The Cocktail Hour - Cincinnati Pub Crawl

Kicking off our Midwest Baseball Tour last year, we started with an impromtu pub crawl along the Ohio River.  The "Cincinnati" part of the title is a bit misleading, it's actually in Newport, Kentucky at the Levee District, just across the river from The Great American Ballpark, home of the Reds.

Watch the Video!

We started before the baseball game going on that night so we got a lot of the pre-game party flavor.  We didn't go to the game that night (our tickets were for the next day), so we stayed behind at a bar called Bulldogs, watching the game on TV.  That was a bit surreal, the actual game was a thousand feet away.  We could hear it both from the stadium and on TV.

So here is the crawl.  We start off at a place called the Beer Sellar, which sits on a floating barge in the river that it shares with Hooters.  There's a large patio crowded with baseball fans getting ready for the game with their two-dollar Huddy Light specials.  They will soon depart for the game on a ferry that leaves right from the barge.

Next, it's over to a branch of Munich's famous Hofbrauhaus, just up the street, where we sample their delicious beers in about as authentic of a German beer garden you'll find in the states.  It's not quite up to Munich quality but darn good for over here.  We sample the hefeweizen, dunkel, and meibier.

Ending up the crawl, we're at Bulldog's where we try the Shafly wheat and rasberry ale from St. Louis and the house brand light beer, pretty good and a deal during the game at $2.50 for a 24 oz. mug.

We enjoyed them all, probably the Hofbrau brands the best.  Enjoy the video.

Darryl
Copyright 2010

MIDWEST BASEBALL TOUR - LEG 1: Cincinnati

If you haven’t read Tim’s reports on preparing for this trip (this is his first time planning a trip), be sure to check out what it took to plan and prepare for this trip in a wheelchair.

Now that the planning and booking is done, it’s time to go. We start off at Ontario Airport, about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. It’s a 6:55am departure meaning we wake up at 4am and rush to get going. We arrive at the airport at 5:30am.

Watch the Video!

After check in (at the curb) and security, we head to the gate. I ask the gate agent if there are any better seats available on the plane, we’re in row 19 of the Continental 737, and none are available. Waiting at the gate to pre-board, the crew that would have to take Tim to his seat balk at having to transport him to row 19 and says they will load the plane first, then us.

Really? Row 19 is that bad? I’ve had airlines sit us in the back of the plane with no complaints, but…

This gets us bulkhead seats when they kick the people assigned there out (not my idea, theirs) but in this day and age of paying for every piece of luggage, being last means the overheads are full and everyone seethes as it takes time for us to get seated. A friendly flight attendant puts our bag up in first class…it’s important to have on the plane because it has medication and bathrooming gear we’ll need on the flight…and off we go.

(Note: Continental Airlines has since been merged with United Airlines since the report was originally written-Ed)

We change planes in Houston and have no problems pre-boarding on the second flight to Cincinnati. The flights themselves are fine, comfortable, and on time but I did not care for the minor boarding fiasco at Ontario. Note to self: do not use Continental (soon to be part of United) out of Ontario anymore.

We arrive at the Cincinnati airport, which is actually in Kentucky, at 5pm local time, pick up our rental car (Ford Escape), and head to our hotel, the Comfort Suites in Newport, Kentucky…just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.

The room at the hotel is a “studio” suite, which means a larger room but not really a suite. There’s a king-size bed, sofa bed, and accessible restroom with bathtub and portable shower chair provided by the hotel. A hot breakfast (waffles, biscuits and gravy) is provided but it’s just adequate. In fact that word describes the hotel…adequate. Not great but not bad. It’s a bit expensive for that at around $150 per night.

After settling in, we walk to the nearby area of shops and restaurants known as the Levee at Newport. It’s a very lively area and we find a real gem, a branch of Munich’s Hofbrauhaus with a real German beer garden out back.

It’s small by Munich standards and the sausages are good but not quite on par with Germany, but here we go…an honest-to-goodness German beer garden three blocks from our hotel with its own brewery producing real Hofbrau beer, served in the liter sized glasses just like in Munich.

This is the perfect way to end a long day of travelling so we walk over to the riverfront and head back to the hotel.

It’s a Saturday and our tickets to the ball game are for Sunday so we take a drive to Louisville to see the Louisville Slugger Museum and take the factory tour. A 90 minute drive, we pass the Kentucky Speedway and a mysterious sign that states “site of fatal bus crash. May 14, 1988.”

It turns out that on that date, the worst bus accident in the country’s history took place when a drunk driver hit a church school bus. 27 people were killed, 24 injured, and several of the victims banded together and eventually formed Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

Once in Louisville, we pass a minor league stadium for the Louisville Bats, an affiliate of the Reds. You’d think they’d be called the Sluggers, but no. The stadium is named Louisville Slugger Stadium, however.

