August 2009
24 posts
Disappointment: Carnival Rental and Dorney Park
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Prior to arriving in Philadelphia, I had made arrangements with a local carnival rental company to rent a Wacky Wire, one of the games commonly found at amusement parks. The company insisted that I find someone with a Pennsylvania driver’s license accompany me, as apparently it is harder to track down someone out of state. Providing a credit card and/or putting down a...
Diet
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
Today I ate six scoops of ice cream, some waffles, a chocolate-almond croissant and a small size tangy frozen yogurt with blueberries. That was all. Pretty good day, I’d say.
I started the day by making waffles for my wonderful hosts in Baltimore. Then we drove down to the waterfront and stopped at a frozen yogurt place called Mr. Yogurto’s or something like that. The...
Maryland
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
Today I woke up relatively early to go to the University of Maryland Dairy, which had been recommended to me. I was unable to find their hours on their website because it is terrible and when I called the number provided, it only gave me the hours of the visitor center in which the Dairy is located. I arrived at the visitor center in the morning only to discover that...
Christmas Comes Early
Toys for Tots is a program run by the Marines to provide needy children with toys during the holiday season. In October or November, businesses generally offer to serve as collections stations at which donors can drop off toys. I think this is a great cause.
Because the toys donated to Toys for Tots are not going into a hospital setting with immunodeficient children, a little potential dust on...
Washington, D.C.
Friday, August 28th, 2009
Today I drove from Alexandria, Virginia to College Park, Maryland, after stopping for lunch with a classmate and neighbor from Minnesota Law. I found a YMCA in Alexandria and stopped to work out before heading on my way at around 3:15 p.m. I am very concerned that Washington, D.C. may have been hit really hard by the bad economy. Otherwise, I cannot explain how...
Video Link - fixed
The link to the video from the King’s Dominion post is fixed.
Going to Amusement Parks Alone
It seems that most people go to amusement parks in couples, pairs or groups (plus families). I run across very few people at the parks by themselves. As I see it, the major benefit I get of going alone is that I can go during non-peak hours that fit my uniquely flexible schedule, but generally do not work for my friends. Really, I only see a few benefits of having friends come along. First of...
King’s Dominion Day Two
This morning I woke up early and made waffles for myself, my aunt and uncle, and a few of their friends. A real breakfast of champions made with a waffle iron of champions.
After breakfast, I set up a makeshift bank-a-ball game in my aunt and uncle’s basement for practice. Check out a short video of my practice session. I probably spent 15 minutes or so practicing before heading off to King’s...
Dairy Godmother
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
After donating the toys to toys for Tots, I went and played a round of golf with my uncles. I won with an 87, including a triple bogey and three double-bogeys. So I played pretty well on the remaining holes. My aunt gave me a list of best “cool treats” places in the D.C. area, taken from the Washingtonian magazine.
After golf, I drove to a place called the Dairy...
A Very Long Tuesday = a Very Long Blog Post
Today I woke up at 7:00 a.m., went to the store to get some groceries, made waffles, called Chase Bank to learn they screwed me, stopped at two ice cream shops, went to King’s Dominion and won a giant prize, and drove 400 miles to my aunt and uncle’s home outside of Washington, D.C.
Chase Bank.
In preparation for the trip, I decided that I would need a new bank account. TCF bank is pretty much...
Elizabeth Creamery
Even though Carowinds was a bust, we managed to salvage the day by playing some miniature golf, seeing a movie and getting ice cream at a local shop in Charlotte called Elizabeth’s Creamery.
Pretty good-looking shop owned and operated by a Korean couple. The owner had framed an article about the shop, including a picture of him, and placed it on the wall. Naturally, I appreciated that...
Carowinds
Carowinds is a horrible park. Or at least I suspect that it is. I don’t actually know because the park was closed when I got there. I never would have expected an amusement park to be closed on a Monday in August. But the sign and locked gate at Carowinds made it pretty clear, even if there was no indication on the front page of the website.
On the contrary, the front page of the website...
