Howdy y’all and welcome to Wild West City, the place I went with my family to enjoy a trip back in time to the wild west! There are pony rides for the kids and train rides and horse and wagon rides for the family.
There’s a petting zoo with chickens (those you don’t pet), goats, pigs, rabbits, and a baby calf. You also can go panning for gold! There are pans in a thin, slow-moving stream. Each kid goes to a different pan, puts their hands in, and swishes it around. You’ll find a lot of rocks, but if you’re lucky, you’ll also find some nuggets of gold—which you get to bring home!
After you collect your loot, head to the shops along Main Street—there’s a barber shop, a Native American museum, and a chapel. Next to the chapel is a pretend graveyard. I liked that the one-room school building had desks, books, and even a teacher! And there’s a jail where you can go inside the cells. You’ll see prisoners right in front of you!
Don’t miss the house with animal skins. The man inside will tell you stories, like what he thinks you should do if you ever see a bear.
Want to see a show? There’s one where a guy pretends to shoot another guy and plays dead. (Don’t worry, it’s not real—no one actually gets hurt.)
There’s also wild west-themed mini golf and an arcade! If you’re hungry, there are picnic tables and a pizza place. A man with an old-fashioned kitchen on wheels told us how the cowboys went around the country with one and showed us how it worked.
“Wanted” signs are all over the city, and you can get your picture put on one. Other cool things you can do include riding mechanical horses and watching mechanical people act out scenes from the wild west.
Remember to be on your guard, though. A beggar asked for our gold and money. We told her we didn’t have any, and she said, “I saw you panning! I know you have gold!” We got away, but she had a boy follow us just in case he saw us take out gold.
Overall, Wild West City was a ton of fun. Definitely take your kids here. They’ll love you forever. Yee-haw!
Amelia Riebling is an adventurous soon-to-be fifth grader who loves sports, reading, and writing.
