We left our small but adequate hotel early in the morning for the four hour trip south to Sandusky, Ohio, and a return to Cedar Point. Andrew and the kids left at the same time. The hotel had no breakfast offerings, so we stopped at a McDonalds. Traveling was thankfully uneventful. The weather was mostly cloudy but at least there wasn't any rain. We arrived in Sandusky at about noon. We did a little shopping for some snacks to take on the long drive back home the next day. Then Karen dropped me off at the Point while she spent the day with our daughter and grandkids. I had two main objectives that day: cheese-on-a-stick and a mirror maze. The last time we were at the park was for the season's opening day. The midway was a lot more colorful now that the numerous floral displays had bloomed, many of which were only completely visible from the air. Since it was passed lunch time, the first thing I did was head over to the Hot Potato for a fresh cheese-on-a-stick. Even though I had been able to concoct my own substitute at home, I hadn't had a "real" one for over a year. It was just under $10, but it was nice and hot, so I knew it was fresh. And Cedar Point was one of the last places to sell them. I sat down on a nearby bench, put it up to my lips, took a bite and ... a long strand of rubber emerged from the inside of the corn meal. Cedar Point for some reason changed their winning formula. They were no longer using American cheese, which melted into the corn meal. They were now using mozzarella. It was more like eating a corn dog with a stick of string cheese crammed inside. And the mozzarella gave it an odd taste that didn't blend with the corn meal. I was crestfallen. I finished about half of it, but that was all I could ingest. The next thing I was curious about was the progress on the old Johnny Rockets diner, which had been renamed the Funway Arcade. On our last visit they had just begun constructing a mirror maze inside and I wanted to see the result. It actually was a pretty impressive site, taking up about half the interior. Even so, it wasn't all that large. The size reminded me of the small trailer-mounted mirror mazes at carnivals. The "Maze of Mirrors" entrance was blocked by a turnstile that had a flashing payment terminal on top of it. One trip cost an eye-watering $10. I attempted to pay with my phone like I'd done everywhere else in the park, but it didn't work. Instead I had to visit a nearby cashier and purchase a Cedar Point cash card to swipe at the terminal. I was able to pay for the card with my phone. Then I walked back over and swiped the card. Nothing happened. I had it in the wrong orientation. I flipped the card around and swiped it again. That time the terminal beeped and I walked through. The entrance was on the left and the exit was on the right, next to one another. The entrance offered a pretty stunning sight of a seemingly endless and colorful Romanesque corridor. The lights inside kept changing colors, which made it even more disorienting. I walked forward and quickly came up against the first set of mirrors. So I turned to the left (since the exit was on the right). I started to figure out the trick of navigating the maze. I would watch the reflections of myself in the corridor. If there were three of them that began to converge, I knew that direction was a dead end. What I found most interesting is that I never seemed to progress very far into the maze, but it seemed that way because of the reflection's illusion of depth. The actual path I followed was (necessarily) very shallow. Within about three minutes, I had made it to the exit. It was enjoyable, but I'm not sure it was worth $3.33 per minute. I did like the aesthetics of it. I walked across the main midway and over to my favorite ride in the park, the Blue Streak roller coaster. There was a full queue line (as well as a separate one for the priviledged Fast Lane riders), but it moved fairly quickly. This time no one was at the station telling guests where to sit, so I was free to queue up for the front seat. The coaster was its old reliable self, providing a smooth and airtime-filled (if brief) ride. Then I headed north past Valravn, emerging near the Coasters Diner. The two vintage cars out front were back in place, and there was a checkered line around the plaza delineating where the 1950s musical revues took place during the day. I continued on toward another of my favorite rides that had been out of commission on our last visit: Iron Dragon. There weren't many of these Arrow suspended coasters remaining. But I wished there were. I liked how the cars swung out around curves. There was a pretty long line, but as with Blue Streak it moved pretty quickly. While I was waiting in the queue that ran alongside the pond, I could clearly see the new footers that had been installed for the Top Thrill Dragster "reimagining". Rumors were still rampant online of exactly