Family Trip it Seems Strange to Me,

¶ … Family Trip

It seems strange to me, in retrospect, that I could have managed to reach the age of sixteen without having ever visited an amusement park. Of course, I was aware of places like the Epcot Center and Disneyland -- what American child isn't? But I grew up in a city that didn't have any local amusement parks, and my family didn't have a lot of extra money to spend on vacations. Instead, my parents saved up to send me to boarding school in Massachusetts. Living away from my parents and siblings was at times stressful, and required me to develop a great deal of independence. However, the road trip that we took to Bush Gardens in Virginia remains one of my fondest memories and marks a strong transition point between my adolescence and young adulthood.

When I returned home from school for the summer after my junior year, I had no idea that my parents had been planning our first big road trip as a family. I expected that I would spend a couple of months relaxing at home and renewing old friendships with the people I'd left behind in New York. Instead, I was greeted with the news that we would all be piling into my father's car to head to Virginia to experience, for the first time, an actual amusement park. As a teenager, I tried to act aloof and disinterested -- rides were for babies, after all -- but deep inside myself, I was bursting with joy and excitement. But, during the drive to Virginia, I certainly got the chance to get to know my parents and my younger brother and sister. In the close confines of our car, I learned that my brother had joined a baseball team and that my sister no longer cared for Barbie dolls. I also learned that my father had terrible taste in music after he forced us to listen to a soft rock station for more than three hours, and that my mother loved to play 'Eye Spy' and 'Twenty Questions'.

It was with great relief that we all tumbled out of the car to stretch our legs and breathe fresh air once we finally reached Bush Gardens. The park was packed, even though it was early in the morning, and I remember being jostled by strangers and holding tight to my sister's small hand so that we wouldn't get separated. I easily shrugged off my adolescent attitude once I caught sight of the giant roller coasters and massive water park. It was a hot day, and this was a moment that I had been waiting for my whole life. It didn't even bother me too much that my father complained about the high price of admission or that my mother insisted on taking embarrassing staged photos of us at the entrance to the park. I was just happy to be out of school, with my family, and on the cusp of a new and exciting adventure. It's ironic, but I have never felt more adult than when accompanying my little brother and sister on a merry-go-round. Perhaps its because I was able to see this somewhat childish activity in a more mature way; rather than acting like a silly kid, I was more interested in making sure my siblings stayed safe and had fun.

Our trip to the amusement park had its low moments as well. Although it was exhilarating to barrel down the step water slide, there wasn't anywhere to change afterwards -- the bathrooms were too crowded. This meant that I had to walk around the park in my damp bathing suit, feeling uncomfortable and sweaty. But the water slide and the roller coasters also allowed me to confront my fear of heights. I wanted to avoid such rides altogether, but my little sister teased me unmercifully until I gave in and went on the rides with her. If I close my eyes, I can still feel how my stomach dropped as we went down that first crazy hill and looped upside down, over and over again.