Family Vacation part II: Tweetsie

That's all that must be said. One word that evokes memories for perhaps millions of children. That beckons kids as the pied piper did lemmings. That can even strike fear into the heart of parents anywhere: Tweetsie. (Cue the Hitchcock murder music here...)Here is probably the signature attraction of Tweetsie--the "genuine, coal-burnin,' steam driven locomotive." It was a lot of fun, as can be seen on everyones faces. Halle wasn't quite so keen on the stops when the actors would do little staged shoot-outs and skits, though. But a defininte must if you ever get dragged there by--I mean, take--the kids.

The evidenciary "we're actually there, it's not just some phony photo from another train ride that we've mislabeled and stuck up to make it look like we were on the train."

Of course, there are a bunch of rides for the kids, too. This ferris wheel was probably 50-60 feet high. Madelin loved it, Halle, well, not so much after about two times around. Same could be said for the Scrambler.

Besides rides, who doesn't love to sit on a plastic pony. I mean, think about it: so tame, so agreeable, never bucking or nipping, never wandering off...

OK, back to the trains. This one had a fun stop in a a cave, complete with a black light and all. There were automated little mice singing a jingle about mining cheese out of the West Virginia hills. Very, um, interesting. But the kids loved it...

...you can tell. Just look at the smiles as we got back to the dock to off-load.

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If nothing else, the image below will provide ample basis for their father's nightmares that will no doubt become commonplace over the next decade and a half...teenage daughters driving (disclaimer: this comment in NO way reflects upon or relates to the driving ability of the woman in the center of the car).

Actually, this smile says it all...and she's not even old enough to go on the rides. :)