Rugged One

Pretty much any of the new U.S. wood. Voyage, Kentucky Rumbler, and El Toro all look pretty exciiting.

Shuttle loopers definitley. Especailly the old Arrow launched loop types. I've ridden 15 different boomerangs and I can honestly say that I've never really had a fun ride on any of them.

That's right. Grannies with beers rock! :shock: Nothing beats snuggling up in front of the fire with the wife......and of course a bottle of Stone Smoked Porter. Another beer of Christmas. Santa's Private Reserve by Rogue. A rather delicious amber ale. Ho Ho Hops!

So Saturday, the wife and I went down into Maryland for a friends 30th birthday party. The party wasn't too far away from Gaithersburg, so we decided it would be an excellent chance to check out the new Dogfish Head Ale House that had just opened in October. Gaithersburg is a pretty well to do area and the new Ale House reflects that, being more swanky but a lot less homey than the brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE. I hear that's something they are working on though. Had myself a 60 Min IPA and Snowblower Ale. If we had had more time, I wanted to go for one of their big beers, either the 120 Min IPA or World Wide Stout but we were a little pressed for time. Maybe next time. One of many Victory HopDevils drank throughout the course of the party. One of my favs. The 60 Min IPA. Good beer. The new Dogfish Head Ale House in Gaithersburg, MD.

The 12 Beers of Christmas continues with some more Nor Cal Brew representation. The wife let me treat myself to a little early Christmas present tonight. I'm most definitely not worthy! The Anchor Brewing 2005 Christmas Ale. Once again, another outstanding beer. This years has a very strong accent of cherries and spices. Loved it. The Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Freaking fantastic! Great taste with a nice hop bite. I really need to try more from these guys.

Thanks for the tip on the Berkely location. That sounds like a good one to visit. I'm always interested in breweries that have come in and occupied a previously used warehouse or factory building. It definitely adds some history and character to it. And I'm always up for a Hefe. The Appalacian Brewing Company up in Harrisburg did the same thing when they first started, totally renovating an old factory building that had been used for various businesses for the better part of a 100 years. Plus the large size of it allows for a ton of space to put their brew pub and brewing operations in. OK, here are my last couple of the night. We'll have to see what I get into tomorrow. Maybe a little something special from Santa. We'll end the night with one of the Anderson Valley "Booneville Beers". The Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale. I enjoyed it. It had a nice spiciness that was a good contrast to everything else I had today. This is the Winter Storm Ale from Clipper City Brewing down in Baltimore. I've tried a few of the Clipper City brews and they are all pretty decent. I need to get down and visit the brewery sometime.

We're planning on hitting either the alehouse in Walnut Creek or Berkeley, when we do a coaster tour of Nor Cal next summer. Which one have you been to Wally? Both? Which one has the best atmosphere? Anyway, on with the beers. Weyerbacher is one of my favorite local breweries (OK, their like almost 2 hours away) and they brew an excellent winter ale. Surprisingly smooth with a great taste. Plus I love the klepto snowmen on the label. Three Floyds Brewing produces some outstanding beers and the Alpha King Christmas Porter is no different. Excellent hints of Chocolate in both the flavor and aroma. Better than a hot cup of cocoa on a cold winter's day (like today). Ah, the Otter Creek Alpine Ale. Very hoppy and delicious. After trying their Otter Summer, Octoberfest, and now this, Otter Creek is one brewery that is quickly growing on me.

So it's nearly Christmas, it's snowing outside, I've got the next couple of nights off from work, and a horde of Christmas/Celebration/Winter brews in the fridge that I need to try out. We'll call this "The 12 Beers of Christmas". Next up. Shipyard Winter Ale. I really need to try more Shipyard product. I recently finished off a case of Pumpkinhead Ale and really enjoyed that as well. Let's start things off with a little Pyramid Snow Cap with lunch. I really enjoy Pyramid brews and this one is no different. Yum!

There was one notable difference between this and the original that I thought could be seen as a spoiler and fans will definitely be surprised and excited by it. I'm a big King Kong fan and was overall pretty pleased with it. I mean, it's directed by one of the biggest Kong fans out there and he definitley does the material justice.

Did someone say Mad Elf? Yum!

Making Flavors! Thanks.

I just got offered a new job, so I'm a celebrating with a cold one. A Flying Dog Pale Ale to be exact. Yum.

While I really liked the ride, it still comes off as a poors man's Spider Man, if you've ridden Spiderman as a comparison. It just lacks that certain magic and the little effects that pretty much sets apart the vast majority of Universal's rides from anyone elses. The main thing that really bugged me was how non immersive it felt, with some not so great transitions from scene to scene, compared to Spiderman where it sometimes seems pretty flawless. That being said, I still give BGW all the credit in the world for building this. There aren't a lot of parks out there with the money or initiative to put something like this in. Even with the unfair comparison to it's cousin down in Florida, I'd still take it over just about every other non-coaster ride being built today.

You can do the same thing on The Legend at Arnolds Park. You can literally high five the trees on some hills, the airtime is so extreme. Probably my favorite choppers on a steelie is Mamba at WOF. Just a great illusion of closeness as you go through the helix.

I've been drinking a lot of local beer lately. The ones I've been digging the most are: Troegs- Dream Weaver Wheat DuClaws- Misfit Red Amber Ale Stoudts- Scarlet Lady Ale (E.S.B.)

I've heard that it is a good park at night time but that is unfortunately when everyone goes. We went on a Sunday morning in late July last year and finished all the coasters(3 on Megazeph), the dark ride, spaceshot and drop tower, and a spin on the Catwomens Whip in about 3 hours. Because of the heat down there, it seems that everyone waits to go in the evening instead of the morning.

I think that the old arena will some day be torn down but not anytime soon. There is still too much public sentiment tied up in it. One day though. As for a future waterpark, an article in the Patriot a couple of months ago on the future of the park made the point that the Parkview Golf Course that runs along the back of the park is dispensable (with 4 others in the area) and could be a possible area for future development of some kind.

Kennywood for Kennycon this past Sunday. Good times.

I'd have to give a best vote to the Mt. Olympus page. I didn't start getting real excited about Hades until I saw it action on their site. For worst I would have to say the Ocean City Pier Rides page. Just very plain and not very useful. No descriptions of the rides and doesn't even list a ticket plan.

Nice report Eric. I was at the park this past Saturday and was just thinking about how if they were going to be building something new next year they would have to start soon. When Turbulence was cancelled, didn't they state that something big was coming for the 100th anniversary? I guess we will have to see.

I guess I need to start planning my annual October trip now. I'm wondering how much the event fast pass prices are going to go up? I was joking around during last years event and said that pretty soon they will probably be as expensive as the admission.

Nice reports Ted. Your making me miss the two things I loved most about living an hour from Myrtle Beach for 6 1/2 years. The Swamp Fox and happy hour at Liberty. Man, I gotta get back down there sometime soon.

Any coaster is good at night allthough my favorites to ride in the dark are kick ass woodies. Legend, Raven, Rampage, Boulderdash, Phoenix, Ghostrider, Thunderhead, Hades, Ozark Wildcat, Timbers. I'll take a night ride on any of those over anthing else.

So far this year, I've been on Hydra, Powder Keg, Kingda Ka, and Hades. I have to go with Hades for best of the year so far. I couldn't get enough of that tunnel action.

Jack Rabbit @ Kennywood.