21. Zoo Lights

A visit to Santa, twinkling lights, candy canes, and a ride on a carousel. We had a magical (and chilly) ride on our second to last carousel at the Stone Zoo during their Zoo Lights holiday festival. The carousel at the Stone Zoo is only assembled and operated for Zoo Lights, so although we had been several times over the summer, we had no had a chance to ride this carousel. We took a special trip the week before Christmas to fit this ride in, getting close to the end of the year!

 Zoo Lights

I have yet to confirm it, but I think this carousel might be the Prancing Ponies which is listed on the National Carousel Census as a historic Mangels ride from 1921. Mangels made metal rides (very cold on the bottom in December!), and this particular ride was first at the Cincinnati Zoo before moving to Virginia and then to Stoneham. 

We split into two groups for this ride because of the high interest from both Will and Rory in the armored horse. Will, Brynn and I rode first, and Ryan and Rory waited for the next ride to get that cool horse. It was a great night, 21 carousel down, just one more to go!

Rory on the armored horse

Zebra

20. Bonkers Funhouse

Will getting ready to board

I discovered this carousel shortly after we had begun our carousel quest. We were driving up 95 North when I saw a sign for "Bonkers" with a big carousel horse on it. Given our newly formed plan, I looked it up as soon as possible. Yes, there was a carousel there, yes it was permanent, yes it was expensive. For some reason I was okay with most of the expenses of this journey, but Bonkers was putting me over the edge. Fifteen dollars each to get in, and then on top of that, it looked like there was a giant tunnel maze that I just couldn't get excited about. I knew the kids would love it, but I don't like going in those, especially while holding a squirmy and uncooperative Brynn. To deal with this non-excitement, I put off the prospect of going for as long as possible.

Brynn and I waiting our turn

This was easy because we had such nice weather over the summer - plus most of the rides on our checklist had a definite deadline to fit in. Bonkers was inside and we could go at anytime. Come November we had just three carousels left, two holiday rides and Bonkers. I felt strongly that Bonkers should not be our last carousel - too anti-climatic. Luckily (I guess?), we had our first slushy rain/snow day on the weekend we had planned to go. Bonkers certainly beats being indoors all day, so we headed out in the cold to check this off of our list.

Rory riding a purple horse

First surprise of the day: no charge for the grown-ups or babies! I was quite happy with this, all of the other indoor playgrounds that I had ever been to charged for everyone walking through the doors. I was more than happy to save forty-five dollars right off the bat. Next surprise: no adults in the maze! Will and Rory were old enough to head in there as a pair and they never looked back! They played in there for an hour while Ryan, Brynn, and I watched and enjoyed some snacks and drinks. It was actually almost relaxing. Another great surprise: amazingly friendly staff. Every person we met was really helpful and polite and seemed to care that we enjoyed ourselves. It was such a pleasant experience that I actually felt bad for dreading it all summer. 

 Decked out for Christmas

And for the main event - for us anyways - the carousel was great. It was all small horses, I had never seen one like this before so it was a nice treat to try something new. I could touch the floor the whole time, but it was perfect for Rory at four. It's now on my list to find out more info about this ride. As an added bonus, there were two more kiddie rides that the kids were allowed to go on as much as they wanted. I think we spent three hours there, and the best part - everyone fell asleep on the way home. Check mark for the carousel and thumbs up for the fun.

19. The Holyoke Merry-Go-Round

The birthday girl.

The proud brother and sister.

We were looking forward to this carousel all summer because we knew it was going to be one of the nice big historic wooden ones. We saved it for the late Fall because when I visited their website I saw that you could rent it for birthday parties - and I knew of a very special birthday that we would be celebrating this Fall.

Brynn doesn't know a life without carousels. By her first birthday she had ridden nineteen in Massachusetts and three in Rhode Island. She is like a little pro, knowing exactly how to hold onto the pole and what to expect once the music starts up. She smiles and waves and bounces up and down with excitement - it is the best. Once I saw that we could rent a carousel for her birthday, I started planning.

It wasn't expensive, twelve dollars a child for unlimited rides for an hour and a half. They also set up tables and provide a cake... Although I declined their cake and brought my own (and they took ten dollars off out bill!). I found a cake kit from Wilton's that helps you to make a carousel cake and I used that instead. On a rare date night, when the kids were sleeping at their Grandparents, my husband and I stayed up late painting the horses in the kit to match photos of horses we found of the carousel. I knew Brynn wouldn't care, but I also knew the Will and Rory, and hopefully other guests, would get a kick out it. 

The cake:

Close-up on the cake horses:

I was right. Will and Rory spent the whole party finding each of the horses on the cake and taking turns riding them. We also rode the chariot as a family for the first time and spent many rides with family members. We had a blast sharing everything we had learned all summer about the history of the horses, the carvers, special and unique terms, and we pointed out the Lead Horse (and armoured horse named Lancelot). After we sang 'Happy Birthday' all of our guests (eight kids, twenty-plus adults) boarded the carousel for one final ride. It was a perfect first birthday for our little girl.

Papa on a horse

One of the horses also on the cake

Lancelot, the Lead Horse

Family Shot

Jen, Karen, Derek, and the twins

Pa riding a horse

Will takes a turn on Lancelot

Getting ready for cake

The Holyoke Merry-Go-Round

18. Solomon Pond Mall

Carousel eighteen was at the Solomon Pond Mall. It was the exact same as the carousel at the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis - the one with the teacup ride on it. This time we let Will and Rory ride the teacup by themselves (last time it made Ryan sick). It was a hit again! 

