I'm getting ready to head back to work after a full and wonderful weekend. I spent a great Saturday with both my girlfriend Joanna and her niece Emma. The weather was beautiful, yet hot, but enjoyable nonetheless.
We were on the road by 7:20am, going up I-695 towards I-83 and we were making our way towards the cracker barrel on Queen Street on Route 74. It was the first time I'd been to Cracker Barrel in about 5 years.
Let's see, Joanna and I both ordered gravy and biscuits. Emma? She got the pancakes and bacon. We all kept it light because we knew we were going to be riding rides all day and we didn't want to get sick on any rides.
After we finished eating, we hopped around the store because we knew we were going to be quite early. As I looked around, I found this magnum alien cowboy six-shooter... I found it hilarious. I mean, I definitely say they had the right idea about the future of weapons, but that? Uh? ok.
We hopped back into the car and made our way up to Hershey park. We were definitely motoring towards having one of the best days of our lives, we cruised on 322 and Joanna finally saw the house that was all roof and no bottom. It reminded me of that house in Dewey Beach that was all roof, no bottom, and I called it a barn and then sure enough... THERE IT WAS...
That magical route number that was Hershey Park drive... Route 39. We made it and the trip wasn't that bad. You see, Pennsylvania is like a second home to me.
We arrived about 9:45am. We didn't get charged for parking (which was great, saves me $10.00) and as soon as we got in, we made straight for the comet. The comet is typically one of the first rides people get into as it is a popular "thrill-starter"
Comet is a great ride and it usually gets people's blood pumping for more thrills. Emma sat with Joanna typically and me, I was on my own. The wooden coasters bring back that nostalgic feel and fun. It's really fun at night too because you are real UNSUSPECTING as to what happens next.
After we were done with Comet. Emma and I did skyrush while Joanna sat out on that one. It's a good thing we got there when we did because Skyrush filled and filled real fast. I was really stunned by how many people were actually there for the day (it was also the weather too).
Emma and I were definitely ready for this one, we got put 1 row from the front which made it even more fun and I gotta tell you, sitting on the wing side, that's even better than sitting in the middle. 63 seconds later? The ride's over. If there is one thing about skyrush that I can really criticize about it's the length. Skyrush is a pretty short ride, compared to the rest of the roller coasters there.
Skyrush done. We headed off to great bear, one of Joanna's favorite rides. We made it to row two again and I gotta tell ya, I was happy that we were so close to the front. To many, that's where the fun really is!
We did the Antique Cars and the kissing tower. Just those rides where ya take a break from the thrills of things.
The day wasn't even over yet. We headed to Wildcat which is notorious for a very rough ride. Yeah, it was definitely a rough ride... Totally a rough ride. Fun but really rough. Gave me somewhat of a headache afterwards.
We headed over to Lightning Racer where I put my undefeated 17-0 record on the line. The Lightning Racer is a very unique coaster as it is a dueling coaster and guess what... Chalk up another win, that's 18 straight wins on the lightning racer!!!!! WOO, I'm dominating.
Emma wanted to go on Fahrenheit but we said no to that, straight down at 97 degrees. That's a little more than my heart could take and Joanna even said no to that as well.
So Emma and I decided to do storm runner... We were the next people in line and sure enough... due to a mechanical fault, the ride broke down and that was it, it was out of service. That was going to be my first run at Storm Runner and I still have yet to ride it. Emma was going to ride with one of her friends which was fine with me but since the ride broke down. We didn't do it... So I guess I'll have to wait until next year...
We made it to lunch and I was still absolutely stunned by how bad the prices for food were... $14 just to get a cheeseburger, fries, and a drink? Oh come on, I can pay LESS at McDonalds. I'm a firm believer that if they would just allow people to bring stuff in provided they have a special permit... That'd be great, they'd make a lot of money. Shoot they even have catering areas. What the crap.
I had my subway after I had a fruit smoothie which was more fruit than smoothie... Then we went back out on the rides. I also forgot that Maryland was playing but it was 21-0 FSU, so I said, ah they still got a second half to play.
We went to the Sidewinder, where it is a boomerang coaster. Now we decided to sit in the way way back where I must confess, that's where the fun really is. Joanna and Emma though that sitting in the back was a bad idea and I said: "Hey you two, how do you think I feel?" Mainly because I had to experience the longest drop in the beginning, however, the shortest in the end.
In the end, after the ride was done, I told the next riders that the back is where it's at!
We made for the arcade to kind of take another break from things and came to the agreement that Great Bear at the front was going to be our last ride. Storm clouds were gathering and I didn't think it was supposed to rain at all. But sure enough, we were heading for the front row!
Sure enough, here comes the rain... But, that didn't deter the hersheypark operators from stopping the ride. The reason why it can withstand the rain: the rails ARE NOT SANDED, which gives it the "ROAR!" when you hear it.
As we got on the front row, I was excited, this really wasn't a first for me on any roller coaster as I have gone to the front countless times. But this time, it would be different, 58 mph in the rain... and I heard some riders say it hurts with the rain.
The front row is great, nothing in front of you, you can see everything. We zoomed as the rain hit us hard and it was great! We hit the brakes and the gunk from the top? Fell on Joanna. I said: Oops.
Joanna got a kick out of it and so did Emma. We made our way of the hollow and off to chocolate world for the chocolate tour. The chocolate tour was absolutely packed, mainly because the rain deterred most riders to the factory.
This was Emma's first turn "at the wheel" at the chocolate tour. Joanna and I have done it several times. Personally, I can't wait to see what the new chocolate tour is going to look like as they are making more updates next year.
As we left, we were spent, beat, and done for. And the first thing out of Emma's mouth not 15 minutes after we left the park: "Na, can I see your phone?"
Here we go again... I smiled as I drove down 83 to home...
Anyway journal, yes I know this was a long one, but certainly, I had a lot of fun writing this one...
"Until the next post, I'm signing off..."
~ Joshua
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