Not hard to find, just head to the riverfront, turn left, and look for a giant bat sticking up over the skyline. Park in the structure in the back and head into the Hillerich and Bradsby Company, better known as the makers of that necessary piece of sporting wood, the Louisville Slugger.

Inside is paradise for baseball fans. A long, narrow lobby from the front to the back of the building includes a room for special exhibits, the bat vault (where every major leaguer has a template bat locked up…the “Fort Knox” of baseball), sample bats made to major league player specifications that you can test swing, a batting cage (10 pitches for a dollar) where you can try out a major league players bat, a current league standings board, a gift shop, and that giant bat out front.

All very interesting but the main attraction is what you actually have to pay for, the museum and factory tour. It’s ten dollars for adults ($18 in 2022-Ed) and you get to enter the museum and take an informative and entertaining tour of the factory (no cameras allowed on the factory floor).

Entering the museum, the first thing to see is one of the very first bats made by Bud Hillerich for Pete Browning, one of baseball’s first professional players, in 1884. Browing quickly got three hits with it in the next game and christened it the “Louisville Slugger.” Next is an area where you can hold a game-used bat. Gloves are mandatory. Tim held David Ortiz’s bat. Me? I went with Mickey Mantle.

Several other artifacts are on display. Honus Wagner’s jersey and bat; Joe Dimaggio’s bat; Babe Ruth’s bat; and on and on. The factory tour shows each step of the process, from lathing the wood, burning in the insignia to lacquering the bat. We are informed that players are very particular about their bats. For example, Ted Williams had one person make his bats and they had to have eight lines of grain per inch. With the highest batting average on record, Williams must have known what he was talking about.

At the end of the tour, everybody gets a small wooden bat to take home as a souvenir. One of the best 10 bucks I’ve ever spent.

On our way out of Louisville, we go by Churchill Downs…a week to the day after the Kentucky Derby…but couldn’t find any parking so we left town and went back home.

For dinner, we head down the river to the Beer Sellar. We thought it was a restaurant, but it’s just a bar so we have a two dollar, pre-game beer special and chat with some of the fans getting ready to go to tonight’s game. We’re not going until tomorrow, but we have some fun talking and then watching them depart by boat from the adjacent dock to go to the stadium across the river.

Actual food is found at Bulldogs, just around the corner, where we have some delicious fish and chips while watching the game going on across the river on TV. It’s interesting when someone hits a home run, you can hear the fireworks coming in through the windows and on the television. You can also hear the cheers coming from all the numerous bars in the area and from the stadium across the water.

Sunday…Game Day. This trip is all about baseball and the main attraction is the game. It’s Mother’s Day and we’re going to see the Reds host the Chicago Cubs. It’s about a mile walk to the game. Over the bridge to Ohio, then along the riverfront to the stadium.

Behind the stadium is an art installation of a giant paddle wheel, along with a couple dozen posts that vent steam on a random basis. There are also speakers in the posts where you can hear people on river boats.

We are behind the stadium in center field and there is no accessible entrance here. We have to walk around, 2 blocks, to home plate to go to the Will Call booth, pick up our tickets, and enter.

Great American Ball Park is a smallish feeling stadium (42,000 capacity) overlooking the Ohio River towards Covington, Kentucky. As you would expect, Red is the dominant color scheme. There is a faux river boat in the outfield and fireworks shoot out of its smoke stacks at the beginning of the game, when a Reds player hits a home run, and upon a Reds victory. Steam comes out when the home team pitcher strikes out an opponent.

The food choices here are basic and mediocre. Hot dogs, pizza, and burgers are mostly it, with ice cream and candy for dessert. There is pre-made sushi at a little convenience store by home plate, but we don’t want any sushi that’s not made in front of us. The tap beer selection is vast and reasonably priced. Since we’re walking home, we take full advantage of it.

Our seats are at the top of the field level deck, about 2/3 the way from home plate to first base. There is a slight overhang from the club deck above but it does not block our view in any meaningful way. The price for this seat is $47 for this premium game against the Cubs. If you go to see a less meaningful opponent, say the Marlins, it would be five dollars less. There is accessible seating throughout the stadium, from the bleachers to the nosebleeds, along with the more premium seating on the field and club levels. The lowest price is $5 going up to $235 for the first five rows behind home plate. We had no problems getting more than one companion seat.

Ryan Dempster steps on the mound for the Cubs to start the game. There’s no score until the second inning when Dempster gives up an RBI double to Johnny Gomes. The Reds, led by pitcher Mike Leake, have the game in hand until Leake goes wild in the 7th inning, giving up a run on an errant pitch. The Cubs will go on to take the lead by one but the Reds take it back in the bottom of the inning on a Joey Votto 3-run homer. The Reds win the game 5 to 3.

We decide to walk around the area of the stadium to see what festive activities we can find. The answer? None. It’s dead quiet in downtown Cincinnati so we head back across the bridge to Newport to find a lively atmosphere and settle in at an Irish Pub for dinner.

