The Carousel Of Happiness Delivers

In the small mountain town of Nederland there is a tourist attraction. It is much more than that. It lives up to its name, "The Carousel Of Happiness". It was the vision and construction of one man - a Viet Nam veteran - that as the story goes received a music box carousel from his sister while serving and made a vow to return and in the mountains he would build a carousel. He is said to visit it almost daily to grease the ancient cogs that had been rescued from Great Salt Lake where it spun for decades in the early part of the last century. He still carves adding to the magic menagerie of creatures.

The carvings are in fact quite magical and leaping from some fantastically colorful dream and hypnotic in their mechanical sway. It truly was nearly impossible not to smile when mounted on a carved mermaid or moose. Original paintings spin along the top edge, idyllic scenes from the turn of the last century. The period calliope plays a happy tune and you can forget the world for the couple minutes spent revolving into some antique dream where life was much simpler. You can slip for a moment back into childhood. For $1 a ride its a really good deal...

Maureen and Bennett at the Carousel of Happiness ©Maureen Eversgerd and Bennett Barthelemy