Get To the Point ... Cedar Point

My first visit in nearly 13 years, we were all set to leave for Cedar Point by 8:10am - only ten minutes off plan. We couldn’t have picked a better day weatherwise. The high was expected to be in the low to mid 70’s under mostly sunny skies. I’ve been to Cedar Point maybe three or four times in my life and each time it was cool and cloudy. I topped off the gas tank at Thornton’s for $3.69 per gallon. We headed north with our mapquest directions tightly in hand. Just 20 miles or so into the trip, the kids began asking how much longer. Thankfully, Mindy nipped that in the bud right away. The drive was uneventful and honestly, pretty boring. Forty miles north on Rt 23 and then another fifty miles north on Rt. 4 through Bucyrus on a two-lane highway. Along the way, we passed an equal number of farm houses and country churches. The mapquest directions were fine until we hit town (Sandusky). The signs said go right but our mapquest directions explicitly said left. I opted to follow mapquest directions thinking them more up to date, and perhaps even knowing a quicker way in. Fifteen miles later we found ourselves on Marblehead looking across the Sandusky Bay at Cedar Point. Kind of funny, really. We turned around & headed back. That move cost us 45 minutes or so. We arrived around 11am. The weather was as lovely as advertised. I had forgotten that Cedar Point is on a peninsula jutting out into Lake Erie. It had a tropical look and feel on such a lovely summer day. As we made our way into the park Jacob complained of not feeling so well. We chalked it up to the long drive. Our first stop was for food. Everyone was hungry/thirsty. We settled on ice cream in upscale cones and shakes. My double chocolate chunk was incredible in a big waffle cone. Jacob had the same only in a shake. However, he drank only a minuscule amount. Bella enjoyed rainbow sherbet in a cup. The plan all along called for Jacob and I to team up to ride coasters while Mindy & Bella took in the kiddie land rides. Bella just isn’t tall enough to ride much else. Jacob and I chose to ride Raptor first. However, not being fully apprised of the process, we didn’t pay attention to length of wait sign at the rides entry. Imagine how surprised we were to find ourselves still in line after more than an hour with a good 20-30 minutes still to go. Oh well, live and learn – right! Nope! Just as our seemingly endless wait was winding down, Jacob advised me somewhat sheepishly that he wanted his momma and was feeling ill. I encouraged him to hang in there as we approached the ramp to the actual launch, but he just couldn’t. Instead, he insisted we exit the line so that he could barf. Oh great! I doubted that he was really sick. I phoned Mindy’s cell and eventually found her riding a kiddie ride with Bella. Mindy consoled Jacob while at the same time secretly questioning his real motive. Like me, she assumed him spooked as we got closer and closer to the actual coaster. Mindy suggested we find food. We found a nearby pizza restaurant. Inside, we ran into a co-worker of mine and his family just in front of us in line. We chatted for a few while we waited on our food (very slow service). Jacob didn’t order much at all, which is way out of character for him. The rest of us finished our pizza and prepped to head back out for more fun. Jacob proclaimed himself ready to barf. Thanks to Mindy’s quick thinking, she put a couple plastic plates under his chin which he promptly filled with barf - three large puddles to be exact. We did our level best to keep the matter calm and clean up the mess. Hmmm? May he was sick after all. The plans changed as we exited the pizza restaurant. Bella now was with me While Mindy & Jacob sought some shade. Me & Bella rode a slew of kiddie rides together including her first coaster, Jr Gemini. And she loved it! It was soon clear to me that the height restriction aside, I had found my new coaster partner. We rode rides for the better part of an hour or two. Eventually, we phoned Mindy, who let us know that her & Jacob were in the first-aid building where Jacob was resting on bed. Geesh! A few minutes passed before she phoned again, this time to let us know that Jacob was up and feeling better and wanted to get something to eat. Encouraging. They met us over by the Jr Gemini coaster. Jacob still wasn’t right, however. He sat hopelessly on a bench while Mindy & Bella had some fun. Now approaching 4pm, Jacob hadn’t ridden ride one. L As we made our way passed the Magnum, Mindy insisted that I ride it alone. The wait was less than 15 minutes. I took her queue and dashed in. Turned out, the line was less than ten minutes. The coaster was as thrilling as I remembered it being. Man, do I love coasters! After my ride I found the family and we made our way to the sky ride – something Jacob could easily handle. We rode that to the front half of the park where we moved to the giant Ferris wheel overlooking the beach and lake. Jacob expressed displeasure as we rode, citing nausea once more. Please don’t throw up on me! The evening was winding down and I had yet to ride Millennium Force. Thinking myself a fool for not, I asked Mindy if it was OK for me to dash off alone to check out the line’s length and if short enough, ride. She wisely agreed, knowing that I’d be bellyaching for days one end if I didn’t at least get one chance to ride it. Less than an hour later I was on my way up the enormous 300’ first hill! The g-forces were incredible as we hit speeds said to be more than 90mph. Awesome! At the ride’s conclusion I felt complete. I was ready to find the family and then head for home. I celled Mindy, who was up close to the park’s entrance with the kids. I find them easily and soon we were heading for the park exit. It was 7:45pm. Our departure was efficient and fast. We were on the highway and headed towards home by 8pm. We traveled about thirty miles listening to Jacob’s incessant moans & groans from the back seat. Knowing that sound all too well, I requested Mindy find a bag of sorts for Jacob to throw up in should he need to. It wasn’t five minutes later he was barfing into the large ziplock Mindy pulled out of our daypack. The ziplock proved to be air tight – thankfully. Jacob eventually drifted off to sleep waking only for a moment here and there asking if we were home. We were home by 10:15pm – a fast 2.25hr drive. We logged about 270 miles in total – a mere warm-up for Sunday’s drive to Norris Lake, Tennessee.