Road Trip 2002

Monday Aug 13 - Sapphire
Elliot, Nancy & Harvey played golf today. Mom did much better - a 97! Ate lots of leftovers for lunch and then went to the falls. At Bridal Veil Falls cars were being turned around - the officer said there was a truck accident. We asked about Dry Falls, and he said we could go that far and then come back. Everyone loved the falls, and then we chanced heading on to the swimming hole - I had told the boys so much about it, and they really wanted to go. We made it, and man, did we all love it! Mom and Elliot climbed about 30 feet to a ridge from where the locals jump into the pool below. Elliot jumped first, because it took Mom 10 minutes to get the nerve up. Marcus discovered a hole in the waterfall where he sat in a natural Jacuzzi. We swam and enjoyed. We saw Cullasaja Falls and headed back to Cashiers, stopping in Highlands again for ice cream. Then we went looking for Sliding Rock, though we found Silver Run falls first. There some locals directed us to sliding rock, which wasn't too far. Sliding Rock was lots of fun, though Logan had a slight mishap, sliding down backwards his 2nd time when he slipped, and caught his feet on a ledge, leaving small bruises and a tiny cut, but he was quickly fine and continued sliding! Left to go warm up and change for dinner at Horacio's. It looked good and sounded good, but was generally disappointing. Mom's rack of lamb with fruit sauce was clearly the best item on the menu.

Tuesday Aug 14 - Sapphire
Mom, Dad & Marcus played golf then over to Cornucopia to sample the regular lunch menu. Got a call from Dr. Alvarez that they were putting Mom back into the hospital - Holy Cross in Ft. Lauderdale. Another episode of congestive heart failure. We'll keep our fingers crossed that we don't have to cut our trip short. After lunch, we headed to Meadow Lake to go boating. Harvey took Elliot and Logan on a tiny "powerboat" with an electric "motor" - Mom could swim faster! Mom, Marcus & Ilana took a sailboat. Took us ½ an hour to hoist the mainsail. Finally got the sailboat underway, and after about 15 minutes of fun, Marcus ran the sailboat into shallows and we got stuck. We eventually managed to push ourselves out, only to have strong wind push us right back! Now we were really stuck. Mom jumped into the water to push while Dad switched boats and finally got it out with help from the guy back at the boat launch. Everyone was relieved to get back. We'd all had enough of that. Dinner at Lightwater Grille, clearly the best food we'd had in NC.

Wednesday Aug 15 - Sapphire
Last day of golf - Mom, Dad & Elliot played with Paul from Tampa. Headed to Highlands for lunch and shopping. Ate at the Highlands Inn, historic building from 1880. Outstanding chicken salad with toasted pecans. Shopped in several local stores, and then drove to Franklin. Took the long and winding road around to "The Factory", a local version of Boomer's with an arcade, putt-putt, go-karts, bowling and more, including a decent restaurant. Everyone had a good time, and then we drove back to Sapphire. The problem was that it was now dark and raining, and driving was a little scary and somewhat treacherous. We were no sooner talking about driving carefully when we came upon a bad accident where a car had run off the road, stopped only by the trees from falling a thousand feet! Miraculously no one was seriously injured. Then some idiot didn't care for Dad's cautious driving and kept flashing his brights at us, and Mom got more than just a little pissed off. We finally pulled off and let him pass. We arrived safely home. Jacob called and he's worried about Mom. She's had an up and down day in the hospital. Still keeping our fingers crossed. We packed up to leave tomorrow.

Thursday Aug 16 - Sapphire-TN-KY-OH-Sandusky/Cedar Point
We had a big breakfast courtesy of Harvey. We packed up the car and headed for Ohio, via some interesting NC roads, then to I40 around the Smoky Mountain National Park. You certainly can see where they got the name - intense fog could all around; glad we took the interstate. Some beautiful scenery in Tennessee as we approach the Kentucky border. Next best church name - the Over Yonder Church near Oneida/Huntsville TN. Cumberland Gap is a pretty awesome view. Kentucky looks every bit as beautiful as TN. Classic lunch at Cracker Barrel where Ilana actually liked the macaroni and cheese, and ate every bite! Got into Sandusky around 8:00, checked in and walked along the dock to Friday's, which was connected to the hotel. Largest Friday's we'd ever seen. Had a supervised playroom for kids while the family waited for their table, and a game room for the bigger kids. Went back to the hotel after dinner to get a good night's sleep before our big day at Cedar Point.

Friday Aug 17 - Sandusky/Cedar Point
A quick breakfast at Deli Café and off to the park. Early pass for 9:00, general public gets in at 10. We went right to the Millennium Force. What an amazing ride! Ilana went too - an incredible drop at an 80-degree angle! 92 mph! Awesome! We also loved the Magnum XL 200, another steel coaster, and the Mean Streak, a classic wooden coaster. Then there was Wicked Twister! Shoots you out at 72 mph in less than 2 seconds, up at near 90 degrees with a twist, then backwards to another 90-degree rail with a twist! Forward and back again, then back to the center. What a rush! Lunch was awful, but food at Cedar Point is not going to be at a premium. Dinner at the Boathouse, which had pretty decent ribs, and right at the Marina on Lake Erie. We were dog-tired!

Saturday Aug 18 - Sandusky/Cedar Point
Early again for a quick start. Park a bit more crowded today. Ilana is starting to really enjoy the roller coasters - I think we've created a monster! After Magnum we sent Marcus and Elliot off on their own with plans to meet up at 1:00. We made sure Logan got to enjoy some rides. We eventually met up with the boys and made our reservation for Wicked Twister. Then lunch at Macaroni's, more rides (boy it was hot!) Marcus, Elliot, Ilana and Mom got soaked on Snake River Falls. Caught a shuttle over to Breakwater Café. Very disappointing food. Back to the park for more fun. Mom conquered her fear of "falling" rides, and rode Power Tower. What a rush! Then a laser light show, a couple of more rides on the way out. Midnight as we left the park. None of us had ever been so tired!