Four more carousels to go! This has been such a fun adventure for our family. We have explored so many places together and the kids have enjoyed checking off each visit and placing markers on the map of Massachusetts we have set up. I can't believe we are this close to it coming to a close. I hope that we can come up with an equally fun idea for next year!

Eighteen down, four to go!

17. Edaville Railroad

Earlier this Fall we also visited Edaville to ride the carousel number seventeen, as well as the train that travels through the cranberry bogs. It was sprinkling, so we had the whole place to ourselves. The carousel here very much resembled the carousel at the Big E - both were aluminum traveling fair rides. Ryan and I both suffered some motion sickness on the rides here. Too much spinning! 

16. The Big E

We had a busy Fall, but managed to fit in a few more carousels, we only have three more left! In September we rode carousel number sixteen at The Eastern States Exposition (The Big E) which was a hit with the kids. Because our weekends have gotten busy, we had to squeeze in our trip to the Big E on a Wednesday evening after school. We left right after Will got off the bus and traveled out to West Springfield for a fun evening of carousel riding, fried doughnuts, baked potatoes, Del's lemonade, clam chowder, maple sugar candy, and delicious Finish pancakes. Yum! 

15. King Richard's Faire

We still at it! There were three carousels that could only be ridden at fall events, so we had a short break, but we're in the thick of it again. We recently visited King Richard's Faire which had a "Flying Carrousel" from medieval times. 

While we might not typically be found at a Renaissance fair, we really enjoyed ourselves. Rory wore a princess dress (Cinderella) for the occasion, and we turned Will's ninja costume from last year into an executioner's outfit. Both were well received by the more appropriately dressed patrons.

This carousel was a highlight for us because it brought us back to the origin of the ride. Images from as early as 500 AD depict riders hanging from hammocks around a central pole. Later, as jousting became popular, carousels started looking like practice jousting circuits, with riders attempting to spear a brass ring as they rode in a circle.

The ride here at the fair was a man-powered swinging hammock carousel. We loved it - well, those of us that rode it loved it. Rory decided it was too fast. Since she was just barely tall enough to ride, we all agreed it was better not to push her to get on. Ryan and I took turns riding with Will and later we took Rory on a giant gliding goose to make up for the lost carousel ride. A very tentative smile:

Riding the goose:

Before we left, Will chose to ride a jousting ride which looked suspiciously like a carousel horse! It was pretty cool, the horse was suspended on a zip line and as it was released the rider had to try and get their sword through the ring. Luckily, Will succeeded on his first try - saving us both from frustration and the poor house:

14. Six Flags

The carousel at Six Flags is located in the very front of the park. There was no line as most visitors were scrambling to get to the roller coasters. We easily got on for our ride and completed our task for the day quite quickly. The carousel was very large, with horses and menagerie five abreast and the chariots were the most awesome chariots I have ever seen. They were like giant couches that stretched over the entire base of the carousel - seven or eight people could easily have fit on each row.

Huge bench:

Side view: 

Crazy kids: 

This was an Illions carousel, a historic ride dating from 1909. Marcus Illions was another famous carver from the Golden Age of Carousels. His style incorporated a lot of gold highlights and accents into his carvings, especially on the manes. The manes of his horses also stand out for me because they always look like they are blowing forward - as if the horses were galloping backward. I think it would be more fun if they always had Illions carousels going in the reverse direction.

However, the Six Flags carousel moved in the correct direction -- which, on American carousels, is always counter-clockwise. In England and Europe, carousels move clockwise because they expect riders to want to mount the horses properly, like equestrians. In America the direction of the revolution was reversed when carousels first started incorporating the brass ring. Most people are right-handed, and if the carousel moved in a counter-clockwise direction then they could more easily grab the rings. Now even carousels without a brass ring (like the Six Flags ride) still move in the counter-clockwise direction in America.

We have a lot of pictures of Brynn, we were trying to get something we could use for her birthday invitation. She was really smiley, but the cell phone camera just wasn't giving us anything good:

I wish we had spent a little more time there, and I wish we had taken a ride on the chariot. I think we got caught up in the excitement of the park, and after one ride, we were off to stand in line for some (kiddie) roller coasters too. It was a great carousel - I highly reccommend stopping for a peek before or after you hit the other rides! 

Horse with a crazy mane

Reindeers

Another horse with a stylized mane

Roaring lion

Side view

Rory taking a ride

Close-up of my horse

13. Buttonwood Park Zoo

Our thirteenth carousel hunt was a little cursed. Our plan was to round out our Cape week by hitting the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford on our way back home. We called on our way to check on the hours, only to discover that the carousel would be closed before we arrived! 

We weren't completely discouraged. There was also a carousel at the Emerald Square Mall that was sort of on our way home, so we headed there next. We arrived at the mall and wandered around, hitting every nook and cranny without turning up a carousel to ride. At the Information Desk we inquired about the missing ride, turns out, it had been dismantled and moved out of state a year prior.

It was two weeks before we had another opportunity to get to a carousel - and again we headed to the Buttonwood Park Zoo (http://bpzoo.org/). This time we were met with success! It was a muggy, hot day, but the carousel was up and running so we did that first. This carousel is fairly new, and very well-kept in a brand new building. There were all sorts of interesting and unusual animals to ride including a hummingbird, an eagle (with a fish in its claws), and a seal. The zoo is very small, but so far, it is the first place we have visited in Massachusetts that has elephants - including on the carousel (see above)!

There were numerous other new animals for us to try out that we had never seen before. Above Will tries out the hummingbird. Below you can see the hummingbird from the side:

Rory tried out the eagle - we all loved that there was a fish in his claws!

We agreed that this seal was the cutest!

Rory outside the carousel (and the zoo - hence the fence).