i finally went to a place i’ve known about my whole life. Wild West City (billed as the ‘Best of the West in the Heart of the East) ran commercials on local tv stations when i was a kid. this place is a classic NJ icon. the guy who sang their song in the commercials is himself another icon, Uncle Floyd, who used to have a public access comedy skit show.

this placed is fixed in my memory just as firmly as anything from my childhood can be, despite the fact that i never once got to visit it. well, today we went and wow.

i was not disappointed. in fact, i was quite impressed and had a lovely time. this is one of those post-war tourist places that could have been kind of sad or depressing, as if it is a remnant of an era gone by, but that was not the case here. the folks involved in the production (there’s a ‘live act’ of cowboys and thieves every 10 minutes or so) all looked like they were having a great time. the animals were wonderful and happy, the place was very comfy and old.

it had a special kind of magic to it. the kind that allows modern-day, video-game-playing kids to run around and shoot cap guns and shake hands with cowboys and have a blast, no PS2 in sight. the kind of magic that makes it okay to do without big spectacles. where today’s tastes would require a horse race to involve twenty horses and riders (some of them falling off for extra drama) here there were just two guys racing from one end of the street to the other. it was more than enough.

the folks who work there were all sincere and happy to be there, too, such a family atmosphere that i don’t remember seeing many other places. we had a great chat with the blacksmith about the place and his passion for what they were doing there shone through.

we had a lovely, lovely time.

i think i need to write about cowboys tonight.