Old Orchard Beach is that special place for kids that is full of excitement and fun! The neon lights at night shine to invite them into the amusement park and the kids race to the roller coaster ready for the thrill of a lifetime!
Warning: One point in the evening parents will get bamboozled out of cash on the fair ground games as the kids attempt to win that one enormous stuffed animal. You can warn them the games are rigged but they will never believe you!
It is at the end of the night we leave the land of amusement with bribes of one last ride on the ferris wheel, a slice of boardwalk pizza, and a deep-fried Oreo. We savor the devilish treats knowing we will have to wait until next summer to delight in all of it again.
I nibble on the cotton candy as we make it back to our suite, stamping the moments of my children’s laughter on the tilt-whirl in my memory, and knowing the evening was full of magic.
Do you have a favorite amusement park memory?
Your post is magic, Darcie. I love the handstand.
I have one, but it should be it’s own blog post. Thank you for bringing my encounter with a doped-up Hell’s Angel in Myrtle Beach back to me.
Thank you
LOL. I can’t wait to read it! Now that sounds very interesting!
Mmmm…cotton candy! I love that last pic!
Thank you! Cotton candy is a very important part of any amusement park experience
Those places were magic when I was a kid. What happened?
They were magical places when we were kids! And then we grow-up…
Bummer!
I know! Totally!
Looks like a lot of fun….and you had to mention cotton candy…O’ how I love cotton candy:)
Isn’t it the best?
yes it is…and now I want some:) lol
Hahaha! I think you should go find some to celebrate the weekend!
I don’t really have a favorite memory. Amusement parks usually take me for all the money in my wallet because their freakin’ games are FIXED.
The ferris wheel is fun, though…
All of the games are fixed! I am a firm believer in it! I love the ferris wheel and the tilt-whirt! I still get a thrill from getting dizzy. LOL!
The last photo was pure magic. The beach looks like a giant mirror!
Thank you! It was pure luck to capture it
Looks like fun! And you hit a nice stretch of weather here.
It was beautiful! I wish I was still there
Love this. I haven’t been to an outdoor fair in too many years, though I can smell the salt and grease and sugar and excitement if I close my eyes. What glorious images, Belle. So glad you guys had a good time.
Thank you Desi! We had a wonderful time! It must have been all of the sugar
Mine is so much different than someone else might expect! My best one was actually going to Disneyland on an evening out with Ba.D.; I’d been grumpy all day, but I called my mom en route, and as Ba.D. and I made our way to the park, I just felt my spirits lifted so, so much. Of course, it just got better once we got in the park . . . but it was that joy as we rode down the escalators and I wrapped up my call with my mom that got me. ♥
Beautiful! Sometimes the write words and encouragement can turn everything around
My best memory is of a carnival – my dad took me, and I came home with a tiny bisque doll and a strand of green glass beads. Of course no one would allow a child glass beads today, and we’re the poorer for it. I never broke the strand – it simply disappeared some decade later. But I still can see it, and the doll, and hear the music of the merry-go-round.
When I was in high school, I got stuck on the double ferris wheel at the Iowa State Fair. We were at the very tippy-top of the second wheel, and we were there for a good long time while they tried to restart things. It probably was five or ten minutes. It seemed like forever!
That is a wonderful memory! I think I know the beads you are talking about they seemed like such a wonderful treasure
My friends use to rock the ferris wheel on me! I hated those moments!
*Sigh* I remember those evenings. We rediscover them with kids, don’t we?
We really do! And the cotton candy helps too!
My favorite memory is simply ‘going to the amusement park’. I love it there- something magical about that place, in my opinion! LOVE the water gun games- best games there!
Water gun games are the best hands down! Someone is always guaranteed to win!
Three Rivers Festival elephant ears. Covered with cinnamon and sugar. Mmm.
Ohhh! That sounds really good!!!
The Jurassic Park Ride at Universal. We got soaked sitting in front even with the rain slickers on!
Oh my Gosh! I loved that ride! It was one of my favorites! My only regret is not getting the picture afterwards because the look on all of our faces was priceless.
I’ve always loved fair grounds and the rides. When I was a kid it was candy floss at the end of the evening which we looked forward to. I must say, deep fryed Orios sounds like death on a plate, but you clearly survived yours. Whats a few calories between friends
What is a little calories between friends
Cheers to heart stopping food!
I love the water in the clown’s mouth game… was always my favorite… I remember being little and wanting to go down a bumpy huge slide at an amusement park. My parents kept making me wait until I was bigger. Finally they let me go. I ran up the stairs, sat down and hten was petrified to actually slide down…. I didn’t see that one coming
A great memory! It is kind of scary when you get up there but the race to the finish is a blast!
Yes I do! I threw up. A lot. -.-
Hahaha! I might have a time or two in the past
I think my parents were thankful I was never able to win those gigantic stuffed animals at our local fairs and carnivals… what in the world would I have done with a 3-foot stuffed Tweety bird anyway?!
I was wondering the same thing! How the heck would I get the bloody thing home? I would have had to purchase an airline ticket.
Amusement parks are great but yes, expensive, get away places to go and just have fun. I love your last cartwheel/handstand photo…great way to start my week! Thanks!
Thank you! I hope we cartwheel through the week without a tumble
Maybe just one tumble to get the blood rushing …haha.
hahaha! We all need a tumble from time to time
I worked at an amusement park for a short time (about a month) and it was lots of fun! I also lovelovelove Disneyland…even now and just as much as when I was a kid. The last picture of your son (??) playing on the beach with the lights in the background…that is a frame worthy shot, it’s wonderful!
Thank you! It was one of those shots that was pure luck! But is now one of my favorites