Adventureland - 1. Adventureland

i.

Ross pulled up the urban explorers’ website and scrolled down to the amusement park tab. Adventureland was first of course. It was the only abandoned amusement park in the region and it started with an “a”.

The pictures scrolled across the screen- big and creepy. The once busy amusement park and everything in it had been completely abandoned for years.

Tony said, “If it’s just on the other side of Coal Ridge, how come I’ve never heard of it?”

“Because it finally shut down in 1992 and we weren’t born yet.”

“Oh”, was all Tony managed to say. “It’s a shame it closed. There’s sure nothing else to do around here. What did they have there?”

Ross read from the main page, “Adventureland opened in July 1976 in East Texas on 1000 acres of land near Longview with an extended bi-centennial celebration.”

Tony asked, “Bi-centennial? What’s that?”

Ross sighed and answered, “In 1976, the United States was two hundred years old. It was a big party. Sort of like the year 2000 celebrations.”

“Oh sorry- read on.”

“Adventureland was based on the different eras of American and Texas history. The park was divided into a number of sections each with a specific theme. It won many educational awards and was a favorite destination for youth organization and school trips from all over the south.”

Tony said, “I don’t know. It sounds kinda lame.”

Ross opened up YouTube in a new browser tab and searched for Adventureland videos. There was scores of them. He opened one labeled Adventureland- Baytown High 1982.

It opened up with a re-enactment of the Battle of the Alamo and continued with a visit to Kiowa village. When it finished, Tony said, “Dude that was cool. It really brought history to life. Why did it close?”

Ross said, “There’s a lot of mystery about that. I can’t really tell for sure but the most plausible story I’ve come across is that there was an accident with one of the rides and some kids were hurt or killed. There was a big law suit and when it was over, Adventureland couldn’t get insurance.”

Tony looked puzzled and asked, “What does insurance have to do with it?”

Ross said, “Well, think about it. You hear on the news all the time about people suing over the dumbest stuff and making big money like Coffee that’s too hot or slipping on a grape in the supermarket.”

Tony nodded.

Ross said, “It is insurance that pays when companies get sued or, the company has to pay. An amusement park with lots of machines and potential for accidents has to have insurance. They can’t afford not to have insurance.”

Tony said, “So they couldn’t afford insurance and they just let it sit out there to rot?”

“Pretty much.”

Tony snorted. “That’s stupid.”

“If you think so, just wait- it gets better. They tried to reopen it once in 1990 and again in 1992. The company spent so much on improvements, couldn’t get the go ahead to open, they went bankrupt. Now they say it would cost too much to fix everything that’s wrong with it. The land has been for sale since the mid-nineties but no one will buy it. The cost to demolish all of the structures according to environmental regulations would cost more than the land is worth.”

Ross flipped through the pictures that the urban explorers had taken.

The Alamo building was still there with Class of ‘99 spray painted on it in big bold red letters. Beside it in smaller blue letters: are all homos. Tony snickered.

Ross flipped to the next page. Tony said, “Whoa- what is that?”

Tony read the caption: “River boats were key transportation on the Mississippi and Red Rivers. Adventureland built an artificial lake and anchored a river boat where they had shows and a restaurant. At some point the boat sank and is not sitting on the bottom at a 15 degree list to starboard.”

The next picture was an old guide to the park. The Alamo pavilion was the largest part of the park and it was in the center. In a large circle around the Alamo Pavilion were the smaller pavilions: the Kiowa village, the Spanish Conquistadores, the Louisiana Purchase, Independence, Union, Confederacy and the Oil pavilion. It really was the history of Texas within just a few minutes’ walk.

Tony asked, “What made it different from Six Flags?”

Ross said, “That’s part of what killed it. Investors didn’t think they were different enough. They are similar but very different in the way they carried it out. We’ve been to Six Flags- it’s just rides and stuff. At Adventureland, they were re-enacting things and the buildings were made to be authentic. Adventureland had rides too but there was a lot more to it.”

Tony said, “That’s it. We’ve got to go see it.”

Ross looked up from his keyboard, “What?”

“I wanna go see it and take some pictures.”

Ross shook his head, “We could get in big trouble for trespassing and it could be dangerous.”

“No, no- I’ve got a plan.”

“Your plans always get me in trouble”, warned Ross.

