My son and I had talked about doing an amusement park trip, and we ended up choosing Lake Compounce. It’s just the right distance from our house and the right size for a 13-year-old boy who outgrew Quassy Amusement Park some time ago.
Honestly, I was hesitant to go. Maybe I’m getting old. I just didn’t feel like going on any rides and getting mangled up. We checked the weather on Sunday, and it looked good for Monday. We went back and forth. I told him he should go to the pool with his friend and I’d just go to work. But he has his Flea Market madness way of negotiating and re-negotiating a price or getting what he wants.
I got up and went outside to have my coffee, grounding my feet in the grass and enjoying the quiet morning scene. The calm before the storm is something I love. It gives me a chance to reconnect with what’s important. As I slowly sipped my brew, I thought about his age and how many more times he might even ask me to do something like this with him. In just three more years he’ll be driving, like his sister, who was going to spend the day at the pool with friends. There are no guarantees and no tomorrows. That’s all a false hope and a mismanagement of human perception.
After the spark of affirmation, I speedily finished my cup and went inside to tell him. He knew I had been on the fence, so when I told him, he wasn’t sure if I was serious. Once he realized I was, he came out of his room to confirm, and I was so happy to see he was still that excited.
We had about an hour to get our stuff together. We wanted to be on the road by 10 a.m. so we could arrive by 11 a.m. for the park opening. We got ready quickly, and it’s always easier for the guys to get out the door. Driving up I-84, another trip, another adventure. Suddenly the dreaded red line of traffic appeared on our GPS after Exit 13. I thought we’d only hit some traffic in Waterbury. After an 11-minute delay due to completely unnecessary roadwork that never seems to get worked on, we made it through and arrived at 11:05.
For some reason, our GPS never brings us to the main entrance. We always have to ignore its instructions or we’ll end up at the employee gate. We finally got in line to enter the parking lot. I had already purchased our tickets and parking pass, but none of the signs indicated where pre-paid guests should go until the last second, when we were stuck in the wrong lane. We got passed by a guy who cut across two lanes of traffic to jump ahead. What made this creature even worse was that his initial payment failed, and he had to get out his debit card and punch in a code.
Finally, after the traffic and the line-cutters, we parked in section C2 on this warm summer morning. We quickly walked the half-mile tunnel path and made our way to the entrance of Lake Compounce. We were excited and deliberated how busy it would be. It turned out to be busier than expected, but most of the crowd seemed to be heading for the water park which made sense.
For $34.99 each, plus $25 for parking, we got a full day at both the regular amusement park and the water park, all for under $100.
We rented a large locker to hold our towels and other water park necessities. We took a right and started our Father and Son field trip with the park’s bigger rides.
We began with the Wildcat, their mid-level wooden roller coaster. We had done this one before and remembered getting a little banged up. But this time, sitting in the middle of the train, or maybe thanks to a newer cart, we had a smoother and fun start to the day. The kids behind us were screaming so loudly it felt like they were on a completely different ride.
Then it was on to Down Time, the drop tower, which quickly confirmed whether our stomachs were ready for the day. As we shot up and dropped down, we had a beautiful view of the park and surrounding hills. The other two big coasters, Phobia and Zoomerang, were exciting. Unfortunately for me, not knowing the turns and fighting the momentum left my aging body taking some hard hits to my equilibrium. I rallied though, and we took a break to make a solid purchase: the all-day plastic drink cup for $17.99, which let us refill with Pepsi products and water all day. On this 90-degree day, it was worth every penny.
My favorite ride of the day was Thunder N’ Lightning, a giant swing that makes you feel like a kid getting pushed high into the sky. My son loved it all. One of his favorites was the Ghost Hunt, a haunted house ride with light guns where you compete for the highest score. The first time we did it, I didn’t pay attention to the target colors and got destroyed. But this time, I was ready to go after the purple targets. Room after room, I thought I was winning. I was, for a while. But in the last room, he pulled away and beat me by 30,000 points. Even after a second attempt, I was soundly beaten. He was thrilled to be the camp champ.
A special shout-out to Boulder Dash, which is the most thrilling wooden coaster I can remember ever being on. It’s an old wooden coaster and appears weathered and worn as you view it from the wooden deck before getting on, even though it was built in 2000. The ride is extremely thrilling in its own right, but the creaks and shakes of the wooden structure definitely add levels to the ride. We both, young and old, came off this ride shook with a nice dull headache for our trouble.
We walked the park looking for something decent to eat. After a full loop, we ended up back at Wildcat Grill for a double cheeseburger. The food was fine. It would be nice to throw in a few healthy options, but based on this slice of Americana we traversed today, I’m sure it doesn’t make any fiscal sense.
After confirming he was all set with the amusement park side, we made our way over to the water park, which was definitely busier, especially as the temperature climbed. We lathered up with sunscreen and hit my all-time favorite, the Lazy River. I have to say, the Lazy River here is well managed. They have staff controlling the flow of guests, helping people on, and enforcing the one-lap rule. They even built a tube ride in the middle that drops you into another section of the river. Since I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur, I have imagined similar when designing my own one day.
The river was calm, and we floated along, deciding not to wait for the inner-tube ride. I told my son to pretend we didn’t know what was going on and try to sneak past the attendants. A young staff member eventually told us to get off, but when he saw how long the line was, he said, “The line looks big, so just keep going.” A win. We continued our second lap like the big-time rule breakers we were.
We spent some time in the United Nations wave pool, where everyone got along gently rolling in the chlorine blue waves. My son hit a few more water rides while I found a lounge chair and waited as he went to a less crowded section to try all three variations of the body slide tubes.
Finally, with our fill of fun, we made our way out of the park. It was another amazing day because I got to spend it with my son. I’m grateful for this time, especially now, during what feels like an ever-shrinking window to do things like this together.
One day, he’ll be grown and off chasing his own life, and these chances will be fewer and farther between. I hope he carries these memories with him. I hope he smiles when he thinks back on days like this. And maybe one day, he’ll be the one sipping coffee in the morning, deciding whether to take his own kid to the park.
If he does, I hope he goes.
Life with Chicken and Broccoli 