Hehe, unlike Ft. Lauderdale, at the Ohio airport the wireless access costs $8 for 24 hours (though of course it's more like $8 for however long you're actually going to be at the airport). I didn't remember how long I had to wait for Bryan and Cat, but I thought it was about 2 hours, so I figured it was worth $4/hour to be entertained. But seconds after I clicked the submit button on my payment, my cell phone rang and Bryan announced they had just landed. I quickly checked my email and shut down the computer to go meet them. $8 for 45 seconds or so... Not as good a deal as I had thought :)

We rented the car (my first time excercising that newfound ability) and made the hour's drive to Sandusky and checked into the hotel. We then set out to find food and, more importantly, somewhere to sate my long-standing craving for Guinness. T.G.I. Fridays had it on tap, but there was a 45 minute wait for a table and we were tired and hungry, so we gave it a miss. Our next stop was The Thirsty Pony (billed "A Fun Place To Eat And Drink").

They had Guinness in a can, which was close enough for me. Surprisingly, it was actually kind of good. I was expecting that I would finally try it and go, "Pah! I had forgotten how terrible this is! I no longer crave this." But sadly, it was actually pretty good, and my craving remains. I guess it really is an acquired taste. I still find Corona and other lighter beers pretty gross. I think one big difference is that Guinness isn't very carbonated at all. For some reason that lets me enjoy it more.

The hotel we're staying at is part of Cedar Point, so we are allowed into the park an hour before general admission opens at 10:30am. Cat woke us up at 6:30am so we'd have time for a leisurely breakfast (a bit early, we felt). We ate and got ready, then headed to the park. I figured there'd be cool photo opportunities, so I took my bookbag with my camera and lenses. Cat was pretty sure there were cubbyholes at each ride where you could leave loose items and pick them up when the ride is done, so we figured we'd do that. If worse came to worst and that wasn't an option, we could just get a locker and I could leave the stuff there.

The parking lot was desolate as we arrived. We excitedly entered the park and headed straight to one of Cat's favorite rides, the Raptor. There were a surprising amount of people in the park, but there were only about 30 people in the line. I took a few pictures while we waited, as the general gates opened and the line grew tenfold behind us. When we got to the front, they told us that bookbags aren't allowed into the lines of any of the rides since there's nowhere to put them, so we had to put in a locker. However, for some reason Cedar Point is very aggressive about saving places in lines etc. (the penalty is expulsion from the park), so we had to give up our early place in line to go rent the locker, and when we got back, there was already a 45 minute wait.

We moved on to the Millenium Force, a coaster that has a 310ft, 80° drop and reaches 92mph (heh, what a way to start the weekend). It was faster and the big drop more unending than I remembered, and I was instantly reminded why I was so happy to be here.

Later that day, as we were walking past a group of middle-school girls, one of them held up a piece of paper on which she had written, "WILL U MARRY ME?" I figured it was meant for someone else, but as we continued to walk, she turned kept the sign pointed at us and looked straight at us as her friends giggled. There was no one else around us, so it was clearly meant for us, though I'm not sure if she had Bryan or me in mind. For egotism's sake, I'll just assume it was me.

After that we rode a few more rides, then picked up the stuff from the lockers and ate lunch and I took a few pictures. We played some carnival games and Bryan won Cat a Stewie plush doll and a stuffed Care Bear. When he won the Care Bear she let me have the Stewie plush since it was obvious I coveted it :)

After that, we put the stuff back in the locker and got in line for the Top Thrill Dragster, the park's highlight and the main reason I wanted to go. It was a two hour wait, but it was worth it. It launches you from 0 to 120 mph in four seconds, and then the track tilts up 90° and you climb 420’ straight up, before cresting the hill and shooting vertically back to earth (reaching 120mph a second time). The ride only lasts 30 seconds, but it packs a lot into those 30 seconds.

While we were waiting, we saw a few cars that were apparently heavier than usual or maybe they didn't get launched with as much force as usual, and so they didn't quite make it over the crest of the hill, and rolled backwards down the hill. That would be scary as hell. There's a magnetic braking system in place to handle such eventualities, so it's not like it's a big deal, but just having something go wrong as you are hurtling 42 stories into the air would put a sizeable void in the pit of your stomach, I think.

Finally it was our turn, and it was as intense as I expected. The most thrilling part is actually the initial acceleration. I think it kind of puts you into shock, because I don't remember much at all about the climb or the drop. I don't think I could ever be a professional drag racer, judging from the expression of sheer terror that was on my face as we accelerated. When we were done, I apologized to the middle-aged guy beside me for the girlie screaming. I'm definitely bringing Natalia here as soon as she's tall enough to ride all the rides.

As darkness fell, we returned to the locker, got all our stuff out, and turned in our locker key. When the woman accepting our key saw my last name, she asked if I had a relative named Sandy, and I confirmed that yes, my aunt's name was Sandy (my mom's sister). The woman asked if Sandy went to such-and-such college, but I had no idea where she had studied. The woman then asked if Sandy had lived in Michigan, and I knew they had grown up in that general area (Indiana, etc) so I said yes, I thought so. Apparently this woman might have gone to college with Sandy. Or she might not have, because Sandy's last name is not McCormack (that's my dad's last name), and I don't think she went to school in Michigan. If it's a coincidence though, it's a weird one.

After leaving the park, we went to T.G.I. Fridays and Bryan and I enjoyed more Guinness, this time from a tap. It still had an undercurrent of bitter unpleasantness, but for the most part was actually genuinely enjoyable. What has Bryan done to me? Oh well, if I'm going to like a beer, it may as well be the one that my name implies I should be drinking.