Rhode Island

Next stop: Rhode Island and the fancy little town of Watch Hill.

the marina

the "main drag"

carousel on the beach at the end of the street 

This is a small and funny carousel built in 1884- the oldest one we visited (!) - and all of the horses have crazylong, flowing, real hair manes and tails. They look like a gang of crusty old punk rockers and hippys- and I mean that in the best possible way. LOVED THEM!

pretty ol' hippy

rock-n-rollers

ol' speckled hen ;0)

This was also the only example of a "suspended" carousel that we visited. The horses are hanging/swinging and there is no platform below. Cool!

Next stop was the Atlantic Beach Park Carousel in Misquamicut Beach, MA. Carousel down by the beach:

and this surreal scene:

Move along, nothin' to see here. Just a man tryin' to enjoy his ice cream.

The doors were open but nobody was home so I made myself at home and started snapping a ton of photos. Then the proprietor arrived (not thrilled to see me in there) and flipped on the lights and music. I made a few more pics and decided it was time to mosey!

Fun to photograph the carousel without all those pesky children! (I'M KIDDING! Kinda. But seriously, folks...)

Lots of freaky carvings on the roundabout.

This carousel was built in 1915 and it's original location is unknown. Lots of mystery and history surrounding so many of these carousels.

carousel ettiquette

Rebuilding

After staying in Atlantic City we were anxious to get on the road again.  Our next stop was the boardwalk in Seaside Heights New Jersey which was devastated by Hurricane Sandy.  There was lots of construction and repair going on all over the town. Here are some photos from what it looked like after the storm:

via WetPaint

Boardwalk destroyed- via RidgewoodPatch

Now there is a brand new boardwalk and everything looks shiny and new.

And it IS a boardwalk so there was plenty of creepy and/or giant stuff:

The carousel- built in 1910!

...a special distinction.

lots of great animals

another freakshow!

Wow! Im really teally tired. I just spent a long time trying to remember where we went next:

OLD LYME, CT! A sleepy litte town with a funny ol' carousel. 

There is an OLD carousel around here somewhere!

This carousel is small and charming and...art deco-y- or something! Built in 1925.  Lots of kids were having a blast trying to "grab the brass ring." The more photos and videos I took the more I fell in love with this little gem.

Ferry ride!

On Day 4 we woke up early to spend a nanosecond on the sand at the beach before breakfast- and before the tourists took over:

Ocean City, MD- We walked almost 5 miles each way to the carousel the night before and we were really tired.

Since we needed a little break from driving so much we decided to shave some time off of the days trip by taking our car onto the Cape May- Lewes Ferry between Deleware and New Jersey. It was a lovely ride.

Our next carousel was on the boardwalk at Ocean City, NJ.  Another carnival with rides, etc but we were surprised to find that it was MUCH more mellow than the one in Ocean City, MD. (Maybe because we arrived earlier in the day?) A very cute little town- nothing like I was expecting.

View of the boardwalk from the carousel.

View of the beach from the boardwalk.

I really want to go on the rides but I never do as we have to keep moving.

This is carousel has all wood/carved animals and was built in 1926. 

For some reason all of the horses on this carousel are painted all white. (???) Still beautiful!

Hard to photograph but the old paintings on the roundabout of this carousel were out of this world- all kinds of weird scenes. Even a kitty chasing bugs! There wasn't anyone around to talk to about this carousel so I'll definitely need to research those more when I get home.

More of the paintings.

Girl with a rooster, a hunting dog.

A lion. I'm sure all of these children (and their parents) are wondering why the strange lady keeps taking photos of them and seems a little over-amused at the amusements. This girl looks worried.

Pennsylvania FAIL

Day 3 of my carousel road trip was quite and adventure.

In the morning we walked from our hotel in Red Hook through the new/under-construction Brooklyn Bridge Park en route to Jane's Carousel. The park is AMAZING- full of art, swimming pools, soccer fields, basketball courts, gardens, BBQ areas- gorgeous! (Minneapolis could learn a thing or two there for our riverfront development.)

This arty basketball hoop installation reminded me of Minneapolis artist Aaron Dysart's tree limb installations. NEAT!

Jane's Carousel (built in 1922- click to read about it!) is located right at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side.  Right on the water- so fun and beautiful.

I took a ton of reference photos of the animals but it got REALLY crowded (and I am The World's Worst Photographer) so my photos don't do it justice.
Here are a few professional shots from around the web:

There she is! Under the bridge- via onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn

via gomoneyways

via heartfish

...and here is a shot of the carousel during Hurricane Sandy. Sad and beautiful- very glad she survived!

via this article in the New Yorker.

Me and B being cheesy in the park.

Quick lunch at Vegatarian Ginger and we're outta there!

Let's just skip over the next part of the trip. Pennsylvania did not go well! Good thing I called to double check about the carousel before we made it all the way there. Brad's positivity saved the day and I re-planned the next leg of the trip. 

Lots of bridges.

...and tolls! Uff.

 Instead of PA and VA- we headed straight for Ocean City, MD.

It is such a beautiful piece of land- too bad it is so over-run by spring break style party-ers.

...BUT the carousel was AMAZING!  It was built in 1902 and has: 

12 Jumping Horses, 11 Standing Horses, 25 Menagerie Animals (1 Camel, 2 Cats, 1 Deer, 2 Dogs, 1 Dragon, 2 Frogs, 2 Giraffes, 1 Goat, 1 Lion, 2 Mules, 2 Ostriches, 2 Pigs, 2 Roosters, 1 Stork, 1 Tiger, 2 Zebras), 4 chariots. I took 80 bazillion photos and videos. I'll spare you. Seeing the carousels at night is the best thing. This carousel is completely covered with freaky fabulous paintings and carvings.  funhouse mirror

There was also a mini carousel for babies! I'm dying!

Thank you for reading! Stop back tomorrow. ;0)