Rye Playland

Yes, we love Rye Playland, but we're not married to it. It has amusement rides, a lake, a beach, even a swimming pool--and, as a bonus, Art Deco architecture. The problem is that it's not quite the best at anything--Lake Compounce has better get-wet attractions, Connecticut and Long Island and Jersey have better beaches, and, you know, Samuel, Ethan, and I--we're adventurers; we can't be tied down.

Still, it has earned its place on the summer checklist, so Samuel and Ethan and I plunked down $75 for three Metro North One-Day Getaway packages on Friday. (We spent another $10 for a car from the Rye train station, because we didn't want to wait another 20 minutes for the stupid public bus, whose schedules are purposely un-synchronized with those of the train, simply to annoy important and busy people like us.)

The boys have mysteriously grown since last summer, so we bravely wandered beyond Kiddie Land for the first time and tried a couple of more manly rides like the Family Flyer (a junior roller coaster) and Go-Karts.

Highlight #1: Standing just outside the Playland Plunge (we were too scared to actually go on it) and getting drenched by the splash.

Highlight #2: Throwing snowballs into Long Island Sound in August, courtesy of a mound of snow recently Zambonied from the indoor ice rink.

Cheap thrills.