At the Drive-In

Waiting for the dark

Lil Dude Troll recently took a few young friends to experience something they had never even known about - the drive-in movie theatre. With so few left, the drive to one was a bit long, but once there, everyone had a great time. There was just one question everyone had upon returning home - "When can we do it again?"

Watching a pretty sunset before the picture show begins

Original speaker from 1966 - and it still works great!

Fold-up chairs, blankets & pillows in the back
of a pickup with the tailgate down - this just
might be the best way to watch a movie!

 

David's Burgers and Woodrow Troll

Announcing the newest member of the Troll family - Woodrow Troll. Woodrow, his family members and good friends just call him Woody, was adopted a few weeks ago, and is now ready to join the rest of the family willing to share their travels and adventures. Welcome Woody!

Woody's first trip was to a David's Burgers establishment in Arkansas, a counter-serve chain offering a simple menu of house made beef burgers & fries, plus ice cream in a cool retro-style diner atmosphere. The staff is always very friendly, welcoming you as you walk in the door, saying thank you as you walk out and plenty of smiles and friendly service in-between. For several years now, David's Burgers has won the "Best Burger in Arkansas" award. Woody wouldn't go so far as to declare David's Burgers as the best in Arkansas as he has tasted many, but not all the rest and lots of folks would consider the Texas chain Whataburger to be better, but they are pretty darn good and Whataburger has only 1 or 2 locations in the state to offer competition. 



Good size burger, fresh ingredient's & fresh, hot fries
makes for a good meal for most folks.

One thing they offer is unlimited fries and that's a very good thing! They make their own fries right there on the premises throughout the day so they are always fresh. Every few minutes a server walks among the tables offering more hot fries to anyone who purchased an order with their burger. A burger and fries is usually enough to fill up a person, but if you are especially hungry, those extra fries will take care of it for you.

To finish the whole thing off, ask your server for a free sample of their soft serve ice cream. Vanilla, chocolate or vanilla/chocolate swirl. It comes in a little, tiny cup with a little tiny spoon, but it is just enough of something sweet that it perfectly tops off your meal. And the ice cream is good enough to really tempt you to come back some other time to get a whole cone or dish of it. It's pretty darn good stuff!

Woody likes the retro diner décor!

Woodrow says you should check it out. You'll be glad you did! 



 

SmashBurger Troll

Lil Dude Troll went to SmashBurger for lunch. The verdict? In Lil Dude's opinion, it doesn't threaten Whataburger by any means, but it wasn't bad. Would he go back? If that's where other trolls in his party want to go, no problem, but if he makes the decision, probably not.

 

Two Rivers Park Troll

Two Rivers Park is a 1000-acre parcel of land in Little Rock, Arkansas. Located at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Maumelle Rivers, this scenic park offers recreational uses such as walking, bicycling, horseback riding and family activities. About 450 acres of the park is wooded wetlands and the rest is mostly open fields. Both areas have paved and cleared trails.

Lil Dude Troll visits the park often and says if you happen to be in the area, it's a great place for a picnic and a lazy afternoon of laying back on a shady patch of grass watching the river roll by!

 

Spam Museum

Lil Dude Troll heard about the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota and just had to go. Yes, Spam, king of the mystery meats, has its very own museum. Visitors by the thousands come each year to what is billed as "the world’s most comprehensive collection of spiced pork artifacts."

After touring the fascinating museum and learning all kinds of things about Spam, such as the fact that 44,000 cans of it are produced each and every hour, you can shop for Spam-branded items in the gift shop. From cans of Spam to Spam-logo'd tennis balls to Spam-branded bowling shirts to glow-in-the-dark Spam-branded underwear, it's all there for purchase. 

Lil Dude says if you happen to be anywhere near Austin, Minnesota, you should take a couple of hours to check out this free and funner-than-expected product museum!

(The Spam Museum closed Sept. 28, 2014 in preparation for a move into an all-new, larger facility. Planned re-opening is scheduled for Spring, 2016. The gift shop remains open at the old site for your shopping pleasure)

Spambassador loved Lil Dude. She
threatened to take him home and keep him! 

Old advertisements for Spam. "Burns & Allen
Go Spam In A Big Way!" 

More old advertisements for Spam. Wife
telling husband, "Get up! It's Spam and
eggs, my Dear!" 

Interesting Spam facts.

Lil Dude rides the Spam assembly line.

Cool Spam T-shirts in the gift shop

Get your Spam magnets here!

Who wouldn't want to eat off Spam dishes?!

Sir Spam

Don't forget your Spam Town bumper sticker!

Bring home some Spam!

Spamburger, it's whats for lunch!

Trolling Mall of America

On an overcast day in May, Lil Dude Troll made it to Minnesota for the very first time. Stopping off at the welcome center to get specific directions to his destination, Mall of America, he met one of the nicest, friendliest, most helpful welcome center ladies he has ever met. What a wonderful way for a weary traveler to be greeted!

The largest indoor mall in the United States is Mall of America. Located in Bloomington, Minnesota, over 42 million shoppers come each year to spend their money. That many visitors is about 8 times the total number of residents in the whole state of Minnesota!

Including parking space, the mall has a gross area of 4,870,000 feet (96.4 acres, enough room for 7 Yankee Stadiums.) Of this area, there are over 2,500,000 square feet of retail space. With more than 530 stores open, you can find pretty much anything you might be shopping for.

One of the big attractions is Nickelodeon Universe, a huge theme park in the middle of the mall. With several roller coasters among the many carnival-type rides, an 18 hole miniature golf course and lots of kid-friendly activities, it is the largest indoor theme park in America.

Miles and miles of aisles!

If you go, Lil Dude says you should plan to spend a full day or even 2 so you can cover everything this mega-mall has to offer!

Even if you can't afford anything in there,
it's still a must just to look around! 

Don't get lost in the jungle store, Lil Dude!

Amazing things in the Lego store...

...like this giant Lego robot!

Lil Dude had no idea there were many more
Peeps items than just the yellow marshmallow
baby chicks you find every Easter. There's
a whole store full of stuff! 

My name is Forrest Gump Troll. People call
me Forrest Gump Troll. 

The mall is so big, even Dora comes to
explore it!

Kids love Nickelodeon Universe!

When you get tired of trolling the mall
and you're feeling hungry, there's Bubba
Gump's and lots of other restaurants, but... 

...you can't go wrong with a
good old-fashioned burger
and fries from Johnny Rocket!