Roller Coasters And The Amish

Sunday, August 10, 2008
So, the boys and I went to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio - roller coaster capital of the world.

(We drove straight up on Thursday, did the park for eleven hours on Friday and then drove straight back to Charlotte arriving Saturday night, then had a full Sunday today and did anyone see the truck that crushed my nearly forty year old body?)

I mean, insane roller coasters. Their newest one is Top Thrill Dragster, which is the largest roller coaster and has the biggest drop of any roller coaster in the whole. wide. world.

It drops 420 feet. At 120 miles per hour. The whole ride is 21 seconds. It is terrifying and surreal just to watch.


I did not ride this roller coaster. This had nothing to do with my fear, no sir.

I was protecting my children, you see?

Anyway, to get to Cedar Point we took the scenic route through rural Ohio. Through Amish country.

The boys had never seen the Amish before. These guys in Ohio are the real deal. Horse and buggies. Guy with long beard cutting his grass with a scythe while his little boys played nearby dressed in suspenders and little hats. Women gardening in dresses and head coverings. The boys were fascinated. And amused by the horse poop all over the side of the road - "Look, Dad, Amish!".

We are going to research together the way of life of these gentle people. Should be fascinating.

Then we got to Cedar Point. Amazing technological achievement, rampant consumerism, the triumph of the American imagination, second only to Disney.

But with way scarier roller coasters than Disney.

And there were lots of church groups there, with kids munching cotton candy and corn dogs, waving Glo-Sticks, sporting t-shirts emblazoned with Christian messages - "Got Jesus?"..."I broke the law...I prayed in school"..."Jesus - the same yesterday, today, and forever".

These Cedar Point kids would think the Amish were quaint and maybe dorky.

I suppose many Amish would not know what to make of either Cedar Point or slogan Christianity.

But...

One Lord...one faith...one baptism.

One God and Father of us all. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pretty cool.
 

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