Monday, July 27, 2009

Carousel

Location: Between Niagara Falls, NY and Rochester, NY

A recent day trip to Rochester found us standing on Ontario Beach, gazing out at Lake Ontario -- the last of the five Great Lakes for us to visit since we saw Lake Superior after crossing from Wisconsin into Michigan on June 30. And we found a real treat there -- the 1905 Dentzel Carousel, continuously in operation for 104 years.


Here is what their website has to say about the carousel:


The carousel was carved and created by the firm of G.A. Dentzel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was installed at Ontario Beach Park in 1905, and has remained in its original location, ever since. The carousel is a menagerie model and consists of 52 riding animals and two chariots, set in three rows. The hand-carved animals include: 22 Jumping Horses; 11 Standing Horses; 3 Cats; 1 Deer; 1 Giraffe; 1 Goat; 1 Lion; 2 Mules; 3 Ostriches; 3 Pigs; 3 Rabbits; and 1 Tiger. In 1984, the County initiated a complete restoration of the animals to their original condition. The carousel has also been modified to accommodate ADA accessibility.

Yes, we rode it -- and our choice of mount was those prancing pigs! They were just irresistible. John seemed to be having a wonderful time on his Trusty Steed Porcine Companion, until he realized, too late of course, what can happen to photos like these -- they wind up on blogs!

  

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

1 comment:

John said...

Somebody's gonna get a spanking!