We drove into the parking lot of Strasburg railroad at around noon on Saturday. We joined the army of families with boys and some girls staring with awe as the favorite friend, Thomas, chugged into the station. The moms, all in capris and pastel T-shirts, talked knowledgeably about buffers and couplers with their kids. The kids came wearing Thomas T-shirts and caps and left with shopping bags of new merchandise that was available in huge tents. Each family spent about $100 worth of tickets for the half hour ride and surely spent another $100 on chicken fingers, Thomas shaped lollies, conductor whistles, Thomas stickers, Thomas bedspreads, Thomas books, Thomas sunglasses, and Thomas goggles.
Years from now, college boys at Dartmouth and Georgetown will talk about their early memories of Thomas. Those Thomas groupies came from families that only buy wooden, educational toys. And those same families will be the ones to send their kids to nice preppy colleges. Oh sure, the stray kid might end up with a mohawk and as lead guitarist for a band called "Burning Puppies." It was kind of fun to guess which one was going to be the black sheep. My guess it will be the kid who got the Thomas tattoo right between his eyes.
My kids had a great time. All the whistling and crowds fried out Ian's sensory system for a little while. He fell into a coma-like asleep like he always does when things get rough. But we woke him up in time for the Thomas ride, and he was very content.
When we were on the train, Jonah stuck his head out the window like a puppy and hollered. Just then, his front tooth, which had been hanging on by a thread for days, popped out into the rich Amish farm fields.
After the ride, we went back to the hotel for a swim to restore Ian's nervous system. Another mom told me that her family had just came back from a place called, "Dutch Wonderland." She gave it great reviews, so we decided to check it out after dinner. Our jaws dropped when we saw that it was a large amusement park with a large ticket price. $20 per person. Fuh-uck. But you can't march up to an amusement park with two kids who have been chanting "bumper cars. bumper cars." for fifteen minutes and then walk away. So, we shelled out the money and ran in. We had two hours to milk that park dry, and we did.
It was a nice park. Clean, well landscaped, good rides for young kids. We loved the cartoonish statues of Amish people scattered about. Very tasteful.
Other than one trip into an antique market where Jonah tried to buy a pistol with his toothfairy money, the trip was all about them. As we got off the log flume ride for the second time, I heard Jonah say to himself, "this is the best day of my life. The best day." Worth every penny.
(photos and links later today.)