And that’s a wrap for Cincy. The highlights were the baseball game, of course; the fascinating and fun Louisville Slugger museum and tour; and the Kentucky side of the river across from Cincinnati is a lively and fun entertainment district. This leg of the tour left me with a strong desire to visit Kentucky again and explore it a little more fully.

Stay tuned as we head out to leg two of this Midwest Baseball Tour…St. Louis, Missouri.

Darryl
Copyright 2010 – Darryl Musick

Classic Post: Tim's Trip Planning 101 – The Final Chapter

Our Midwest baseball trip is coming together at a fast and furious pace.

(Note, current 2022 prices have been calculated and are updated below, where necessary - Ed)

We have now booked a rental car, which we will pick up in Cincinnati and use for the duration of the trip, which will finish in Kansas City. We’ve also booked hotel rooms at a Comfort Inn in Cincinnati, a Drury Inn in St. Louis and a Marriott Residence Inn in Kansas City. While the rental car and hotel reservations are an important part of a trip, they are not the only important element. The car, a full size, one-way rental, is costing $693.  I used a discount code that I found for Walmart shoppers that I found at Car Rental Savers that got me a bigger discount than my dad's AAA card.

As of last Friday, the baseball tickets have been purchased. For all three games, I tried getting accessible seating as close to home plate as possible for one wheelchair and two companion seats. The surprising thing was unlike Angel Stadium, it was very easy to get more than one companion seat without any hassle at all. I just called each stadium and they were more than ready to help me out. Being an Angel fan, I can’t help thinking my own team screws me every time I want to buy seats there.

In Cincinnati, we will be going to a day game against the Chicago Cubs. We will be sitting along the first base side behind the Reds dugout, very close to the field. There will be a Mothers’ Day scarf giveaway that day. In St. Louis, we will be going to a game against the Houston Astros. We will be sitting in the Infield Redbird Club, which includes access to the Redbird Club, which seems to be a private restaurant and bar for this area. It’s kind of like sitting in a large suite, as I can gather. There will be no giveaway for that game. In Kansas City, we will be going to a game against the Chicago White Sox. We will be sitting in a dugout box very close to home plate. There will also be a women’s T-shirt giveaway as well as a postgame fireworks show, so it should be fun.

The most expensive ticket was $57 for the Redbird Club in St. Louis. This compares to the $60 I spent on pretty lousy seats at Seattle a couple of years ago so the baseball games…all with great seats…seem to be a bargain.

In addition to the games, we are also planning on seeing the Louisville Slugger Museum in Kentucky and the Indianapolis Raceway where the Indy 500 takes place.

Now everything is in place. The only thing left to do is go. I hope you’ve enjoyed this series and that it helps you to see how to plan your own trip. Don’t let your disability get in the way of seeing the world, I don’t and I enjoy every minute I’m on the road.

So, how does it all stack up to our original plans and budget?

Airfare: original budget $975 flying from LAX to Lousiville, KY. Final price: $861 flying from Ontario, CA to Cincinnati, OH. $106 under budget.
(Airfare would be about double in 2022 - Ed)

Hotels: original budget $1,130. Final price: $1,328. $198 over budget but each hotel includes a full breakfast and evening cocktail hour so we’ll make up the difference there.

(Hotels would be about $2,300 in 2022 - Ed)

Train tickets: $78 (from St. Louis to Kansas City). Will not be using the train. $78 under budget.

Rental Car: $693. Not in original budget but would replace flying from Cincinnati to St. Louis and the train plus it gives us a means of transportation at each location.
(Rental car would be about the same in 2022 - Ed)

Baseball tickets: Original budget $180. Final price: $400. Was originally planning on buying cheap tickets but since I was able to get such premium seating at good prices, I decided to splurge a bit here.
(Baseball tickets would be about $450-500, prices are variable because of dynamic pricing used by Major League Baseball today - Ed)

The total cost, for three people over 11 days, is $3182 (not including food).  That works out to less than $100 per day for each person.

(In 2022, the total would now be about $5,300, about $160 per day per person - Ed)

Thanks for joining me. I’m now very excited…this trip can’t come fast enough! 

-Tim
Copyright 2010 – Timothy Musick

Classic Post: TRIP PLANNING 101 - Part 4

NOTE: Tim is in charge of planning our next big trip.  It's a baseball stadium tour working towards his goal of visiting every major league park.  This trip will add three to his already big list.  

Today I bought the plane tickets for our trip. My dad has confirmed that his vacation time was approved so now we start to nail everything down. I went online and did a search at Expedia, Southwest, and Frontier. The closest Southwest came to Cincinnati was Columbus. Frontier went to Dayton. But I found a flight right to Cincinnati for less on Expedia, on Continental connecting through Houston.

(Note: Continental Airlines has since been merged with United Airlines since the report was originally written-Ed)

The flight home was just a little bit cheaper on Southwest from Kansas City, but since Southwest doesn’t charge baggage fees, we’ll save around $100 for the entire flight cost plus, since we board first, we should be able to get bulkhead seats coming home. We will be leaving from Ontario, California…which is a much easier airport than LAX.

