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August 15, 2005
weirdly homesick
homesick for a bit of my childhood really, not for Spokane itself. I don't really miss Spokane although the first half of my life and college was spent in its vicinity. But I found myself with nostalgic tears when I found the SpokaneCarrousel.org site.
The site showcases Spokane's Looff carousel which are some of the finest ever made. It was originally housed at Spokane's Natatorium park from 1909 to 1968. They moved the carousel to Riverside Park after Expo 74. Nearby is the super wicked cool bronze goat that sucks up garbage that you feed it. It's a remnant from the World's Fair and a favorite of little kids.
Here's Athena, the horse I always tried to get when I rode the carrousel and had high hopes for the gold ring.
If I couldn't manage to snag her before some other kid, I always tried to get the giraffe.
I remember that when I first went to the Flying Horses in Martha's Vineyard, I thought that it was cool since it's the oldest running carousel in the country but it just didn't hold a candle to the Looff in Spokane.
From the site I learned that in Riverside, RI there is another Looff carousel. Might be worth checking out. They're so beautiful. Going to ride the carousel was the biggest treat whenever we went downtown. That and seeing the incredible moving Christmas displays at the Crescent department store.
I feel like an old fart telling stories to children of days gone past, sigh.
Posted by crystallyn at August 15, 2005 02:33 PM