5 Awesome Vintage Amusement Parks to Visit on Memorial Day (that won't break the budget and aren't mega-sized).

You've got lots of options this summer for big fun.  Might I suggest the following?:

Visit a vintage amusement park!  Or two or three!  Heck, make a road trip out of it!!!

Yes, I'm talking to you.  I know you; you're cost-conscious, yet a thrill-seeker.  You want something unique and memorable to do with your family.  But sometimes when you think about amusement parks, what comes to mind are the super-duper megaparks, crawling with just too many people and not enough space to rest, to enjoy a meal, to breathe.  Well, I'm hear to tell you there are other parks out there, really great ones, some family-owned and operated, that are much more manageable in scope, but still packed with everything you could possibly need or want for a great, old-fashioned time.

Behold my top 5 parks from my book, "The Cotton Candy Road Trip" specifically picked for you if  you're fixing to have a great time, without losing the kids in a crowd (or your patience within the first five minutes).  They're all user-friendly in size, full of charm and history, and, for those adrenaline junkies out there, each has a very noteworthy roller coaster:

1.  Knoebels, Elysburg, PA: Plenty of trees to rest under, some of the best park food you'll ever taste, and an impressive parade of vintage rides that will please every age range.  What sets Knoebels apart is the way they keep up and constantly improve the collection of the vintage rides, sometimes rescuing rides from other parks (like the astounding Phoenix roller coaster).  They're actually working on a Flying Turns ride, patterned after an attraction from the fabeled past of Chicago's Riverview park.  Be sure to check out their on-premises carousel museum!

Knoebels' carousel

2.  Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, CA: Right on the Pacific Ocean, the park boasts an amazing arcade, scrumptious boardwalk food (yes, you will want the chocolate-covered bacon), an excellent haunted dark ride, the Big Dipper coaster, and a skyride, which allows you to take in the breathtaking ocean view.

Gargoyles guarding the haunted dark ride

3.  Lakeside Amusement Park, Denver, CO: At night, this park becomes an astounding jewel box of neon signage.  Antique ride signs have been lovingly preserved; you will not find such a collection at any other park.  Thrill as you ride the Vettel rollercoaster, one of only a few which still remain in operation.

Seriously.  It doesn't get better than this.



4.  Arnolds Park, Arnolds Park, IA: Ride the Legend rollercoaster, go for a picturesque boat ride on the lake, blow your wad shopping, visit the Rock and Roll museum, get lost in the mirror maze, go shopping again, take in the park's historical museum, then round out your visit with a Nutty Bar (trust me on this).  And there's a concert series to boot.  If you run out of things to do at Arnolds, you're just hopeless.

The Legend.  And it IS.

5.  Rye Playland, Rye, NY: With three dark rides, the iconic Dragon roller coaster, the historic Derby Racer, and a well-stocked kiddieland, there's more than enough delights for kids of all ages.  What's unique and wonderful about Rye Playland is that it still has the same layout it had on opening day back in 1928, when park planners thoughtfully plotted out green spaces and restful, tree-lined areas.  Rye Playland weathered Hurricane Sandy and is still standing.  This season, it needs your support and patronage so that it doesn't get severely "edited" by the powers that be who wish to wipe out about a third of the rides.  Don't let that happen.  Visit Rye Playland and visit often.

View of a portion of Playland from the park's Ferris wheel

  

Pack the sunscreen and get moving!  Summer hasn't even officially begun but it's already a'wastin'!

 

Cotton Candy Road Trip Swag Store to Open SOON!!!

Cafe Press stores are easy to open.  But crazy-confusing to assemble.  Except when they're easy.  This easy/difficult teeter-totter keeps yanking me back and forth and I'm getting dizzy!

Pals, let me tell you - I've been working for hours and hours in the last few days on harvesting the best/oddest/most unique photos from my Road Trip, images that will be used on a variety of items you'll be able to purchase from my store.  But Cafe Press keeps being difficult.  But then simple.  And my brain is having a hard time wrapping itself around it all.  Until I get it and then I go, "Huh.  How 'bout that?  That was easy enough - a child of four could've figured THAT one out.  Dang."

Anywho, in about a week or so, all will be revealed.  Suffice it to say, I think you'll be pleased and intrigued with the outcome.  The item I'm most jazzed about is the 2013 calendar, which will feature some of my most prized images from the Road Trip, including a number from our beloved Kiddieland and Storybook Gardens parks, now a sad memory.

