Six Flags Great America...

... in Gurnee, Illinois, was our adventure today. It's been 10 or more years since I've been here (since the boys have grown and gone) and Ellen had never been to a Six Flags park. The entrance with the grand view of the lagoon and carousel surrounded by Mums was as beautiful as ever...



The American Eagle coaster was our first ride, though no photos are available from the ride because the camera was in my pocket and the locked-down safety bar prevented me from reaching it. The ride was as jerky and bumpy and fun as ever, and the views from the highest hill were still as wonderful as I recalled. Having grown up with Chicago's Riverview Park just a mile from home, I fell in love with wooden coasters at a young age, and the Eagle is one of the best!

Next came 2 trips on the log flume ride, with both of us getting thoroughly drenched both times. It was 80 degrees with no wind and light cloud cover shielding us from direct sun -- a perfect day for this outing! I forgot my hat after the first ride (I was sitting on it during the ride) and since we had to go in through the entrance line tor retrieve it, I figured we might as well ride again! Besides, the line was only 5 minutes long for the flume ride, and the longest line all day was only 20 minutes!



The daily entry fee to Great America is now over $50, but I discovered an online special -- buy one ticket and get one free -- so I couldn't resist taking Ellen here. It was a sagacious decision, as we both greatly enjoyed the day. Ellen's favorite ride was the Ragin' Rapids which is also one of my favorites, and again we got wet...



A new attraction is 13-acre Hurricane Harbor and I was amazed to discover there is no extra charge. It can hold 7100 bathers, though there were nowhere near that many here today. It must really be a zoo when full! Three towers offer a dozen or more slides -- some on mats, some on inner tubes, some just body slides -- as well as a wave pool and a lazy river to float with tubes. Next time we bring our swim wear!






They've added additional areas for younger kids, making Great America an even finer family attraction. And since I've always been a railfan, we rode the Scenic Railroad. It's fun to see the park's back-areas and see some of the attractions from a different view. The trees and bushes, which had been newly planted when we first visited the park over 30 years ago, are now huge, and many brushed against the train cars as we passed.



Here's a view of the main drag from the train overpass...



The IMAX Pictorium with the world's largest 3D screen featured an excerpt from the Planet Earth series called "Shallow Seas." As befitting that series, it was exceptionally well done, though an undisclosed "technical difficulty" made it a 2D show.

You can see it was a perfect day to visit the park. I've been here on days when you were constantly elbow-to-elbow with people. It was far more relaxing today, and even food lines were not that long at lunch time.