I had wanted to visit that park for decades. In 1988, after Mountain Park had closed and I was still working there as watchman, Larry and Beverly Dunville drove to the park with a couple of 16-wheelers and bought four of the park's rides: the Ferris wheel, the Scrambler, the miniature railroad and the Herschell auto cars. Larry had contacted a local carnival company to dismantle the rides and load them onto the trucks. But that deal fell through. So Roger Fortin, the park supervisor, had me and his assistant Daniel Pomales help him dismantle them all ourselves. We pulled apart the Ferris wheel, tore up the train tracks and loaded everything into the trucks. The Dunvilles drove off. Shortly after that, they hired Roger to drive up to Sandspit and consult on the ride reassemblies. But that was the last I heard of the rides until Patrick contacted me. I went to the park's website and was really impressed. The 70-year-old rides looked brand new.

So it was with great anticipation that we drove north on August 2nd. I couldn't imagine how Roger had been able to make that entire drive in one day. We split it up so that we stopped off in Orono, Maine on Sunday evening. We were exhausted just by that drive. We found a little restaurant nearby called The Governor's. It sported a tall statue outside depicting a stuffy-looking 1800s-style tycoon. The inside was spacious, with a G gauge model railroad on the ceiling and a large tropical fish tank. I got a veggie burger with fries. Karen got a lobster roll and onion rings. The food was very good, but it was way too much for us to each. After dinner we headed off to our nearby hotel, the Black Bear Inn. This was one of the nicest hotels we've ever visited. The staff was really friendly, our room was spacious and modern and the complementary breakfast the next morning was delicious.

The drive through the rest of Maine and through Canada took us about 7 hours. Through nearly all of New Brunswick, the highway was nearly empty and we were surrounded by dense forests (and occasional signs telling us to beware of moose). There weren't any rest stops along the way and we were getting really tired. Eventually we arrived at the 8-mile-long Confederation Bridge, one of the longest drives over open water. Prince Edward Island itself was stunningly beautiful, with open fields and rolling hills punctuated by lakes. We arrived at our temporary residence, the Silverwood Motel, in the late afternoon. It was a quaint frozen-in-time place that had been there for over a half-century. It was very conveniently located on Cavendish Road across the street from the park. There were dozens of shops and eateries nearby. Karen and I walked over to the park entrance along a thin wooden sidewalk. The Mountain Park Ferris wheel was the tallest structure in the park, clearly visible. It had been painted a bright yellow with green accents and looked impressively tall. The parking lot was packed with cars. After that tempting view, we headed back to our quiet motel room and ate the sandwiches we had packed, then turned in for the night.

Months before, I saw an online interview with Larry Dunville. Although he had sold his interest in the park to a company called Maritime Fun Parks, he was still very active. I had emailed him and was surprised when he and his wife replied. He told me to contact him once I arrived. I did, and we set up a time to meet at his house in Charlottetown. So on Tuesday, Karen and I went for breakfast next door at Chez Yvonnes, which he had recommended. I had pancakes and home fries and Karen had an omelet. It was quite good. Then we drove the short distance to an attraction that Karen was looking forward to: the Anne of Green Gables museum. It was where the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, grew up and what she based her stories on. It was the home of her aunt and uncle, and their descendants still lived in the house which also happened to be a huge tourist attraction. It was a much smaller structure than I expected. The house remained largely unchanged and featured many artifacts mentioned in the books, including a parlor organ. The grounds also had many picturesque walking paths along with Shining Waters, a lake from the books.

We returned to the motel and took a walk next door to another amusement park of which I wasn't aware, Shining Waters Family Fun Park. (I assume it was named to remind people of Green Gables.) From the road, it didn't look like there was much to the park. A blue Zeirer Tivoli-style family coaster was set prominently next to Cavendish Road. The coaster encircled a little pond that featured paddle boats shaped like pirate ships. To its right was a large rocking pirate-ship-themed Noah's Ark-style fun house, made by Wisdom entirely of metal. But that's all we could see.

From there we made the 40 minute drive southeast along winding bucolic roads to Charlottetown. When we arrived, our GPS died and I had to call Larry to get directions to his home. We got there a little after 2:00. He gave us a tour of his property on the edge of the Hillsborough River. He designed the home himself and it was really impressive, with walls of glass overlooking the river. We chatted with him and Beverly for quite a while. He had saved a book of my poetry (Skipping Stones) that I had given him at Mountain Park. He then gave us a driving tour of Charlottetown, which was bustling with activity. There were three successful live theaters, dozens of different eateries, live music ... it seemed like a really vibrant community. He took us out to eat at a really good local restaurant that he and Bev frequented. Afterward we thanked them profusely and headed back to our motel.

The next morning we drove down the street to the Cavendish Boardwalk, essentially an expansive strip mall designed to look like a stretch of beach houses all connected with an elevated wooden boardwalk. It was located next to a large campground and seemed really popular, with the big parking lot nearly always full. At one end was a breakfast place, Receiver Coffee, so we tried that. It was a small busy location with only a few tables inside. Karen ordered an omelet and I ordered cinnamon French toast with apple compote. The food was beautifully presented and tasted delicious. Afterward we walked along the boardwalk and checked out all the different shops (most of which were still closed). There seemed to be some good dining options and a few gift shops.

