This morning started with me stalking weather forecasts and we ended up having a slower start than anticipated, thanks to quite a storm rolling across Lake Erie about 7:30 am. It was pretty wild to watch the lighthouse just disappear in the storm clouds.
While it stormed, we had a breakfast of road snacks and packed up. Once the storm started winding down, I filled bags with ice (I’d literally packed a couple boxes of different sized Ziploc bags, and these were a great thing to have with us) for the cooler. When the storm was really over, we hauled our stuff out to the car and checked out. Then it was off to the park for round 2.
We got to the park about 9:30, half an hour after early entry for hotel guests officially started. We wandered a bit, before Nick got into line for Top Thrill 2. This was a ride he had said yesterday he did not need to ride, but with ride closures plus early entry ride limitations, he decided to ride it anyway. I think he waited about 40 minutes. This ride is NUTS. I occupied my time waiting by getting the Coke Freestyle package for me for the day and social media-ing. Eventually he re-emerged, thoroughly impressed by this coaster.
We headed deeper into the park, where we took pictures and then Nick and I both rode Iron Dragon. This is probably Cedar Point’s version of a family coaster. It was totally doable for me. We also marveled over the fact that to evacuate one coaster, people would have to go down dozens of spiral staircases. That coaster wasn’t on my list anyway, but it really wasn’t after that. I HATE spiral staircases.
Then Nick saw that Millenium Force, which is apparently the original giga-coaster, whatever that means, was practically a walk on, so I held the stuff while he headed off to ride the giga-coaster.
Nick reappeared probably 10 minutes later, having enjoyed Millenium Force. He said his beard got pretty wild on that one. After that, we wandered through Frontier Town, me grateful that Disney’s Frontierland does not have live animals, unlike Cedar Point’s Frontier Town. This area was RANK. We also got the soda package for the day for Nick. This really is a solid deal. You get a wristband. At each soda station or quick service restaurant, they just scan your wristband and hand you a cup. That same cup of soda is $5+ if purchased individually. The soda package was about $23 with taxes. So 4-5 sodas and it’s paid for itself. Most stations had Freestyle machines.
After a decent break, Nick found his way to Steel Vengeance. This ended up being a MUCH longer wait than what was posted, but it also ended up being his favorite coaster at Cedar Point. He emerged grinning like a kid in a candy shop after that one.
By now it was time for some food, so we headed in the direction of Happy Friar, because who doesn’t like loaded fries?! We split whatever they were calling the fries that were dusted with bbq seasoning and then had pulled pork and bbq sauce on top. These were pretty good. They would have been better if they had had cheese sauce too, but they made a good lunch.
From here we could see that Gemini was actually running for basically the first time since we’d arrived in Sandusky, so while I cleaned up from lunch, Nick headed off to ride that. It was a short wait, and he emerged just as the ride shut down, with guests stuck partway along the track. He did not like this one. Something about male anatomy slapping against the coaster seat.
By now our time at Cedar Point was starting to wind down. We did a little shopping, discovering that there are embroidery kits for sale in the store check out lines for all of us stuff holding wives. We took our picture with a Snoopy statue for my Peanuts loving mother in law. We rode Blue Steel, which is a 1950s wooden roller coaster that I’m pretty sure re-aligned my brain. Nick decided he didn’t want to ride a coaster that had previously been on his list.
We wandered the park a bit more and then Nick decided he wanted to ride Steel Vengeance once more time. So we made our way there, I took his stuff, and then I set off to find dole whip while he waited in line. I got pineapple strawberry swirl, and it made my day. Then I headed back to Steel Vengeance to wait for Nick, where the people watching was excellent. My personal favorite was the kid that was probably about 10 who admitted to his mom after exiting the ride that, while on the ride, he had “said the f word”. Considering it’s a wooden roller coaster (now on a steel track) that has corkscrews, I didn’t blame him in the least. Seemed like his mom didn’t either.
Nick emerged eventually and decided he had done all he needed to at Cedar Point. So after another soda stop (yes, we did get our money’s worth!) we made our way out of the park and back to the hotel parking lot.
Nick emerged eventually and decided he had done all he needed to at Cedar Point. So after another soda stop (yes, we did get our money’s worth!) we made our way out of the park and back to the hotel parking lot.
Back at the car, we got organized for the drive, programmed the GPS, and headed out. It was about an hour and 20 minute, very easy drive to our next hotel, the Home2 Suites Perrysburg Levis Commons, a little south of Toledo.
Check in was easy, and after finding the parking lot, we quickly hauled our stuff in and settled in to room 306. We were very happy with this room.
Once settled in, we made dinner decisions and walked to dinner. Levis Commons is a business/shopping complex with stores, a movie theater, restaurants and other businesses. I hadn’t really realized this when booking, but really appreciated the convenience factor now.
A 3 minute walk brought us to Bar Louie, a chain we’d never been to, but that we would absolutely go back to. Dinner was great here. As an added bonus, their happy hour runs later than most so we were able to take full advantage of that. The big thing for their happy hour is $6 martinis and they have numerous “signature martinis”, most that are not typical. We’re not martini drinkers, but we had no issue finding inexpensive beverages to drink here. And they were legitimate cocktails. Our first round was a raspberry lemonade martini for me and an espresso martini for Nick. We also got the pretzel bite appetizer. I had a grilled chicken sandwich for dinner that had to be the most tender grilled chicken I’ve ever had. I don’t actually remember what Nick ate for dinner. For our second round of drinks, I had basically a margarita in a martini glass and Nick got the s’mores martini. Food and beverage were excellent and service was too. This was a great find, and being able to walk here from the hotel was wonderful.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel where we chilled, I stalked some weather forecasts and we crashed early.
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