All Aboard!!!

Today, we took Nolan to the Boothbay Railway Village for a train ride on their coal-fired steam engine train.  They run this fun little Pumpkin Patch Event that I thought Nolan might enjoy.  It's pretty neat.   Cost of ticket includes the train ride, a hay wagon ride to the little "patch" they put together, pumpkin picking, some warm apple cider and cookies!  Plus, Nolan got to ride free!  Too good to pass up!  We picked the earliest train ride so not to mess with Nolan's nap schedule too badly.  Like I said, we wanted him to enjoy this experience.    The Railway Village also has a train museum and the people running the events really tried to make the experience authentic.  We loved that the condutor and train engineer both dressed up for the parts.  In fact, I went to ask the conductor how soon the train was leaving because I had to use the restroom and he looked down at his pocket watch - "5 minutes sharp" was the reply.  Nevermind. 

We weren't sure what to expect with Nolan.   It could've gone either way when that train whistle blew.  He could've burst into tears or - what actually happened - look wide-eyed towards the front of the train and say "Ooooooo!"  

It's not a very long train ride; just one loop that goes around the property.  They took us around the loop twice.  The conductor came along and punched our tickets. 



 

 

 

Then we pulled into one of the "stations" and saw two tractor-drawn wagons waiting for us.  The wagons were lined with bales of hay, and we climbed aboard and found a spot. 

The wagons took us to another location where they had lined up pumpkins in a make-shift patch.   We got off the wagon and Nolan quickly ran in the direction of the pumkins.  He ran around to all of them, squatting down, touching them, and trying to pick them up.  

Then we noticed they were giving kids rides in the little barrel train.   We decided to take a chance and plopped Nolan into one of the barrels.  The train lurched to a start and Nolan glanced at me in a panic.  I thought I was going to have to run up and grab him, but then he noticed the little steering wheel in front of him and started playing with that.  The little train went around 2 times and I followed alongside to be sure Nolan was having fun (and he was the youngest one on it).  He certainly thought it was pretty neat, and he did a good job holding on tight. 

After the ride, we went and got some cider and cookies.  Nolan loved his homemade ginger snap, but didn't have any interest in the cider.  He ran around the pumpkins some more and finally he decided on which one he wanted to take home. 

We got back on the wagon and rode back to the station.  While we waited for the train to come around, we explored part of the museum.  Nolan enjoyed sitting up in the engine. 

On the ride back to the main station, we sat in the caboose this time.  Nolan was able to stand up on the bench and look out the window.  He kept glancing back at us smiling.  He definitely preferred this part of the ride. 

 

We pulled into the station and exited the train.  As we walked past the engineer, Nolan yelled out "Ba-bye!!!"

All in all, the train ride was a success!  The ride was not too long, and the wagon ride and pumpkin patch were a fun addition!  We will definitely be returning to the Boothbay Railway Village for future events.

http://railwayvillage.org/hoursandevents.html