Last weekend, I made a “Big Date” for Meredith. I used to plan elaborate and expensive dates for Mer, but with the two-house situation, those dates dried up. I finally snapped. I thought the other house was going to sell over a month ago, and so a month ago I set in motion a Big Date as a way of celebrating the house selling. It still hasn’t sold, but the Big Date went on anyway. If the house does not sell for some reason, it will have been a 12th anniversary celebration instead.

I got Mer out of CVCA fairly efficiently on the Friday of last weekend. I had told her to pack for three days, and we had everything ready to go. We were on the road by about 4:30, and I headed north and then west. Mer kept guessing where we were going, and she did a nice job. She did guess Cedar Point amusement park, but I threw her when I got off the highway and took some other major roads – they were supposed to be faster.

Anyway, Cedar Point was were we were headed. I had booked a cabin for Friday night and Saturday night, with the goal of being in the park all day Saturday. The cabin helped make it feel like a special weekend, but it also allowed us to hit the water rides without fear, knowing we could run back to the cabin to change if we were not getting dry. The cabin also came with early admittance to the park – we could get in an hour before the park opened for the general public. That was very cool, and I thought Mer would like it.

We got to Cedar Point, and Mer was a bit confused as to why were were going to Cedar Point with the park only open for another 5 hours (it closed at 10:00). She was surprised and delighted when we pulled into the cabin areas. I checked us in, and we headed over to our lake-front home for the weekend.

The cabin was small, but really cute. The designer made great use of the space. It was very comfortable, and certainly met our needs for the weekend. I unloaded the car and we settled in on the porch to watch the water and so Mer could plan her tactics for the park. Something we had not known was that the early-park admittance was great, but only four coasters were open – the small(ish) Iron Dragon, and three of the big ones – the Maverick, the Raptor, and the Millennium Force. Mer and I usually start small and get bigger throughout the day, but that was not going to be an option. Mer had some serious planning to do. It was strange to look out at the peaceful lake and hear screams from the park every minute or two. It was still relaxing and nice.

We had been sitting on the porch for about 45 minutes when part two of the surprise showed up – our friend and colleague Eric and his wife Shanna showed up. I had invited them along to make the weekend more festive. Again, Mer was surprised and thrilled. It turned out that Eric was speaking Saturday night at a youth gathering, so they would have to leave the next afternoon rather than spending the entire weekend, but that was okay. We were both just happy they could make it.

Since it was now about 6:30, food was the first thing to attend to. So, we walked 15 minutes or so over to the other side of the park, to Friday’s. Not surprisingly, the menu was about 50% more expensive than a regualr Friday’s, and the menu was smaller as well. Still, Friday’s has good food, and we had a great time listening to Eric and Shanna tell us how Eric proposed (he made a big production of it, involving many of Shanna’s friends and a candle-lit path in the woods, and a homemade bridge that failed and a ton of bugs – romantic, creative, and funny). The only downside to the evening was the service – we had a waitress and a trainee, and both of them seemed to be very uninterested in our table. They were not rude or anything like that – they just seemed to want to be anywhere else and gave off waves of boredom. They kept getting my drink order wrong, and then charged me for a drink they had brought but that I had not ordered. It was a little frustrating, but not enough to take away from the occasion. We headed back to the cabin, which required a 100-yard dash (or fast walk) through a very buggy section – the downside of being right on the water in late spring.

