York's Wild Kingdom - Oh, the Memories!

Entrance to York's Wild Kingdom from downtown York Beach

It's probably been about 40 years since I've been to York's Wild Kingdom and aside from a nice zoo, the rest of the park has not changed much in four decades.  Although many of the games in the arcade have been updated, with the exception of the ever present Skee Ball, most of the rides have been there for the duration.

Admission was around $50-60 for two adults and one child, but I was disappointed that this did not include some of the activities like the go-karts and mini golf.  Ashton was most interested in the fun houses.  There were three at the park and probably about 2/3rds of our time was spent going through them again and again, with the exception of one of them which was a haunted house.  Apparently that was a bit too spooky for more than one journey.

Other rides we enjoyed were the roller coaster, the big slide and the scrambler.  And for those of you who are fans of 80s music like yours truly, there was a place that Billy Joel would have appreciated.  It was the house of glass.

Ashton, please do not throw stones in this house.

Fun House at York's Wild Kingdom

As I went through the haunted house, I remember all those years ago when it was something else.  It was a fun house that had bars near the entrance.  Some of the bars were real and some were rubber.  The idea was to find the rubber bars, pull them apart and continue on your merry way.  But when I was little, I was small enough to fit through the real bars.  Unfortunately my brother wasn't and he got his head through but could not get it out.  Yes, he got his head stuck in the bars and they had to either cut the bars or remove one of them to get him unstuck.  Yes, this is one of those family stories for which we will all give my brother a good ribbing for the rest of his life.

Haunted house at York's Wild Kingdom

The bars are no longer in the fun house, maybe it was because of this incident, but walking through the place brought back memories that made the place feel somewhat familiar.  My family used to vacation in York or Wells pretty much annually in the late 60s and early 70s.  We mostly stayed at the Nubble Cove Cottages overlooking the iconic Cape Neddick "Nubble" Lighthouse.  The cottages are now condos and I'm not even sure if they can be rented by the week anymore, but they will always provide a lifetime of memories for me.

I have vivid memories of running around the rocks in front of the cottages, attempting to sneak up on seagulls, with very little success.  Occasionally I'd slip and scape a knee or elbow, which would necessitate a trip back to "nurse mom" for Bactine and a Band-Aid.

On foggy mornings, the powerful light would cut through the gray haze while the fog horn's ominous signal would drift through the fog at regular intervals.  There was something rather soothing and comforting about this sound, as if it was proof that perhaps there is civilization beyond the misty wall even if it cannot be seen.

Most days were spent at Long Sands Beach in York.  For five bucks, I (or actually my parents) could rent an inflatable "raft" with which to ride the waves in the 60-something degree water until my teeth were involuntarily chattering together.  Then it was back through the labyrinth of colorful beach umbrellas to the mini oasis among the sea of people where our beach blanket lay in waiting.  A few minutes in the warm sunshine and we were ready for another go at the waves.

When not combing the beach or exploring the tidal pools, we would get to spend a little time feeding quarters into pinball, skee ball and other electronic games at the arcade.  Skee ball was a favorite because if you got a good score, the machine would spit out tickets that could be redeemed for toys and souvenirs.  Of course, had you bought any of these things you won in the store, you probably would have paid significantly less, but what fun would that have been?

The ever popular Skee Ball

Arcade overlooking Short Sands Beach in York Village

Of course a trip to York Beach was not complete without two very important stops.  Brown's Ice Cream, just up the road from Nubble Light, and the Goldenrod in downtown York Beach.  Brown's is still serving up ice cream that receives regular raves on review sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor.

A stone's throw from Short Sands Beach is a white clapboard building with stainless steel mechanical arms perpetually spinning gooey taffy into the famous Goldenrod Kisses.  It was always a treat to watch fresh salt water taffy being made at The Goldenrod. They've been making taffy here since 1896, so they must be doing something right.  And when you taste it, I think you'll agree.

Home of Goldenrod Kisses, York's famous salt water taffy

 Across the street another candy store serves up a large variety of sweet treats.  What was once called "Penny Candy" is now sold by the pound, but it is reminiscent of the old candy stores with jars of candy in brightly colored wrappers tempting all who dares enter.  You can also get fudge, rock candy and ice cream.

My son pondering the sweet choices

At the end of the day, we ordered a pizza "to go" from the York House of Pizza and sat on the beach at Long Sands.  Most of the folks had packed up their beach umbrellas, beach blankets, shovels and pails and had headed back to their cottage or motel for the night, probably to do it all over again the next day.

After a bit of wave jumping in the surf and a quiet stroll along the beach, we headed home with a plan to return to the ocean again soon.