June 20, 2013

Best Crypto-Vacation Ever!

Cryptomundian Iceman won the CryptoContest that was announced in this post on Cryptomundo: Bobcat Goldthwait’s Bigfoot Movie Screens in Dallas

Cryptomundo will give away a pair of tickets to the screening to one lucky Cryptomundian to attend the screening in our party. This is only for two general admission tickets. You have to get yourself to Dallas and find a place to crash while here. But you will get to go to dinner with the Cryptomundo crew before the screening, hang with us at the screening, and possibly get to meet Bobcat Goldtwait.

We will pick the best response submitted by this Sunday night, May 19th, at midnight Central.

My best buddy and I are teachers in Tennessee, who are both into Cryptozoology. With the school year ending, if we win these tickets, we plan to take a road trip to see the film. At the halfway point, we will take a detour to Fouke, Arkansas, to see where The Legend of Boggy Creek transpired. Since my field is English and his is Science, we may even write about our journey a la Three Men Seeking Monsters!Iceman

Best Crypto-Vacation Ever!

By Doug (Iceman)

One of the most common misconceptions about teaching is that it is a “cushy” occupation because we, teachers, have our summers off. Believe me, we earn every moment of that free couple of months before each new school year! So, what do most of us do? A few of us vacation, many of us work, and some of us do nothing at all. I personally had no plans for this year, except for some leisure reading. As a teacher of language arts and literature at the secondary level, most people assume that the classics must account for a sizeable portion of my reading outside of the classroom. In my case, that is not even true of the broader genre of fiction in general (while I love my work, I leave it at work).

No, my passion is the much misunderstood, often maligned subject of cryptozoology. So, my interest was peaked when I discovered that my favorite website on the subject, Cryptomundo, was sponsoring a contest in which the prize was two tickets to the Dallas premiere of Bobcat Goldthwait’s eagerly anticipated film on the subject, Willow Creek.

This was during the last hectic week of the school year and I vacillated on entering or not. The answer depended on solving a single dilemma. Could I find anyone in my family or among my friends who would even accompany me on what would almost assuredly be a grueling road trip from Tennessee to Texas, and then back again? While those in my life are amused by my preoccupation with this topic, no one was willing to indulge me to this extent. No one, that is, save a lone science teacher from another school system. Marc and I had been college roommates and have remained friends for over a quarter of a century, so on his consent, I submitted my entry. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had actually won!

We packed his wife’s car and left early in the morning on the eighth of June. Arriving at the home of our sponsor, Craig Woolheater, some twelve hours later, we received a warm reception, replete with cryptozoology-related swag. Craig was an ebullient and generous host, along with his girlfriend Angie (who, I might add, is smoking-hot), with an unequivocal knowledge on the topic.

British author and researcher Nick Redfern made an appearance at Woolheater’s house and all of us conversed for hours. Nick also graciously signed my copy of his latest book, Monster Files: A Look Inside Government Secrets and Classified Documents on Bizarre Creatures and Extraordinary Animals.

The evening wrapped up with a showing of the movie Letters from the Big Man and pizza.

The next day, Marc and I toured the JFK sites while awaiting the film premiere.

Before attending this event, we gathered with Craig and his guests at a restaurant called El Ranchito to break bread, and the ice, with our new companions. Besides Nick Redfern, another notable luminary in the field, Lyle Blackburn, was also in attendance. Lyle, who wrote the book, The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster, would be pivotal in our successfully navigating Fouke, Arkansas, on our return trip.

Since both Nick and Lyle have both ably posted about the film Willow Creek itself, I shall defer to their reviews, as my piece is more of a travelogue. Besides, I could add nothing to expound on what they have written except to emphatically agree that it is an absolute must-see for every Cryptomundian!

Bobcat Goldthwait was both affable and humble as he posed for photographs and spoke with fans prior to the premiere and at the after party. The Q&A session was informative, as well as humorous, and Bobcat answered my inquiry about the vocalizations in the film.

On the final day of our vacation, Marc and I went to the home of Lyle Blackburn and he plotted an indispensable course for us to take on our excursion into Boggy Creek. When Craig Woolheater arrived, we perused Lyle’s impressive personal museum of monster movie memorabilia, before heading out to Greer Island, site of “The Lake Worth Monster” flap of sightings in 1969.

Parting with Lyle, we were then escorted from there, by Craig, to Aurora, the location of an 1897 UFO crash, and to the cemetery where its alien occupant was allegedly interred.

Then, with precious daylight slipping away, Marc and I headed for our final destination, Fouke Arkansas, to camp out in Boggy Creek for a night. We had a unique experience there, and believe we may have scooped the Finding Bigfoot team on their methodology. If it does bear a book in the future, perhaps Craig will post about it on Cryptomundo with the now familiar tagline: “What do the Cryptomundians think?”

Cryptozoology resides more in my lessons on folklore, than in Marc’s lab, but I look forward to the day when it will be common in his classroom as well! Marc is an open-minded educator though, and from whichever field our students engage it, his or mine, this experience will give us an angle from which to at least introduce it to students.

For this, we owe a debt of gratitude to Craig Woolheater, and everyone else in the Lone Star crypto-community, who made a couple of hillbillies from the Volunteer state feel so welcomed, and hope that we shall have some opportunity to return in the future, for another adventure!

Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, CryptoContest, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoology, Expedition Reports, Lake Monsters, Photos, Pop Culture, Sasquatch