Entire flight cost is $861, including taxes, for three people. We already booked seats together for the Continental flights.  Both sites, Southwest and Expedia, let you arrange for your aisle chair and transfer online.

Now it’s time to book the hotels. The best room for the best price I could find in Cincinatti was the Comfort Suites at $131 per night a little less than a mile from the ballpark. It's a wheelchair accessible studio with a king bed and sofabed.  I booked it. It has no cancellation fees if cancelled at least 1 day prior to arrival.

I found a 2-room suite at the Drury Inn in St. Louis next to the arch for $157 per night. Finally, in Kansas City I booked the Residence Inn by Marriott near downtown. Both of these hotels let you cancel with no penalty up until the day of arrival and both are also accessible suites.

Now that we’re guaranteed rooms, I can keep a lookout for lower rates and if I find them, cancel the original reservations to save money.

We’re now good with air tickets and hotel reservations. Next up, need to find a rental car to drive from Cincinnati to St. Louis…and maybe to Kansas City. Also, I need to get tickets to the games.

(Note: We'll be updating these prices for 2022 in the last post of this series, stay tuned - Ed)

-Tim

MIDWEST BASEBALL TRIP 2010 HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS

Some of the best things we saw, along with the disappointments along the way...

BASEBALL - Since the theme of this trip was baseball, let's start with the stadiums.  All the stadiums were top notch, but here's how we rate them starting with the best.

KAUFMAN STADIUM, Kansas City, Missouri - Beautiful stadium with awesome fountains in the outfield for their signature feature.  Very little to no overhang from the upper decks means you can see everything.  Great employees and fans and some of the best pricing in baseball.  We got seats just a few rows back from home plate (in the Dugout Boxes) for only $52 including taxes.  The team is not doing well but did win the night we were there, the day after they fired their manager.  The only other knock I'd give it is that it's out in the suburbs and you need to drive there.  I wish it were downtown, but that's ok.  Great wheelchair accessible seating at all levels.  They just renovated the stadium last year and it seems brand new...I can't believe this stadium is around 40 years old!  To my home team, the Angels...this is how you renovate an old stadium and this is how you include wheelchairs in your seating plans, not the Mickey Mouse way you guys did (pun intended).

BUSCH STADIUM, St. Louis, Missouri - Another beautiful stadium.  Big, expansive.  Many different seating levels to choose from.  Many "private" clubs to sit in...we sat in the Infield Redbird Club along third base and had a food court with two full bars and gift shop that was only available to ticket holder of this section.  That meant short lines, a very comfortable indoor area to go to if the weather got bad, and great views of the field from the second club deck where we sat.  Again, accessible seating available at all levels.  Great views of the arch and an easy-to-walk-to downtown location two blocks from our hotel.  The most expensive of all of our tickets at $57 each...still a bargain.

GREAT AMERICAN BALLPARK, Cincinnati, Ohio - Situated downtown on the Ohio River, not quite as easy to walk to as St. Louis but still walkable.  Great pre-game party atmosphere across the river in Newport, Kentucky.  A small looking stadium with great seating at all levels.  Our seats were halfway to third first base from home at the top of the field level deck at $53 each.  Biggest knock was mediocre to substandard food and very little variety of it.


BALL PARK FOOD - Here, St. Louis shines with barbecue, about 10 different sausages to choose from (including bacon-wrapped hot dogs like you'd find here in LA), Asian stir-fry made as you watch, pulled pork, barbecue, dessert bar, and on and on.  Prices are the highest for food and drinks we saw on the trip and the only beer I saw on tap was Bud, Bud Light, Bud Select, which you might expect from a team owned by Anheiser Busch (or InBev now).  Craft brews were expensive and available in the bottle only.


Kaufman in Kansas City comes in second with a huge selection of different sausages and the best popcorn in the bigs from the Topsy's stands.  Their funnel cake however kinda sucks.  Other selections include barbecue (how can you not in KC?), pan-fried chicken, and cheesesteak sandwiches.  Many craft brews on tap at reasonable prices.


In Cincinnati you basically have hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza.  Pre-made grocery store sushi is available but I wouldn't touch it.  Good beer selection at good prices (great happy hour, pre-game prices across the river) and for dessert, only ice cream and candy bars.  Not the best food.

HOTELS - Drury Plaza at the Arch in St. Louis is an outstanding hotel.  A real hotel, with big marble encrusted lobby and a Lewis and Clark Diorama fountain like you'd find in the theme park.  Large and very comfortable two-room accessible suite with a roll-in shower and recliner in the living room.  GREAT service and lot's of extras included such as hot breakfast, lite dinner and three cocktails a day per person, 60 minutes free long distance each night, 15 minutes free international long distance to Mexico or Canada each night, free wifi or ethernet high speed Internet access, and free soda, coffee, and popcorn from 10 am to 10 pm each day.  There's also two reasonably priced upscale restaurants in the hotel if you get tired of the free food, swimming pool, hot tubs (indoors with a view of the river), fitness room, and guest laundry.  Wow! What a hotel at only $150 per night.


