One of my all time favorite musicals is The Phantom of the Opera, so when I heard about the sims devoted to this story, I had to check them out for myself.

First, I visited the Phantom Rose Opera House. Upon entering the front door, I found myself inside a magnificent lobby complete with several staircases and beautiful carpeting.

As I climbed the stairs, I found a piano tucked away behind a roped off area, so naturally I flew right over that rope and played a few bars of “Music of the Night.”

Then I happened to glance over the edge of the balcony and saw the famous chandelier. Fortunately, it had not yet fallen into the audience.

I also checked out the box seats in case I want to purchase tickets later on.

The top floor appeared to be living quarters for the actors….or perhaps for the phantom himself. Outside was a beautiful lake named appropriately enough, Swan Lake.

The other sim devoted to fans of Phantom is called Phantom’s Labyrinth. Instead of a beautiful opera house, I found myself walking through a maze filled with pictures and mementos from the movie.

The labyrinth also has its own version of the famous chandelier.

My favorite find of all in the labyrinth was the gorgeous pipe organ. Listen! You might just hear me playing “The phantom of the opera is here….” with all of the stops wide open. Great fun!

Well, as promised, I have returned to exploring and playing in Second Life. I have read about the Greenies Sim on several other blogs and decided that it was just the place to lift me out of this blue funk. So off I went!

Upon arrival, I found myself inside a tunnel underneath the floor. I had to follow the arrows and then squeeze through a tiny hole in the wall to enter the living room area. Wow! Either I was suddenly the size of a mouse or this was a home for Jack in the Beanstalk’s Giant. Everything was huge!

First I explored the kitchen, drifting through some flour that was spilled on the counter, getting caught between 2 slices of toast, and finding a mousetrap under the sink.

Then I flew over to the living area. There was a huge computer, ipod, and camera, among other items. The friendly little green guys were everywhere, always willing to guide and help.

I rode a rocket up towards the ceiling, and ran inside a hamster wheel to while escaping from the huge black cat.

All in all, the Greenies sim provides a great afternoon of entertainment and is well worth a visit!

I was searching for zoos and came across a link to the Imagination Breeding and Zoo sim. A visit here was quite a treat during a quiet summer afternoon in Real Life. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a couple of banjo playing characters. Just around the corner, there was a huge pink elephant juggling balls. I was told to try to sit on one of the balls while they were being set up, and after a couple of tries, I was successful. Afterwards, I wasn’t sure that I was happy about that since I ended up being juggled along with the other balls. It made me very dizzy!

I rode a llama around the center of the zoo while exploring the site. There was also an elephant ride near the outside of the zoo, but I had a lot of trouble keeping him on course!

One of my favorite exhibits was the penguins’ igloo. (Imagine that!) There was a carton seat inside of the igloo, and the penguins moved in and out visiting with me there. They probably thought I was a long lost relative.

There were lots of other fun exhibits there including an ant band that marched around the zoo playing their cute little instruments. It’s well worth a visit for all animal lovers!

Since I help support Comcast with a pretty generous payment each month, I decided to see how my money is being spent in Second Life, and I was not disappointed. This is a well designed island with lots of entertaining features. The first thing I did was visit the jetskis. I rezzed a free one and away I went…well, until I crashed the ski on the land. I’m a terrible driver in SL!

I flew to the top of a huge tower, grabbed a parachute, and jumped, and fortunately it opened so I floated gently down to the ground. I also grabbed a free jetpack, rezzed several rings in midair, and attempted to fly through them. Actually, this is designed for more than one person to race through the rings. Thank goodness I wasn’t racing because I never got through them all before they timed out, but it was fun trying.

Speaking of racing, there is a race tube winding through the park. I was given a racing uniform, rezzed a car, and away I went again. This was really fun since the tube prevented me from wandering away from the track. I didn’t need to worry so much about control so I could drive really fast.

In another part of the island I discovered the Comcastic Lab which turned out to be my favorite feature of all. Upon entering the lab, I was walked past a soda fountain that served a very questionable liquid. I walked on through a doorway only to be told that I had to have a radiation badge to enter. So, I wore the badge and walked through a decompression chamber of sorts. The lab itself was full of “do not enter” and “do not touch” signs which were invitations to do just the opposite, if you ask me. Strange things happened, like electrical shocks and wildly growing monster plants.  I highly recommend a visit to the Comcast lab in SL!

On my first trip to Galveston, I visited 3 pyramids and tried to enter a nearby amusement park, but it wouldn’t let me in. I was so disappointed, because I could see it and just needed to be there! Being determined to make the best of a bad situation, I spent my time exploring the town and checking out those pyramids. There was a Rain Forest Pyramid, an Aquarium Pyramid, and a Science Discovery Pyramid complete with its own Imax Theater.

Not being one to give up easily, I returned to Galveston the next day and had no trouble at all entering the inviting amusement park. Woohoo! And, I had the entire park all to myself! Life just doesn’t get much better than that!