“Just hear me out. We camp on Coal Ridge Park all the time right?”

Ross nodded.

“That land backs up to this place. We would have a hike on our hands but from the ridgeline we can see over into the park. See if there is security or anything and what the fence looks like. We can decide whether or not we want a closer look.”

Ross said, “My mom is probably sick of looking at me for a while. Maybe we could go camping and have a look at Adventureland.”

ii.

Ross and Tony found the logistics of their expedition more much challenging than they expected. There was an unscheduled trip to Tony’s grandma and Ross’s mom had to go to the 1^st Monday Canton flea market. They spent their last few weeks of school studying for finals and digging up as much information about Adventureland as they could find.

Knowing that Adventureland had once existed and where made a lot of unexplained things finally make sense. There was an exit off of I-20 and an old four lane road called Bluebonnet highway that ran an arc around the park 15 miles to highway 80. It had obviously been built to handle the traffic and had fallen into dis-use and, to some extent, disrepair since the park had closed.

The conspirators were able to set up a reconnaissance of Bluebonnet Highway on the last Sunday afternoon in May.

Ross bribed an older teenager with a Toyota truck to drop them off with their mountain bikes at the intersection of the old Bluebonnet highway and highway 80. It was a long ride but the two friends were well prepared. They both had their back packs, water a camera, map printed out from Google Maps and even a print out from Google Earth.

Immediately upon arriving at their drop off point, things began to add up.

At the intersection of 80 and Bluebonnet was an Econolodge. They could tell that it hadn’t always been a dive. At one time it had been nice and had fallen on hard times. Across the road from the hotel, there was a large old convenience store advertising Shell gasoline and barbecue.

Looking at the area with frontage around the intersection, there were blank concrete foundations were other buildings had been completely removed.

Ross sat up on his bike and said, “Think about it Tony. Forty years ago and all of this stuff was brand new: hotels, cafes and tourist traps.”

Tony waited until an 18 wheeler had roared by on 80 and replied, “None of this would have really made sense without the park. I never really thought about but there’s nothing out here. Back up 80 is Coal Ridge State Park but that’s just a lake and camping ground most people never heard of. Longview is way east of here. There’s nothing else out here but some old capped oil wells and a few cattle ranches.”

Ross began moving and yelled, “I’ll bet we see more as we head South.”

It did not take long. Less than a quarter mile south of the intersection they came across a sign covered in honeysuckle. They got off their bikes to examine it more closely and could see the faded sign: Experience the Adventure that is Texas at Adventureland! Before the boys could examine the sign any closer, they heard a rattlesnake and immediately departed the area.

They saw nothing else for the next few miles until they reached the Bluebonnet Camp Ground. They stopped and Ross said, “You want to talk to anybody here?”

Tony looked perplexed and said, “I heard they’re perverts here.”

Ross said, “Well I’m a pervert and I never see them at meetings. Follow me.”

Tony shook his head and said, “I knew you were going to say that.”

Ross road straight at what had to be the office.

As they approached the building and could see it better, there was a large porch that ran the length of the front of the building. Hanging plants were all along the porch and an old man was sitting in a rocking chair by the front door.

He stood up, walked to the edge of the porch and said, “Hi boys, what can I do for you?”

Ross stopped his bike and asked, “We’re doing a little research about local history and were wondering if you were here back in the seventies and eighties?”

The man said, “Oh sure- I wasn’t but my father was. I took over the campground when I retired back in the nineties.”

Ross pulled out a small notebook and prepared to take notes.

Tony asked, “Do you know about Adventureland?”

The old man said, “Oh yes. I was hoping that they would open it back up but they never did. When it closed this whole area pretty much dried up.”

Ross asked, “How did you manage to stay open?”

“I retired from the Navy and worked for the state for another twenty-five years. I just keep the campground open but it’s not really in the black. The wife and I keep it open by letting people know on the internet that we’re here so RV’s have a cheap place where they can stop and rest.”

Ross said, “Do you know why Adventureland closed?”

The old man rubbed his chin and said, “Well, if I remember right, it was a couple of things. There was an accident and they got sued big time and lost their insurance. After that, investors and the insurance companies didn’t think it was worth the risk with all of the competition that they were facing at the time.”

Ross asked, “Do you know who owns it now?”