At the other end of things, the Residence Inn in Kansas City was a big disappointment.  The roll-in shower was about an inch above the bathroom floor so each time we took a shower, the bathroom flooded.  There were tears in the carpet that housekeeping tried to hide by moving the sofa (we had to move it back to make room to fold out the bed).  Air conditioner that didn't work (but they fixed it).  Pool closed and the coup de grace was the huge, open air rock concert that took place 200 yards from the hotel...make that VERY LOUD, death metal concert which also filled the hotel with its drunk and chemically alterred fans.  We checked out and went to the Drury Plaza in nearby Overland Park which was not as spectacular as the one in St. Louis but still very good and enough to be the second best hotel of the trip.


We also stayed at a very average and just adequate Comfort Suites while in Cincinnati.

Honus Wagner's Jersey and Bat in Louisville

BIGGEST SURPRISES - The Louisville Slugger factory tour and museum.  Awesome, just awesome.  If you have any interest in baseball whatsoever, you need to come here.  It's like visiting the hall of fame...they even let you hold the real bats of legendary players such as 
Mickey Mantle and David Ortiz.

The Truman Library in Independence, Missouri and the Brown vs. Board of Education historic site in Topeka, Kansas are both moving and important places to visit.

BEST FOOD - Gates Barbecue in Kansas City and the Hanover Pancake House in Topeka, Kansas were both extremely delicious.  Five Guys had great hamburgers as well.

MOST INACCESSIBLE NATIONAL PARK (that should be easily accessible) - Jefferson Expansion Memorial Park (the Gateway Arch) in St. Louis.  Chairs cannot go up the elevator (or trolley) to the top.  Debatable as to whether one of the world's top architects should have envisioned that in the 60's, so that gets a bit of a pass BUT able bodied people can walk down a short staircase to the riverfront.  Wheelchairs must make at least a 1/2 mile, unmarked detour to get to the bottom of the stair when a ramp could EASILY be installed on the adjacent hillside.

WORST AIRPORT - Kansas City International (MCI).  I thought LAX was a bad airport...it is...but this one takes the cake.  Usually, you get to an airport and go through the hassle of checking in and dealing with the ridiculous TSA security checkpoints but then you get to relax (if you have time) and have a bite to eat, get something to read, and go to the bathroom before you leave.  Not here.  Once you're through security, you find 3 or 4 small snack stands, no news stand, and a total of 8 toilets (4 for each sex) for hundreds of travelers.  Not bathrooms...toilets.  All the other stuff is outside of security so once you're in, you'll either have to go back outside or just do without.  Most people do the latter.  Awful airport (the picture above is outside the secure zone).

Of the three cities, the most fun was Cincinnati...or more accurately Newport, Kentucky across the river...with it's many restaurants, bars, and attractions including a pretty good version of a German beer garden.  I'd also like to go back and explore Kentucky more which seems like a very interesting state.

Darryl
Copyright 2010 - Darry Musick

CLASSIC TRIP - East Coast Odyssey - Holmes County (Amish Country), Ohio

If you want to catch up on the tour, below are links to each stop:

Toronto
Niagara Falls
Cleveland
Cedar Point
Holmes County (Amish Country)

After the excitement of Cleveland and Cedar Point, it was time to head over to Pittsburgh. Along the way, we thought we'd venture through Amish Country in Holmes County would be an interesting day.

Once again, the rain started to fall, at times heavily. We set out southbound on Highway 250 out of Sandusky. About an hour later the first sign of the Amish was on the road...a yellow diamond-shaped road sign depicting an Amish buggy letting us know to be cautious of these slow-moving vehicles.

Not too long after that, we saw our first buggy, an open-top rig whose occupants were miserably holding an umbrella against the driving rain. We would sporadically see more Amish buggies both open and closed as we made our way across the state. Another hour and a half and we were on the final road to our destination...Sugarcreek, Ohio.

One more little roadblock before we hit the town - an Ohio state trooper stood in the middle of the small two-lane highway blocking traffic. Soon, a couple of buggies appeared and turned up the drive to the adjacent farm. Then a couple more. After that three or four more. The trickle soon turned to a steady flow as about thirty to forty buggies an several people on feet made their way on the highway and then up to the farm. Once the procession was safely passed, the trooper waved us on and asked us to please be careful because there might be more buggies ahead on the road.

Sugarcreek is a small town with a Swiss them aimed at tourists. I never really got the Swiss connection to the town although I really enjoyed the animated paintings above the shops. It reminded be just a little of Solvang - a Danish-style tourist town back home on the central coast of California.