There were 3 different water rides, and of course, my favorite was the log flume. The track actually went around most of the perimeter of the park, so I definitely got my money’s worth. There was also a water tube ride that was gravity driven, but I kept getting stuck about half way through and had to swim out. The innertube ride was fun but I needed more of it!

There were also several typical amusement park rides and games. I enjoyed the duck shoot, and almost won a prize! There was a skeeball game, but I never got it to work. It kept telling me that I had an animation override, but I didn’t. At least I didn’t think I did. Oh well, guess I’ll have to go back and try that again. The fortune teller looked rather ominous. I actually sat in the dunking booth, but there was nobody around to dunk me. Hee hee! Good timing!

I love amusement park rides of any kind, but one of my favorites at this park had to be the pirates ride. It was actually underground, very much like the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride at Disney. There were surprises around every turn, so if you dare ride it, just be forewarned!

I also rode a ferris wheel, a very dangerous swaying boat, and giant swings. If you’ve put in a long day at work and just need to kick back and play like a kid, give the amusement park at Galveston a visit.

Well, with a name like Penguin, how could I resist purchasing a pet penguin of my very own? When I taught in the elementary classroom in RL, my room was decorated with all sorts of penguin paraphernalia, so I had grown accustomed to being surrounded by the cute little black tuxedoed creatures. So, with the help of my good friend Tyna, I found my very own penguin. It follows me around everywhere I go, but other people can give him commands too, which is cool. He will jump, talk, march, and just generally waddle around looking like he’s having a good time. I’ve only lost him once so far when I was flying around the apartment with a jetpack and moved too fast for him. Poor thing…I’m not sure where he actually went, but fortunately, I could pull him right out of my inventory again! There are definitely some advantages to Second Life.

Now he really needs a name. Any ideas? Percy? Pete? Petunia? Not! Can’t have a male penguin going around named after a flower. I’m kind of liking Percy at this point, but still need to think about it a bit.

Tyna and I visited Raglan Squire at the advice of a tiny furry avatar. (Actually he was a koala who was flirting with Tyna! Go figure…) Anyhow, among other things, Raglan Squire has shops in which you can purchase tiny avatar costumes if you find that appealing. They also had shops with such things as dragons that you can wear on your shoulder. Hmmm, do you know of anyone who might be interested in one of those, Tyna?

As we were exploring, we found a set of percussion instruments just waiting to be played. What fun! There really were very well constructed and the animations were awesome. These types of music sims would be great for music appreciation classes. I’ll be back to play some more here!

Today was the last day of school for the students, so to celebrate, I decided to search for a water park. I found just what I was looking for at the Florida Bay Water Park. It wasn’t large enough to be overwhelming, and as luck would have it, I had the place to myself. Nothing like putting on a swimsuit in front of a bunch of strangers, even if they are virtual!

There were tons of things to do there. I rezzed a jetski and zoomed around the island, until I crashed onto land and got stuck. Then I tried my hand with a motorboat, and things seemed to go a little better. There were 2 different hot air balloon rides that would take you high above the water park. There was also a tube ride, but my very favorite ride was the log flume.

The nice folks provided a pool with floats for just relaxing as well as rings with swimming animations so I could swim underneath the waterfall with little effort. After all that exercise, it was time to find a lounge chair over by the fountain and just chill for a while.

So, the next time you need a place to play and relax, try the Florida Bay Water Park. Just don’t tell too many people about it…. It’s really nice when it’s quiet and serene.

Sometimes the most unexpected places provide the most entertainment. I read about Artilleri on someone’s fashion blog and actually went there to check out the shopping. Well, it was so much more than shopping! I found a child’s playground with tire swing included, much like the one I had as a child in RL. There was a merry-go-round, the kind you have to push in RL, but this one worked by magic! I washed the pink cadillac in front of the shop too.

After all of the work and playing, I treated myself to an ice cream cone and then relaxed for a while on a nearby beach. There’s a bowling alley there too, but I want to wait until Tyna can join me. On second thought, she’s really good at bowling, so maybe I should go ahead and practice a bit before she gets there. What do you think?

We rarely get enough snow around here to go skiing, and even if we did, I’d be a disaster on skis in RL, but once again, anything is possible in Second Life. No wonder I’m having so much fun exploring here! Today, I visited Snowy Mountain Park. After getting stuck underneath the lodge (have you ever tried to fly out from under a deck on a mountainside?) …the first thing I did was pick up a pair of free skate blades and go ice skating. There was a skating floor that animated my avatar so I could dance while spinning around on the ice. Very cool, and definitely not something that would ever happen in RL.

Then I purchased a pair of inexpensive skis and poles and off I went down the mountain. The keeper of the mountain… whoever that mysterious voice was… kept shouting at me when I missed a gate, but you know, I just didn’t care! I was having fun and didn’t care to take this so seriously. Actually, once I reached the bottom of the mountain, I just kept going and eventually got completely lost in some other snow covered area. I had to fly, skis and all, back to the top of the mountain so I could start all over. It was a splendid way to spend an afternoon when temperatures were in the 90’s in RL.