Matt and the Rocket Kiddie Ride
Another moon landing? It’s just Matt in the Satellite Explorer rocket ship kiddie ride)). This image was taken several years ago when our grandson was around three. He has a birthday coming up and will be 14! It’s amazing how fast time is going by! Seems like we took this little trip to New Albany just in the last month or so!
One of our favorite things to do when the grandchildren were small was to take short visits to New Albany. They always loved walking around downtown, eating at Latham’s, and having a bottled Coke with their hamburger or hotdog. Of course, there was always a stop at Sugaree’s for a special cookie or Ding Dong. They loved throwing sweet gum balls off the bridge across the Tallhatachie river too.
Another favorite place to visit was the Union County Heritage Museum. They never got tired of seeing all the preserved wild animals and visiting all the outside displays.
The Inn
My reason for visiting New Albany on this day was to confirm my reservation at The Inn. The Inn sits on the William Faulkner birth site Later this fall, my friends and I plan to spend the night there and just bum around New Albany for a couple of days. There are boutiques, the museum, the park, The Rainey restaurant, and just plenty of places to spend time, shop …. and eat.
I had to visit the museum to make the arrangements for my reservation and while I was waiting, I walked around a bit in the museum. Imagine my surprise when I saw the Satellite Explorer rocket kiddy ride that Matt had ridden at the old seed and feed store years ago.
I’m so glad it found a permanent home! When the seed and feed store closed I didn’t know what would become of it. Here’s a pic of Matt on the kiddie ride at the old store
Kids could explore for hours in the seed and feed store. It had live animals like rabbits and chicks, tack, plants, and all kinds of stuff that kids could get into to. The kiddie ride still worked too and Matt spent several dimes while we were there.
I did a little research on the rocket kiddie ride and looks like it was created by All Tech Ind. in Florida in 1965. Isn’t it amazing that anything still operates at that length of time? I hope the museum allows the kids to take a ride)))
There is a company called Ride Restorations in Illinois that re-finishes kiddie rides and things like pedal cars. Here’s an image of the rocket kiddie ride they restored.
Thank You!
Many thanks to the Union County Heritage Museum for saving this piece of nostalgia for us old folks))) I mean, who doesn’t remember riding on a coin-operated horse or some sort of kiddie ride growing up?
My first recollection was the coin-operated horse at Katz Drug Store in Memphis, TN. The kiddie ride horse had a real saddle. We would also go downstairs to see the talking Mynah bird. Those are my most vivid memories of visiting Katz Drug Store)))
I’m looking forward to my stay at The Inn and can’t wait to visit the museum again. My friends have never been there and it will be fun to show them around. So many times we think we have to go far off to see interesting things, and here is this jewel right under our noses!
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Jeannie, I enjoyed so much this Matt and The Rocket Kiddie Ride post…as I do all your posts!! The back story of the post, the nostalgia info. about the rocket, the photos…just awesome. So neat that the rocket ride was saved for future generations to enjoy in the museum! I love when things that might have seen a better day, things that did nothing but make people happy, are taken in, and cared for by someone! I wish all of life was that way:) Also…hope you have an awesome trip w/friends to show them all of these places/sights!
Thank you Bonnie))) Who knows, maybe one day he will actually see this post…lol
Yes! Ha!