DerekRx

Thunderhawk, like most of the Schmeck designed woodies, is best experienced in the front of the train (specifically 1.3, also known as the "Schmeck Seat"). The ride over the wheels may be a little bumpier, but the airtime is good. Phoenix also comes to mind for this, and Comet at Hershey used to be, until they trimmed it after the 2nd turnaround. If you didn't ride towards the front of T-hawk, Larry is a horrible guide, and I have failed you when I forgot to tell you where to sit. I will make sure I am around when you get up to Knoebels, Chuck. Excellent PTR thus far!

Right when you walk into the building (before you even get into the preshow room) it's on the righthand side. There's a door that says something like "out to lunch, key is under the rug" and there's a rug there. If you lift up the rug, there really is a key underneath it, molded into the floor. It was still there on my visit back in March.

I'd rather see lots of photos of a park than read like a 4 page dissertation on how so-and-so met up with CedarPointfan19632421x$4 at Cedar Point and how long they waited for each ride and how sitting in the back row of the 4th car of the blue train of Millennium Force seemed more rattley at 4pm than their ride in the front row of the 2nd car of the red train at 11:15am, where they ate, how much it cost them, that they think they saw MeanStreakManiac4720 playing DDR over by Magnum but they weren't sure because he didn't say he was going to be there because he was supposed to be grounded, how it looked like rain and the weathermen were reporting a 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms and blah blah blah. And I really think it would be a terrible idea to limit photos to 10 per page, this isn't Negative G for crying out loud. I'm sure lots of people don't want to click thru 12 pages of photos to see a whole trip report when it can all be summed up in 1 page. If anything, maybe the dialup users should either bravely venture into the 21st century, or use the mobile version of TPR.

As much as it pains me, tonight I had to drink my last bottle of Port Brewing's Wipeout IPA before it starts to go bad. Oh well, just another reason to head back out to California or somewhere that carries it, like Massachusetts! Farewell Wipeout, until I find you again and bring home a few bottles for preservation, you shall be missed! This is the end of the bottle, better savor it Awww yeah! Now that is one fantastic West Coast IPA, I can almost taste the surf and warm salty air Ah, my favorite IPA, soon you shall be in my gut and before long, you'll be in my bladder

Tonight it was time to mow the grass again (stupid fast growing grass). But before that, I had some time to try a new beer I picked up in Virigina from one of the first microbreweries I visited years ago. Good to see their stuff coming out our way. Then pick up where I left off after mowing, hooray! mmmm, Nuggetastic! After cutting the grass, why not drink it, in pure liquid grass form, the Nectar Surprisingly good, lots of vanilla characteristics, as well as some nice chocolate and coffee tones as it warms up Breckenridge's Vanilla Porter, from a microbrewery I haven't had a beer from in a few years (one of the first ones I visited)

On Sunday we were planning on going to Fatheads and/or D's Sixpack and Dogs in Pittsburgh, but with the construction hassles at the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, we opted to just hit the Mad Mex close to the turnpike in Monroeville on our way home. and to finish off our trip, Heath enjoyed a very confusing Rogue Anniversary Ale, the Latona, a Strong Ale and wow, talk about my dream food item, boneless Buffalo wing tacos! The Big Hop went down so quickly I needed something else to enjoy with my lunch. Bells Oberon to the rescue and I have no qualms about doing the same thing. Yum Being in Pittsburgh, Heath goes for the locally brewed Big Hop IPA from East End the reason why it's the coolest, a constantly changing variety of micros on draft! Back to the Mad Mex again, one of the coolest Mexican chains out there

This weekend we decided to finally get to a place we really wanted to get to, but since they're closed on Sunday's, there won't be any hitting up this place on a trip back from Cedar Point. So instead, we'll go there on a Saturday when they're opened just because we can! Beer stops in other states is always fun, and expensive Hey Bubba, we drove 6 hours one way for this stuff, I think you can drive 45 minutes! Definitely a cool vibe to the place, really old and historical. Awesome place, wish it was closer I just had to go with the Dortmunder, myself. How's it going, Wally! Since I got the Dortmunder chicken sandwich with giant roasted red peppers... Which to drink next, the Burning River Pale Ale or the Eliot Ness Amber? and the very bar where Eliot Ness hung out in his "retirement" years The taps Even Kim gets in on the action by sampling some of Heath's sampler of the Prohibition Pils Where Heath starts with the summer seasonal, the Market Street Wheat, an unfiltered hefe I'll start out with the Commodore Perry IPA Heath says "how about all of it!" and goes with a sampler Lots of good stuff on tap, what to get first? Well, the gift shop is opened, so we'll let Heath do his thing Finally, time to visit the #29 place to have a beer in America, but we're a little earlier than expected. What shall we do?? The brewery wasn't opened for tastings, but we still got a glimpse of the inside Wow, apparently Tom showed up too! and we thought he wasn't even allowed to leave Northampton anymore Finally, after much desire, we finally got to Great Lakes Brewing in Cleveland