Ultimate Ice Cream
I was able to stop at Ultimate Ice Cream in Ashville, North Carolina this weekend. I was pretty pleased with the place. Sort of a hectic interior with advertisements and things all over the place, including t-shirts for sale claiming to have the best ice cream in the world. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it was good. I got one scoop of Belgian Dark Chocolate and one scoop of Black...
King's Island
At around noon on Friday, I went to King’s Island. I arrived and received no direction at all, but followed some signs, trying to distinguish between “gold pass” and “preferred” parking. In addition, I was searching for any available parking spot in the whole lot. The place was packed.
At my last trip to Cedar Point, at least they had employees misdirecting me, eventually sending me to an RV...
Friday Morning in Cincinnati
This morning I woke up early to visit briefly with my generous host in Cincinnati. Then I returned to bed and slept until 10:30 or so. I was hoping to leave Cincinnati by 1:00 p.m., so this was really pushing it if I hoped to get ice cream, go to the park, and donate my winnings.
I called around in the morning to find a place to accept my upcoming winnings. Ronald McDonald House and the...
Moving Out Continued
Moving out takes forever! I never knew how much stuff I had. As a result, today’s schedule got all messed up. I did not finish moving out until 6:30 p.m. today (and only thanks to some much-needed surprise assistance). After packing up, I drove straight to Cincinnati, arriving just before midnight. As a result, Young’s Dairy missed out on my business and King’s Island will only lose one daily...
Moving Out
My initial plan to go to Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon, MI fell through today, as moving out is taking forever. Selling things on Craigslist is a pain in the neck. Maybe not worth the effort. Are there no normal buyers out there?
I had two people call up and arrange times to come pick stuff up, never to be heard from again. Another guy planned to buy a dining table and four chairs, picking...
Car Trouble
After a few weeks of going back and forth with the local mechanic regarding my 1998 Mazda Millenia’s check engine light, I was referred to another mechanic with more sophisticated equipment. Thus, on Wednesday, I discovered that my car, worth about $2,500, needs $1,500 in work to be fit for a road trip. And that work cannot be completed in time to meet my schedule.
Naturally, the solution to...
Colin vs. Cedar Point: Colin by Six
After two visits to Cedar Point, I’ve won six big prizes. That’s pretty good.
At future parks, I will limit myself to three attempts per game, hopefully getting to the point that I consistently win 1-2 prizes. If I win two (the limit), maybe I can make some friends giving away my third attempt. I also have some practicing to do before tackling the other big-time games.
Tour Warm-up: Day Two
Saturday was the wedding. I heard about a county fair going on in Berea, OH, but was unable to sneak away before the wedding. Congratulations to Logan and Carrie for being more important to me than winning.
Sunday after brunch, I stopped at Cedar Point again, having borrowed a little cash. When I arrived, the parking lot attendants pointed me to drive around the whole park and then directed me...
Logan's Wedding
The reason I was passing near Sandusky this past weekend was because I was in my friend Logan’s wedding in Cleveland. I was initially a little self-conscious about not bringing a date, but quickly rectified the situation by picking up a couple of pageant winners at Cedar Point.
Tour Warm-up: Day One
On Friday I went to Cedar Point for about 4 hours in the late morning and early afternoon. I was mostly focused on just walking around and exploring, but I rode a few rides and played several games.
I have not ridden any roller coasters since 2002 and suffer from mild to moderate fear of heights. My prior experiences on the Wicked Twister and the Power Tower were terrifying and I only really...
Tour Pitfalls
Going on an incredible trip like this is not free from pitfalls. I am particularly concerned about a couple.
First of all, it is possible that I will win tons of carnival games and then get stuck with a more oversized stuffed animals than I could possibly want. In fact, I do not really want to keep any of these stuffed animals. I love playing games of skill and, as a very competitive person, I...
The Blog and the Trip
This blog is inspired by a trip that I have planned. To put it somewhat into context for any unacquainted readers, I should offer a little information about myself. For roughly 23.5 of the past 25 years, I have lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan. The university attracts a lot of young people, most of whom stay for only 3-5 years. As a result, many of the friends I...