what was happening with the ride, once the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. But the park was smartly building suspense, letting only small details leak out a little at a time. Some were saying that this was the most anticipated coaster project in decades. As always, I got the front seat on Iron Dragon and enjoyed my flight over the pond and through the trees. Although it was the largest such ride constructed at the time, I wished it had been a bit longer. When I left the station, I circled back around by the Corkscrew to see if I could spot any changes in the Dragster area. The park had modified the fencing around it so that it was no longer possible to peek through cracks. I managed to catch a glimpse under the fence, but it didn't reveal much. At the northernmost part of the ride, I noticed that the yellow top hat structure was starting to be painted grey. The sun was begining to emerge from the clouds and I was getting thirsty. So I started looking for some fresh-squeezed lemonade. The park used to have a few carts around the park, but I hadn't seen any up to that point. I walked through the Gemini midway and finally spotted a small concession near the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. It cost $7 for a small cup of lemonade, but it was refreshing. I sat on a nearby bench, sipping and relaxing. After my break, I continued on toward the north end of the park. Sagebrush Sue's was open. I was tempted to try another cheese-on-a-stick there to see if it was made differently from the terrible one I had, but I didn't want to waste my money. Because of the hassle to ride the nearby Steel Vengeance (having to get a locker and remove all the stuff from my pockets), I passed on it. Besides, it was about 2:30 and I was supposed to be meeting up with Karen. So instead I queued up for the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad. It was a fun way to get back to the south section, traveling past the Cedar Creek Mine Ride and the amusing scenes in Boneville. While I was on the train, I got a text from Karen saying she was on her way. When I arrived back at the station, I noticed that the big white tent for the park's upcharge "VIP Experience" was nearly empty. I didn't know why anyone would pay extra money to drink alcohol under the roar of Millennium Force's trains as they repeatedly returned to the station. I headed toward the front of the park to meet up with Karen. I passed by Valravn's turnaround where there was a stone wall behind a patio with cafe tables. On our previous visit, the wall held dozens of empty planters. But now that entire wall was in bloom. The park was really crowded at that point and Karen had to park near the back of the lot. She told me that our daughter and family would be meeting us for dinner at the Grand Pavilion at 4:00. We browsed through the park's big gift shop, which had an ornate iron Ferris wheel just like what was outside the VIP Experience. I noticed it came from the online vendor Zaer. So anyone with enough money could get one for their home. Then Karen and I headed to the new Boardwalk area. We entered the Grand Pavilion and sat outside on the top deck overlooking Lake Erie. We relaxed and watched the distant ships and a parasailer gliding over the waves. Heather and her family arrived with two of their friends, one of whom knew me from my days working at the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round. He wanted to chat with me about Mountain Park. I ordered the same meal I had on our previous visit, the fish with pineapple rice, along with a key lime pie for dessert. Once again, the food was really good. We all sat and chatted for quite a while. Then we said our goodbyes to our family and their friends and departed Cedar Point. It was nice to see the progress in the park since our last visit. It was fun to follow the evolution of whatever Top Thrill Dragster was becoming. The next time I would see it would be when it reopened in its transformed state. Karen and I stayed at our usual Sandusky haunt near the park, the South Shore Inn, and woke up at 3:00 am for the ten hour drive back home. We always looked for the landmark in New York, the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, which meant we had reached the halfway point of our journey. And what a journey we had: ten parks in two weeks, the most ambitious excursion we'd ever attempted. It was completely exhausting. We arrived home a little after 2:00 pm and pretty much collapsed. I was glad we got to spend time with the grandkids and the family, along with Karen's twin brother and her sister. But that was the last big trip for the year. We drove over 2750 miles, the equivalent of traveling across the continent. It was certainly an adventure. But as Dorothy discovered on her own exhausting journey to Oz, there's no place like home.

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