Carowinds and I both were born in spring of 1973 and it’s been a part of my family’s life, in one way or another, for most of the years since. My two oldest brothers went to work there when the park and I were a year or two old. One worked at the jalopies and the other at the speedway cars, befitting their respective personalities.
My parents started taking me to Carowinds when I was two, and Mom and I got season passes every year starting when I was about seven. She was a teacher’s assistant and had summer vacations like I did, so we visited the park on weekdays. On some of those mornings it felt like we had the place to ourselves, especially our beloved carousel. Mom always gave me quarters for the claw machine and bought us frozen lemonades. Although I sometimes felt uncool because I wasn’t going to Carowinds with other kids, I wouldn’t change those times for anything now that Mom’s gone. Carowinds was ours, a place Mom didn’t share with anyone else like she did with me. As soon as I smell the fried chicken, hot asphalt, and funnel cake, I’m nine years old again.
In high school I followed in my brothers’ footsteps and got my own Carowinds job. They wouldn’t let you work in rides if you were under 18, so I had to pay my dues in food service. At first I got assigned to the Grubstake burger place (currently a seafood joint) by the Carolina Goldrusher. When I was on patio duty I could see the now-defunct Blackbeard’s Revenge ride, where my then-boyfriend worked. We waved our secret hand signals at each other across the way. After two months at Grubstake I got to transfer to the games at Carolina Showplace, which still stand (more or less) next to Midway Music Hall. I was happy to trade the white shirt, khaki pants, and blue gingham apron of food service for a white and blue sailor outfit that was almost cute. With the microphone in my hand, I discovered my inner carnival barker and drew in plenty of players. I earned enough “star card” employee rewards to win a cup, t-shirt, and special name tag (the last of which I lost years ago). I could’ve happily worked there for years.
To my surprise, when I signed up for my third season at Carowinds I found myself “promoted” to Hanna-Barbera Land—the upper half, which didn’t include the carousel or Scooby Doo roller coaster. This half comprised the kiddie sky tower, Boo-Boo’s Balloon Race, and a raft ride that was like a baby Rip Roarin’ Rapids. I was issued two aggressively frilly yellow and white uniforms. For an hour every day I had restroom duty, which wasn’t as bad as it sounds because the place was air conditioned and it got me out of the sun for an hour. It was cleaner than your average Target loo. What finally drove me to quit was the parents who would yell at me for telling their kids to sit down on a ride or stop running. At the time I didn’t appreciate how lucky I was to have a summer job at a theme park. In hindsight, it was like being a more respectable carnie: similar but better-maintained rides, concessions, and games, but with far fewer mechanical failures, much sillier outfits, and military-like grooming standards. It was the most diverse group of coworkers I’ve had: students, teachers, retirees, and performing artists of different races, ages, and genders. It’s an experience that only a small percentage of humans ever have, and I’m proud of it. My last season at Carowinds was summer 1992.
In the rest of the nineties I only went to Carowinds twice, both times to see bands at the Paladium. I saw Depeche Mode on the Devotional tour, and a fantastic triple bill of Hothouse Flowers, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, and Midnight Oil. From 2002-2008 I lived in Raleigh and didn’t give much thought to Carowinds, except for the happy memories. A couple of years ago, my husband and I started getting Carowinds season passes. We especially love the Goldrusher, the carousel, and those glorious two months of Scarowinds in autumn. The food’s even gotten better. We can’t really handle the fastest rides, but that’s okay. Every carousel ride circles me back to those days with Mom.
Next year we can all look forward to some vintage refurbished amusement park rides that Carowinds is importing from Europe. Let’s face it, some of us get sick too easily for Fury 325, but we still like having fun. Even though I can’t handle all the rides I could 30 years ago, I hope I never stop loving that smell of fried chicken, hot asphalt, and funnel cake.
This article originally appeared in Tangents Magazine.
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