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Coaster Trip 2003
Jun. 25th, 2003 03:20 pmTrip was great. We had gerat weather and short lines throughout. Started at Kennywood in Pittsburgh, which had moderate lines, but is a small park, so we got to ride everything, including their five (adult) coasters, and some old-fashioned rides not found elsewhere (including a turtle and a kangaroo). Their major coaster is a steel-framed monster (Steel Phantom) that used to be a hideously rough ride. They closed it for two years, re-did much of the track, and now it's a smooth, fast beauty of a ride, renamed Phantom's Revenge.
After that we went to Cincinnati to visit Kings Island, one of my favorite parks, and the park that I visited frequently as a youth. We were there Thursday night and all day Friday, and enjoyed many good coasters. One of their newest coasters, built three years ago, is Son of Beast (aptly SOB for short). The only wooden coaster in the world with a loop. Also one of the roughest coasters I've ever ridden. There is no line for it, and we only rode it once. We rode it a couple of times during its premiere year, and it was a bit rough, and had 1-to-2 hour lines, and was a little rough, but not nearly as rough as now. Its twenty-year old pappy, The Beast, also at KI, is considered by some to be the world's best wooden coaster--a four+ minute trip through multiple tunnels, over a mile of track, and lots of thick vegetation, a very smooth, invigorating, glorious ride. Good water park -- we played on the slides and in the wave pool for several hours on Friday.
Before leaving Cincinnati, we stopped at Coney Island for Saturday afternoon. Coney was a old park along the Ohio River that out-grew its location in the late 60s. Its size and frequent flooding of the river forced the owners to seek a new location--Kings Mills, north of Cincinnati. The new, larger park was called Kings Island, and included "Coney Island" as one of its themed areas. In the 80s, a group decided to revive the old family-style park at the old Coney Island site. While not as glorious as its previous incarnation, and certainly not comparable to the Kings Island superpark, it has some nice midway type rides, a large pool, and gets a decent crowd. It may have a nice future, though flooding is still a problem for the location.
Saturday evening we stopped at my grandmother's (St. Albans, WV, between Charleston and Huntington, where we were treated to too much food, and warm hospitality. Lots of good talking. Sunday, we went to Camden Park (a small family-style park in Huntington), and drove by the site where I lived in 1969-1970. Nice area, near a museum. Hideous winding hilly roads to get there, though. The old farmhouse in which a lived is gone, replaced by a more modern home.
Monday, visited various relatives, most of whom have never met Eowyn. They all liked her, and many good conversations were had. We also went to the Blenko glass-blowing factory and spent way too much money on beautiful glass. Also drove through the neighborhood where I lived from 1970 to 1972. Nice area, though I couldn't identify which house was ours. Kind of like the Hollywood area of College Park.
Tuesday was the drive home. Nice, uneventful. Meant to mow grass when I got home, but when I pulled the string to start the mower, the string pulled out completely. Considering that the wheels lock to prevent backward motion, the muffler fell off several weeks ago (I was mowing and the moffler jumped off, diving under the blades, ka-CHUNK!), and the poor thing shoots flames when it gets overheated, I think it's time for a new mower.
Didn't see a drop of rain the whole time, and the temperature was ideal! The one damper on the trip was that Bingo has been very ill lately, and I kept expecting a call from Mom saying that he had passed away. But on Monday, he took a turn for the better, and wasn't in pain, so he is still with us.
After that we went to Cincinnati to visit Kings Island, one of my favorite parks, and the park that I visited frequently as a youth. We were there Thursday night and all day Friday, and enjoyed many good coasters. One of their newest coasters, built three years ago, is Son of Beast (aptly SOB for short). The only wooden coaster in the world with a loop. Also one of the roughest coasters I've ever ridden. There is no line for it, and we only rode it once. We rode it a couple of times during its premiere year, and it was a bit rough, and had 1-to-2 hour lines, and was a little rough, but not nearly as rough as now. Its twenty-year old pappy, The Beast, also at KI, is considered by some to be the world's best wooden coaster--a four+ minute trip through multiple tunnels, over a mile of track, and lots of thick vegetation, a very smooth, invigorating, glorious ride. Good water park -- we played on the slides and in the wave pool for several hours on Friday.
Before leaving Cincinnati, we stopped at Coney Island for Saturday afternoon. Coney was a old park along the Ohio River that out-grew its location in the late 60s. Its size and frequent flooding of the river forced the owners to seek a new location--Kings Mills, north of Cincinnati. The new, larger park was called Kings Island, and included "Coney Island" as one of its themed areas. In the 80s, a group decided to revive the old family-style park at the old Coney Island site. While not as glorious as its previous incarnation, and certainly not comparable to the Kings Island superpark, it has some nice midway type rides, a large pool, and gets a decent crowd. It may have a nice future, though flooding is still a problem for the location.
Saturday evening we stopped at my grandmother's (St. Albans, WV, between Charleston and Huntington, where we were treated to too much food, and warm hospitality. Lots of good talking. Sunday, we went to Camden Park (a small family-style park in Huntington), and drove by the site where I lived in 1969-1970. Nice area, near a museum. Hideous winding hilly roads to get there, though. The old farmhouse in which a lived is gone, replaced by a more modern home.
Monday, visited various relatives, most of whom have never met Eowyn. They all liked her, and many good conversations were had. We also went to the Blenko glass-blowing factory and spent way too much money on beautiful glass. Also drove through the neighborhood where I lived from 1970 to 1972. Nice area, though I couldn't identify which house was ours. Kind of like the Hollywood area of College Park.
Tuesday was the drive home. Nice, uneventful. Meant to mow grass when I got home, but when I pulled the string to start the mower, the string pulled out completely. Considering that the wheels lock to prevent backward motion, the muffler fell off several weeks ago (I was mowing and the moffler jumped off, diving under the blades, ka-CHUNK!), and the poor thing shoots flames when it gets overheated, I think it's time for a new mower.
Didn't see a drop of rain the whole time, and the temperature was ideal! The one damper on the trip was that Bingo has been very ill lately, and I kept expecting a call from Mom saying that he had passed away. But on Monday, he took a turn for the better, and wasn't in pain, so he is still with us.
