Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Day at Gilroy- Aug 21, 2009

Perhaps it was the brochure with a 5-year old which instigated our trip to Gilroy Gardens. When we look back, we have no regrets about spending 6 hours of our day at a theme park for kids ages 2-7. At the ticket booth, we were a little embarrassed to be the only couple buying tickets without kids. Perhaps we also felt uncomfortable since we had coupons for half off the ticket prices. Like our parents always say, “when there is a deal- take it, use it & enjoy it.”

Gilroy Gardens is known for its Circus Trees. These awesome looking trees were grown by a man who never shared his secret with anyone. After years of research horticulturist are still unable to replicate what this man did in the 1920’s. They are amazing wonders in botany.

Though our initial plan was to just see the circus trees, we were quite surprised at the parks’ ambience. At a theme park geared towards kids, we saw kids – a lot of them. One of the things, we are both fond of is watching kids. You are right; we just watch them and enjoy their innocent conversations, dramatic actions, and unpredictable tempter tantrums. To make a long story short, we saw it all at Gilroy Gardens.

We roamed around the park for awhile and then we decided to go on a ride. Oh yes, I was not going to walk out of a theme park without going on a ride. I quickly glanced through the brochure trying to decide on a ride which could accommodate two adults. The rides were rated on a scale of 1-3 on the intensity of difficulty. Most of the rides allowed a parent chaperon to accompany the children. As we walked, we ended up in a small lake where we saw paddle boats for two. They were shaped like a swan or a duck. We immediately got on the line after inquiring if two adults can go on them. The lady at the front had to ask her boss since that wasn’t a frequent question she encountered. We were a little embarrassed when we heard him saying “TWO ADULTS!” and then “yea sure”. The ride was rated 2 on a difficulty scale and we wore our life vests and hoped on the line. Still I am not sure if the life vest Ajo wore was a kid’s life vest or an adult’s life vest. Even if it was an adult one, I am questioning if that floatation device would do its job on a 200 plus pound guy. I am glad we never had a find out the answer to the question. We started to paddle with much confidence and pride but within a short time we realized that this was no easy task. It was quite rigorous to paddle our way through the lake and back. Though I was tired and furious from paddling, we chuckled at our adventure filled ride.

Ajo would describe Gilroy Gardens as a “brat fest”. Perhaps it is an ideal description for the place, and the brat fest did make our day entertaining and amusing. Parents would wait in line with their kids, the kids would watch the ride and back out at the last minute and hop on a more appeasing and less strenuous ride like a carousel. How funny!

As I look back to that one day, I can honestly say that I truly enjoyed the park and I would go back in a heartbeat. Next time, neither the circus trees will amaze me nor the rides will entertain me but the children at Gilroy will both amaze and entertain me.

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