Author: The Jody

I wanted to post my thoughts on Clark’s Trading Post and Storyland, to supplement Adam’s comments on his experiences there a few weeks ago.

• Clark’s is a combination of kitsch and cool that more tourist attractions can only dream of. Sure, it’s got a family of Moscow acrobats performing in the same small ring as the bears do, making one feel really funny about sitting on the second level staring down at them. They’re good at what they do, but when did the mom stop participating in the act beyond one pass under the limbo bar with glassware on her forehead?
• I was prepared to dislike Storyland and consider it a poor substitute for Santa’s Village, as far as pre-schooler-themed amusement parks in New Hampshire go. But it wasn’t bad at all. A little less polished, but with more rides. Of course, the clientele was also a little older than what you’d find at Santa’s Village, I assume because the rides better. But we’re talking the difference between 8 year olds and 10 or 11 year olds here. It’s still not Six Flags.
• Best ride? The pirate ship. The captain told all the kids that THEY were the ones powering the boat, so they had to row using this crank handles in front of each bench seat. The littler the kid, the harder they worked at rowing. I kept telling Junior that he could slow down or even take a break, but he took his job very seriously. A guy sitting behind us was giving his little boy directions for how to row to get the boat to stop in the right place at the dock. “Okay, now the other way so you can stop it from going forward. Okay, a little more forward…”
  

• No chicken nuggets at Storyland? What kind of place IS this? A sit-down restaurant is probably asking too much, but with the heat and humidity they had on Sunday, it would have been nice to spend half an hour sitting out of the sun.
• Hey, Clark’s, is it possible for the Wolfman to lose the gun? Half the kids in our train car (including my son and my nephew) were practically in tears because it was so loud and scary.

I think that’s all for now. Great little vacation, far too short, but I think we picked some fun places to stop, especially with kids this age.

[Edited to fix Adam’s name. Don’t have a clue why I wrote Dave. None.]

Out in Westford, they really make the handicapped parking a challenge.

I really need an intervention for my Tostitos addiction.

Ugh, what a humid, sticky mess it was up in the mountains. It always surprises me how hot and humid they can be…somehow I just think of them as being cooler. Two nights away is not enough…we were barely unpacked and it was time to load back up. We got rained on at Storyland yesterday but it was SO hot that it actually felt fantastic. I’d never been to an amusement park that advertised that they stayed open if it rained – I think only a severe lightening storm was a problem.

Today was spent at Attitash doing the Alpine Slide and the water slide. I feel that we kind of got sucked in to buying an all-day pass because they told us that early in the day we could get 2-3 runs an hour on the Alpine Slide. I can tell you personally that we stood in line in the heat and 93% humidity for about an HOUR to get our first run. I was disgusted, but there was no way Junior was getting out of that line. He thought it was great (he went by himself!) but we had to tell him that no way were we going to go for a second run.

I didn’t go on the water slide (just didn’t interest me today, especially when I know what I look like in a suit compared to every other woman there…) so we had to sit in the sun waiting for all the boys to get in 6 or 7 runs on that. I was SO ready to get in an air conditioned car, I can tell you that.

So now we’re home and it’s still rainy and gross – got in a downpour on the way to my sister’s house, then I got in one on the way home from her house. Geez, I’m hoping the humidity drops in my lifetime. I’m looking forward to being in the AC at work all day tomorrow after this weekend, that’s for sure!

p.s. Stopped at Clark’s Trading Post on the way up. I think $10 is a pretty good deal for that place, given that it includes a 2 mile train ride, bumper boats, rock climbing and other stuff all free all day. After going to Disney this spring, we were in that “rip off” mode and I was actually stunned at how reasonable the prices for food and souvenirs were. Oh, and I think Jr. wants to be a Russian acrobat when he grows up.

p.p.s. There’s an exchange program with “Russian” countries and Storyland so all the ride operators spoke with awesome eastern European accents. A lot of them were from Slovenia (it was on their name tags). My favorite (and often repeated) line this weekend was from the lovely gentleman running the tractor ride. He sat Jr. up front and I climbed in back. He pointed to a little yellow button, leaned in, and said “Your button….does not work” with that excellent accent, which made it feel like he was a James Bond bad guy. Made my whole day.

Can’t post from up here because there is zero signal on my phone. I feel so cut off from ciuilization…