Over the River…and through the Woods?

Cruising north on I95, Firestar’s windows down and the air mussing through our hair, Xaine I had embarked on what was to be a short (15 min) drive to the Citi sponsored ‘Summerfest’ at Metro Park. Just over St. Johns River in the downtown redevelopment area, right off the Sports Complex exit, you can’t miss it. Guess what folks… You can miss it and… we did. We must have been rocking out to some great tunes because before we knew it we had gone over 3 rivers and were in the midst of the M. Night Shyamalan Woods. Realizing we had obviously driven way too far (no, we did not see the “Welcome to Georgia” sign) we broke the male stereotype and asked for directions. After “Flipping a BE-A-CH” and enjoying the scenery from a southbound aspect we finally arrived. Passing beyond the Citi banner we found ourselves in a realm of waterslides, carnival games/rides, rock walls and what seemed to me the most popular attraction… “LINES”. As to not feel left out we quickly assimilated into a “line” and after chatting it up with those around us we soon (about 30mins later) found our way to the front and were awarded with two pretty pink (yes we are secure men) cotton candy’s. We noshed on those through our next “line” where we received refreshing snow cones. While I went for the Green, Xaine being the inquisitive child he is was amazed to learn that Red+Orange+Green+Purple= Brown and yet when absorbed by one’s taste buds it result in a very vibrant tongue. Feeling ambitious after a few of these “lines” we thought we would tackle the monster of them all.. the Rock Climbing Wall. Estimated waiting time from this point is 1 hour. No problem for us line pros. So we waited, and waited and waited… until YES.. we were next. Proud of our “line” waiting accomplishment I looked down at Xaine just in time to see his lips gesture “Um, Dadoo.. I’ve changed my mind, I want to do that instead” and with that statement and a heavy tug at my hand I was dislodged from the “line” and on my way towards what appeared to be a color changing devices for humans? You take a seat in one of 6 carts, turn a wheel in the center creating rapid rotation and upon exiting the ride your flesh tone ranges from a pasty white to various shades of Green. My son passed up the Rock Wall for this? What is a Dadoo to do? As there was no “line” for this contraption (wonder why), we sat in our cart, spun the wheel and upon exiting Xaine was a vibrant white, nauseous and kind of lethargic child. When asked if he wanted to do it again he very politely expressed “NO THANK YOU”. With the sun swiftly setting we walked around a bit and then as the last rays of light were taken over by the night I lifted Xaine upon my shoulders and we watched the skies as Fireworks burst and glimmered (no line required for that event). Another great night on the East Coast.