Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Camelbeach Water Park



Today, we spent the day at Camelbeach Water Park. Camelbeach is enormous, the largest water park in all of Pennsylvania. There must be something like twenty different slides. They have the Vortex and the Spin Cycle, where you enter a large toroidal chamber that spins you around like a turd in a toilet bowl. Then there is the family inner-tube slide, where the largest member of the family (ahem) provides anchoring for the entire raft--heading his ass backwards down the slide while everybody else enjoys a scenic ride. The Viper is one of three serpent-themed slides which aim to fill your internal organs with as much water as possible--but not through the orifices you'd probably prefer. Yes, all good fun!!

But apart from the insane slides, they also have a huge wave pool which the boys enjoyed immensely. The wave pool is rather like a watery mosh pit for 10,000 of your closest friends. Every time some kid would start to drown, they'd shut off the waves to try to save the poor thing while the crowd energetically booed their disapproval. Really, it was quite fun!

The water park is the summertime excitement of the Camelback Mountain Ski Resort, and one of the benefits of being a ski resort is that you can ride the chair lift up to the top of the mountain for a splendid view of the water park and surrounding valley.









After a full day's worth of fun at the water park, we were pretty hungry. So we called Nana and Grandpa and had them join us at the Tastes of Portugal (5237 Milford Road, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania). In this little Mom and Pop restaurant, we were the only people not speaking Portuguese for quite some time. I always say, there are three pillars to good restaurants: Service, Atmosphere, and Food. If any of these three pillars should fail, the restaurant is no good. Well, the Taste of Portugal gets top marks in all three areas.

The atmosphere was warm and inviting, and very cozy. The service was impeccable. Our hostess treated us like we were eating in her own home. And the food, well, it was delicious! Becky had a half portion of pork cutlets--a half portion being a mere four full-sized pork chop cutlets! Eddie and I shared a pot of Paella Valenciana, which was lobster, clams, shrimp, scallops, chorizo, mussels, and chicken in a yellow saffron rice. Nana and Grandpa shared a pot of their own. Luke had the most enormous fillet of salmon that I have ever seen. All of the food was incredible! Just incredible! And quite reasonably priced.

So, if you find yourself in eastern Pennsylvania, make an effort to stop by the Taste of Portugal. You won't be disappointed!


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