The Locomotive Switch at Baltic

The Ohio Central Railroad makes several trips daily (it appears that the railroad has been bought out and is now strictly a freight operation, too bad - ed) to the nearby town of Baltic with the passenger coaches pulled by an old coal-fired steam locomotive. This is a very pleasant way of touring through the Amish country while getting a running commentary about this unique way of life. The train and the ticket office in the Depot are accessible while the adjacent gift shop and porta-potties are not. There are accessible public restrooms at both ends of the two block downtown area, just ask for directions.

Because of the buggy procession coming into town, we barely made it to the 12:30pm departure of the train (the next departure would be 2:00pm). My wife ran into the depot and purchased the tickets while one of the conductors and I helped Tim onto the wheelchair lift for the train.

The train left promptly after boarding and the rain had cleared up but it was still cloudy. We saw many Amish farms and learned that while the Amish might forgo modern conveniences such as electricity or autos, they employ friends and neighbors to shuttle them in vans or might drive a tractor at a neighbor's farm before returning home to plow their own field with a horse.

Amish Farms in Holmes County

We also learned that Amish children to not attend school after eighth grade with no apparent ill effects on their education...the state of Ohio tested many of the kids here as part of a study and found they scored higher than most kids. They also do not believe in insurance or contracts...a deal is consummated via a handshake.

It was interesting to see the juxtapositions with modern life. Local supermarkets have a rail where buggies can be tied up while shopping. Horses wear ruts down the middle of a lane while in other places auto tires tend to wear grooves on either side. Of course, we already learned that autos better be aware and share the road with the slow-moving buggies.

I asked the conductor about the buggy procession we had seen on the way into town. It was a funeral. I guess funerals, weddings, and other social occasions are reserved for Thursdays (which this day was ) while Sundays are for church. The rest of the week is work.

On Board the Ohio Central Rail Road

After the train ride, we had lunch at the Swiss Hat nearby and had some wonderful comfort food from their buffet. My wife bought a handmade quilt that upon closer inspection later was revealed to be made in China. Oh well...it's still a nice quilt.

Now it's time to head on to the next leg of the trip, Pittsburgh.

-Darryl
Copyright 2001 - Darryl Musick

CLASSIC TRIP - East Coast Odyssey - Cedar Point, Ohio

After a cozy night and a day of touring in Cleveland, we moved on 50 miles west to Sandusky.


My son and I are roller coaster nuts and are always looking for ways to prove ourselves. Here on the shore of Lake Erie magically rising skyward from the tip of a peninsula is the holy grail of coasterdom, Cedar Point, with more roller coasters in one spot than any other park on earth.

The Point is also home to the tallest coaster in North America (second tallest in the world), Millennium Force (this has since been eclipsed by several coasters - Ed). As Tim Allen might say, this bad boy features a super-quick elevator style lift hill, a 300 foot near vertical first drop, 92 mph top speed, stadium style seating, 120° overbanked turns (that invert you slightly), and two tunnels.

I had made my hotel reservations via Cedar Point's website for the Breaker's Express hotel, which is the Point's budget lodging. There us also the upscale Hotel Breakers, Sandcastle Suites, and Lighthouse Point Cabins and Campground which are at the park. Breakers Express is about a mile away. The other three properties mentioned were either not available or very expensive (Sandcastle Suites at over $200 per night).

I opted for e-mail notification when making the reservations and two weeks before leaving got a message advertising $49 season passes that were available at certain Cleveland area Tops markets. Since we were going for two days and the usual price was $39 per day, this was welcome news. So the last thing we did in Cleveland was to stop at a Tops market and pick up three passes.

After a lovely drive through the Ohio countryside, we arrived at the Breakers Express. It's pretty large and basic...about Motel 6 quality except the beds are bigger. There's a large pool area and a hot tub outside with minimal landscaping. The boxy look of the building and the large security fence behind the pool area depressed my wife who thought it looked like a prison exercise yard.

We reserved a barrier-free room and were place at the very end of the first floor. Unfortunately, this was the absolute worst place in the hotel as the door from the parking lot could be heard slamming all night long. On top of that, the ice machine was just outside so we were treated to a symphony of ice buckets being filled. After the park closed at 10, many shouts from park goers could be heard echoing through the halls. It was truly a miserable night (yes we did complain and security came to quiet the more noisy guests in our wing but could not move us or do anything about the door).

The next morning, we demanded a move. A lovely woman at the front desk actually went up to the third floor to personally find the quietest room she could and moved us there. It wasn't barrier-free but we had no more problems with noise.

After settling that, we headed over to the park. Handicapped parking is right next to the front gate. We processed our season passes with two wonderful ladies who snapped our pictures and printed them on the cards that would serve as our passes. Noticing we were from Southern California, they informed us that are passes are also good at Knott's Berry Farm until next May. Great! We saved money and got passes to our local park as part of the bargain.

Entering the park, we asked about a Special Assistance Pass (SAP) for my son and were directed to Park Operations. There, we got the pass and learned about Cedar Point's unique handicapped ride system.