^You must search out the Alesmith's Speedway Stout, young one. Post the PTR of that after you reawaken in a day or so! I've become quite fond of stouts lately, but mostly in the cooler temperature times, which is certainly not now. Tonight a drug rep was scheduled to take us out for a presentation on some type of cancer, but the speaker couldn't make it, so we just went out without them with the rep taking the tab. What would I get to drink, if anything??? Hey! I'm not paying and to end the night, dessert time, in the form of a giant bottle of Lindeman's Framboise Along with my filet, I went with the local Troeg's Hopback Amber on tap Seeing how I knew my beers, the waiter was impressed and kept bringing me samples of other stuff to try, like this Smuttynose IPA, which I already had before Next up for me was the Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA, all the way from California and on draft too! all the nurses went with girly drinks like wine and apricot sours First up, brewed right below me, the Legacy Hedonism Red, quite possibly one of the most hoppy red ales out there, and oh so terrific Here we are, back at Canal Street, which is where Legacy Brewing resides in the basement. Who could have possibly suggested having dinner here??? Yeah, that'd be me!

So today happens to be 06-06-07, the one year anniversary of the bottling of Stone's Vertical Epic 06-06-06. I just so happen to be cellaring my remaining bottles of that, as it's supposed to get better every year up until 12-12-12. So, once again we'll break one opened, we shall see how good it still is. Definitely some good stuff. Looking forward to the Vertical Epic 07-07-07 in a few weeks, as well as hitting this stuff again in 366 days Gotta finish the bottle, can't let it go to waste Definitely still got the plum flavors, good carbonation, a nice Belgian sweetness, and good strong alcohol content Haven't had this beer in almost a year, let's see how this Belgian Strong Ale holds up after cellaring

^I could totally see a Sally darkride themed to David and Goliath. Or a Shoot the Chutes called "The Great Flood"; or a coaster called "Exodus" where you escape from Egypt, wander around for like 40 years, and then end up unloading 10 feet away. Or they should totally get a flying coaster, Jesus could fly, right? Oh, what do I care, I'd be spending all of my time at the "Water into Wine" Bar.

I'm pretty sure it's the Hex Hector remix of Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science". Catchy beat and no lyrics at all.

Excellent pics and videos, Jimbo. Texas was a place I really enjoyed on my sole visit there in 1999, and I keep wanting to go back, but at the same time I realize that in the 8 years it's been since I've been there, they've gotten like 6 new coasters in the whole state! (and most of them are kiddie coasters) Hopefully with Boardwalk Bullet opening later this year it'll prioritize a visit there for me in the next few years.

The park owners need to realize that no one wants to learn while on vacation in Florida. Look at how hard a time Disney had getting people to go to Epcot until they added rides, and that's DISNEY!

Tonight's selection Fantastic stuff, very citrusy, but not too bitter. Worth a drive into Wisconsin or even to the actual brewery in southern Michigan for you Chicago peoples. and just because I can easier than Matt can... A surprisingly hoppy cream ale that was easy to drink and pretty flavorful. Next time I expect a Lagunitas XM Ale though, siriously...err, seriously Started off the night with Lagunitas' Sirius, showing their love of hoo-hoo Howie and the little doggy company apparently

No, it's just really confusing. Crystal Beach was over on the Lake Erie side of Ontario, pretty much right across the Lake from Buffalo. I would have said "the only remaining Comet near Lake Erie," but Waldemeer still has theirs. We probably could have ridden the crazy mouse, as it probably didn't have nearly the line it did when we were there last year, but after the lack of spinning it did, we weren't in much of a hurry to ride it again, Silver Comet was too good and too empty to pass up. I think the problem with the newer Crazy Mice (with the lapbars instead of OTSRs) is that they are *too* balanced. In order to spin at all, you must have only 2 or 3 people to a car, not even 4 with 2 fatties on 1 side and the thinners on the other. We spun a bit more with only 3 people on Beech Bends as opposed to having our usual super spin technique on both Cypress Gardens' and Martins'. I'd blame Mark, but he no longer works for Zamperella* Elissa probably would like the new hardly spinning Crazy Mice. *yes, I know the company's name is really Zamperla.

^which is why I put "near", but to make you less confused, I shall change it. And you are correct, Crystal Beach was on the shores of Lake Erie, I'm sure many a coaster historian has suffered a heart attack after reading my lousy comment.

