Making Believe

We chose a cold and damp day to go to the Land of Make Believe in Hope, NJ. We should be forgiven for this because the summer is winding down and four hours of Make Believe is better than none at all.

I have mixed feelings about amusement parks, but appreciate old ones, and especially the stories about how and why they were created. Otherwise, they are artificial, and everything in their nature is fleeting. But that also made it pretty great.

The history of the park can be found here. A former dairy farm, the park was created by a father who felt that children and parents need not be relegated to separate rides. He prospected an old dairy farm with the express purpose of creating a special "land." Though the park has added a water park section (which feels like an entirely different park), and some of the sections mentioned in the link (Fort Wilderness and the Pirate Ship) seemed closed off, the old section is charming. My favorite moment was the understated, unexpected delight of walking "through" an oversized chimney and up some stairs to discover "Santa's Workshop", a second-story level in "Santa's Barn" that was decorated before children expected every gigantic Christmas decoration to swivel or talk. At the end, lo and behold, was Santa, seated in his chair in near-darkness (or so it felt: the lights are kept low so you can see the modestly decorated figures as you walk through, and perhaps successfully camoflauges their age). The Bean got her picture with Santa. Lena had fallen asleep.

Child-related findings: The Bean, despite her reserved nature, is wild for rollercoasters, at least the ones she qualifies to ride. This bodes well for teaming up with Rich and Rich's sister on future trips.

Lena? Still a fan of preemptive pushing, in case another child--in front or behind her on the wading pool's little water slides--dared to threaten her turn. Like a small dance of dominance. Hello, my name is Lena, I'll be kicking your ass today.