The Enchanted Forest, Ellicott City, Maryland

Enchanted Forest in Ellicott City, Maryland was a much-beloved amusement park that opened in 1955, and closed in 1989. It was a storybook park, and when it first opened, there were no mechanical rides. Kids walked through the park and saw characters from their favorite nursery rhymes and let their imaginations go wild.

As you can see from this picture, visiting Enchanted Forest is one of my earliest memories. I am the youngest child in this picture, about two years old.

Fifty years later, EF still holds a dear place in my heart. How can I help it? It was a time of innocent wonder. Mom and Dad read the nursery rhymes to me, and then actually took me to meet the characters! Of course, I didn't know they were fiberglass or concrete. My childish imagination filled in all the necessary blanks for me to believe. Whenever I hear about EF, it emotionally takes me back to that place in time when wolves chased pigs, witches lured little children to gingerbread houses, wicked stepmothers oppressed sweet young girls; but in the end, everything worked out okay. Sigh...if only real life were like that.

If you want to see what happened to the Enchanted Forest, visit this site: http://www.clarklandfarm.com/enchanted_forest.html