Just Inches From Indiana Jones' Bullwhip!

A month ago the husband/lover/best friend and I were camping in the northern part of Pennsylvania for about a week.  Although we were basically using the week to get acclimated to our new camper, we did make several outings during the week to "see the sights."

One of our day trips took us to Hammondsport, New York, where we spent a very pleasant afternoon at the Glenn Curtiss Museum of Aviation.  The museum contains a large collection of Curtiss' airplanes and motorcycles, along with other collections and items from the Finger Lakes area of New York.

We were also lucky enough to be there during the time when a traveling exhibit of movie props from the Indiana Jones movies was displayed at the museum.  There were four movies in the series in case you are not familiar with them:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (released June 12, 1981)

Temple of Doom (May 23, 1984)

The Last Crusade (May 24, 1989)

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22, 2008)

Let me just say that I have seen them all, some of them numerous times, and I love these movies.  These are the good old fashioned kind of action movies, not the kind they make nowadays.

There was always just enough scary stuff to keep you biting your nails, timely comedy, and well, let's just admit it - Indiana Jones is one hunk of a man.  He can find his way out of any fix, and then somehow into the arms of his one special girl.

These are movies that have something for everyone, just not young children please.

So when we came around the corner of one display and found the Indiana Jones exhibit right there in front of us, I was in movie memorabilia heaven.  Although the movie props were displayed in glass cases, I put my nose right up to the glass and geez, I could almost touch them.  It is entirely possible that some molecules or cells or something from Indiana Jones were actually floating around in my air space.    So I probably actually breathed air that Harrison Ford (Indy) breathed too.  Wow.

I was fascinated to see the case with Indy's very own bullwhip, hat, and gun.  If you've seen these movies, you know he doesn't go anywhere without them.  There they were!  Right in front of me!

Then there was the case containing Marion's special medallion - the item all the bad guys were after in the first movie:

There was an eyeball and a large beetle, from the dinner scene in the second movie, Temple of Doom:

And a case full of several of the creepy crawlies that made these movies so suspenseful.  To me, one of the scariest scenes was in the first movie when Indy and Marion were dropped down into an underground burial chamber.  The floor in there slithered with hundreds of snakes.  "Snakes.  I hate snakes," he yells.  I know the feeling.

As I write this, I can foresee a rainy Saturday movie marathon coming up sometime soon.  Four good Indiana Jones movies, a big bowl of real movie popcorn, not the no calorie no flavor cheap why bother eating it air popped popcorn, and maybe some chocolate, too.  And an adult beverage.

Ahhhhh, they don't make 'em like they used to.