Peter Vernaglia

I've seen the whale!

Back in the mid 70's, I'd guess it was sometime between '74 and '77, during a trip to the UPS office in Lynnfield, I decided to take a ride down Pleasure Island Rd.

I found the remains of a park that looked like it had been bombed. There was an old man with a pick-up truck taking bricks from the falling-over buildings. I walked into the park, past what used to be game booths, I remember distinctly the small building that had the spinning painting you made with paints in ketchup type bottles.

When I got to the pond, there was Moby, he was out of the water, pulled up on shore by the side of the pond. The big whale with no mouth and for that matter no underside at all except for the mechanism he was mounted on. At the time I promised myself to go back with a camera and get some photos, unfortunately I didn't.

Today, every time I see the Pleasure Island Rd sign off 128 I think of that day I visited the surreal amusement park and my last glimpse of the grounded whale.

Peter@thehub.net