Knott's Land of Fried Chicken and Roller Coasters
When it comes to theme parks Southern California would be king. We have visited Disney and Universal on multiple occasions throughout the years. But there is another popular park that we seem to have neglected and for no real reason in particular. So what is this park? Knott's Berry Farm of course.
Spread across 160 acres in Buena Park, CA, Knott's Berry Farm began as a berry farm by Walter Knott's family in 1920. They sold a variety of jam's, jellies, and pies from a roadside stand. The fruit stand grew into a fried chicken restaurant in 1934 that was so popular that the family built attractions on the property to keep the patrons entertained. Today Knott's Berry Farm still has a restaurant, still sells fruity jams and has 40 rides to entertain the masses.
With family in from out of town we decided that we should stop in and check out the farm to see what we thought. Well we were surprised to say the least. I liked the western theme of Ghost Town where you feel like you're walking through an old western town. Here we found multiple little booths selling different types of trinkets similar to what you would find at a local farmer's market which complements the history of the land and it at least makes you feel like you're supporting the little guy even if you might not be.
Have you ever wanted to see a glass blower in action? Well get over to Knott's, they have one giving demonstrations every day. I would have never thought that I would see something like that in a theme park but it was a pleasant surprise to see those skills on display. They also had a wood carver who's tool of choice is a chain saw. Yup, horsepower and wood chips. What's not to love?
Ghost Rider, Xcelerator and Boomerang are headliners as far as the roller coasters go at Knott's and of the three we got to ride one. Yes the down side of theme parks can be the crowds which I didn't expect to be so bad since Summer is over but I was way wrong. Since it's the holiday's and it was a Saturday it seemed that everyone had the same idea about visiting the park on the same day. It happens which is a bit of a let down for those that flew in from the middle of the country but we made the best of it and we still got to ride plenty of rides and had a fun day together. The good news for us is that we can go back and try again to see more of the park and to experience it in it's entirety on another day.
Although some of us seem to like Disneyland a little more than we should around here, Knott's Berry Farm is a nice break from the norm and is worth a visit if you're looking for something just a little different. To learn more you can visit their web site at https://www.knotts.com/ and we'll see you back here on Friday. Have a good week!
Brandan
