Sunday, August 24, 2014

HOTR - Part 3

After a good night's sleep, we were ready to tackle section 3 of the House on the Rock tour.  This is another long post, so I'll keep the commentary to a minimum.

First up was this ginormous carousel, billed as the largest indoor carousel in the world.  Too bad you can’t ride it.

All the ‘horses’ are strange creatures as befitting the mind of Alex Jordan.

Next we moved into a huge area with an eclectic mixture of objects on display.  For instance, this 10 foot boat propeller,

Still attached to the equally huge motor, oops, engine (my father just called to correct me,)

Several organs and pianos,

And a weird collection of steins, to name just a few.

Yikes!

Next up was the very impressive doll carousel - three main tiers alternate with three smaller ones.  I took a picture of the postcard I bought for this one.

The dolls are really cute, endlessly spinning on their ride.

Then we admired the doll house collection.  I never saw so many different ones.

I loved the tiny, perfect rugs.  Ron wondered if this was a spa shower.

Moving on, we passed by miniature circus venues.

Pretty impressive details.

We were confused by this next collection.  They were plaster castings, about a foot high, that seemed to advertise diamonds, but had no company name on them.
 
There were more than a hundred of them.

These are the diamond inspectors.

Then came an amazing collection of weapons - pistols, rifles, swords.  I’d say there were a couple hundred of them all in customized cases.  I’m not a gun fan, so this is the only picture I took.  Probably not a lot of call for this particular weapon.

There was a room with armor.  Ron remarked they must have had big noses.

But wait!  Here’s another doll carousel.  This one was more like a doll/chandelier carousel.

There are dolls and then there are dolls!

On our way out, we passed the main carousel again.  I hadn't noticed the angels flying overhead the first time.

All in all, I would say the complete attraction of House on the Rock is well worth the $28.50.  After all, we got two days’ worth of entertainment for our admission fee.  I didn't care if all the objects are antiques or reproductions, which I understand many are.  I didn't even care if all the automated musical instruments played or if the sound came from a synthesizer, which I read is true of the woodwinds and stringed instruments.  Come with an open mind and prepare to be entertained.  It’s a fun place and I highly recommend it.


3 comments:

  1. Once was enough for me, but I did like the Infinity Room and the music.

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  2. We have both really enjoyed these 3 posts and would love to visit the House on the Rock some day. What fun. When you are near Albuquerque, there is the Tinker Museum which is a very small version of HOTR. You would enjoy it, too.

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  3. It does sound like a very entertaining place. He was apparently quite the collector.

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