At 11:00 we headed to Sandspit. Larry met us there along with Adam, one of the park's managers. They gave us a tour of the park and talked about its history. At the train, Larry explained how the original motor (which was always problematic at the park) was replaced with a new Honda single-speed motor that was more reliable and safer. He mentioned how the bumper boats, one of the original attractions with the go-carts, were replaced with new electric models. The nearby Cyclone coaster, a rare Schwartzkopf Wildcat, was nearby. Larry discussed the enormous amount of work they had to do when they acquired the ride from Rocky Point Amusement Park in Rhode Island. They found that if the weather got really hot (as it had been recently) the track expanded and the cars wouldn't track properly. The maintenance crew had found a biodegradable oil mixture with which they could coat the track, and that helped keep things running smoothly. Larry also talked about some of the newer rides they acquired and how those computer-controlled rides were more problematic than the older rides. The newer rides had so many sensors, some would always misfire and shut down the ride. In front of one of those rides, the drop tower, was a giant gorilla made out of car tires. It was an advertisement for Ripley's Believe It or Not, another nearby property that Maritime managed. Next to the drop tower was the Scrambler from Mountain Park, and it still looked brand new. Larry said that they were still using the original rheostat speed control. It had been repaired once, but it was working fine. And next to that was the Ferris wheel. Larry said that there were plans within the next year to replace the old cable drive with a rim drive, which was more reliable and safer. But I'm glad I got to visit while the ride was still running the way that I used to run it. The only change they made was the addition of a set of handles controlling a pneumatic ram that lifted the loading platform. I wish we had that at Mountain Park; it made the loading process a lot easier and safer. Previously, the platform had to be lifted with a foot pedal and then you had to reach over and hold down the cab while keeping your foot down. It was tricky and more than once I had gotten whacked in the head by the cab.

Larry and Adam next drove us over to Shining Waters down the street. The entrance road ran to the back of the park nearly a half-mile away. The waterpark area was situated near the back and consisted of several waterslides and a pool and it was very busy. The park was in the process of constructing a large lazy river, which would be ready for the next season. Most of the construction workers on site knew Larry and stopped to chat with him. Larry and Adam then walked us through the rest of the park, which was surprisingly expansive. There were various family rides scattered here and there. They took us along some winding trails through woods that featured small buildings like at Great Escape along with various childrens' play areas. When we emerged back onto the formal midway, we were standing in front of a large mirror maze. Naturally, I had to take a walk through it. I was surprised how many moving platforms there were inside. Larry then drove us over to another property, a sort of boardwalk area where the Ripley's museum was. There were lots of other shops there, including a Greco's Pizza and the Handpie Company. He drove us down a side road and showed us a huge outdoor concert venue that had recently hosted Taylor Swift. Cavendish was certainly a busy tourist destination. He then dropped us back off at Sandspit and we parted ways, thanking him profusely.

Karen and I went back into Sandspit to once again look over the rides from Mountain Park. The Herschell auto cars were in beautiful condition as well, though obviously I couldn't ride them. So instead we queued up for the nearby Sandspit Railway. We barely fit in the seats, but it was delighfully nostalgic to be riding in it once again. The park had removed one of the train cars and kept it in storage as a spare. The ride was much slower than it used to be at Mountain Park (due to the new motor), but that was fine because the course was much shorter, just around a small pond in the middle of the park.

After that we headed over to the Ferris wheel. I found it amusing that it had two pine trees next to it, just like at Mountain Park, except their trees were both on one side of the wheel. At Mountain Park, there was one on either side. Besides the pneumatic handles the park also had installed entrance gates which helped a lot with crowd control (which was a problem at Mountain Park). In a few minutes we were seated and were soon soaring high above the midway with spectacular views of the surrounding area and the Atlantic Ocean. The speed was still swift and the operator gave an unexpectedly long ride.

By then it was about 4:00 so we went searching for someplace to eat. We settled on Greco's Pizza, where Larry had driven us just down the street. This was another property that was extremely busy. We split a medium cheese pizza and sat at a picnic table outside on the boardwalk. The pizza was very good and quite different, with lots of cheese and a deep red tomato sauce that was very flavorful and not too spicy. We next walked over to the Handpie Company at the other end of the boardwalk. They had a lot of "savory" handpies with beef and pork. But their stock of sweet handpies had been depleted. I got an apple and Karen got a cherry and because it was so hot out and there was no place to sit, we took them back to our motel. My apple handpie was really delicious, packed with fruit and not too sweet. The crust was moist and rich. It was a great way to end our busy day.

