Kennedy Krieger Institute Festival of Trees
With Thanksgiving behind us, the Christmas season is upon us! I wanted to take advantage of the local seasonal events (like pumpkin patches at Halloween) so Tim agreed to visit the Kennedy Krieger Institute Festival of Trees as a family before his trip. It meant driving up to Timonium and the Maryland State Fairgrounds. It was advertised that “if Santa had a theme park, this would be it.” I was really looking forward to wintry indoor forests of decorated and donated trees (for sale), with a few vendors, and the kids rides. It was quite the opposite.
The largest room, a forest of vendors with clumps of pretty trees. We didn’t have a map and finally got directions to the food. We had to cross the crowd to the ATM and back to order our chicken baskets. I got seats pretty quickly, but Tim had to wait in line while more food was cooked. Then we got directions to the children’s area. There were gingerbread houses to buy and decorate for $12 but we forgot to take one home. There were crafts, rides, and games. Everything required tickets. The pony/reindeer rides, train, and carousel were all $5! I know the event is a fundraiser but I think $5 is excessive. The lines were pretty long but at least rides made 3 or 4 rotations. 
There were also animals to see and pet. A dark colored parrot quietly scratched around his eye but would squawk and sing for Sara Ellen and she repeated back. A lighter colored parrot did tricks with wood chips on his back and imitated our bouncing. Sara Ellen got to pet a fluffy, brown bunny and mallard duck. I discovered a Discovery Toys vendor and Sara Ellen played with a jingle ball maze while I checked out the manufacturing details and products. Hopefully we can find some new ways to keep Sara Ellen busy learning. As we left I asked for help at the ticket booth. I had paid for two adults and one child without knowing under 5’s are free. The nice lady handed me a $5 bill. Maybe we’ll win the Camry we put our names in for.
The drive was a bit long, though shorter than anticipated and the event did not exceed or even meet my expectations. I don’t think I’ll be doing that again.
Please Leave a Comment: