Spent this past weekend on what has become our family’s annual trip to Lancaster County… specifically, a two-day adventure to visit the Strasburg Railroad and Dutch Wonderland with the kids. I must admit, I have a lifelong love affair with trains… started when I was younger, quieted down a bit during my high school and college years, and then picked up again, especially now with kids. There is something about steam locomotives that just captivates me (and a lot of other people). Strasburg is one of the nicest, well-maintained tourist railroads around, and on top of the actual train ride, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is right across the street. Suffice is to say, the day was spent between those two activities, and we had a blast.
Strasburg Railroad
That evening, after our traditional smorgasbord dinner, I made an interesting decision to take the family mini-golfing… yes, the 3 and 5 year old got to “swing” a golf club for the first time. No major injuries, ambulance calls, or trips to the ER, but to sum it all up in the words of my 5-year old daughter – “first mommy saw blood on your head, then we saw 5 frogs, then mommy lost her ball, then I got stuck in a cannon”. Can’t argue with kid logic. For the record, the blood on my head was a small cut I had gotten earlier, and the “cannon” was actually a prop to hit the golf ball through, and her club got stuck. Moving on…
The next day, we visited Dutch Wonderland. This was our 4th trip as a family (first year was only with one kid). The park itself actually hasn’t changed much since I was there as a kid some 25-odd years ago. It still has a nice, small charm to it, and you can walk from one end to the other in under 10 minutes. This day, it was warm outside, and pretty crowded, but we had a good time amid a few temper tantrums. The highlight of the day was my daughter’s first “big girl” roller coaster – the Kingdom Coaster. She finally made the height requirement, and after a bit of coaxing, she had a lot of fun, smiling and screaming in a good way throughout the ride. Can’t wait for more coaster fun with her as she grows up.
Kingdom Coaster – Dutch Wonderland (Aerial View)
Unfortunately, this particular coaster is built in such a way that you really don’t get a good all encompassing view from anywhere in the park. But at only 55 feet tall, it’s a nice introduction to the bigger coasters out there.
That’s all for this update… now to spend some time recovering from walking for two days straight.