Roller Coaster of Love

Saturday we had free passes to go the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and after a horrendous time getting there (which I'll get to in a minute) I just have to say that one of the things I noticed was that going to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz today really isn't that much different from when I went to the Boardwalk at the Shore (for those of you not familiar with Jersey accents, it's pronounced Sho-aw) when I was in High School. Same types of teenagers, same types of occasional drunken dirtbag (you know, overly tan with a mullet, moustache, and Oakleys), and same type of families. The rides are a little bit more advanced but most of the key rides are still the same (ferris wheel, roller coaster). But the most noticeable thing was that the music hasn't really changed-- it's still a mixture of 60's stuff and 80's tunes. I heard while at the Boardwalk, Huey Lewis, Madonna, Rick Springfield, Kool & the Gang and a whole host of tunes that were played when I went their in High School. Why those tunes, who knows? Because the music of the 80's was the last time pop music didn't try for some sort of edge? Because it's all run by Gen X'ers trying to relive their youth? Who knows.

I also always hated roller coasters, or at least was too afraid to get on one. Slowly, I learned that most of them aren't that bad and if they are, they're over so fast you won't even notice that you're hating being on them. Which is why most of the times I ride them, it's only until 3/4s of the way through that I realize I'm having fun. The good thing about having free passes and sticking around til the park closes is that you can ride the roller coaster as many times as you want to so that you can realize you're actually enjoying it while you're on it. Thus, not being able to get enough of the Great Dipper Coaster despite riding it around 10 times.

There's another ride there to, the Double Shooter, which is one of those one's where they strap you in with other people and the contraption shoots up a tall tower and then drops you the moment you get up to the top of that tall tower. Once you get shot down, you get shot back up and so on and so forth. Normally this is something that I avoid at all costs because it involves two things I'm deathly afraid of-- heights and falling from said heights. But after much cajoling, I finally went on it and had pretty much the experience mentioned above concerning roller coasters. I shot up once, shot back down and then shot back up and midway through the second round I realized that I was not going to die of either horror or a heart attack.

Lessons learned
-Roller coasters are fun
-the Great Dipper at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk might be the most perfect roller coaster ever
-don't be afraid of rides. Except for the one's that spin you around while at great heights
-go to amusement parks late and stay til the very end as you'll miss most of the crush of people and your bulk time there will be spent without much in the way of lines or annoying children.