Dorothy B. Oven Park

Last night, we went to Dorothy B. Oven Park to look at the Christmas lights.

Featured Teapot Racer: Sweet Tea

Oct. 19th started out with heavy winds and rain and I was damp for most of the day, but by the start of the teapot races the rain had stopped.

Sweet Tea was built as a teapot racer to be loaned out to someone who did not have their own racer. That someone was very specific this time, though. Heidi Icenogle volunteered to be one of our judges, a job she has done in the past, but I had already filled both positions, so I asked if she would race instead, if I provided her with a teapot racer. She enthusiastically agreed.

Heidi is a bee keeper, so I was inspired to create a queen bee themed racer.




Heidi not only created bribes for the judges, she even made a bribe for me, a beautiful poppy themed journal.



Driving an RC car without any practice is quite a challenge.  

Blaze's Men in Black Halloween Costume

The cat has no memory of this costume:

Renninger's Steampunk and Industrial Show Oct. 19 and 20, 2019

Featured Teapot Racer: Strange Brew

Strange Brew is a Fallout 76 inspired teapot racer, named after a tea themed challenge in the game.

A teapot racer can be made out of any remote controlled vehicle, as long as it fits the size restrictions (no more than 12-inches tall, 12-inches wide, and 16-inches long).  I was very excited to find a robot that fit those dimensions.



I created Strange Brew as a teapot racer that could be loaned out to people who wished to participate in the races, but did not have their own racers. As a result, it has been driven by two different people at two recent steampunk events.



The robot does not do well on the ramps (even ramps that are not blocked by a cat), so it does take some ingenuity to finish the obstacle course.

Driven by Clete Rooney at SWFL SteamCon in Fort Myers, Florida.



Driven by Julie McMillin at the Chicago Steampunk Expo in Rosemont, Illinois.

Julie won the ribbon for "Most Dastardly Driver", by being the most entertaining cheat.



Strange Brew was also on display at Renninger's Steampunk and Industrial Show in Mount Dora, Florida on Oct.19, but was not driven in the races. That morning, Tropical Storm Nestor was still making its way through the area. Only the most brave and adventurous steampunks made it to the open-air event.

Featured Teapot Racer: Matcha 5

Matcha 5 was created and driven by Gustav Karlson of Dr. Gus Designs, one of the vendors at the Chicago Steampunk Expo.



Now, this is a judge who is happy with his bribe! Bishop Stevens received a leather bracer with custom metal trim, which I'm pretty sure he ordered himself, since it was also custom sized. The other judge, Thomas Willeford received candy.




The winner of the "Most Splendid Design" and "Grand Champion" medals.

Matcha 5 did a fantastic job on the course, but that bribe might have influenced the final score a little bit.



After the teapot racing drag race, some of the racers took a victory lap that turned into a smash-up derby.

Featured Teapot Racer: S.S. Nonsense

"S.S. Nonsense" was built and driven by Marty DeSimone at the Chicago Steampunk Expo. The R.C. car he used as his base was one he had built from a kit many years ago.

Bribing the judges is part of the game, but not all bribes have to be physical objects. Marty gave hugs.





This was the fastest teapot racer at the Chicago Steampunk Expo, finishing the course in 26.5 seconds and winning the drag race.

Elgin Historical Museum

Sept. 26, 2019

Before spending the rest of the day scrubbing my mom's recently vacated upstairs apartment, Blaze, my mom, and I went to the Elgin Historical Museum which is housed in the Old Main building of the Elgin Academy.

The Blue Box Cafe and Deli

Elgin, Illinois' Dr. Who themed cafe.