I'll keep you all posted.

Until then, here's a little something to make you go, "What the heck IS that thing?"

Well, I'll tell you he's from Arnolds Park.  I'll also let you in on the fact that he's part of the month of October ...

New uses for old bumper cars!

My delightful friend, Jill Jackson, who's a great fan of my book, sent me this email and I was blown away by the creativity therein!  While on the Road Trip, I took a number of photos of old bumper cars, always wondering where the retired ones went.  To the trash heap?  To the park's museum (only a few parks actually have museums.  Arnolds Park and Knoebels come to mind; Coney Island has a museum but I don't know if they'd have the space for ride vehicles).

Anyway - I've never copied an email into a blog post, but I couldn't pass this one up.  Kudos to the brilliant Tom Wright who found a wonderful way to repurpose these vintage beauties.  Enjoy!

The ones in Coney Island and Rockaway Park back in the 20’s thru to the 50;s ran on electric . Had a pole on the back going to a metal electrical charged overhead plate.


Remember driving the bumper cars at amusement parks or
a fair, don't you? They were so much fun.

 Well, now what do you do with old Bumper Cars? (and check out the license plates!) 



WHO KNEW?
















Yes, you read that right; these little beasties are street legal.
They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and co-opt vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we've seen in too long. There are seven of these little monsters floating around California and they're all the creation of one man, Tom Wright, a builder in the outskirts of San Diego who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap.

They were originally powered by two cylinder Harley Davidson
Motorcycle engines but they rattled like heck because of the two cylinder vibration and Tom replaces them with four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750's.
And a couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.
By the way, they are almost indestructible in accidents!

"Isn't it pronounced 'can-OH-bee'? Like Obi-Wan?"

This is what I left the coffeehouse thinking.

Met up with a fellow voice talent and writer friend of mine today, to dish about both of our businesses, commiserate on the thinness of voice work, and share heaping mugs of joe. She's a fast-talking, fast-thinking lady, full of bubble and smirk; I adore her. When our conversation began to center around my Cotton Candying, I told her that I'd be going up to the East Coast eventually (where she's from) and wondered what her childhood park was.

"That would be Canobie Park in New Hampshire." she said, stressing the "can" part of the word, the name deriving from an area Indian tribe.

"CAN-oh-bee?" I queried. (Like a can o' bees?)

It was then I realized that I should, always, always check with the locals for the proper pronunciations of their parks' names. I'd been pronouncing Conneaut Lake Park's name incorrectly until I was gently corrected by a life-long Conneautian (or is it Conneauter? Conneautling?)

That's part of the fun of Road Tripping: taking in the local tongue, the various place names whose pronunciations need to be pinned down and conquered at times.

I'm still working on Lake Okoboji, home of Arnold's Park. No, don't ask me to pronounce it right now. I've tried; that one makes my brain hurt.

Airtime

Looking back on 2010, well, I've done that in a previous post, so I won't go over all the details again. Suffice it to say, it had more ups and downs than the Legend rollercoaster at Arnold's Park -- and it had the same amount of that exquisite property called "air time". You know what I mean: when you're lifted off your seat and hanging in the air for just a wisp of a second. Some folks like it; other's like yours truly just don't trust it, have no care for it. Or at least that's how I used to size it up.

Today, December 31, the cover closes on the tome. The bows are tied, buttons buttoned, and all is put safely into the box of memories and lessons learned. But the concept of airtime stays with me and will continue to do so, because it's one of the most powerful lessons I learned while Roadtripping this year. Wouldn't have thought it before my visit to that vintage Iowa park, but things change, wisdom grows. And old constricts sometimes need to be plowed away.

During airtime, you float. There isn't much else to do. It's a tickle-tummy sensation: a little scary, a little unnerving, but all in all rather a safe place. During airtime, you can't necessarily plan for the next hill, nor can you curse the last. You are bound by the laws of physics to simply "be".

2010 held many moments I fought with, railed against. Cursed and spat at. But other moments were cherished so tightly that I feared they'd be suffocated by my need to preserve and adulate them. So highly revered, beatified even. But airtime can't be fought, or preserved. It asks nothing, gives nothing back that can be saved and stored. What I've come to learn through all this is that those moments of airtime are where holiness lies. Where God basically holds you and lets you take a breath and just be. Where you both gasp in, ever so quickly, together.

