New England's crown jewel: the White Mountains of New Hampshire: condominiums and townhouses provide the perfect home base for a fabuluous family getaway in the lush forests of the Northeast - Going Places

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), May, 2003 by Wayne M. Barrett

Another pleasant day resulted in our yearly trek to Santa's Village, located fight down the road from Six-Gun City in Jefferson. The kids delight in playing the Elf-A-Bet Game, whereby every child receives a ticket with the letters of the alphabet printed on it, while there are elf statues all around the park representing each letter. The idea is to punch out the letters and pick up a prize at the end of the day. Santa's Village also offers the immensely popular (at least with our kids) bumper cars, Yule Log Flume, Reindeer Carousel, Santa's Skyway Sleigh Monorail, and Rudy's Rapid Transit Coaster, the latter ride leaving my bottom sore for hours as Trevor, who the year before wouldn't go anywhere near it, insisted I ride with him no less than a half-dozen times.

The linchpin to any vacation in New Hampshire, however, at least since we've had children, undoubtedly is Story Land in Glen. I remember one year when we went on the first day of the new season in spring and the final day in autumn. The park is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Like Santa's Village, Story Land provides a generous admissions policy. Enter after 3 p.m. and you get a full-day's free admission any time during the current season. Traveling a bit ahead of schedule, we purposely played a round of miniature golf at a nearby course to ensure a just-after-three-o'clock arrival, allowing us to enjoy the park for a few hours before returning the following morning for a full-day's pleasure.

The inventiveness of the attractions, with their storybook themes, obviously is a lure. Yet, that doesn't totally explain the wonderful magic about this place. Perhaps the well-cared-for and amazingly clean grounds has something to do with it. Moreover, the employees, with no exceptions that we've been able to discern, are outgoing, friendly, efficient, and helpful. The restrooms are clean, plentiful, and roomy; there are plenty of shade and beautiful flowers everywhere; the lines for rides are rarely long and, when they are, inevitably move quickly; and the atmosphere is one of cheerfulness. In a phrase, this is a must-see theme park for anyone with young children.

Spring is in the air as I'm writing this, and before you know it, it will be time to plan another summer vacation. I recently put the question of where we should go this year to the kids. The answer never seems to change: "Story Land, Santa's Village, Whale's Tale, Six-Gun, Science Center," they all sang out together. So much for that big, wide world we've heard so much about.

Wayne M. Barrett is Managing Editor of USA Today.