A concert in Columbus and Killer Whales outside Cleveland
Wednesday, August 12 – Although not part of our overnight trip, we started a mini-vacation by taking the kids to Kings Island. Michelle had pointed out repeatedly over the summer that she hadn’t been there for eight years. We all rode the Adventure Express roller coaster, the Viking Fury swinging ship, the Amazon Falls water ride, the train and the taxis. While Scott and Lynne rode the Log Flume, Jim took Michelle on the beast. They also rode the Racer a couple of times while Scott kept going back to Adventure Express. We all rode the Flight of Fear, an indoor coaster that uses magnetic induction to propel the cars from 0 to 54 mph in 3 seconds instead of using a hill to generate speed. We left the park a little after 9:00.
Thursday, August 13 – A little after lunch, we set out on I-71 retracing our route to Kings Island. Around Washington Court House traffic came to a halt so we detoured on some side roads and got into Columbus around 3:30. Route 315 was closed for construction and the detour signs soon had us lost. Despite the best efforts of Ohio’s DOT, we found the Holiday Inn on Lane Avenue across from Ohio State and checked in a little before 4:00. Our room was on the fifth floor and overlooked the campus. Scott went for a swim before dinner at Ashley’s restaurant in the hotel. We left Scott in the room where he amused himself watching movies and playing Nintendo while Lynne, Jim and Michelle went to see Patty Loveless and Vince Gill perform at the Celeste Center. After the concert we stopped to have a funnel cake and let the crowds thin out. Scott had a grand time without us and ate the weekend’s supply of snacks while we were gone.
Friday, August 14 – We were tired from the previous evening and didn’t get down to breakfast until 9:30. By the time we left Columbus we had decided to visit Sea World on Saturday. Instead we drove past the capitol building before heading out of town and making our way north to I-271 and Macedonia. There were several motels there but we wanted to see the area around Sea World and proceeded through Twinsburg to Aurora. Our search for a motel began there and proceeded to towns north and south until we finally ended up in Macedonia. We got the last non-smoking room in the Comfort Inn in Boston Heights. Our room turned out to be a suite with a kitchen and a sleep sofa. We walked next door to Moonbeam McSwine’s Barbeque which proved to be a mistake. Lynne’s stomach hurt so badly after dinner she could only lie on the bed and groan. Jim and the kids went for a swim in the indoor pool and hit the hot tub. The motel lobby had a salt water fish tank. Michelle was enamored with a puffer fish.
Saturday, August 15 – We left the hotel without eating because the continental breakfast area was jammed beyond capacity and most of the food was gone before we got there. We drove to Sea World and parked about a half mile from the entrance gates. Once inside we ate lunch for breakfast. The park was very crowded and the weather had turned very hot making us regret our decision to postpone our visit by a day. At the aquarium we watched sharks and jellyfish swim. The kids tried to pet some stingrays and sharks in a touch pool. We watched a show featuring two Killer Whales and some small dolphins, tried to watch an exhibit on pearl diving, let the kids feed some sea lions, and were unable to get close enough to the dolphin touch tank to pet the dolphins. While waiting in line for the shark exhibit Michelle overheated. We decided we’d had enough and left the park. We drove back south stopping at a Best Western at the Mount Gilead exit. We all went for a swim after dinner at the Wendy’s next door.
Sunday, August 16 – After breakfast at the Best Western we headed south and got back home around lunch time.
Milestones on this trip: Michelle finally got to see Sea World.
States and provinces we visited: Ohio.
Capital cities we saw: Columbus