This past weekend I was up in the Buffalo area visiting with Nicole. After only getting one ride on Silver Comet the previous weekend (which she said was running great), when Nicole saw the coaster was operating again on Saturday as we were having lunch nearby, she really wanted to ride it, even though we were supposed to be having a "non-coaster weekend". Well, who am I to argue with heading back to the park I didn't spend much time at last year to ride a coaster I really couldn't ride much that day. With lite crowds and excellent weather, we headed to Martin's after 5pm for the evening discount price and rode the Silver Comet several times in the short 2 hours we were there. I knew I liked the coaster last year, but this year it really grew on me. Not sure what they did to it in the offseason, but it was running really smooth and fast, and delivering great pops of airtime all over the place. I would even say it's in my A-list ranking, whereas before it was in the B+ area last year. Definitely the best coaster in Western New York, wood or steel, and well worth a visit. Onto the pics: Time to head home, until next time. HEEEY! and Timbits, the best donut holes ever! Home of awesome coffees that're cheaper than Starbucks and better tasting No trip to the Buffalo area would be complete without some Tim Hortons, it's like legal crack and since I've been pimped, I'll definitely keep rockin' it hardcore Thanks for visiting Martin's with us, I hope to come back again soon! Alright! I've officially been pimped! (I have no idea who this guy was!) Derek and a waterfall, 2 of Micole's favorite things It really just seemed like a smaller Huss Rainbow to me, but oh well, the Bubbaloians were digging it Replacing the Chaos this year is Full Tilt Yeah, we're definitely fans of Silver Comet. We'd rather ride this than drink any beer Southern Tier makes which quickly straightens out into the final bunny hop before the station The only really rough spot on the coaster is this lateral infested almost-on-the-ground turn Lots of turnarounds on this coaster. I wish it was loaded with turnovers instead though, I just love those little pastries! Only a few "slower" moments on the ride, but this ain't one of them. And even those slow moments are faster than anything on the Beast From the station, you've got plenty of time to watch the sole train make its course with lots of screaming peeps aboard, probably all of them with "everyone loves Marineland" stuck in their heads. The far turnaround is fast, poppy airfilled, and lateral packed. Not quite as steep as El Toro, but definitely has some airtime in that drop Silver Comet promotes intercontinental harmony, representing both Canada and the US on its lifthill A trainful of happy riders returns in a very CCI-ish dip into the station But we hit it at the right time and had our pick of rows. Front of course! With only 1 train, the line can get pretty bad, I reckon The whole reason we're here, to ride the Silver Comet, which took its station inspiration from the Crystal Beach Comet, which once stood almost-but-not-really nearby on the opposite shores of some stupid Great Lake These Canadian geese had their babies in the states, thus making more Paul-like Canabians No canoes for us today, too much work involved. as the deputy ran away, we realized we had better do the same while the whole park was watching the show, we had rides to hit Kinda cute, what we saw of it We walked by the wild west area right as the show was starting Today the train was running, but we didn't have time to ride it again Of course, Nicole's first stop was the bathroom but better now than when we're in a queue After 5pm, you can get into MFI for less than $12, definitely worth the price and even though she can't handle her lactose, Nicole can't resist some custard Of course, I had to get the native to Buffalo "Beef on Weck", a roast beef sandwich on a bun with sea salt and fennel seeds. Awesome stuff The day started off outside of Fantasy Island at Adrians across the street, well known for their custard and beef

I just wanna know how weak some people's bladders are if they can't hold it for the time they're in a queue. I drink a hell of a lot (shocker, I know) but I still have enough common sense and respect for the general population to take a whiz before I get in a line if I even have the slightest inkling that I'm gonna have to go in the time I'd be in line for. And the people I hang out with also have the decency to wait for me before they get in a line, they don't just continue on without me and have me try to shove my way past 100+ people to re-establish myself with them. Do people line-jump at the airport security checks? No. Do people line-jump at the bank? No Is there line-jumping at the DMV? No Then why do people think it's acceptable to line jump at amusement parks? The ONLY times I can handle line jumping is if it won't affect the rest of the line. For instance, if you have 5 people, and your 1 friend gets in line, that doesn't really affect anything. But if you have 5 people and 3 more join the line, that moves everyone else who actually had the dignity to actually wait in a full line back by a row. The other time I can handle line jumping is if you are in line, and after like 2 hours in line that wasn't expected, like the line was only supposed to be 40 minutes, but has lots of breakdowns, you go pee and then return (or anything over 3 hours). But to have someone either get in line and then leave 5 minutes later, only to return 30 seconds before they're next to board because their friend calls them on the cellphone and tells them to hurry up, or to have someone not actually in the line from the beginning, that's just disrespectful to the rest of the people who actually waited. Then again, most of the world today is "All about me, I'm the most important, everyone else is far inferior to me"; or, in the case of the "minorities*," "just getting back for years of oppression." As Todd Long always says, "if they were your real friends, they would have waited for you before getting in line, maybe they want to get rid of you." *people who just like to play the racist card, has nothing to do with your sexuality or the color of your skin

Yeah, not really news (but pretty much nothing these days is). Have the news interview the Poconos, Cincinnati, Wisconsin Dells, Williamsburg, Niagara Falls Ontario, Lake George, Kansas City, or any of the other places where Great Wolf Lodge or something similar has been built and see how many locals are protesting the fact that they've got to get a room for the weekend in order to go to the waterpark. This is less news worthy than the sock-eating washers and dryers.

