This is it...what you've been waiting for...FINALLY!!! It's here. A new blog posting from mr. pants detailing the highs and lows, the ups and downs, the lift hills and bunny hops, the cornfields and skyscrapers, the baseball and the roller coasters.
I'm going to try and do a day-by-day remembrance. Sorry dear readers, I was bad and didn't have a lot of internet access throughout the duration of the trip for a daily update--so some details from the two week cornball voyage will get lost I'm afraid...
Anyway, here it goes...
Day One--Friday, May 26, 2006:
After a good night's sleep at mom and dad's, we managed to hit the road in our rented, sunset gold Kia Rio by 7 AM. Our pact to eat at only non-chain restaurants was broken pretty early. We wound our way through Rome, Ga on U.S. 53 to Calhoun, Ga. where we stopped for breakfast and coffee at IHOP. I needed coffee. Leave me alone!
Travel Tip 1: Get the biggest item on the menu at IHOP and ask for an extra plate. There's a bit of an upcharge but, it's cheap and tasty.
We got back on the road pretty quickly, hitting I-75 north and making our way through Chattanooga and later Nashville and into Kentucky and the William H. Natcher Parkway and Toll Road. We had to be very careful in our little Kia, for we did not have cruise control and maintaining a reasonable speed when the roads are flat, open, and arrow straight for miles and miles at a time is difficult.
Our first great eating achievement of the trip came in Owensboro, KY. Dawn is so good at road trippin'; she found this really great bbq joint in Owensboro that I can reccommend very highly called Moonlite B-B-Q.
The BBQ was very tasty and fresh, with a heavier saucier red-brown sauce that we both prefer. The BBQ offering unique to Kentucky, at least as far as I know, was barbecued mutton. Baaa. Dawn liked that better than me, but it certainly wasn't horrible.
There were two additional sauces on the table, one sort of brown and spicy, the other almost like broth infused with black pepper. The peppery one was particularly yummy and made the mutton more palatable to me.
The BBQ, fresh vegetables, desserts, and oh so much more is served buffet style at lunch and at the bargain price of $12 a person for all you can eat...and I can eat a lot.
After lunch, Dawn took us on an alternative route through downtown Owensboro. It's a cute little town right on the border between KY and IN.
After a little confusion--we made it down to the Ohio river, but found it difficult to get across--we finally made it into Indiana. Because of our diversion, we only got a small glimpse of what is supposedly considered the most beautiful suspension bridge in Kentucky or something.
A lesson for Indiana--get some more substantial and attractive signs to welcome folks into your state!
So on to US 231 and Holiday World!
We arrived in Santa Claus and mosied through to our hotel, the Day's Inn in Jasper, IN. We got a great laugh when we pulled into what is a fairly nice Day's Inn and discovered that it was directly across the street from a fairly substantial prison. Whee! Only the classiest for us of course. We were fortunate and timely, and arrived around 4 PM, giving us plenty of time to unload and relax for a bit before hitting Holiday World. We walked into the corridor of the hotel, and found the foulest of odors--chinese food blended with a strong air freshener. Either one of these odors alone is not unpleasant, but bring them together for total odorgrossness.
We settled in, relaxed, freshened up, rested for a bit, watched a little TV, and then Dawn got a text message from her good friend Matthew from California. His text message said simply:
"Voyage: Ho...Lee...Shit."
So much for rest and relaxation. My darling began to bounce off the walls a bit, so given that we had about a 20 mile ride back to the park, we started moving in that direction.
As we made or drive down to the park, we came around the back end of Holiday World. Dawn made eye contact with the beastly Voyage for the first time, and giddiness prevailed. It really is a pretty ride, wood and steel enmeshed in tracks, wheels, curves, hops, and drops. The lift hill and first drop, at about 160 feet and a 66 degree angle is incredible even visually.
We arrived, greeting friends and dorks both known and unknown. We got our tickets organized, met with Dawn's good friend Matthew--for me the first time meeting him, he's a very nice guy, and known to every coaster enthusiast it seems, and then met with Danny P., our good friend from Ohio who I first met in Dollywood last December.
Dawn was eager, but determined that I would ride the two other very, very good coasters at Holiday World, Raven and Legend, both part of the Halloween themed area of the park before Voyage. We got in quickly, prior to the park's closing and the event/meal beginning and got a ride on Raven--a beautiful, smooth, and exciting ride, though very brief. It's a very efficent roller coaster and I would enjoy riding it many more times over the weekend.
So we went to the meet and greet and the meal, and I enjoyed meeting some of Dawn's coaster cronies. It's really fun to people watch at these events. This hobby has interesting adherents...the "reasonably normal," the "woefully socially inept," the "geeks of unimaginable stereotypical geekiness," the "hangers on" and then there's the category I fall in, along with a few others the "I kinda dig this, but I'm here with my girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/friend."
After I visit a few more parks, and yes, after I geek out about this stuff a little bit more, I hope to join Dawn in the ranks of the "reasonably normal."
That's not to say there's anyone I'm passing judgment on anyone, its just like any large social grouping--there's categories and social structure. Everyone is really nice to everyone else, a LOT of people know each other from previous events, and there's lots of great conversation and interaction.
That being said, there's some wacky people, too....the "ride it until I'm sick" crowd the "life revolves around roller coasters, why are we in this water park, ugh" crowd...many personalities and attitudes in the mildly obsessive world of coaster enthusiasts.
I have to say great things about the fine folks that own and manage Holiday World. The owners are very involved. I'd venture to say that Pat Koch is the hardest working person in the Amusement Industry. Over the weekend, if the park was open, she was there and visible and working. Even the administrative staff, including Pat, are out and about, checking lap bars and seat belts, talking to people, answering questions and with just the most amazing attitude and energy. The whole staff of the park works hard, is friendly and energetic, and does everything possible to make folks comfortable and happy.
So after dinner we walked back to the Legend. It's a bigger coaster, longer ride than its ornithological counterpart. It's in the Halloween area of the park and it channels Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Ichabod's legendary ride with its mad dash around the track, its numerous head choppers, and elongated tunnel.
I was throughly entertained by both coasters and torn between which I liked best.
Finally, it was on to the Voyage to stand in line with 2,ooo other people.
The anticipation was building for both of us. We finally got up to the platform and on the train. We were so very excited, and the tension was surreal.
Intense. This is by far the most intense roller coaster I've experienced in my limited experience. The amazing speed--around 70 mph at times--combined with an amazing lift hill and drop, the breakneck turns, the 90 degree banking and the triple down in the dark just tear a person up.
And then there's a bit more. A few more hard twists, turns, hops all at incredible speed and then finally it stops.
The first ride, I was all over it and didn't understand why everyone was kinda whiny about the last stretch give me more, I felt like it was sort of a bonus ride, extra innings, overtime.
After the next couple of rides, I wanted it to stop.
Dawn summarizes well..."Can I just get off after the triple down? Thanks!"
"The voyage is like, a really hot chick, but she's kind of a bitch."
--Pants
"Farm after farm after farm, all with the same elements--barn, house, silo, tractor, but in slightly different arrangements....arrrrgh!!!!"
--Pants
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