Maybe a little history is called for here. For many years, parks routinely let disabled guests enter through the exits of rides. Many less scrupulous able-bodied park goers caught on and started renting wheelchairs to avoid the lines. Others started to resent disabled riders who got on immediately while they waited for hours.
Disney started building all their rides to have accessible queues but many disabled persons still can't manage to stand in line that long without problems (and Disney's idea of accessible is somewhat lacking). They also started really cracking down on what constitutes disability...I will never forget the humiliation of having to prove my son was disabled at City Hall there when it is very obvious with his leg braces and limited movement - not to mention the expensive power chair he sits in. Six Flags said, screw it, wait in line till you can't go farther and then try to find someone to help you.

I sympathize with some of it. Disabled guests should not skip the wait time but on the other hand, should not be made to needlessly suffer.

Back to Cedar Point Park Operations. In my opinion, I think Cedar Point has come upon a very neat solution. You are given a passport-like book with all the rides likely to have long lines listed in it. This is your SAP.

You then take this to the ride you want to go on and present it to the worker at the end of the line. The worker checks to see what the normal wait is and stamps your book like a visa with the time you should return (now plus the wait time). If it's 12:00 and the wait time is half an hour, your book is marked with 12:30. You can only make one reservation at a time. It's similar to FastPass at Disneyland.

When your time is up, you return and board the ride. For the inconvenience of having to wait, you are allowed to ride twice. While you wait, you can go on any ride not listed and get immediate boarding or do anything else you want but you don't have to wait at the queue.

I asked several able-bodied guests what they thought of this and all seemed to think it was a fair and compassionate solution...as did I. The ladies in the Park Operations office told us that many disabled park goers didn't like it. I don't see the problem, but maybe some of us have gotten too used to not waiting in line. The ADA says everybody's equal now, so we have to live with the same guidelines.

Now having praised Cedar Point's policy, I do take exception that several rides have stairs to negotiate even for disabled guests. The older rides like Corkscrew, Disaster Transport, Gemini, and Iron Dragon were this way. I know it would not take much to ramp up some of these rides.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Coasterman1234 under CC-BY-SA license

Our first ride was on Corkscrew where the line worker stamped our book for immediate boarding. I carried Tim up the stairs. It was fun but bumpy. Too bumpy for my wife who refused to go on another coaster after that.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Chris Hagerman under CC-BY-SA license

Next was the Mine Train coaster where we again had a short fifteen minute wait (we rode the Antique Car ride and had a beer in the meantime). It was extremely smooth and gentle.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Nick Nolte under CC-BY-SA license

Mean Streak is the towering wooden coaster at the very end of the park. It's more popular so we would have 30 minutes to kill. This we did by going on their river cruise ride which is very similar to Disney's Jungle Cruise ride. Mean Streak was OK but is no match for Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farm...still the best woody in the world for my money. Mean Streak just had too many dead spots in between the exciting ones.

Now it was on to the big, bad boy himself, Millennium Force. It's very popular translating to an hour and twenty minute wait. We used this time to have some elephant ears (fried dough) and more beer. Yummy!
We also went on the Calypso, a kinda combination Twister and Himalaya. The operator made sure that the car my son was riding in was at the bottom of the slope for easy unloading when the ride was over. How thoughtful! I remember the pain of a severely wrenched back from getting my son out of the Himalaya at Magic Mountain when that ride's operator did exactly the opposite.

Time to face our demons and report to the Millennium Force queue for our appointment with destiny.
Tim was very nervous. I reassured him although I was fighting off my own severe case of butterflies as we waited to load. As we waited I noticed something else about this park...the ride operators are very proud of the beasts that they operate.

Every coaster we rode, the operators would consistently brag over the speakers to the guests the eye-popping statistics of their rides like proud parents of little leaguers.

The Mean Streak operator would pipe up "You are about to be dropped 165 feet down at 60 miles an hour on what was the largest roller coaster of it's time. G-forces exceeding 4 will pull at your body. A combined 6 seconds of weightlessness awaits you. Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to experience Mean Streak....please keep your hands and feet inside at all times."

While waiting at Millennium force the speakers would blare "Ladies and gentlemen, please board Millennium Force and prepare to hurtle 300 feet down at 92 miles per hour into some seriously overbanked turns that will invert and disorient you. You will travel through two tunnels and over 6,595 feet of twisting steel track. This is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the country and second tallest in the world. Ladies and gentlemen...this..is...Millennium force."

Millennium Force Looms Over Lake Erie

Upon their return, the operators would get back on the speakers and ask how they like their ride whereupon the riders would break into enthusiastic applause. I like it when it's obvious the employees like their jobs and are as enthusiastic as you are.

