Waldameer

Why can't Conneaut Lake Park be more like Waldameer? Both parks are about the same age (Conneaut Lake Park opened in 1892 and Waldameer in 1896), but you wouldn't know it.  Waldameer is well kept, beautifully landscaped and the rides all actually work. Conneaut Lake Park is...well, the opposite of that. Let's just say, we chose to drive the hour to Erie instead of going across the lake to our local park.

All eleven cousins ran from ride to ride. Once she warmed up to the rides, little Clare was quite the daredevil and went on every ride that her older cousins did.

They all rode the Music Express three times until they couldn't take it any more. Poor John was squished so much his ribs hurt.

I'd never been to the 'North End' of the park before, but in my opinion that's where the good rides are. Who knew that there were teacups outside of Disneyland!

Reunion

A great mystery surrounded Larry Sousa, my husband's grandfather. As far as anyone knew, he showed up in Conneaut Lake around 1930 and never gave any clues about his past. My mother-in-law grew up never meeting a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin. This kind of thing drives me nuts and occupies my thoughts. When Kate came home this past winter with a family history assignment, we decided it was the perfect time to play detective. With only one bit on information to go on, and lots of help from Ancestry.com, we were quickly in contact with newly found relatives!

While we will never know the true reason for Larry Sousa's estrangement from the family, it's all in the past now. We were invited to yesterday's annual family reunion at Erie's Waldameer Park and were welcomed with open arms.  The above photo was taken just moments after we arrived.  My mother-in-law met her first cousin for the first time in her life and immediately took a stroll to get acquainted. (You can see pictures of our visits to Waldameer in 2011 here, and 2010 here.)

Since this is all so new and we're still adjusting, I won't give too much away. I will say that Larry Sousa was 100% Italian, something unknown to us until a few months ago. In honor of this new-found heritage, Will had the face painter paint the Italian flag on his arm.

We feasted on homemade meatballs, sausages, and pasta and drank homemade wine. We even won a gift basket in the raffle drawing. Bob and Kate check their tickets below.

Waldameer Park in Erie

We finally made it to Waldameer Park in Erie. Waldameer translates to Woods by the Sea in German. It sits on the shores of Lake Erie, at the entrance to Presque Isle. After suffering through our local run-down Conneaut Lake Park for years, we weren't sure what to expect. Like Conneaut Lake Park, Waldameer is a century-plus year old park. Unlike CLP, however, Waldameer is well-maintained, well-staffed, and a true, old-time amusement and water park.

The kids in the lazy river

The park, opened in 1896, is the 4th oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the 10th oldest in the US.

The boys on the train ride

Fun house mirrors