Been Parking...

Well, not that kind of parking. Watch your thoughts :-)

Yesterday I took a day off from work to take my wife and kids to a theme park, Carowinds to be precise. Well, not all the kids, just some of them... but we did have a spare one... not that we had a spare kid, but we had an extra kid... well we didn't have another child, sort of borrowed one... ok, let me explain... no, there is too much, let me sum up...

We took the three oldest kids plus the oldest daughter's friend who was visiting from Texas (so that is 5 in all), leaving the youngest two behind. Don't worry folks, the youngest two went today with my wife. They had mom all to themselves. It actually worked out best this way logistically (if you can imagine having 6 kids at the park at the same time ranging in ages from 17 down to 5 you get the idea). So everyone got to go at least once, and 4 of them got to go twice. Ok, yes I know that 2 kids plus 1 mom is 3, but she took the middle child along to help which makes 4, unless you count the spare... this time a friend of the middle child, the second oldest daughter, which makes 5, but she only went once... 5 in all went today.

Are you with me so far?

Now the first thing to realize about any theme park is you pay through the nose to be robbed blind. Seriously. You pay all this money to go to the theme park and they charge lots of $$ for food and drinks. Ask me how much for a Coke... go ahead, ask... oh, I can't hear you, I will just tell you.

$3.85 for a single Coke!!! And that is the same price they have on the Coke vending machine.

By the way, all you Pepsi lovers out there, Carowinds is a Coke place, sorry... well not so sorry... I prefer Coke over Pepsi but I digress.

And if the prices of the drinks were not bad enough, it costs about $10 per person to eat there in any of the places. Remember there was 6 of us, that is $60 for 2 hamburgers, 1 slice of pizza, a chicken sandwich, 2 orders of chicken fingers, and 4 orders of fries with 5 drinks (yes I know there were 6 of us but the oldest daughter only drinks water which is free).

Highway robbery (literally, it sits right off I-77).

But we found the loopholes in the system. You see, every drink stand and food place will give you water for free. Not just water, but a large cup of ice water. And its free! Woot!

Also we found that they have a Chick-Fil-A stand there. If you are content with a chicken sandwich or chicken nuggets and their waffle fries, then you must eat there. Why? Because the prices are the same as outside the park! Kudos, kudos, and more kudos to Truett Cathy and his ethical establishment! They do not rip you off in the park.

No one got sun burned and we all had a good time. As we were leaving the park, a huge thunderstorm came up. Seriously dangerous lightning. Not to be trifled with. Then the horizontal rain started. I was so glad to be in our van by that time.

Most favorite rides? Carolina Goldrusher, Carolina Cyclone, Vortex, and Dodge 'Em bumper cars (seriously I love those!)

Least favorite rides? Hurler (bone jarring wooden coaster - need I say more), Richochet (could give you whiplash!)

Best part of the day? Just being a dad with my kids and a husband to my wife all day long.

For thrill rides, overpriced food, and gasoline, there's MasterCard.
For building family memories: priceless. 



Copyright 2007, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)