The following morning we drove the short distance to Cavendish Beach. From the parking lot, we could barely see the ocean, which was hidden behind a wall of dunes covered with vegetation. A long wide boardwalk led across and above the vegetation and between the dunes. We reached the end of the boarwalk and were about ten feet above the beach. It was early in the day and the area was very quiet except for a couple of people strolling along the beach. There were also piping plovers and black mourning doves. The beach was narrower and shorter than I expected. The sand was tinted red from high iron content. There were numerous rocks along the shore, large and small, that were also red. And there was a spectacular uninterrupted view of the vast Atlantic Ocean. Being this far north I expected the water to be colder than Maine. But it was surprisingly warm. The beach also had a nicely shaded seating area with restrooms and a small food concession (which wasn't open yet). We followed another boardwalk across a floating bridge over Macneill's Pond. There were miles of trails we could have explored. But we made our way back to the car to spend another day at the park.

I had purchased our tickets online months before. So we presented them at the ticket booth and got our wristbands. I saw the Cylcone coaster cycling, so before it got too hot I headed over there to take a ride. Larry had told me that the ride was designed to run 10 trains at once, which to me seemed insane. On a busy day, Sandspit would run three. But for now they were running one. There was a short line and within a few minutes I was seated in one of the colorful cars and it was surprisingly comfortable, with a wide seat belt and stationary lap bar. The car was gently propelled out of the station by a tire drive in the track. It glided around 180 degrees and proceeded up the lift, which had an actual link chain instead of the standard flat rollercoaster chain. Off the top of the lift was a little dip leading to another slow 180 degree turn. There were great views of the park from up there. And then the coaster plunged down the first drop, all the way to ground level. It was exceptionally smooth with no extreme G forces. The car then rose up into the next turnaround. The drop this time crossed diagonally, bringing the car under the first drop. It again turned 180 degrees but ended with a surprise fake-out: the car appeared to be heading diagonally again but suddenly veered to the right and dropped straight down. That lead into the first steeply-banked double helix. From there the car flew across to the other end of the ride and into another steeply banked double helix in the opposite direction, taken at high speed. The car then flew into the brakes with energy to spare. It was quite a thrilling ride and a good fit for the park.

The park offered a free 18-hole mini golf course (with a wristband) that was built into the side of a steep hill. Since the morning air was still cool, Karen and I gave it a go. The holes didn't have any stunts or gimmicks, just undulating fairways with challenging greens framed by narrow boardwalks. There were a few water features here and there. We had a good time and ended up very close in score, but neither of us making par.

I wanted to meet up with Patrick O'Hanley, but he wouldn't arrive for his shift until 3:30. So instead we decided to go have lunch over at the Cavendish Boardwalk. There was a small booth there that advertised veggie burgers. So we went there first but were told they were all out. Instead we stopped into Captain Scott's seafood restaurant. Lo and behold, they served veggie burgers! So I ordered one and Karen got the fish dinner. We sat at a little picnic-style table inside. When our food arrived, the portions were huge. Karen's fish pieces were so big, they were falling off the plate. And we both had a steam shovel full of French fries. The food was really good. Prince Edward Island was known for its potato industries, and the French fries were always fresh and delicious. After that we stopped next door at Cows which supposedly had the best ice cream on the island. I got a small dish of blueberry and Karen got the apple crisp. We sat at a picnic table outside to eat. The ice cream was okay, not as creamy as I expected. Karen thought her apple crisp was okay too, but also not as rich as she thought it would be. An older couple was sitting on the other side of our picnic table and had been talking in French. So as we got up to leave I wanted to thank them for letting us intrude. So I said, "Merci bien." The woman looked surprised and exclaimed, "Oh! You speak French!" I replied, "Une petite peu." I explained my grandparents were from Quebec and my parents spoke French in the house all the time. She said, "Well you're doing very well. Keep it up!"

We stopped into a gift shop. Sandspit itself didn't sell any souvenirs but I wanted something to commemorate our trip. I settled on a stylish rain jacket, a magnet and a mug. Then we headed back to Sandspit. It was about 3:00. I created a walk-thru of the park. Then I took another ride on the train. We lined up for the Ferris wheel and were again treated to spectacular views sixty feet in the air. After that I headed over to the park office and asked if Patrick was around. Indeed he was. We talked for a while. It was a pleasure finally meeting the person who planted the seed in my head to visit the park. He said he really loved his job and planned to make it his career, and that was good to hear. We said goodbye him and then Karen and I said goodbye to the park. Leaving it was bittersweet, because I figured it was doubtful I'd ever be able to return. Larry and Beverly had created a wonderful family gathering spot. And the current stewards of the properties seemed to have just as much pride in them. I wished them much continued success.

Early the next morning, Karen and I made ourselves some sandwiches for our long trip home and reluctantly bid farewell to the peace and beauty that was Prince Edward Island. I was so glad that we were able to finally see in person the small part of Mountain Park that still carried on. It was one of the best vacations we had ever taken. The area was a paradise and the people were delightful. Perhaps one day we can return, but driving that distance has become more and more difficult. Perhaps we could take a cruise. But at least for now we'd have warm memories from a place I never thought I'd ever be able to visit. Thank you again to Larry and Bev for their hospitality and to Patrick for inspiring me to finally make the trip.