We settled in the cabin and Eric and I took on Mer and Shanna in Dark and Stormy, the game where you identify a book or author by the opening line or lines from the work. Mer and Shanna are both English teachers, so Eric and I went in expecting to lose, which meant that we could only go up. The game lasted a long time – about an hour-and-a-half, which is twice as long as it usually takes. Eric and I did win by two books, but we also got 4 of them on really easy questions, where the title of the book was given in the first sentence. Mer and Shanna gave us the last book, even though we were missing a word (we guessed Horatio Hornblower, when it is Captain Horatio Hornblower). We were all pretty tired at that point. Eric then ran out to get some things from his car. What none of realized is that 80% of the mosquitoes in the state of Ohio were waiting on the porch. A bunch came in when Eric went out, and more came in when he came back in. There were probably close to 200 of them in the cabin now, so Eric and I (mostly Eric) spent about 30 minutes killing bugs. It did take away some of the fun of the evening, but makes for a good story. Sadly, I had brought big peanut butter cups from Hartville, and in the bug killing spree, a couple of dead ones fell on Eric’s open but uneaten peanut butter cup. Eric stoically tried to eat it, but gave up after eating a dead mosquito.

Eric and I had brought our guitars, and so we played them for about 15 minutes before going to bed. Eric and Shanna are founding members of the band Bethesda, and they were good enough to sing a new song they were working on – it was very good. Eric then played a couple of songs I had brought, and played them much better than I do, even though he did not know them and was only reading the chords as we went along. Eric has been playing for 6 years and I have been playing for 12. I think I need to go back to lessons!

We got ready for bed. Mer and I took the main bed; Eric and Shanna passed on the mosquito-laden futon in the main room, and they jumped in the bunk beds instead. As we were falling asleep, Eric asked, “Why do they call it a rainbow, anyway?” At that time of night, it was hysterically funny.

Mer and I woke up a few minutes early the next day – the curse of the late-30s bladders and the excitement of the day. Eric and Shanna managed to stay in bed until the alarm went off, despite my telling them they had to get up to go to school. We got ready pretty efficiently, and headed out to find breakfast. We found it in the form of a breakfast buffet in the Breakers Restaurant. The food was decent and plentiful. I ate the last of the French toast, figuring they would bring more out, but they had run out, so Mer did not get any. I did feel bad about that.

After breakfast, we made our way into the park. The weather had been calling for showers and thunder showers all week long. The only thing I could do was pray, and I don’t know how God works these things out, but there were a few drops of rain as we walked to the park, and then it did not rain again. In fact, by the afternoon, it was beautiful, with lots of sun. The threatening weather kept the crowds away, and we never had more than a 30-minute wait for any ride, and many waits were less than 10 minutes. It was great.

We started the day on the smallest coaster running – the Iron Dragon. It was Cedar Point’s first suspended coaster, and there are not many like it – it is a full car suspended from the track. It is a smallish coaster, but designed really well, and it is my favorite ride in the park. That went well, and then we headed to Cedar Point’s big suspended coaster, the Raptor. We only had to wait about 10 minutes to get the front car, which makes you feel like you are flying. It was a very cool ride. I used to be terrified of the Raptor, but one day Mer told me to pretend I was Batman on patrol, and ever since then I have loved suspended coasters. My wife understands me.

Mer and Shanna were shaken up a bit by the Raptor – it was bigger and rougher than they had remembered it. Since I was Batman, I loved it and had not noticed these things. We headed over to the Millennium Force, the 300-foot megacoaster of the park. The first drop is at 80 degrees and you get up to 90 mph on it. I passed out the first time I rode it, from hunger and the G-forces. This time, Mer and I both got tunnel vision twice, but avoided passing out. Shanna decided to pass on this ride since she was still feeling queasy from the Raptor. She was a game soul and waited for us. Again, it was a fairly short line, and we got on pretty efficiently, although we did not wait for the front car (we did not wait for a front car again for the rest of the day). By this time, the first hour was almost up, so we headed over to the Maverick. None of us had ever ridden the Maverick before – it was built in 2007. The idea behind the ride is that you are trying to tame a bucking bronco, and the coaster holds to that. It is fairly small, at only 135 feet. But, it is something else – the first hill is at a 95 degree drop, which is a very interesting feeling. The coaster then twists and turns like mad, and you go into a long dark tunnel where you get launched again at 70 mph. It is pretty intense. There were a couple of downsides to it – the constant turning strained my neck, and poor Shanna was terrified. She had maintained all morning that she was fine as long as the ride did not go past 90 degrees. Somehow, she missed that information on this ride until she was strapped in the coaster. I felt really bad – I wanted people to have fun, not be scared.

