Written by Emily Stewart, BASEDtraveler Books & Media

June 2015

“This is kind of scary!” I shout down to the grinning white-haired staff member standing at the bottom of monumental slides in the Milky Way Adventure Park indoor play place. As I stand poised to careen down the nearly vertical, two-story high ramp, I regret slightly having chosen to plummet just after lunch. Then I remember my delicious tuna sandwich, two thick slices of nutty Devon bread with a fruity salad on the side. I’ll be fine, I resolve.

I throw my legs over the edge of the slide, hesitant. This is for kids! I remind my beating heart. A son and his dad slide together down the slightly smaller slide to my right, giggling. Don’t be a baby, I command.

WHEEEE!

Seconds later I am in a laughing heap at the bottom. “I told you it was fun!” cheers the staff member.

Now fully adrenalized I try every other (smaller) slide in the indoor play park. I am tempted to stay (and enjoy sharing the experience with the semi-retired staff at the bottom of each jaunt) but there was so much Milky Way left to see. I run outside to the Bird of Prey exhibit, looking away from the birds toward the sky. I had been told by owner Trevor Stanbury that birds are being trained to fly free and return at the same time. One huge beast did so every day.

Watching warriors of the sky makes me feel fierce, so I decide to take an indoor archery lesson.  A former archery champion shows me the strings (so to speak). “Bring the feather all the way back to your cheek so that it rests on your nose,” he has to explain each time I raise the bow. I don’t think it’s my brain but my shoulders that are forgetting: I am shocked by how tired my arms are after shooting only a handful of arrows.

After archery it’s back outdoors to the Cosmic Typhoon Roller Coaster. Again, my stomach flips, this time unexpectedly. Later, when I tell Trevor about my drop, he knowingly laughs: “We chose that design because it looked innocent. We want the grannies watching their kids to nudge each other and say, ‘let’s have a go!’” At least the grannies witness the beauteous seascape before they drop, I think.

After the coaster I play with aliens in the clone zone, watch a glassblower in the entry area, pretend to be a Pizza Parlour proprietor with a couple of enterprising toddlers in the Little Stars play zone, jump on a huge bouncing pillow, and eventually am shown the Old Barn by Trevor. One of the newest instalments to the Milky Way empire, Old Barn is an intimate, white-washed 17^th century oak-beamed venue converted for weddings and events. Twinkling lights mingle with green vines and fragile purple flowers on its ceiling. I sigh. I could live my whole life here, I think. I can come play and eat every day, winter or summer, and then I can get a job and work with that nice man on the slides and then I can get married here and when I retire I can live in the soft toddler zone…

Wait, isn’t this place supposed to be for kids?

For more information and vouchers to the Milky Way, visit it’s page on the App for Devon under “Attractions.”