Dollywood, see also the perfect park

Good evening, blogspot readers! Since we last spoke, I’ve visited Dollywood! I can tell you’re excited, so just try to contain yourselves.

Seriously, though, it went pretty well. We arrived at our campsite around 11 pm and promptly passed out. We made a sort of pact to try to stay awake as long as the drive is awake. Liz rarely succeeds at doing this, but the guys and I played videogames to stay awake. We managed to get to Dollywood for opening this time, which was pretty sweet. Naturally, we made a bee-line for Wild Eagle…and so did everybody else. We still managed to be one of the first trains of the day and wow, guys. WOW. This was my first B&M wingrider and I have to say I am very impressed. I rode on the outside towards the back. It was amazing. It had that B&M smoothness but the forces were just all over the place! That loop was the best of all. I felt weightless. We ran off and got back in line. This time it was about a twenty minute to get a ride in the second row. I liked the back better, but it was still a good ride.

 6. Tennessee Tornado, lurking in the woods!

From here, we decided that Tennessee Tornado would be our next best bet, since it is literally right next to Wild Eagle. I still can’t believe how smooth that Arrow is. There was no line, so we took a second ride, this one in the front, since our first was in the back. I think I prefer the whip of the back. The guys wanted to do Blazing Fury, but I sat it out. Instead, Liz and I checked out the eagle sanctuary. I love that Dollywood actually tries to have a conservation effort.

We decided to take the train ride next, which was a spectacular idea. It’s a real steam train, you guys. And the views it allows! I took about a million pictures. Maybe more. Maybe a gazillion. I’m getting more and more excited for my first national park tomorrow! Anyway, after the steam train, we decided to grab some lunch, which was delicious, as usual. And then, of course… Thunderhead! Oh man, was I ever excited to ride this bad boy again. No line, too! I rode the front, the back, second to front, the front again, the back again, second to back, and third to back. It’s hard to choose what was better, but I think I might have to go with the back.

By the point, the sun had come out full force (it had been cloudy all morning) and we were DYING. Ice cream time? Ice cream time. We meandered towards Mystery Mine but it was temporarily closed so we decided to head back towards Wild Eagle again and get a last ride on her. The ride was way more intense now that it had warmed up! It had been about a 30 minute wait for the back, so we decided to not ride it again and check on Mystery Mine. It opened as we were walking towards it, so we didn’t have to wait long. That ride still gives me a headache.

It was only about 5:00 pm but we were all pretty wiped already. Liz and I decided to leave and the guys ended up staying another hour. Plans for the rest of the night consist of swimming around in the pool at the campsite. Liz doesn’t feel too well, so I’m not sure if she’s actually going to go hiking at the Great Smoky Mountains tomorrow. We shall see!

Have a Six Flags Day Over Georgia!

I can’t believe I’m staying up long enough to write this, but here we are.

We’re currently in Georgia, heading northward towards Tennessee. I am thoroughly exhausted. But let me tell you about it!

Six Flags Over Georgia. Have I told you how much I love that park? No? I love that park.

All of the rides are amazing, the scenery is beautiful, and it’s just an all around great park. Except that the same thing that happened last time, happened this time. That’s right. Me and the Georgia summer heat don’t get along well. Last time I got really nauseous as my body tried to fight off the humidity and heat. This time, it lost and I puked.

It was seriously dead, so we had less than a five minute wait for all the coasters, although the water ride lines were two hours long. The high was 101 and the humidity made the air feel so heavy, I could have swam in it. It wasn’t even sunny either, it was the crazy humidity like how it feels before a storm breaks but the storm NEVER broke! Ugh. Anyway, as I was saying, it was dead, so we managed to get on everything in the front and back. I finally got to ride X-Flight, which was enjoyable, although not top-ten worthy. That had a bit of a line, but only a 15 minute wait. We only skipped Ninja and that’s because none of us felt like getting a migraine on top of the humidity.

We ended up riding Mindbender six times, Goliath five times, I rode Georgia Cyclone by myself three times, because nobody else likes it. Michael insists that I have a “Bad Romance” with that ride. Whatever, Michael. Superman we rode three times, and Georgia Scorcher we rode four times, as well.

We started off at Georgia Cyclone and then circles over towards Gotham, back towards Goliath, then around by Ninja, Scream Machine, and Superman and back up front. It was right around Scream Machine that I finally gave up and puked in the bathroom. I hate puking. I felt way better afterwards though. Huh!

It was around 6 pm when we left, exhausted but happy.

Like always, we had to stop at Steak ‘n’ Shake and it was spectacular. Steak ‘n’ Shake, how I love thee.

 6. Some of the gorgeous terrain around Mindbender at Six Flags Over Georgia.

Carolinas - So much driving

Has it been two days already?!

