On Wednesday, we had a lovely field trip on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. We rode what is known as the Canal Summer Express. This means we boarded in Peninsula, rode up to the Canal Visitor Center and back to the Peninsula. It lasted about 2-1/2 hours.
At the Visitor Center, we viewed an actual demonstration of a working lock on the Ohio & Erie Canal. Talk about Ohio history! There is no guardrail or yellow CAUTION tape. There we stood looking over the edge of the lock down down down to the surface of the stagnant water. We kept a good eye on the 2 year old, to be sure. While we were being educated by a wonderful volunteer about the canal history, we watched the gates open (some of us helped), allowing water to fill the lock so our imaginary boat could continue its journey down the canal. Our guide reminded the students to listen to the sounds the water made in order to know when it was getting full. First, the lock emptied and then we filled it up again. It may not sound like much, but it was pretty cool.
The Visitor Center is a mini-museum dedicated to the canals, history and local animals. Inside was a tabletop version of the life-size canal lock outside. Many of the children enjoyed watching the re-enactment there as well. Outside, we were divided into 2 groups. I did a terrible job of dividing the groups equally. (Sorry) Personally, I think we could have stayed together and had just as much fun. At that time, we were introduced to a small version of bowling using wooden pins and balls that fit on a small board which our guides said "might have been used by children during the canal time period." We were also led in some races together.
After a few minutes to look around the Visitor Center, (where many of the books and information were well-priced), we were led back to the train. We ate our lunch on the train up and finished on the train back. We had also been provided with a Bingo game that listed many items we would see out the windows on the way.
The volunteer guides were wonderful, friendly, and very helpful. They enjoy what they do, and it showed.
All of our children behaved wonderfully. Thank you all for that! I especially enjoyed meeting so many new people. Our group totalled 43, most of whom I met that day. It was great!
The cost was $8.00/adults, $6.00/children 1 and over, and it had to be prepaid. There were other people on the train, but they traveled in a separate car from us, and didn't get the same rates.
We had a terrific time and would definitely like to go again.
