We enjoyed the park for two days - amusement park rides galore, amusement park food (need I say more), and of course, our fellow amusement park goers with all of their charm and class. Yes, my snobby side is coming out here and I'm not going to apologize for it. There is nothing like a theme park to show the true colors of America, and to explain the strange phenomena of how a man like George W. Bush was elected president. Apparently there is no shame in walking around with one's belly exposed, obscenely greasy turkey leg in one hand and a large Diet Coke in the other. And no shame in wearing a tshirt that says "Have you ever ridden a fat guy? Wanna try?" This, of course, with a picture of said wearer's hairy fat belly on the front of the shirt. And, let's not forget, aforementioned person is with his small children. Nice.
I'll tell you, the sights and sounds of the people are enough to make one want to become Amish, which is where the rest of our vacation took us.
I've always been interested in Amish life. The idea of living without modern amenities , focused on community and religion, definitely holds a lot of appeal to me. They are basically living "off the grid" without relying on big oil companies (anyone catch those profits of Exxon Mobil??) or any other corporation for that matter. They rely on one another. Now, I am not saying it is utopia, no society is. But they have managed to survive in the midst of our crazy society without giving up their way of life. I was shocked, in fact, to see how close they really live with us mainstreamers. Buggies parked at Market Basket? You bet.
Now the other part of the problem is how to visit the Amish without visiting the Amish. They are not a sideshow attraction - they are just trying to live their lives without being gawked at. They don't want their pictures taken and probably get very annoyed with the constant stares and whispering. We decided to visit a "recreated" Amish house that offered a little tour and had a little one-roomed schoolhouse in addition to the main house.
This was Dad being the teacher and G. being the student. Dad pointed out the graduation in the size of the desks, the smallest ones being in the front. There is the stove for warmth and they had some examples of children's schoolwork. There were, however, no names carved into the desks or gum stuck underneath. G. loved pretending to be a student.
He also LOVED the buggy! We almost had to leave without him because he spent almost the entire visit playing on the buggy.
He was the most adorable Amish boy. We tried to get him to wear a straw hat the boys wear in the summer, but he only liked the black winter hat. He looked adorable but since it was over 90 degrees he also looked very hot!
We also enjoyed a ride on a steam engine train through the countryside. I can't remember exactly how old the train was, but it was a lot of fun and the land in PA is just beautiful.
All in all, a wonderful trip to a beautiful place. Next time I would definitely spend a few more days exploring, but probably keep the Hershey Park time limited. After all, I didn't bring my tshirt with a picture of my belly on it. Oh! I forgot my favorite tshirt worn by a Dad there - "While you were reading this, I farted." Gotta love America.
1 comment:
Oh, amusement parks. We have a smallish one nearby, one year I found a KKK business card on the ground. Another year when I was 15 or so I got into a verbal scrap with some craphead walking around (a FAMILY park) with a shirt that said "Don't like oral sex? Shut your mouth." Sigh. At least they finally made it non-smoking, the audacity of people walking around kiddie land blowing smoke all over little kids was ridiculous (not to mention holding their cigarettes right at eye level to injure toddlers).
Anyway! There's lots of Amish around here. I do admire their dedication. A simpler life would be nice.
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