I went to a roadside attraction with my family. I think it was illegal but existed on a technicality. It was this guy’s backyard and he lived up against the river, so he advertised his backyard as an attraction, but wouldn’t technically accept any money, just gifts in payment for getting in. And since it wasn’t licensed, he wasn’t liable for people getting injured since they had decided to come onto his property. There were all these makeshift slides and swings into the river, and some murky ponds and pools with rafts on them and artificial beaches. All in all, it was a cool idea, if not a bit unconventional and trashy.

Only time I went there, I got an awful concussion. I went down a slide and some huge college quarterback who weighed like 250 pounds came down a bit too soon after me. Just as soon as I came up for air, I saw him landing right on top of my head- slammed me all the way down to the bottom of the river right on my ass. And of course since technically we had just wandered onto this guy’s property, no one was at fault. Everyone was drinking and smoking and you could tell all the rides and slides were just one missing bolt away from falling apart. Insane place.