Ruby Falls Revisited

David has often mentioned a cross-country driving trip he took with his father, where "Ruby Falls" was advertised on multiple billboards 250 miles in either direction, so much so that the parents were compelled to stop for the attraction. I remember a similar billboard campaign with a dead (mummified?) Indian with similar results. After all the hype - and cross-country in the US West can be very long and boring - the end result is as promised (a waterfall with red lighting or a mummified Indian) but excruciatingly disappointing.

But we fell for it again!

Annika and I were in London, and on every bus, every billboard, every tube stop the London Dungeon was advertised. When I asked A what was the one thing she most wanted to see in London, well how could she help herself. So we didn't go to Harrods, the Tower, the Thames River Cruise, Covent Garden, the Tate, or anything else I might have envisioned for our short trip to London... and made our way to the dungeon.

The entrance was cute, and I will always treasure the photo of A chopping my head off... but beyond that, it was a huge and disgusting disappointment. A was expecting something like Gröna Lund (an amusement park) and I was hoping for something interesting. Instead, we found something perhaps designed for 14-year-olds - gross, disgusting and revolting. During the worst parts (the vivid details of exactly what Jack the Ripper did to his victims), I whispered secrets to Annika and tried to help us both ignore the ongoing descriptions. Fortunately, most of the vocabulary and concepts were way over her head, and she missed the blood, guts and gore.

Please let us never again Fall for a Ruby!