Cover of RollercoasterI will tell you the background story on this short essay at the conclusion.I fell in love from the moment I first laid eyes on her. I beieve it was her simpleness that I found most attractive. She had a rare, undefinable beauty that can be captured only by what lies deep within one's heart. This was what made me feel so close to her.
When we first met she was full of life, vigor, and a whimsical fortitude of fun and adventure. But, as the years swept by, age began to etch it's way onto her outer surface. Not only her physical being, but even her inner soul, the very essence that brought forth the fun and happiness from within was beginning to tarnish and grow weary. The old girl was no longer able to stand as she once did.
People began to turn their heads away from her and those who had once known and loved her just ignored the old girl. Those who had not known her during her younger days would sometimes stop by, only to cause further destruction of her lifeblood.
I visited her on her final day. Tears came to my eyes as I saw but a mere skeleton of the girl that had once shared so many of my times of happiness and joy.
Today I turned away as the swing of the mighty wrecking ball began to destroy the remains of the one whom I had grown to love and cherish. This was the end of Ocean View.
Goodbye, old girl. I will certainly miss the treacherous hills and curves of "The Rocket" and the delightful music you used to play for me all along your midway. And who can forget the endless nights which were spent dancing in your luxurious ballroom. You looked absolutely lovely in your starring role in the movie "Rollercoaster".
I'll sure miss you old girl. Yes, goodbye Ocean View Amusement Park. The memories will remain.
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| "The Rocket" at Ocean View Amusement Park in Norfolk, VA. |
Ocean View Amusement Park was a small park located in Norfolk, Virginia. In the late 70's, while our ship was undergoing an overhaul, the movie "Rollercoaster" starring George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Henry Fonda, and Richard Widmark was released. If you remember that film, at the beginning of the film, there is a horrible roller coaster accident caused by a terrorist that was blackmailing theme parks across the country with similar accidents. So, when we went to a local theater to see the film, they had one of the damaged coaster cars on display and a sign advertising Ocean View, since that is where the opening sequence was filmed. It was then that I learned about this park and a friend and I took a bus to go there. This was, I believe the last year that the park was opened. Although quite small, there was a good day of fun there, including the roller coaster that had "crashed" in the movie (very convincing models and stage trickery were used for the actual crash). The roller coaster was called "The Rocket" and to this day I remember it as being one of the best coasters I have ever ridden.
After our ship had returned to our home port of Charleston, S.C. I saw a newspaper story that the park had closed and was being used in a made for TV movie called "The Death Of Ocean View Park". At any rate, when I read that they were going to blow up the roller coaster for this movie, I was kind of bummed out and ended up writing this little essay. One last little detail. The star of this film was Mike Connors of "Mannix" fame. The film was produced by Playboy Productions.