We board the train in the second row of the first car and strap in tightly. The elevated second row allows us to see over the heads of those in the first row giving us an equally tantalizing view.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Coasterman1234 under CC-BY-SA license

We leave the station at a quicker-than-normal speed and those butterflies are killing me as I look straight up to, I don't know, forever I guess...the lift hill is a stomach churning 310 feet tall. About two thirds of the way up, the lift suddenly gains speed. NO!!! I'm not ready yet!

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Coasterman1234 under CC-BY-SA license

Arcing over the top, I look with dread 300 feet...straight..down. In a flash we're zooming through the bottom. Another second and we've cleared those massive overbanked turns and head through the tunnel. Around a bend, into a second tunnel where our photo is snapped for posterity. A wicked camel hump, another overbanked turn and we're back where we started. Wow...that was some seriously demented fun.

Lunch is next at the Silver Dollar, one of the park's sit down restaurants. The service is good, the food terrible. Cedar Fair also owns Knott's Berry Farm...I would suggest that they import Mrs. Knott's chicken dinners here ASAP!

We take a nap break at the hotel and return to find the park closes at 8:00 today. We thought it would be 10:00. Not much time left. We make an appointment for Raptor right at closing time. Meanwhile we take in some great views of Lake Erie and the park from their giant Ferris wheel.

Agh! I'm out of film! I would have loved to have posted those pictures here (thank God Wikimedia has come into existence since this trip was taken - Ed).

It's 8:05, just after dusk...Tim and I board Raptor in the front row. Those of you familiar with Magic Mountain will recognize this as a clone of Batman with an extra inversion. Those of you who are not, this is a suspended, looping coaster where your legs dangle in midair the entire ride.

I like this ride, a lot, just like I like Batman. It's smooth, fast, and the inversions are awesome. One major problem on riding it at the particular time we did.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Coasterman1234 under CC-BY-SA license

The first drop and I'm screaming like a maniac and three gnats lodge themselves in the back of my throat.
After the first loop, another finds my eye. I shut my eyes and mouth and feel many more stingingly bounce off my face for the rest of the ride. This is one I don't need to ride twice right now.

That's the end of the first day. That night we sleep the sleep of the dead in our new, much improved room. The next morning, we head back to the Point.

We have a decent, sit-down breakfast at the Boathouse located at Cedar Point's marina before heading in.

We head over to Blue Streak, a much smaller and older wooden coaster than Mean Streak. It looks like a pleasant little coaster that should give us just a little thrill to start the day.

Photo couresy of Wikimedia

Nick Nolte under CC-BY-SA license

After spending much of the ride suspended weightlessly in thin air, I realize that looks are deceiving. This is another completely gut-busting thrill ride putting the much bigger Mean Streak to shame. I am just astounded that this tiny wooden coaster sitting quietly out of the way delivers such a major league coaster punch.

Tim wants to do Raptor again. After waiting an hour for our appointed time (we wiled it away going on a few spinner rides), we ride it twice. It’s much nicer without the night time bugs flogging your face.

Tim and I have one more major coaster to do to complete our list...Magnum XL-200. In its day, like many of the Point’s coasters, it was the tallest and fastest in the world. Although many modern coasters have passed it by, it still packs quite a punch.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia

Nick Nolte under CC-BY-SA license

We only have a five minute wait and the rain is just starting. We are alone in the front car...no one else is there until the third car. It’s scary riding up that huge 200 foot lift hill by yourself. It’s quite fast with some extreme air time including quite a bit in its two terrifying tunnels. The rain combined with the high speed put a bit of a damper on because it stings your face pretty bad.

Millennium Force had been planned for an encore but by this time it had started to rain pretty hard and most rides were closed. We called it a day at that point.

Although we had wanted to repeat many more rides, we are satisfied that we accomplished what we set out to do.

It’s still early, around noon, and we don’t want to spend the day in our hotel. A drive in the country sounds good. We head west towards Toledo and cut up to Michigan where we have lunch at the Buffalo Grill in Erie.

My wife and I split a delicious rib eye steak sandwich while Tim had a burger and fries for a total of less than $12. We notice that we still have some time and Detroit is only 34 miles away. We can pop up there and take a quick tour of Comerica Park (the Tigers stadium) and Tim can add that to the list of ballparks he’s visited.

Comerica Park, Home of the Tigers (notice the tigers on top of the scoreboard)

Though we were only there a couple of hours, Detroit itself was quite a depressing place...like an American Beirut. The stadium is very nice, though. Eating at the in-stadium McDonald’s (the Tigers were on the road playing our Angels) afforded us the opportunity to go inside the park and take some pictures.

We noticed the old Tiger Stadium was still standing when we came into town and tried to drive over to see it, but the streets were very confusing and a Detroit cop just about T-Boned us because he was going about 70 miles an hour and not looking where he was going (no lights or siren, I think he was just in a hurry). At that point, it was decided that was enough of the Motor City and we hightailed it back to Ohio.

Another good night’s sleep and it was off to the next part of our trip, Amish country.

-Darryl
Copyright 2001 - Darryl Musick