The man said, “The state owns it now. Seems there a lot of asbestos in the construction and demolishing the buildings and cleaning it up would cost more than the land is worth. The owners defaulted on the taxes and the state took it over.”

Ross asked, “Can you tell me what it was like when it closed?”

The old man shook his head and said, “It pretty much killed my dad. His life savings were tied up in the campground. All those jobs just went away overnight and I mean that was a lot of people. Out here in the middle of nowhere there just wasn’t anywhere else to go to work. First it was the workers. They all moved out to where they could find jobs. Then it was everything that supported it- gas stations, grocery stores, hotels, restaurants. I’d say two-thirds of the population moved out in a few months. The rest were just hanging on. When the park failed to reopen in ’92, the rest of them gave up. I’ll bet you’ve even had a hard time finding anyone that was around when the park was here.”

“Yes sir”, Ross said. “Most people we’ve talked to don’t even know it’s there.”

The man looked in the direction of the park and said, “Back in the day the cars would start lining up at seven am. Adventurelands hours ran from 10am to 10pm and the cars would be backed up for miles.”

“It was really hard on families when it closed down. When it was open there were lots of jobs for young people. Lots of kids went to college and then worked at the park every other semester. Then that was just over. The young people had to move off to find jobs. It was a sad thing to watch.”

Tony said, “We’ve grown up here and we’ve never heard any of this.”

The old man said, “Think about it. Most of the people that would tell the tale are long gone. This isn’t the only place that it has happened. Up North a whole lot of towns dried up and died just like Bluebonnet when their mines or factories closed.”

Ross said, “You called this place Bluebonnet?”

The old man said, “Yes I did. This area used to be called the community of Bluebonnet. We were even going to incorporate and get a fire station and a post office but, we didn’t get around too it before the wheels came off.”

Ross closed his notebook and said, “This sure explains a lot. Like all of the concrete slabs and this great big four lane road that doesn’t seem to go anywhere.”

The man said, “Well, I’m still here and will be for a while. My name is Robert Van Zant. If you kids have any more questions, I’m happy to answer them but I don’t have many happy answers.”

Ross took Van Zant’s hand and said, “I’m Ross Sykes and my friend is Tony Sanchez. We’re from over toward Longview. You’ve sure given us a lot to think about.”

“Come by anytime. It’s not like we’re busy and my wife Mona never sees enough of our own grandkids. If you aren’t careful she’ll adopt you.”

The boys left the Camp Ground and road a long way in silence. What they had heard about was devastating: a whole town full of people gone in just a few months.

The land changed and they found themselves on a long gentle slope downhill. They coasted along and could see Coal Ridge towering over the area on their left. A ranger tower on its crest gave them a good landmark and they could tell exactly where they were.

Ross pulled even with Tony, pointed and said, “That’s where we’re going to camp. We’ll be able to see the whole thing.”

Tony nodded and they kept riding.

When they passed the first gate they almost missed it. The shaped concrete drive is what gave it away. Trees and undergrowth made actually seeing the gate and the big posted: no trespassing sign.

The next gate was in better shape. They could see past the gate a huge parking lot and the tops of the oil derricks in the boomtown exhibit area.

As they peddled further they found a big hole in the trees where a tornado had flattened the trees. A cyclone fence with razor wire on top blocked any access to the massive parking lot. There in clear view was the entry gate with a faded sign announcing Adventureland.

Ross took some more pictures as Tony looked around with binoculars. Tony scanned as far as he could see and said, “Look over there. There’s another one of these big parking lots. It sure looks like they had room for thousands of cars.”

Ross looked and said, “Hey- somebody planted a row of pine trees. They don’t want anyone to see through.”

They took off again and passed the final entry gate to public parking. It too was overgrown and they couldn’t see inside the complex.

They weren’t expecting to see another gate but they spotted a gate secured by a heavy chain. An old faded sign read: service entrance- no public access. It was a entrance large enough to easily accommodate tractor trailers. What they could see was a road in good shape with tall cyclone fences on either side.

When they arrived at the I-20 end of Bluebonnet Highway, they could see with new eyes the old concrete foundations of businesses once located here that didn’t make it.

As a reconnaissance, their afternoon had been a complete success. They had learned how the old park was laid out and they both had a pretty good idea how to approach the property from the rear.

It was the other stuff they learned. It was quite disturbing to know that the whole area was the corpse of a living town once known as Bluebonnet.