Cedar Point

Not that I spend much time debating the finer points of the Best. Amusement. Park. On. Earth, but I'm surprised that more people don't talk about this place, while there's plenty of hype about the Evil Disney Empire and the ex-Magic Mountains. I've heard that the peninsula upon which TONS and TONS of rides rest is literally sinking into the bay because there is just so much d*mn steel! And, dude, I believe it. The rides are carefully planned to take up every available bit of air, land, and water space. EVERYTHING sits on pylons of some sort, and they have a good number of the top ten tallest and fastest coasters. When we were first driving up, the Milleniun Force was staring me in the face, and I had to swallow a big GULP, because I'd never seen a roller coaster that came *quite* so close to 90 degrees...on both sides...that is, until I actually got inside the park, where the Dragway stands in all of its glory, with its perfectly UP and perfectly DOWN trajectory...and did I mention the 120 mph blast off? Yeah, HUGE GULP.

Anyhow, not only are the rides exciting/exhilirating/totally scream-inducing (of course, for me, that's not really saying much. I scream my fool head off all the time.), but you're on the beach! Some of the lines you stand in are only feet away from the water and people's parked jet skis and discarded sand-castle-building accoutrements. I had the luck and the privelige of riding the Magnum (a lot of roller coasters have names that sound curiously like condom brands/types. Coincidence?) right about sunset on a gorgeous, sun-drenched day. As we were climbing up, I couldn't take my eyes off the horizon, where the sun was going down on the water (heh) in a blaze of multihued glory. I kept trying to get my seatmate to look at the sunset - I was so occupied in looking around that I failed to notice when we our car started to tumble off the peak, so it went something like this...*tugs on sleeve* "No, but look over atAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!"

Let's see, what else. Had my first funnel cake. Remind me to never eat a whole funnel cake by myself ever again. While it was greasily delicious, I was a little too grateful that our next line was nearly two hours long. Ooh, and salt water taffy is YUM! Except for the nasty licorice-flavored pieces. Those things really need a key. I had NO voice by the end of the night, so I just HAD to salve my raw, maltreated throat with some dippin' dots. They were medicinal!

Oh, and because I wasn't made to say it enough times this weekend: I apologize for discounting Cedar Point as "Good enough for Ohioans," because it really is the best amusement park In The World.