Category Archives: Family

Ken and Bonnie come to visit

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Carrie, Brian, Ken and Bonnie in front of Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park, Charleston.

Carrie, Brian, Ken and Bonnie in front of Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park, Charleston.

My sister, Bonnie, and her husband, Ken, came to our house for a visit last week. Now, for those of you that read my blog, this was not the Yearly Sister Vacation. (That fun get together will take place in August this year at oldest sister Linda’s house.)  

No, this was a spouse vacation; Bon and Ken’s vacation together. I had a wonderful time and hope they did, too.  

On Sunday, we went to Charleston for the day.  The Spoleto Festival was just getting underway. This 17 day event, held each spring in the city, celebrates performing and visual arts. People from all over the world come for this event and the streets were more crowded than usual with tourists, although it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was easy to find parking and no wait for lunch at our favorite Charleston Greek Restaurant, Old Towne Grille on King Street.  

Carrie and Bonnie at the market, Charleston.

Carrie and Bonnie at the market, Charleston.

After lunch, we strolled through the market. I bought a new paring knife from the knife guy I discovered several years ago when my brother, Dennis, helped me pick out my first pocket knife from him. He also carries great kitchen knives and when I am in the market on a Sunday (the only day he sells there), I stock up on whatever kitchen cutlery I have a need for.

We walked King Street and Market Street and Meeting Street. We walked through St. Philip’s Cemetery, full of famous South Carolinians such as John C. Calhoun, Charles Pinckney, Edward Rutledge and more! We heard The College of Charleston Choir practicing inside the church while we contemplated the old bones of the dead. We had a little respite at Tommy Condon’s Irish Pub on Church Street.

Getting a llittle refreshment at Tommy Condon's Irish Pub.

Getting a little refreshment at Tommy Condon's Irish Pub.

Then we hoofed it to a little crafts fair, where Carrie found a wooden spoon and Bonnie found an Appalachian Bow Saw bread knife.

 

On Monday, Memorial Day, we took the boat out to Lake Marion. Bonnie wore a life vest at first, since she is a little afraid of the water. It was a beautiful day.

It was after she took the vest off that she almost went overboard!

It was after she took the vest off that she almost went overboard!

This was a bucket list item for her. Woohoo! We watched a movie, Big Fish, with Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, Steve Bucemi, et al. Every time I watch this movie, I like it more.

Ken's big fish!

Ken's big fish! Look very closely!

And, on another day, we took the boat to Folly Island and did a little salt water fishing. We saw a few dolphins and a shrimp boat head out to sea.

The guys went golfing a few times during the course of the week. One day, while the boys hit the little white bugger, Bon and I went to Elloree. Elloree is a bucolic, quaint little town not far from here. We shopped and had lunch at Amporn’s, a Thai restaurant with the absolute best soups. Bon loves the soup so much there that we had to go back on another day for her to have it again. Matter of fact, that day, she ordered two bowls!

Here are a few other pics that tell the rest of our story!

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Idlewild Park

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I’ve been thinking lately about a place from my youth. It’s called Idlewild Park. Idlewild is a family amusement park located in southwestern Pennsylvania, where I grew up. It is located in an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful idyllic countryside with meandering streams and lush forests known as the Laurel Highlands.

Old Time Days at Idlewild (Photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

Old Time Days at Idlewild (Photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

I loved this place, and still do! I have many happy memories of family picnics there when I was a little girl.

The school district in which we lived had a picnic at the park every year at the end of the school year. All the kids would carry a bagged lunch to the school on the very last Saturday of the school year to hop on school buses that would take them to the park for the day. But, not our family.

Oh, no! This was one of our family’s big events of the summer. And, it was a big day! Dad and Mom and, usually Grandma, would pack up the station wagon with the picnic fixings and us kids and we would drive over the mountain to get to the park as soon as it opened. The three food staples always on hand at this yearly picnic were Mom’s potato salad and pickled eggs and Grandma’s ham salad. Sometimes, we had Dad’s homemade chocolate and peanut butter fudge. And we always packed a few bottles of fix-a-drink (see the story here https://cindyscountrycorner.com/2009/03/25/fix-a-drink/).

What this meant is that our friends from school would go sit under a pavilion and eat a PB&J or a cold cut sandwich, while we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and had potato salad, ham salad and huge chunks of watermelon. The students who went to the park from school had to leave the park at 5 p.m. But, not us! We could stay till the park closed. Matter of fact, I do recall one time packing up and leaving so late that we got locked in the park! Some park attendant had to come back and let us out! We were the Griswalds before there were the Griswalds, if you know what I mean!