I like the whole idea of guest only waterpark resorts. I've stayed at several Great Wolf Lodges and had a great time, mainly because there were no lines due to only guests being allowed in. I know some other places, like Kalahari Resorts has a limited number of GP that they let in each day, thus making for more lines. It's a nice perk to ONLY allow resort guests, it gives incentive to staying at on site, instead of a nearby Super 8 and then heading over to the waterpark and paying admission. I love the whole craze with these indoor waterpark resorts, gives me some fun stuff to do in the winter.

Tonight was one of the most dreaded things ever, my company's quarterly meeting outside of work. Usually I can escape it because it's mainly just a nursing b*tch session, but with all the changes in the daily routine in the pharmacy as of late, I had to attend. Better get ready... In short, I'm looking forward to the next quartly meeting, even if I don't HAVE to attend! and for dessert, Lindemans Framboise, no question The flavors really complimented my chicken marsala and potato chip encrusted tilapia. And it was quite nice to have beer while listening to the nurses yabber As well as a Rogue Dead Guy Ale with my main course Hooray! It's an open bar night for us. I, of course, will be having a HopDevil as my appetizer Nothing too amazing, light in taste, but pretty good on those hot summer days Not knowing if alcohol was included in the dinner meeting, I quickly had one at home while I changed. Sierra Nevada Summerfest was tonight's choice, mainly for its low abv and easy drinkability

Disneyland, like many parks lately, are becoming a "babysitter". Would these teens be acting like this with their parents with them? If so, that's pretty sad and pathetic parenting. I commend Rastus, for not only trying to teach the linejumpers that what they're doing is wrong by involving an authority in the parks, but I also think the little f bomb dropping girl should have been booted from the line, hopefully learning her lesson about using such language in a family environment. If the problem is stopped early enough, things wouldn't have escalated, and it probably would have set an example for other people observing. Rules are established for a reason and they're meant for everyone, and should be enforced for everyone; if allowing linejumping and vulgar language continues, it will just be mass confusion and chaos. I can totally see how that event would ruin the day at a park, you shelled out lots of cash to be able to have fun, not get line jumped and swore at by some unruly little kids, only to have no positive feedback/satisfaction other than a lineskip pass. On the other hand, Rastus is one giant doo-doo head, and probably deserved to be linejumped

Silver Comet at Martin's Fantasy Island yesterday with my woman! Running great!

Yesterday I headed up to visit Nicole in Buffalo. Since I'm such a wonderful guy and quite lucky to have her, she she showed me some of the more interesting things in Buffalo that I'd be interested in; which is exactly why it's being posted here in the beer thread! Excellent flavors, but a little strong on the alcohol finish. Not masking its 9.5% abv very well at the end While I went to slay some dragons with Middle Ages Dragonslayer Imperial Stout And Nicole actually drank the whole bottle! I'm quite good at being a bad influence But someone apparently wanted more chocolate, so it was time for some Rogue Chocolate Stout that I picked up earlier in the day We split the chocolate fondue before wobbling back to the hotel after consuming so much Godiva chocolate A few hours later Nicole was sober enough to enjoy some Butterwood goodness, all sorts of desserts Awesome! Time to take advantage of this situation!! =D Ut oh, looks like someone drank a little too much, and for once it's not me in that position Loaded with fruity flavors. Good on a hot summer day though Saranac's Pomegranate Wheat was next on the agenda. Being the coffee fiend she is, Nicole really likes the stouts Next up was the Oatmeal Stout from Buffalo Brewpub for me While even Nicole went and got a beer, the Leinie's Sunset Wheat, of course. Of course, I was all about getting their own stuff, so I started out with the Pale Ale and they even brew some of their own beers here A really nice place with a great long bar, free peanuts and popcorn, no smoking, and over 30 taps of all sorts of stuff. Plus they've got a dining room too Next stop, Buffalo's original brewpub, so named the Buffalo Brew Pub! and a little bit of English and European representation for our overseas buddies The up and coming craze, canned microbrews. They even fill growlers here Just look at this beautiful site. Why can't Pennsylvania be like this!? Lots of great stuff from all over, though some of it was outdated, I managed to score something from this picture. Wally, any guesses? First stop is Consumers Beverage Center, a beer and soda shop in Niagara Falls, NY

Dude, that sounds like it could possibly be the BEST selling point about a trip to London, walking across a bunch of brides! Seriously, great pictures, glad you guys had a wonderful honeymoon, despite some of the coasters being closed or having long lines. Congrats on getting hitched.