When the Dinosaurs Came to Clark’s Elioak Farm, October 9, 2015

Usually I don’t go to a place like Clark’s Elioak Farm twice in one year. But when I went to that 60th anniversary celebration of the opening of the original Enchanted Forest that included the unveiling of a sign announcing the arrival of dinosaurs on the farm, I knew I had to return to check them out.

On top of it, that 60th anniversary took place in August when it was a very hot and humid day, which is why I personally prefer to visit that farm either in the spring or fall.

So I finally made it back to Clark’s Elioak Farm in early October, which meant that the dinosaurs had been there for a few weeks so I didn’t have to endure any crowds.

I started my trip with a stop at the original location of the Enchanted Forest amusement park, which is now the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center. I wanted to see what the place was like now that the few remaining items from its theme park past had either been torn down or relocated to Clark’s Elioak Farm. Here is what it looked like when the original castle and storybook were still in their original location.

And here’s one close-up shot of the castle in its original location.

Here is what that area looks like now.

Back in 2014, if one stood in a certain area along a fence that blocked people from trying to access the former theme park in the back of the shopping center, one could see the giant ice cream cone that used to decorate the outside of the Gingerbread House.

Here is the same area sans giant ice cream cone. The forest now looks indistinguishable from other forests and woods throughout North America.

The only other new thing I noticed at the shopping center is the addition this charging station for electric cars.

With all of the Enchanted Forest attractions either torn down or relocated to Clark’s Elioak Farm, Old King Cole pointing the way to the shopping center is the sole remaining vestige of the shopping center’s theme park past.

So I ate lunch at this bagel place that’s located in the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center then drove to Clark’s Elioak Farm. Here is what the place now looks like with dinosaurs added with the old Enchanted Forest attractions.

I noticed that the Hickory Dickory Dock clock is now joined by a mad scientist who wasn’t there before. For some reason I look at that mad scientist and think Jurassic Park. LOL!

There are now dinosaurs everywhere among the old Enchanted Forest attractions. It’s kind of surreal at times to see dinosaurs milling along with the tea cups from Alice in Wonderland or Little Boy Blue but when I was there I heard kids squealing with joy over seeing those dinosaurs everywhere.

The Tortoise and the Hare have been joined by a two-headed turtle from the dinosaur era.

Interspersed with the dinosaurs were these signs describing what type of dinosaur they were along with some real-life facts.

Historical purists will definitely have issues with this one. LOL!

A Tyrannosaurus Rex stands next to the sign pointing the way to the home of Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. Which means that not only does Little Red Riding Hood have to deal with that wolf who’s pretending to be her grandmother but she may also have to contend with a T-Rex. (That sounds like a story along the lines of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.)

I also spend some time walking around the farm while checking out some of the attractions that I skipped back in August because I became so overheated from that hot and humid weather that I felt the need to split after I finished checking out the 60th anniversary stuff. Here’s a giant pumpkin patch.

I also hung around the petting zoo, which was another area that I bypassed back in August due to the intense heat.

I ended my trip to Clark’s Elioak Farm with sitting on the old Little Toot boat for a while. I can remember when my parents used to take me to the old Enchanted Forest when I was a child and we used to take the Little Toot boat ride along a giant lake. Little Toot now sits in a much smaller lake (although one could argue that the body of water is really a big pond) and he’s permanently docked there. One can still walk the plank and just sit on the benches on board. Sometimes I feel sad that Little Toot is no longer a functioning boat but, on the other hand, that boat was literally rotting behind the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center for many years before it was relocated to the farm so I have to admit that its current location is better than the alternative.

The next photo shows the birthday area where people can have birthday parties. It was pretty quiet the day I was there. If you go on the weekends, you can easily see two or more such parties in progress.

Pumpkins line the back of the farm entrance/gift shop.

A monkey hangs from the ceiling inside the gift shop.

This last photo shows the one souvenir I purchased from Clark’s Elioak Farm. It’s a pumpkin. It currently sits in my living room but I’ll eventually carve it up into a jack o’lantern while roasting the seeds inside.