Growing Up With An Amusement Park in my Backyard — NaBloPoMo2019

The Prompt — Kennywood is a very unique regional resource. Most people do not have fully realized amusement parks so accessible. Did you visit Kennywood as a child? What is/was your favorite ride?

I grew up in West Mifflin, home to Kennywood. It was so much a part of my childhood.

We went to Kennywood as often as our budget allowed. Back in the day, admission was free and you bought tickets for rides. So our grandparents and aunts and uncles could come along for the day without paying a fortune to watch us ride the rides. In high school and college, we would ‘go to Kennywood’ to take advantage of that free admission and hang out with our friends — munching on some Potato Patch fries, maybe indulging in a ride or two, and generally hanging out in a family friendly environment.

It was affordable enough for my parents to occasionally just swoop us up and head over for a few hours of riding fun. They both had also grown up with Kennywood, albeit a bit further away and had their personal favorite rides.

Back then, companies had picnics at Kennywood. My father’s steelmill AND his union had picnics we often went twice. My parents would pack a big cooler with sandwiches, snacks, beverages, and so forth. We would put in on a table in the designated pavilion and head out to ride. No one stole anything. Then we’d come back to eat, visit, etc. In the evening, my Dad would take us to play games with a very strict limit on how much we…