Canobie Lake Park Descriptive Writing

The air flew past our heads, and screams echo through the air. The sun is beating down relentlessly, people’s cheeks are tinted red, partly from screaming, partly from the sun burns that are beginning to take form. Individuals of every age are jammed close together. You can hear them begging for an end to their terror, and other are embracing the adrenaline, breaking out in hysterical, maniacal laughter. Lights flash in front of our faces, blinding us. At this point, my feet are dangling, and I am gripping onto the seat, a huge smile adorns my face. We are hurled into the air, spinning in large circles. The air smells like soft baked pretzels and cotton candy, mixed with the stink of sweat and sunscreen. Even whipping through the air, there is no missing the sound of vendors luring in little kids, or the buzzing when someone wins a prize a hundred feet below our
dangling bodies.

Two hours ago, Zachary and I were sitting in a small Dunkin Donuts just outside of Gonic, New Hampshire. He was pressing me for information on where we were going. There was a bagel sitting between us on the table, half eaten. Finger marks marred the cream cheese, evidence of the many times he tried to smudge it across my face, thinking it would persuade me to spoil the surprise. He was desperate to know how we were spending the day. The only clue he had was that we wouldn’t arrive for over an hour. His face showed the mix of excitement and eagerness, resembling a child on Christmas morning. At six foot three and almost eighteen years old, he still had the energy of a little kid, always ready for adventure and looking for a thrill. Canobie Lake Park was definitely the perfect surprise for Zach.

"But babe, I hate surprises!" He had been protesting the secrecy of this trip for weeks now. I rolled my eyes. He doesn't hate surprises. He hates not being in the loop. I didn't hesitate to point this out to him either. Trying to guilt trip me was definitely not going to work, and he knew as much. He pretended to sulk whenever I refused to answer a question about our destination. It didn't last long, though. He was far to excited to feign being upset for more than a couple of minutes.

That car ride was the longest hour and a half I had experienced in such a long time.
Zach threw out blind guesses as to where we were going the entire ride. I turned up the radio in a desperate attempt to end the constant string of questions. Instead of giving up and sulking, he just talked over the music, throwing our completely infallible guesses.

Canobie Lake Park has just opened a few weeks ago. Despite the beautiful weather, it is not crowded. In fact, we haven't waited in a single line yet. We pushed our way through the gates and security just minutes after the park opened. It was amazing seeing all the people scattering, taking advantage of the short lines. Little kids are dragging their parents into the depths of the park, but Zachary and I started from the outside, and planned on gradually making our way through the maze of rides.

Loaded up with sunscreen and hoard of twenty dollar bills, we plan to take on each and every ride and attraction within the next nine hours. Zachary and I navigated our way through the park, starting with the Ultimate frisbee. The ride was one of my
favorite.

The park is split into different sections. Each section has a theme, and all the food stands and gift shops coincided with that theme. We made our way from the Boston Tea Party to the Untamed and hit every ride in between. As the temperature warmed up, we took some time away from the rides to visit gift shops. Beautiful dream catchers hung in one of the little shops. Others had colorful shirts or plush towels.

Throughout the day we visited ice cream stands and shared French fries and over priced sodas. Towards the end of the afternoon we spent a lot of time just walking around and appreciating the atmosphere of the park. We hopped onto smaller rides such as Davinci's dream, a giant swing set up to look like it was crafted in the middle of an angelic garden. Fake marble busts and different statues sat Around the outskirts of the rides. Bushes and flowers completed the facade.

Just before ten, Zachary and I were squeezed between dozens of other people, all of us sitting, standing, or kneeling on the dock. Boats floated in the water, some belonging to the park, other were small canoes and kayaks from the residents just across the lake. Anticipation set in, and everyone was staring expectantly at the sky above the water. Suddenly, we heard the hiss of a firework being set off, followed by the characteristic boom, and a flash of light. A few seconds went by, and they set off a second, and then a third. Suddenly the whole sky was lit up, cracks and bangs echoed across the park, and in the background you could hear patriotic songs playing. Bright blues, greens, reds, and purples sparkled against the dark backdrop, and smoke wafted down from the sky. This weekend, the park put in a larger than normal effort to commemorate independence day, which was later this week. The display was spectacular, one of the best I had ever seen. It seemed to go on for hours. I was memorized by the patriotic atmosphere. The finale started and the national anthem played over the speakers around the park. People hooted and hollered, clapped and whistled. Zach wrapped me in his arms, and I could hear him cheering along with the thousands of other Americans in the park. Eventually the fireworks ended, but the celebrations did not. The applause got louder momentarily, everyone was hyped up still from a day of fun and a phenomenal display of American pride. As the national anthem died out, so did the cheers. The boats started clearing out, and so did we. Everyone slowly made their way out of the park, full of fried food and wonderful memories sure to last a lifetime.