(Capitol hill, smaller than it tends to be.)
We went to Legoland.
As you go down Legoland Drive, you pass huge Lego letters spelling out a welcome message, ending at the toll booths. Yes, like San Francisco's bridges, Legoland has toll booths, where you must pay parking.
The Lego Volvo XC90 that was on display outside the gates since 2004 has been replaced with a real XC60, but the Lego family exiting it remains. It too is parked in a Volvos-only spot...
As you can imagine, everything that isn't made out of Lego is made to resemble it. "Blockoland" from The Simpsons is not at all an exaggeration. The only difference is that the real Legoland doesn't need to be taken down at night, since all of the plastic bricks used are either glazed or have a tape-like film over them.
Inside the park, there are several places to go, but they can be summed up: gift shops, places to buy food, amusement park rides, water-parks, both, exhibits, a golf course, a driving center, tours, and mini-America.
The tours featured are a fifteen-minute boat tour around the park and a sky tour, on a pedal car riding on sky-high tracks. This gives you a nice aerial view of the entire park. Both are recommended.
Areas like the boating pool and firefighter races are meant to give kids a a try at activities, though there were an abundance of middle-aged kids everywhere. In fact, there were mostly middle-aged kids there.
The average individual Lego structure is made of about 100,000 bricks. Structures compose the main attraction of the park: miniland.
It is, in a word, epic. You have miniature versions of New England, The Strip in Las Vegas, Daytona Speedway, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, southern California, Washington DC, and Ferndale.
The cities aren't exact replicas, but are compilations of the most notable parts of each featured region. Las Vegas even has a paved strip you walk along to observe the models!
Right outside the kids' driving center is the second Lego XC90. Both are made of over 200,000 bricks, lie on a real chassis and wheels, and weigh almost as much as the real thing.

A side note: did you know Costco makes its own alcohol? There's Kirkland vodka and pre-mixed margaritas, among other things. Also, there is a bag of Ghirardelli chocolates available in Costco, even though it was located in San Diego...
So then, enough text: enjoy the pictures!
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