May 2011 hold you in its gentle grasp, lightly. Then bounce you up when you least expect it and let you hover there, taking in all there is without judgement, bias or fear.

Looking back, taking stock, giving thanks...

It's been quite a year. I've had the honor to visit a number of parks across the country and get the word out about my book on a Pittsburgh area radio station. There's so much more ahead, but at this dark quiet Advent time, I think a look back at what I've seen would be quite fitting.

Silver Springs in Florida, "Nature's Amusement Park". While strolling through the area, I kept getting met with images of folks back in the 1950s who enjoyed the park in a different way than today's crowd. The place was exotic and rather dangerous back in the day. Imagine a typical 50s family, mom in crisp cotton and kids and dad decked out in their madras, dad with Kodak camera, kids with the Brownies, snapping pictures of creatures they'd never seen before. A safari of sorts only a few hours away from their space age, tri-level homes.

Hershey Park in PA. A chocoriffic wonderland -- the closest thing we'll probably ever have to Wonkaland.

Dorney Park, with a vintage carousel Ben remembered from his childhood back in Ohio. It had been transplanted at Dorney years ago. Ben's realization that it was indeed his childhood carousel was one of my most treasured moments thus far in my Cotton Candying.

Knoebel's. May just be my most favorite park to date. It almost taunts other parks in my mind, daring them to top it. They're remaking the Riverview Flying Turns ride, for cryeye!

Hoffman's Playland - small but sweet. The perfect park for a family treat (pardon the rhyming, but it just seemed right. You'd rhyme too if you visited Hoffman's).

Seabreeze Park -- the story behind its carousel is quite inspiring. Getting to venture INSIDE said carousel was magical.

Darien Lake in upstate New York has a wonder wheel-style Ferris wheel and an ancient plaster octopus in the lake. It's got a lot of "new" to it, but when I found these vintage touches, it made the park spring to life for me.

Arnold's Park -- A park that's had many a setback, but has always come back improved and saucy. Plus they have a rock and roll museum on the premises. I mean, come ON.

At this point in the year, it seemed that karma or the spirits that be or what have you told me that I needed to slow down or take stock or not be so cocky because they sent an actual flood which smacked us down about five grand. And so the Cotton Candying stood still for several months until...

Children's Fairyland! A fantastical storybook-themed park that holds true to its history. The puppet theatre alone is worth the journey.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk: a haunted mansion with some rocking FX, fried Twinkies and chocolate-covered bacon. These are a few of my favorite things. Oh -- and sea spray.

Silver Dollar City - where you can have a country Christmas with all the trimmings. And succotash. Can't forget the succotash.

Gotta thank God and all my angels and my Mom who sits on my shoulder from time to time for the drive and energy to continue the RoadTrip. And my most heartfelt thanks always goes to my sweetheart, my personal angel and playpal - my husband Ben, without whom none of this would be a reality. None. Not a stitch.

I must also thank all the people who generously contributed to my Kickstarter campaign, to help offset some of the travel expenses for next year's Cotton Candying. You are my spankin' new angels and I gratefully acknowledge you all!

It's been a tough year, especially with the aforementioned flood, but also career-wise (extreme highs and the quietest of lows) and Dad's health, which has made my focus stray a bit to say the least. But looking back and taking stock of my journeys I must say I accomplished all I set out to do, with a few exceptions. And what awaited me in the months after of the flood, when I really had no more funds for RoadTripping? One of my most favorite roles and shows to date: Drowsy in "The Drowsy Chaperone".

So it's Advent. And I'm amassing lists of all I've surveyed, embracing and keeping that which is good, and letting go of what has proven hurtful. Anticipation and wonder and love = good. Fear = bad and hurtful.

I suggest you give it a try, too. And a very blessed Advent season to you.

Most Thankful.

What am I most thankful for in this world? My best friend, love, playmate and Road Trip co-pilot: Ben Dooley, my wonderful husband.

He is truly super human.

I love you!

Arnold's Park, June, 2010

"Everyday it's a gettin' closer. Goin' faster than a rollercoaster..."

Before we visited Arnold's Park in Iowa, I had no idea that there was enough rock 'n roll history in that state to constitute an actual museum. But there is:

http://www.iowarocknroll.com/

Just outside the amusement park proper is a small museum that packs a wallop, boasting an impressive array of artifacts and hands-on displays. I was drawn to the back of the building to two singular exhibits: the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper went down in an Iowa cornfield, so there's a great display about these artists which easily brings a tear to the eye; and the vintage radio studio recording equipment. Since I earn my daily living in front of the microphone, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pose with this great piece of audio history. There's something magical about focusing your energy on a microphone that's "heard" so many voices over the years...

