YOB: #21. Visit Geppi's Entertainment Museum

By Lara

I have been curious about Geppi's Entertainment Museum since last fall. I heard an advertisement on the radio that they were having a murder mystery dinner party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the board game Clue. I thought that was super. I probably would have gone if I'd heard about it in time to buy tickets. Alas.

Since I missed my opportunity last year, I suggested that Beth put "Go to Geppi's Entertainment Museum" on the Year of the Birthday list. She did. That brings me to June 15, 2009.

Beth and I are both avid Harry Potter fans. I may have mentioned that there is nothing I love more than a good story. Although that is certainly true, I especially love a well written story. As we can no longer be terribly excited about the new books in the Harry Potter series being released, we have started becoming excited about the new movies instead.

Beth drove to my house Tuesday night. I took off work on Wednesday. The first order of business was to check on our letterbox. Someone had sent us an email saying he couldn't find it. We wanted to make sure it was still there. The hike was a lot warmer this time... and slightly muddier and buggier, but we found our letterbox. It's still snuggled safe and sound. (A warning to anyone looking for the box: a rather large spider has made a lovely web right in front of the hiding nook.) We were both relieved that the letterbox wasn't missing.

From there, we drove to the theater so we could be some of the first people to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Kate met us there. The movie was good, but I still encourage people to read the books. They're much more detailed.

After the movie, we drove to Baltimore. Geppi's Entertainment Museum was having "Coffee with the Curator: Harry Potter Q&A." It is not easy to find the museum. It is above the Sports Legends Museum in front of Camden Yards. We walked around the building in circles several times before we gained access. I was anxious by the time we finally discovered how to get inside the building. I was a little bit afraid that the museum would be crowded with rabid Harry Potter fans. It wasn't. At all.

The museum was interesting. There were lots of comic books and really antique toys and books. The room that interested me the most was the one showing collectibles that I used to own/play with. There was a stuffed Ewok in the Star Wars display that is an exact copy of the one on my dresser. I resisted the urge to ask how much it was worth.

At 6:00, Beth and I took our seats in the "Wizard of Oz" room. There was one small table with eight chairs around it. There were also four benches. The curator sat next to me. There was no coffee. Instead, there were girl scouts. Five of them. They looked about 14-years-old. They had three sponsors with them. Yep.

The discussion was interesting. I appreciated the information that the curator had to offer concerning the Harry Potter series and how it relates to pop culture. I appreciated that the curator tried to spark some interesting discussion with the girl scouts. I especially appreciated his answer to the question, "How did you become the curator of this museum?" "You mean besides having had a misspent youth collecting toys?"

I was glad when the hour was up, and we could drive back home.

So... that's another thing crossed off the list. We're officially half way done. I'll play catch up with the things I've neglected. I just wanted to write about G.E.M. while it was still so fresh in my mind.