A Ride on a Pirates' Ship

Last Thursday, Lyra and I went out to eat while Russell had Guys' Night Out. We sat outside at the marina and watche a parade of pedestrians on the sidewalk. It was a pleasant evening to be out. As it got darker, we noticed the lights of an amusement area that was set up on the other side of the marina.

Lyra wondered how far away it was. Is it 20 meters? No. 20 Blocks? No, somewhere in between there - maybe 2 blocks. I could tell it was her way of hinting that maybe we could head over there after dinner. I told her we could and asked her what ride she'd like to go on if we went.

"The Boat," she answered without hesitation. I could tell this was a ride I could probably stomach - so agreed that we could go on after dinner. "If it makes your stomach upset, I could go by myself," she volunteered. As we continued to watch in the distance Lyra queried, "I wonder if I could scream as loud as they can." I assured her she could - but to please not try it now.

When we wandered over to the amusements, we checked with the ride monitor if he'd allow Lyra on. He nodded and we went to go get our tokens. I'm sure you've seen these rides at the carnival before. They look like a boat with about 5 or 6 rows of seats on each end facing toward the center. When the ride gets going it rocks back and forth - like a big swing. If you're lucky to be positioned on the far outer seats, you end up looking straight down during the upswing of your end. Our boat was a pirates' ship complete with crows nest.

Lyra and I were the only ones to get tokens, so we had full choice of where to sit. We positioned ourselves toward the middle. I was feeling a bit nervous that the full-on downward tilt from the end seats would be overly scary. But she seemed in a wild mood and was ready for the thrill. As the boat started swinging - I got nervous all of a sudden that Lyra would be flying out of the ride - so I grabbed her around the shoulders. And then she started screaming - and she was just as loud as the others.

Gradually, we picked up height and Lyra yelled, "I feel like I'm going to pee my pants. Every time I look down, it feels like I need to pee. Do you feel like you need to pee?" The next few swings were hilarious as she screamed each time, "Oh no, I'm going to pee my pants." Then she told me, "Just don't look. Close your eyes. It's much better that way." But of course, she couldn't keep her eyes closed and continued screaming and having a ball.

As we got off, we both were laughing and looking for another thrill ride. She wanted to go on the swings which are on a chain and then spin around in a circle, but I was too nervous that she'd slip out. We checked on a few other rides, but the other monitors wouldn't let her on. So, in the end, she went on a kiddie roller coaster. She looked at it and wistfully said, "I just wish it was going a bit faster." Yes! Another coaster rider in the family.