More "Legend", less filler!

Yesterday's post spoke about the "Point of No Return" sign at the top of the Legend roller coaster in Arnold's Park, IA. Today, if you get out your magnifying glass, you can find my sweet hubby riding the Legend, enjoying some exquisite "airtime".

"The Point of No Return"

The last park I visited this year was Iowa's Arnold's Park. Arnold's has withstood many a setback in its long, illustrious history, from storms to impending bulldozers. But it's valiantly faced them head on, helped in great part by its neighboring fans who demanded their park not be trifled with. So it's only fitting that at the top of the first dip of its roller coaster, "The Legend", you encounter an ominous sign with this foreboding phrase: The Point of No Return". Because that's exactly where you're at, where you're going, and there truly is no turning back now. It boldly declares that it's reached a point of bravura, almost of swagger. It's earned it.

What made me think of this sign at this moment in time? Well, today is the first day of production week for my play "The Drowsy Chaperone". From this point on, we can't turn back, we can only, as my character might say, "bumble our way through life's (or the play's) crazy labyrinth"(Oh, Arnold's has a labyrinth, too - I just remembered). But right now, as I'm strapped in, safety bar pulled down toward my lap, I'm curiously at ease, more so than at any time in my theatrical past. Maybe it's because theatre is part of my life now, but not the only part. These parks have also become a part of my landscape, an important piece of popular culture to champion. My book writing journey has filled out my horizons, so "points of no return" aren't as threatening; they're just another hill to climb to get to a place of discovery and play.

Interestingly, Arnold's Park withstood another storm in July. A few rides were closed down temporarily, but only a few things were lost. One of those things was the ubiquitous sign. Has it been replaced? Not sure -- but bring it on! I'm now more than up to the challenge.

Sunday on the Blog with Photos!!

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil... have no fun at Arnold's Park!

Yours truly, enjoying a refreshing Coca-Cola while commiserating with the chimpanzees in the shade.

And, on occasion, I sing!

Keep pulling for me, folks,. I auditioned for the first show I've really been drawn to in 4 years! Just last night, I went for "The Drowsy Chaperone" at Wheaton Drama, for the title role. We'll see what happens. I'm pretty psyched, as I licked my usual fear of auditioning pretty well. Was still nervous, but a good kind of nervous, not the kind that debilitates me for the whole day leading up to the audition, leaving me a barely recognizable lump of my former self (I'm only mildly exaggerating).

Most people don't know how phobic I can be regarding the stage. I've been that way since high school, but as I've recently been focusing on other projects (like this book!!) I've been able to distance myself from that feeling of being judged, of having all eyes upon me, waiting for me to make a mistake and look like a donkey.

Anyways, that's my update for now. Oh wait -- I DO have a park update! I just read that Arnold's Park was hit by a nasty storm just recently! They survived, but had a few casaulities: the Tilt-A-Whirl and Spider are out of commission for a bit, after enduring damage from fallen trees. The coaster, the Legend, at once my nemesis and best friend, is missing some lights -- and its ominous, top-of-the-hill sign, "The Point of No Return" was blown away. Hopefully all will be repaired and replaced soon.

By the way - if you wish to view the original sign, then you MUST become a backer of my Kickstarter funding for $100 or more. Because I rode that coaster - and the sign figures predominantly in my screaming,antic, madcap venture!

Nutty Bar is good eats!

No, I didn't see Alton Brown cozy up to the counter for a succulent Nutty Bar while I visited Arnold's Park, but I did see a car pull up near the entrance and out of it emerged a stylish woman in her 80s. Inside the car, her lady friends awaited their beloved ice cream treats. I followed the woman inside the store, which has stood in the same exact location for decades. Definitely since this woman was in bobby socks and pigtails.

I offered to help her with the three Nutty Bars; she gladly accepted the aid rather than face the mad juggling of three top heavy, nut laden bars (coated in a rich, almost mocha-like chocolate - goodlordinheaven!). When I delivered the bars to her eager friends ("Curbside Service, ladies!", I announced, like the geek that I am), they giggled in appreciation and suddenly didn't look a day over 18.

Behold the magic of the Nutty Bar, an Arnold's Park staple, made the same quality way for generations. Sometimes it's very, very good when things stay the same.

