We have always enjoyed going to Dutch Wonderland. When my own children were growing up, we’d get there about every other summer. The rides are short and sweet and one of my favorites has always been the high slide on burlap bags. You would get on that bag and just fly! We’d never do just one slide, we’d go around again and again, run back up that stairway and down we’d go!
Just recently we got to take a few of our GRANDchildren there and also the parents of these youngsters. We decided to do the 3 hours Dutch Wonderland offers in the evening, when the crowds aren’t as big and the sun isn’t as hot. There were seven in our group and what fun we had! Taking the parents along was a great idea, paying for the evening I declare was the easy part, keeping up with the WONDERLUST and whats around the next corner was much more of a job and could be left to the parents when we couldn’t keep up.
Our Grandkids
Of course for me, the slide had to be done first, and then the flume boat ride where you get wet and you get your picture taken (which is up to buy when you come off the ride) and we had to do the Roller Coaster, (why does something that fast have something like COASTER in it’s name?) We did the bumper cars, well, some of us did, don’t think it was this Grama, we did everything, ended up with the train ride that takes you through a large part of the property, cause we all needed to “sit a spell” after getting through the more active options. I remember leaving the Park that evening, feeling what I always felt, the satisfaction of having a great time with great people and having done something a bit unusual and exhilarating. The kids loved every ride and we all had lots of fun…but we weren’t ready for our evening to end. Someone mentioned ice cream and we were all in…but where?
We were looking for something to top off our evening, and this time it wasn’t Rita’s or Friendly’s, although we love their ice cream. We just didn’t feel like joining another crowd of people and waiting in more lines on a Saturday night. So we agreed on driving over to the Leola Freeze and Frizz. When we drove in there, we loved the surprise we found….they were showing a movie in their back yard! We quickly got our ice cream and went to see what we could see! It reminded me of the old fashioned drive-in theatres. Some people were sitting in their cars, some were on lawn chairs and blankets and all were enjoying the under-the-stars-hometown experience. We were very amazed that something like this was happening so close to our house and that we found it and could enjoy a few quiet moments, unwinding and being part of all that was going on there. I remember thinking, this has got to be one of Lancaster County’s best kept secrets!
We are looking forward to doing both of these things again soon.