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.]
