After about 25 years, we’re a little taller now….
You know how when you’re a kid, everything looks big- and it’s not until you get older that you realize how small and unimpressive the same things suddenly become? I’d say that this coming of (old) age phenomenon provides the most significant perspective shift in life, and a trip out to Edaville Railroad this week had me filled with this same expectations.
I am sure that most of you have never heard of Carver, Massachusetts, but I’ll let you in on this little secret that is a hidden jewel that produces a substantial amount of your cranberry supply. My family been coming up to these parts since I was a kid, and the Edaville Railroad was just one part of this tradition that included saw mills and the oldest divided highway in America.
Follow the train signs (even if the snow covers the arrow) to Edaville!
“This might be the last year for Edaville.” my brother told me a little over a week ago. “We should go up!”
Last year for Edaville? Really? Granted, it’s been decades since I have been back, but this place is one of those treasures in southern Mass. that I would never expect to shut down.
Going to check out the Christmas Festival of Lights is one of those early childhood memories that stuck around. Thanks Mom and Dad.
For those of you who are too lazy to head to Edaville’s website, this place started back in the 1940s when 5 ½ miles of railroad were laid along a 1,800 acre plantation of cranberries. The trains were used to service the cranberry bogs as well as for hauling paying customers through the plantation for sightseeing. I know that I’m biased as hell about cranberry country, but being able to check out (and ice skate on!) cranberry bogs is an experience that is truly unique.
So my brother John and I decided to head to Edaville a few days after Christmas. Armed with our cameras and gloves, we braved the cold weather to see if the magic was still there. Here’s some pics from our trip:
Me in front of the old steam engine. I kinda geek out over these cool trains. These are the guys that helped to build America.
When you ride the train, you get to check out all of the Christmas lights that are put up along the route. I like the animated bird diving into the bog to catch the fish.
Of course, I had to take a picture of the cool ship.
This is New England, so our midway rides operate 12 months a year, and no one thinks twice about riding in the snow.
Granted, I didn’t wait in line to ride the Ferris Wheel in 20 degree weather, but plenty of other people sure did.
It’s cold outside, so what does this frigid weather call for? That’s right, fried dough and a hot chocolate! My fingers were freezing as I was breaking off pieces of the dough to share, but it sure was tasty. So wasn’t the water-based hot chocolate with whipped cream and jimmies. Fantastic, fantastic.
They have a ball crawl in their main building, and I liked that they took the cranberry theme and ran with it. (They didn’t let us dive in, we were “too tall”…bastards.)
Just before we left. Frozen like popsicles from wandering around and taking pics (and eating fried dough), we were really happy to have made the trip.
So that was a small (but significant) stop in Megan’s Christmas leave period. We had a great time reliving a piece of our childhood.
So was Edaville much smaller than I remembered? Actually, not at all. Even though we were now the old kids who were riding the caboose and watching the really small kids scream as they spun in the Dumbo ride knock-off, it was a great experience. Nostalgia aside, it is clear that these folks take a lot of pride into getting the cranberry bogs set up for Christmas, and I really hope that they stay open for generations to come.