Palisades Amusement Park

How can you reminisce about the 1960s and 1970s and omit Palisades Amusement Park? It swang all day and after dark, as the old theme sang went. 

From Wikipedia:

Palisades Amusement Park was a thirty-acre amusement park located in Bergen County, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. It was situated atop the New Jersey Palisades lying partly in Cliffside Park and partly in Fort Lee. The park operated from 1898 until 1971, remaining one of the most visited amusement parks in the country until the end of its existence. After the park closed in 1971, a high-rise luxury apartment complex was built on its site.

Site dedicated to preserving the memories of Palisades Amusement Park

I remember the park and the incredible hot ride home in the car before air-conditioning was ubiquitous and cooled your car instantly. If you were in the back seat like I was it would feel like an eternity before the cool would start to overcome our station wagon.

Our visits to Palisades Amusement Park were always fun times and even included a bit of freedom to roam around by ourselves. Though not too far from our parents and the cash they had for cotton candy, sodas, and tickets for rides.

These trips and those we made to State and local fairs were a close up look at a more desperate side of life. There were never too many smiles among the people working these events in the heat for long hours at a stretch. In retrospect you have to wonder if they chose this life consciously or had it thrust upon them. We never stopped to ask.