Virginia, historians are slowly uncovering one of the largest collections of Civil War graffiti that has ever been found.

Now known as the ‘Graffiti House,’ the home served as a field hospital for the Confederacy around the time of the Battle of Brandy Station and later became a headquarters for Federal forces. Soldiers from both sides signed their names and drew inscriptions on the walls during the war, resulting in a collection of over 200 individual pieces that cover the upstairs rooms from floor to ceiling.

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“Yanks caught hell,” reads one 1863 inscription. Later, a Yankee trumped the declaration with a huge, showy tag that claims the territory for the “Army of the United States of America.” Back in the day these guys didn’t have spray paint, sharpies or wheat paste: instead they used soot from a chimney to do their scrawling and scribbling. It’s amazing to think that several layers of wallpaper and paint preserved their work.

Similar graffiti can be found in churches, courthouses and private homes in towns where battles were waged, but much of it has been lost of the years. At the Graffiti House, some rooms sit half uncovered as archaeologists slowly restore the collection of caricatures, messages, autographs and inside jokes. Downstairs, the tradition continues in the “Hall of Honor,” where visitors (including some descendants of soldiers) can sign their names and leave messages just as our forefathers did.

The Graffiti House is located just outside of Culpeper, Virginia in Brandy Station, making it an easy day trip from Shenandoah National Park. Check their website for visiting times, as the volunteer-run attraction has limited hours.

[Photo by Libby Zay]

Shenandoah National Park celebrates 75 years

by Libby Zay on

I’m currently sitting in a rocking chair in Big Meadows Lodge at Shenandoah National Park listening to a young man talk about his day to what I presume to be his girlfriend back home. “We just spent two hours laying in the grass,” he says, adding “it felt good to just be really, ridiculously lazy.” I don’t know who this guy is or where he is from, but I think many of us can relate to his feeling of uninhibited bliss when visiting our nation’s great parks.

In a radio address in 1932, William Carson – the chairman of the Commission of Conservation and Development for Virginia – predicted that “scenery is going to be Virginia’s next cash crop.” He was right. Whether you want to just take in the views of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains or get out and be active, Shenandoah National Park has been a treasured getaway since its inception in 1935.

This year, the park is celebrating its 75th year with a rededication ceremony and a contest that will gift a lucky visitor with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a two-night stay in the park. On June 25th, the park will waive all entrance fees and has planned a full day of activities for its rededication, including plenty of projects and games for the kids. Park employees are expecting President Obama – who officially resides a little over two hours away in Washington, DC – to make an appearance at the ceremony. The park, which was established in 1935, has never made an official press announcement about the event, yet all 900 tickets to the big shebang were sold out back in May.

Park supervisor Karen Beck-Herzog says “75 years later, I think the park’s founders have delivered the dream.” Even if you can’t join in on events during the park’s official party, you can visit and pick up a brochure that doubles as a game of questions about the park and surrounding communities (or download it at online). Fill it out and send it in by November 1st to be entered in a contest with a grand prize for a vacation package at Skyland Resort, which is located in the park. The package includes a two-night stay, a biplane ride over the Shenandoah Valley, a guided horseback ride, and two limited edition prints of the park that are signed and numbered by artist Kevin H. Adams. There will also be 16 additional drawings for other prize packages that were generously donated by people and organizations that love the park.

I’ll be here for the next few days relaxing, hiking, and learning about this park’s legacy. Stay tuned.

[Photo by Libby Zay]