Some of my earliest memories are of this park. I remember going when I was very small, and too little for the “big kid” rides. So, I spent my time in Kiddie Land. My favorite ride there was one that wasn’t even motorized. It was called Kiddie Cars. You got to hop into this little car (that reminded me of a giant ice skate) and you got to pedal yourself (on a rail) around a little wooded area. If some slow poke littler kid (yes, I meant to say littler) was in front of you, then you were stuck! I used to ride the rail as fast as I could pedal and at the end, the ride attendant would tell me that I was the fastest of anyone he had ever seen in his many years of supervising that ride. So, I would naturally, pay another ticket and go around again to see if I could beat my own record! He always said I did!

But, I really couldn’t wait until I was tall enough to ride the big kid rides – the roller coaster, bumper cars and caterpillar. The Rollo Coaster at Idlewild is awesome. It is a Philadelphia Toboggan Company Rollo Coaster built and sent to the park in 1938. It is still in operation today and has been named a Classic Coaster by the American Coaster Enthusiasts.

The Rollo Coaster (photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

The Rollo Coaster (photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

The Caterpillar is an old ride, too. According to Idlewild’s website (http://www.idlewild.com/) the Caterpillar is a set of linked cars that speed around a circular track. During the ride, a green canopy covers the riders leaving them in the dark. From the outside, the covered ride resembles a caterpillar. There are only three Caterpillar rides remaining in North America with only two, including Idlewild’s 1947 model, known to still use the canopy.

The Caterpillar (photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

The Caterpillar (photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

The bumper cars, known as Skooters, were first introduced at Idlewild in 1931. The cars, themselves, have been replaced a few times over the last seven decades, but the building that houses the ride remains the same.

The Bumper Cars (Photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

The Bumper Cars (Photo courtesy of Idlewild Park)

The Merry-Go-Round is a beautiful carousal. It, too, was built by Philadelphia Toboggan Company and has been at Idlewild since 1931.

Idlewild was founded in 1878, making it the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania. I also read somewhere that it is the third oldest park in the nation and the twelfth oldest park in the world.  It has won several awards, including five from Amusement Today as the second-best children’s park in the world.

So, I will be in western Pennsylvania in August having my yearly vacation with my three sisters. And, I want to spend one day at Idlewild. We could pack a picnic! Linda can make Mom’s potato salad. I could make Grandma’s ham salad. Bonnie could make Dad’s fudge. Pam, well, I don’t know what to have her make. We’ll think of something!

And, then, on my bucket list, I want to ride the Rollo Coaster! It’s tame by today’s standards, so I don’t think it will kill us! And, I can post the pictures on my blog! Gosh, I hope there’s not a weight restriction in order to ride!

So, I hope my sisters are up for it! And, dear readers, if you are ever in western Pennsylvania, spend a day at Idlewild Park. You won’t regret it!

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The Easter Peep

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Dedicated to my sister, Pam

When I was  seven, I decided that I wanted a real live peep for Easter. Oh, now, I didn’t know anything about raising a little peep or, if it would be a fun pet to have. I just knew that I wanted one.

So, I got my peep. It was a little blue one. And, I liked it for about a day. I didn’t know it wouldn’t stay in the box I made for it. I didn’t know it would poop icky sticky stuff all over the floors. I didn’t know it wouldn’t eat cool stuff like carrots and lettuce. I didn’t know it wouldn’t sleep in the bed with me or follow me around like a little puppy dog. So, I quickly became bored with it and it became my sister Pam’s charge. She was 10.

As the peep got older, it lost its blue feathers and got a little comb on top of its head. Poor Pam! She wasn’t stuck with a little hen that would someday lay eggs and reward her with gentleness. No, the little peep became a mean rooster that would peck her when she tried to feed it or care for it.

The rooster was moved to a rabbit pen that was located along  the back border of the yard. (I think this pen was left by the previous owners of our our house.)  This rooster would bang at the the cage if I got near him and he would flare out his neck feathers. I was scared of him and didn’t want to get near him! Pam, on the other hand, had to go feed him everyday.  He hated her, too.

On Pam’s 11th birthday, the little bugger pecked her really hard. She remembers bopping him on the head, so he would learn not to peck the hand that feeds him. (She said that he was fine after the bopping because it really wasn’t a hard bop after all.)  It being her birthday, she quickly forgot about the sweet little peep turned monster. After dark, she remembered to go feed the bird (cause that was her duty to feed all the critters). When she got to the cage, she found it dead and torn apart. A weasel must have squirmed into the cage and killed it.  And, of, course, she felt so very bad that she had bopped it earlier that day.

That’s my sister’s peep story. She related it to me recently and asked if I remembered it. Honestly, I did not until she brought it up. And, my memories about him are still a bit fuzzy.  

I do have one question for her now that I’m hoping she can answer. Did that little devil rooster have a name?

P.S. For those wondering, Pam wasn’t permanently adversely affected by what I’m now calling “The little bastard rooster incident.” Forty and some odd years later, she’s quite okay (I think)!

And, by the way, Have a Happy Easter, everyone!

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