My Favorite Memory was the "Freak Show"

I was born in 1962 and lived in Cliffside Park as a child. I could hear the screams of the kids from my house and remember wishing I was there. My friends Uncle worked at the park as a mechanic (he lost a couple fingers working on the rides). He used to give us tons of free tickets.

I remember the pool had sandy beach and a large waterfall that we used to hang out under. It was very deep there, as I remember, 17ft. There were high dives, which I actually jumped off once. My brothers were too scared to ride the Cyclone, so it was just me and my Dad. The Fun House was awesome, nothing even comes close today.

My favorite memory was the "Freak Show". They had all types of animals; a cow or goat with 5 legs, sea creatures in glass containers. I have not seen a similar exhibit since.

I remember the news about the closing. We were all very sad. After it closed, there had been fires set and we watched the smoke rise while walking home from school. One day, we jumped the fence and walked around. I remember going into the burned out Fun House and finding bumper stickers. I wish I had held on to them.

I still dream about the place. In them, I am at the park after it was closed and we are rummaging around, much like we did in real life. Only in my dreams, we are being chased by Police, which never happened in real life.

I appreciate the work you have done on this website. It brings back great memories.