Anyway, we had ridden four coasters in 85 minutes, and so we decided to slow things down by ridding the very calm paddle wheel ride. That was what the doctor ordered – a pleasant ride around the park lagoon while the captain kept making puns about everything on shore.

After the paddlewheel, we rode:

The Corkscrew – a small but kicky coaster that was the first in the park to throw you upside down.

Disaster Transport – a small indoor coaster that takes place mostly in the dark or twilight.

The Space Spiral – a surprisingly fast observation ride that takes you up 285 feet high and lets you see the whole park.

That gave us eight rides, and so we decided to take a lunch break. We headed back over to Friday’s, where we had much better service. We just got lunch there, and then headed over to an ice cream parlor for ice cream. We sat outside and ate and talked and laughed. By then, it was after 3:00, so we walked Eric and Shanna back to the cabin and saw them off. Mer and I then headed back into the park, with Mer firmly in control, with the exception that I would not ride the 400-foot Dragster coaster, and I was not in the mood for the Power Tower, where you blast straight off the ground up to 240 feet in the air.

We headed over and rode:

Magnum – A 200-foot steel coaster that has a terrifyingly long ascent hill. It was a beast in its day (late 1980s) and is still a great ride, with lots of mini hills that give you “air” several times at the end of the track.

Blue Streak – A small wooden coaster, it is the oldest coaster in the park. It is a straight out-and-back ride, but it gives you lots of little bunny hops that are fun.

Wild Cat – this is a classic fairground coaster, where you ride in a car that can hold four people. Because of the limited capacity, this was the longest we waited for a ride, about 30 minutes.

Thunder Canyon – a water ride where you shoot rapids and may get soaked by one of four waterfalls. I got hammered by three of them and was dealt a glancing blow by the first. The two girls opposite of me barely got wet at all. Mer got fairly wet, but had fewer direct hits.

Snake River Falls – a huge log-flume ride, where you drop 80 feet into a small lake, and get soaked. We were in the last seat, and we got hit by four different waves from the drop.

Cedar Creek Mine Ride – the smallest coaster in the park, but a good one.

Gemini – a wooden/steel hybrid coaster that is much fun – it runs two coasters side by side so you can race, and this is one of my favorites in the park.

The Mean Streak – the mammoth 3-or-4-minute-long wooden coaster that tries to vibrate you apart. After experiencing much physical pain to my back and neck on this ride, I told Mer it was off my list for the future.

Since I had had such a rough ride on the Mean Streak, we took a break for supper. We headed over to the main hotel and ate at Perkins. We skipped dessert for the time being and headed back into the park, where we rode the Iron Dragon again. Even this coaster now hurt to ride, so I told Mer that I was probably done with coasters for the evening. Besides, it was almost 10:00, and I thought the laser light show was about to start. It turns out that I was wrong – the show starts up this weekend, but I kept us circling back to the show area to see if it was going on. That prevented us from trying some of the smoother and smaller coasters again. However, we did ride the Cedar Downs Racing Derby, which I thought was a merry-go-round. I was wrong. It is only one of two “racing carousels” where the horses move backwards and forwards while the carousel goes around. The carousel also goes 14 mph, which is enough to make you feel the outward force as you go around. It was fun.

We ended the evening by riding the Sky Ride – a cable gondola that takes you above the midway of the park. Mer loves the magic of an amusement park in the evening, so we watched all the pretty lights, and I managed not to be scared of the height. It was a good way to end the evening in the park, and we added in a quick trip to Friday’s for dessert. We walked back to the cabin, which was mosquito-free because we had left all the lights off (we need to remember that for next time). We got ready for bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. We slept in the next morning (check-out was at 11:00), and we left happy and tired. It was a good weekend. Happy house-sale, Love!