Sunday on the Blog with no photos!! Because it's just too difficult for me to do One More Thing.

Hey! But at least I'm writing on the blog; at least it didn't get waterlogged or float away or become brown and green with mildew.

It's been a rough few days, but the basement is disinfected, mostly gutted, awaiting the new.

We're pouring through catalogues and websites, trying to figure out the best type of flooring (for a flood-prone area), different types of storage options (for a flood-prone area), and making sure this doesn't happen again (who says it's a flood-prone area??).

It's a cleansing process, a learning and re-defining process. Not a gentle one, but one that was apparently necessary.

My Cotton Candying will begin again very soon. I have much to tell about the fantastic Arnold's Park in Iowa.

But for now, I'm just making sure I eat enough, drink plenty of water, and find the time for extravagances - like bathing.

Things that matter...

Just two days ago I visited Arnold's Park, a park that survived two attempts at closing it AND a tornado. So when we returned home yesterday to a basement with at least six inches of water, it made me think about salvaging what matters.

i cleaned up around 300 45 records I had collected for ten years, starting when I was 8. My first single was "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by Bette Midler. I bought it at Stewart's 5 & 10 for 79 cents. I amassed a huge collection of 45s which I bought with my allowance money, all meticulously catalogued and saved in groovy vintage 45 cases, five of them. When I found them in the basement, the boxes were the consistency of Cream of Wheat.

I numbly walked through the carnage, attempting to salvage this Fisher Price toy, that vintage game. What hurt and hit the most were the diaries, the two I held onto since 1981. In one, I wrote about the death of Jon Lennon, December 8, 1980. I was able to show this entry to Ben, its letters faded to powdery blue, before I threw it away.

But when you lose a photo of someone you lost int he flesh, it's like losing them all over again.

My mom's photo, a glamorous shot from the late 1940s, peeked out of one box. This became too much for me to handle. I pulled out my parents' candid wedding album and Ben helped me salvage the precious photos. I cried so hard, my shorts were wet, tears streaming and plopping onto my lap.

It's Friday morning now. I've gone through more waterlogged Christmas soft goods (tablecloths, tree skirt, stuffed toys - all salvageable) and found more paper ephemera, these items from my parents, probably form their honeymoon.

It's one thing to lose the childhood treasures. It's another thing to lose things that were treasured for decades before you were born.

I'm doing my best, Mom. I truly am.

And I get the feeling she's actually proud of my hard work. And she's relieved that, besides these material losses, Ben and I are fine.

I think when you become an angel, you get a better grip on what truly matters.

"Don't you MESS with my vintage park!"

Or at least that's how it seems the residents of Lake Okojobi, nearby environs, and fans of Arnold's Park kept it afloat.

Picture a small but charming park on the shores of the deep and vast Lake Okojobi. It survived downturns and upheavals, including a devastating tornado in 1968. Still, it remains and it thrives, thanks to the love and support of families and friends and benefactors and people who would NOT accept it being bulldozed to pave the way for condos.

Arnold's Park is park #22 on my Road Trip. Much more to report. But let's just say this: each and every person I spoke with was a fan, a heart-invested fan, and each one said, with pride and a bit of breathlessness, "I helped save this park!"

And that, my friends, is a legacy. A great legacy.

Yabba Dabba Huh?

If you look at it on the map, it's intimidating. Having done the drive twice before in my life, I can vouch for the fact that it IS intimidating.

The trek from the greater Chicagoland area, through Wisconsin, across Minnesota, westward to South Dakota, then finally the Badlands, culminating in the Rapid City area and the Black Hills.

It's been seven years since I've been "home" in the Hills. Ben and I went there for our 5th anniversary and it was glorious. Now we're going back and we're driving the whole way. And back. The trip will be broken up with visits to Wisconsin and Minneapolis so Ben can visit coaching federations and wow 'em with his knowledge. For me, this trip is about the Cotton Candy opportunities, specifically Arnold's Park in Iowa and the fabled Flintstone's Bedrock City in Custer, South Dakota.

Arnold's looks like a delightful vintage park, a fact my friend whose been there whole heartedly agrees with. But the westward ho, across the plains we go pilgrimage is specifically for the little park in Custer, SD. Yes. We're making the trip out to South Dakota specifically to visit Bedrock. Twist, twist.

And this time, I'm going to take close inventory of each and every Wall Drug sign I see. I'm looking forward to the free ice water already.