OUCH! I got bit by the Gold Bug at Tweetsie Railroad!
By DuoMaxwell
@DuoMaxwell (953)
United States
July 4, 2008 4:24am CST
That's right. I somehow got the case of gold fever, and it all happened yesterday on July 3, 2008 at Tweetsie Railroad near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. I heard about this place from my older sister a few days ago, and that they got gold panning there, and somehow I was looking forward to going there.
Yesterday, I went to Tweetsie Railroad which seemed like a small amusement park, and it's the second time I rode an old-timey railroad train ever since my trip to Stone Mountain, GA. Thanks to another guy, if it weren't for him covering his ears during a railroad Wild West play with loud explosions, I thought I was going to go deaf! After that, I recieved a souvenir bullet casing from that play.
The funny thing is that I saw a cowboy using one of them newfangled contraptions called a "cell phone" during the ride. 
I tried my hand at the arcades, and I only got two small prizes. I played "Six Gun Select", a game where you shoot the bees to get 500 points (the game had Japanese voice actors though), "Star Trek: Voyager", and the crane games in which I was so close to getting a very good watch. Frustrating! 
I nearly blew $20 dollars worth of quarters though.
I had a slice of pizza and chili cheese fries though, and bought a sling bag I bought from the main store before I started.
I had a fear of heights when it came to those chair rides, and I repeatedly told them I only wanted to go on the bus to get to the gold panning area, but it seemed that I had no choice. The chair lift was slow though, but I made it.
It's my first time to pan for gold, and i've watched programs about it on the Travel Channel. I even researched about gold panning the day before. I was new at it, but mom gave me an example of what gold looked like since she found hers.
I tried my hand at it and learned from her, and after the others were gone to the petting zoo, guess what?
Yep! You guessed it! I STRUCK GOLD!!!
Gold panning does take a long time, so I tried it this way, and that way you might be able to try it if you decide to go gold panning someday:
-Pick off the tiny rocks and pebbles; gold remains at the bottom after sloshing off the sand.
-It's best to pan for gold on a sunny day. That way, if you see any yellow, small sparkles during your sloshing off the sand, you'll know that you've found gold. Pick it up and place it somewhere where you won't lose it.
-My overall rule when finding gold is this: Keep your very first piece of gold that you find! It's invaluable and priceless to you! After I found my first gold piece, I asked mom for a pen, and after wrapping it in a small paper napkin I marked it so that I'd know it's my very first gold piece.
I also had chocolate-covered funnel cakes before I left, and took another look at the mountains from the top as we drove home.
All in all, not bad. I hope to come here again one day and look for more gold. Now I can say for sure that I got bit by the Gold Bug at Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina. I feel like a gold miner from the 1840s gold rush.
BTW, the gold there is REAL, and panning for gold there is FREE!
I tried my hand at the arcades, and I only got two small prizes. I played "Six Gun Select", a game where you shoot the bees to get 500 points (the game had Japanese voice actors though), "Star Trek: Voyager", and the crane games in which I was so close to getting a very good watch. Frustrating!
I nearly blew $20 dollars worth of quarters though.
I had a slice of pizza and chili cheese fries though, and bought a sling bag I bought from the main store before I started.
I had a fear of heights when it came to those chair rides, and I repeatedly told them I only wanted to go on the bus to get to the gold panning area, but it seemed that I had no choice. The chair lift was slow though, but I made it.
It's my first time to pan for gold, and i've watched programs about it on the Travel Channel. I even researched about gold panning the day before. I was new at it, but mom gave me an example of what gold looked like since she found hers.
I tried my hand at it and learned from her, and after the others were gone to the petting zoo, guess what?
Yep! You guessed it! I STRUCK GOLD!!!
Gold panning does take a long time, so I tried it this way, and that way you might be able to try it if you decide to go gold panning someday:
-Pick off the tiny rocks and pebbles; gold remains at the bottom after sloshing off the sand.
-It's best to pan for gold on a sunny day. That way, if you see any yellow, small sparkles during your sloshing off the sand, you'll know that you've found gold. Pick it up and place it somewhere where you won't lose it.
-My overall rule when finding gold is this: Keep your very first piece of gold that you find! It's invaluable and priceless to you! After I found my first gold piece, I asked mom for a pen, and after wrapping it in a small paper napkin I marked it so that I'd know it's my very first gold piece.
I also had chocolate-covered funnel cakes before I left, and took another look at the mountains from the top as we drove home.
All in all, not bad. I hope to come here again one day and look for more gold. Now I can say for sure that I got bit by the Gold Bug at Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina. I feel like a gold miner from the 1840s gold rush.
BTW, the gold there is REAL, and panning for gold there is FREE!No responses