It’s been a little crazy. We left bright and early (read: 10 am) on Saturday, arriving at a campsite in southern Virginia around 7 pm, giving us enough time to get a good campfire going in the sunlight. I love camping, even if it is with a big motorhome. Due to being cramped in the RV all day, we ran around outside playing hide and seek and climbing trees and basically acting like little kids. Our drivers – Sven (he’s American – don’t be fooled by Norsk appearance or silly name) and Christina aren’t too much older than us and are actually quite a bit like us! We ended up being up until like 1 am, waking up around six, heading out at seven and then finishing up the drive to Charlotte.

We got to Carowinds for opening and decided to go right for the Wild Mouse since we didn’t get to ride that last time. It was a walk on and it was…well, Wild Mouse rides are pretty much all the same. We decided to circle around to the back of the park and get the most painful rides done first. Vortex was stop number two with a four train wait, and it was exactly the same as last time – terrifying. I just do not like stand up coasters, even if it is made by B&M. We didn’t want to get beat up by their mine train, Carolina Goldrusher, so we opted out. Carolina Cobra didn’t have a long line, so we rode that next. Only a five minute wait and it is still the best boomerang in my books. Carolina Cyclone was alright, but that helix gets me every time. They were running two trains, so the wait was less than ten minutes. It took us ten minutes to find an employee and find out that Hurler would be closed for the week because its chain broke. Awesome timing, self.

We were all getting pretty wiped out at this point, as the humidity was really rough, but we didn’t want to deal with waiting in line for a water ride or going to the water park. We ate some lunch at a generic burger place and drank as much water as we could while we figured out our next plan of action. We agreed to just plain skip the kiddie coasters, and while there was some disagreement about this, we also decided to ultimately skip Nighthawk due to the amount of damage we sustained last time. Nighthawk, see also: piece of crap. Amazingly, both sides of Thunder Road were running and it was a walk on, so we rode both, getting the credit for the one we didn’t ride last time. GCI’s retracking of that is really paying off. It feels like new – which is fantastic because it has some brilliant airtime.

We tried to put it off for as long as possible, but it was time… for Afterburn!! Haha. That ride is great. They were running two trains again but they were way more effective this time. Somehow, there was no line so we ended up riding twice in the front, twice in the back before a line managed to assemble itself. Bummer! The obvious choice for the next ride was Intimidator. It wasn’t even four o’clock yet and we’d done everything but the best, so we decided we’d marathon Intimidator. Too bad there was a line. It was only a stair wait, which was a huge improvement on last time, but they were running three trains again and within five minutes we were on the ride anyway. No assigned seating this time! YES. We spent the next hour getting off and then back on again, managing three back seat rides, two front seat rides and a middle seat ride. Well, Liz and I did. The guys did their own thing.

We stopped at my grandparents on our way through South Carolina and got some cookies and 

So, now we’re on our way down to Georgia. Last time I went down, we went to Myrtle Beach, then to Liz’s aunt’s house in South Carolina somewhere. So while I don’t think we’re going a vastly different way, I’m not sure what to expect. So far, though, it’s pretty much been woods similar to Pennsylvania.

 5. The view from the vehicle from Pennsylvania down through South Carolina. Sometimes, the trees aren't as low, but this is mostly what it looks like.

Plans are a-changing!

So, we’ve had a change of plans. Originally, I was going to do a two day-three park stretch hitting Jackson, New Jersey’s Six Flags New England, Upper Bowie, Maryland’s Six Flags America, and Doswell, Virginia’s Kings Dominion. Then we realized something glaringly obvious: we are not doing any of those parks on the weekend. I do not like lines and I do not want to stand through lines when I and all of my companions have been to all of them on multiple occasions.

Instead, we’ve decided to just stop home in Easton and trade out companions (Rose intends to remeet us in California, and we are going to acquire Liz and Michael, as previously planned). Plus, my grandparents live outside of Charlotte and would kill me if I didn’t visit them. We’re also finally getting our RV and drivers from home.

I’ll repost again on Sunday night when we’re on our way to Georgia.

Laaaake Compounce!

In comparison with Six Flags New England, Lake Compounce was phenomenal! The guys had a contest to see who could drink the most mountain dew in three minutes. Well, Phil threw up. Hahaha. Rose and I didn’t get any free chocolate milk, but that’s okay. Plus, we rode Boulderdash…guess how many times. You’re wrong. It’s fifteen. FIFTEEN TIMES. I told Rose about the hoody trick – cover your eyes so you can’t expect the airtime hills and banked turns. It makes it so much more wild. It was great! Their acrobatic show was going too, so we watched that as I ate my usual fried oreos. But really, fifteen times. That ride is so great, I can’t even take it. Diving through the woods, up and around the mountain. So perfect.
The only slightly negative thing about this visit was that it started to rain. And then it didn't stop. We ended up being drenched most of the time.

Right now, we’re on our way through New York to get to New Jersey. We’re gonna pick up Liz and Michael there, which is exciting. I’m really sick of seeing forest all the time, though. I’m really excited for the second half of the trip, but I can’t say I don’t appreciate all of the coasters I’m about to ride. 

