It all started with a trip to Hudson NH yesterday to see the Benson's Wild Animal Park exhibit at Hills Library
Also caught this cool Caddy Sedanette in the parking lot
In 1922 John Benson bought a 200 acre parcel of land and used it as a quarantine center for jungle animals entering the US destined for zoo and such. Eventually he started allowing people onto the property to view the animals for a small fee, finally it became a full fledged animal park. Though John Benson died in 1943, his name was linked with the park for the sixtyplus years it remained.
Arthur Provencher purchased the park in 1979, realizing a long time dream. Some dreams however should not be realized as Arthur also inherited a park that was in dire need of updating as none of the previous owners since Benson reinvested anything into upkeeking, and finally in October of 1987 after many near foreclosures, refinancings and other problems the park was closed.
Yesterday we got the history , today on the bike we went back to see the remains, located off route 111 in Hudson.
These two abandoned building greet you on the left as you enter the front gate ( trade secret as to how I got in..sorry )
Graffittii is everywhere, even the Old Womans shoe
This is where Collossus the presidential minded gorilla dwelled ( he died at a nice old age in 2006 in case you were wondering)
People are working hard on this property to restore many of the buildings and to make it a walking park, but it will never be the same. Bensons was world known in it's hey day with both stars and dignitaries flocking to it's gates. Benson's was also a very special place to Linda, here are a few childhood shots her there
With the Zebras
On her favorite ride
With the then man in her life, her dad
Her and her cousin Pete, she wants to know what happened to teh stone animals
Leaving Benson's we decided to revisit Searles Castles in Windham. we backroaded it and came upon a few sights along the way
A brief history of
Searles
It was here we noticed the "funny" angle of the top exhaust pipe
Some naughty nuts and bolts abandoned their posts, leaving the rear potion dangling. Thankfully I am a veteran Harley owner and well prepared to deal with impromptu repairs. Armed with a piece of string I had the pipe semi securely tied in no time!
So onward to the castle itself ( hey Graham, I half expected you to dart through the castle doord to greet me. The Searles castle was hosting a private function so we did not venture into the court yard, here are some outside shots though
On the way home some hardware was purchased and the exhaust system returned to it's former. more secure state. it was an eventful day that deserved to be topped off with a a worthy meal, so we went to KC's ribshack where I ordered the Cardiac Sammie
Pulled pork, pulled chicken, bacon, cheese, roasted red peppers, lettuce and garlic with chipotle mayo, yep I can still hear them arteries slamming shut even now.
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While you won't find transplanted wild animals from other countries there now, you will find plenty of wildlife, like hawks, sunning painted turtles, beaver, heron and so much more. The Old Woman's Shoe, I believe was an Eagle Scout project, and when I was there, it was bright red and just beautiful, just like I remember as a kid. Actually, it probably looks even better than when I was a kid (we have a way of remembering things through rose-colored glasses...) 
