Beach Battle Blowout Extras

P.T. & Gloria’s “Fact or Fiction Quiz” Answers!

1. The oldest surviving roadside attraction in the United States is a six-story elephant made of wood.
FACT! This massive-eared landmark is called Lucy the Elephant, and it’s located just a few miles south of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

2. Back in 1926, the success of a mini-golf course on top of a New York City skyscraper led to the opening of an additional 150 rooftop courses around Manhattan.
FACT! The first skyscraper to have a mini-golf course was located in New York City’s Financial District. The people in that building got office space and entertainment all in one! Talk about a good bang for your buck!

3. Skee-Ball was originally called Box Ball because, in addition to rolling balls up the lane, players had to shoot wooden boxes into the holes.
FICTION! It’s true that Skee-Ball was originally called Box Ball, but players didn’t actually throw wooden boxes into the holes. Now, that’s a million-dollar idea for a game!

4. Salt water taffy’s name comes from the process of boiling salt and sugar in salt water to make the treat.
FICTION! Salt is an ingredient in salt water taffy, but it is not boiled in salt water. Rather, this candy is cooked in steel or copper kettles. Surely, salty salt water taffy would not be very tasty!

5. The famous Pacific Park in Santa Monica used to be so unpopular that the city council ordered its demolition.
FACT! The city council wanted to demolish the amusement park because of its lack of popularity back in 1972, but Santa Monica residents protested. Nowadays more than eight million people visit Pacific Park every year. That’s a 180-degree turn!

6. Dog lovers, rejoice! There’s a twelve-foot-tall pug-shaped bed-and-breakfast in Idaho—potty trained and all!
FICTION! But not really fiction. This bed-and-breakfast is real, but it’s actually in the shape of a beagle, not a pug.

7. It would take a sloth an entire day to travel the distance of the world record for flying disc throw.
FICTION! The flying disc world record is 338 meters, set by David Wiggins Jr. At a speed of ten feet per minute, it would take a sloth 110 minutes to travel this distance on land.

8. There are seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains of sand on Earth.
FACT! Well, kind of. A group of researchers in Hawaii did some math and came up with this rough estimation. If you want to know the exact number, you might have to count all the grains of sand yourself!

9. The world’s oldest pleasure pier is Golden Gallop Pier on the French Riviera—it’s supported by pillars made out of gold!
FICTION! Got you! Golden Gallop Pier doesn’t exist. Ryde Pier in England, which was built in 1813, is the world’s oldest pleasure pier.

10. A pier in Florida once held an inverted pyramid with live sea creatures inside!
FACT! The St. Petersburg Pier (close to where P.T. lives on St. Pete Beach and not far from where Chris Grabenstein has been visiting since he was a kid!) was home to a five-story-tall upside-down pyramid with an aquarium inside! The old pier is now closed, but a new pier is being built.