Last Saturday, I went to Adventure Landing in St. Augustine, Florida. In case you’re unfamiliar with Adventure Landing, it’s a small amusement park with various locations that typically include mini golf, go carts, laser tag, arcade games, food, and at least one even had a water park. This trip was significant as that was the day before that location closed forever. Since there are now no more Adventure Landing locations in Florida, it’s unlikely I’ll visit another one anytime soon. Let’s explore together my last adventure at Adventure Landing.
I left after ending Juggling in the Park early since I was the only participant and got to Adventure Landing around 3:30. I figured that the choose 3 wristband would give me enough fun without it becoming overwhelming. I ended up riding a go cart in between two games of mini golf. Mini golf was the highlight of my visit, as it typically has been on previous visits to other locations. It was also nice talking with a friendly family in front of me during my first game. Go carts were fun despite the fact that I came in dead last. Oh well. Toward the end of my visit, I thought about asking someone nearby to play air hockey with me in the arcade but didn’t. I wish I had. I kept a few arcade tokens as souvenirs, similarly to what I’ve done with pressed pennies from my Disney World trips since last year. At the end, I finished taking some pictures of the place, said my goodbyes, and headed home.
There were only a few disappointments in this trip. The biggest one was the arcade. Almost everything I tried in there either only worked once or didn’t work at all. It wasn’t too surprising that many of the games were down since the place was one day away from closing. I also felt sad that I didn’t get a hole in 1 in either game of mini golf. I got many holes in 2 and thought I got a hole in one. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the first part of a 2-stage hole that, if I recall correctly, became a hole in 2. I wish I’d gotten a hole in 1 even just once.
At the park earlier that day, I got to visit with 2 friendly Pomeranians I’d met before. That was wonderful as always, especially since this it was followed by my first visit to any Adventure Landing location since my dog Sawyer died. I wish I could have visited with him after returning home and told him about the trip as we greeted each other excitedly and he investigated all the scents from the place. More than anything else in life, I still hope I’ll see him again someday.
While I had been to a few other Adventure Landing locations numerous times, this was my first, last, and only time at the St. Augustine location. It reminded me of fun times at the other locations near me before they closed down within the last few years. Despite some tiredness that day and from life in general lately, I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t go at least once. I’m glad I got to experience this one before it closed forever. I wish more places with good, clean fun for all ages like Adventure Landing were still around. So many such places have closed down as increasingly more places to live, work, and drink alcohol have come up in their place. At least I have souvenirs, pictures, and memories to last a lifetime and preserve the legacy of this fun place that’s given me many lovely adventures over the years.