Summer traditions live on through the generations. One such tradition was the old carousel at Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario in St. Catharines. There was once an amusement park there in the 1950s and our family went every summer , enjoying the beach, the airplane ride, the ‘caterpillar’, bumper cars and of course , the carousel. When my own children were little , in the seventies and early eighties, we took them to the carousel with my parents. They rode that merri-go-round over and over and over. It was still five cents!
Life was easy going at Port Dalhousie! It was all about the sandy beach , ice cream cones and the carousel. A new generation began in the 2000s as we became grandparents . The carousel took on new meaning , seeing our little grandchildren riding this same merri-go-round …. while my aging parents, their great-grandparents, looked on . It was STILL five cents !
Today, the grandchildren have outgrown the merri-go-round, and my parents are no longer with us. Still, I want to return to Port Dalhousie, to ride the carousel , hear the music , enjoy a picnic, while sweet summer memories dance in my head. Family traditions live on.