4. Boulder Dash, swooping into the woods!

Six Flags New England

Another beautiful day in Massachusetts, and I’m on my way to Lake Compounce. I have no idea why we decided to do Lake Compounce in the evening, but whatever. Rose has assured me that it makes the most sense.

We did Six Flags New England this morning, and I was really freaking excited. Once I had coffee. Before that, I was not excited to be waking up so early. I digress. We got to Six Flags New England just ten minutes before opening at 10 am, so we had some time to consider which direction that we wanted to go in first. Since everybody always runs to the back where Bizarro is, and I freaking love me some B&M goodness, we headed right for the Dark Knight. We managed to get a walk on for the front row, back row, and then having to wait only a few trains for the front row a few more times. As always, the beginning is butter and the end is gravel. Does B&M retrack? I have no idea. If they do, they should really look at Dark Knight’s interlocking corkscrews. Riding in the back was like trying to ride a jackhammer. Horrific.

 

3. Come to think of it, the Dark Knight's "architecture" does remind me of Boston!

It had only been a half an hour, so we just headed over towards the wooden coasters, and had a walk on Cyclone for the front. I have to say, “Wow!” That topper track that was recently installed seriously, seriously helped. That had to be my second to worst coaster I’ve ever ridden, but it’s definitely gone up at least ten spots. Naturally, Rose and I rode the front, but Philip and Ben decided to go for the back. Turns out, that hasn’t changed much, haha. Pandemonium was running pretty well and it seems that nobody had discovered that area of the park yet, so we actually managed two rides without having wasted much time. Thunderbolt was an enjoyable little ride, as always. Naturally, they were running one train, so we had a two train wait, if that.

With all these rerides and bathroom breaks, it was already noon when we had to make the all-important decision as to which line to enter: Goliath or Bizarro. Knowing how crappy the capacity for Goliath would be, we decided to just go with that. Plus, Bizarro is ridiculously far away from everything else. Turns out, most people must have forgotten that Six Flags New England got a new coaster this year, so the wait was only about 20 minutes for a front seat ride. I’ve gotta say, it was a little bit rougher than I expected, but that vertical drop? BEAUTIFUL.

Pumped, we headed down to Bizarro. There was a line. I sort of regretted not getting the fast pass, but I seriously can’t stand how that works. Money shouldn’t buy you everything. We dealt with the line, which ended up being an hour, by the way. Looks like only one ride for us, huh? It was around 2 at that point, so we decided to beat on down to Lake Compounce. And what timing! I’ll talk to you later, blogspot, time to go ride me some good solid wood!

Moar Boston and how I love seafood

We’re back on the road again, and had quite the eventful day after I last updated. So, as it turns out, Union Oyster House DOES have fantastic food. It also has really crappy service. I’m usually one to restaurant workers the benefit of the doubt. And I have to say, I felt super sorry for the waitress, she really did try. But the food took almost an hour to come out, so while the clam chowder was phenomenal, I eat fast and got to wait the good 45 minutes until my main course, fish and chips, came out. Luckily, that food was good, too.

Anyway, after we ate, we headed outside to check out the Holocaust Memorial… If you are unfamiliar with it, the memorial is composed of six 54-foot tall glass towers. Each tower sits on a black base with the name of one of the six largest death camps on it. The glass in the towers is neatly etched with numbers from those who were tattooed with their number and eventually killed. Embers in pits beneath the base send smoke up into the tower, giving it a very eerie quality. It’s easy to look at numbers as just numbers, but it’s the quotes that are also on the towers that really force you to face it.

2. An example from the New England Holocaust Memorial.

We were going to visit the New England Aquarium, but decided to pass on it, and instead walked around the grounds of the Christian Science Plaza. It had gotten pretty warm out at this point, and despite the intermittent breezes from what I can only assume to be Old Harbor, the humidity was oppressive so we didn’t spend too much time hanging around. What really struck me about the plaza was the stained glass windows from the Mother Church. I liked the extension too, although I never realized I was a fan of Italian Renaissance architecture.

Somehow this led to us wanting to go on a “church” tour (can you tell we planned ahead of time?) so we headed northward to check out Old South Church and Trinity Church. I might not be terribly religious…or religious at all… but I do appreciate the elaborate architecture of churches.

We had a reservation at Turner’s Seafood Grill for 7, so we left center city Boston around 6 to get there on time. This was a great idea, seeing as how ridiculous traffic became. It was worth the wait, though, because of how amazing the food was. Swordfish is amazing! I also picked at my friends’ meals, seeing as they all tried a variety of entrees.

So, here we are. We don’t actually have the RV we had planned yet, as it’s a fairly short distance between destinations so hotels shouldn’t be an issue finding. It’s only a 2 hour drive to Six Flags New England, so we already have a hotel booked and should be getting there shortly. Good thing too, ‘cause I’m exhausted. Good night!