The Skillet Trip

This is the roller coaster upon which I conquered my fear.  Ashley, Jorden and I are in the last car on this drop.

Previously on the Skillet Trip – The Matt Edition we had just gotten done almost being killed monster/dog/rabid beast.  Then we went to the hotel, got in the hot tub, and went to sleep.  I woke up the next day, ready, refreshed, and scared to go on the roller coaster.  Aunt Dawn made a mistake and thought that the park opened at 9 instead of 11, so we had a few hours to ponder our fate.   We went to breakfast.  Jorden was not that happy because they didn’t have the omelette eggs, but Aunt Dawn and I were happy because they had sausage.  After breakfast we got in the car and went to Lakemont Park – family excitement since 1894.  I convinced Jorden and Ashley that I was scared of going on the roller coaster, since I don’t like the quesy feeling in my stomach.   The first ride that we went on was the Monster.  As we were in line for the ride we got splattered with oil and then we got on the ride and me and Jorden – we were not expecting it to drop so fast.  We screamed – in our manly voice.  We went on the Gravatron which is a big wheel where your as you spin you get stuck to the wall and then it turns completely on its side where you go from being on the ground to being way in the air.

Ashley, Jorden and me on the Gravitron.

After the Gravatron, they convinced me to go on the roller coaster.  As a sat into the car, my heart went down to my stomach.  On the way up I heard a tick tick tick tick tick sound and Ashley told me to just get used to it.  As we turned the corner I said to Jorden in a very confident way, “there is no turning back now”.  He smiled and gave me a knuckle touch.  The knuckle touch gave me a sudden star-powered burst.  Then the first hill was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  We got the biggest quesy feeling I ever had, but the whole time Jorden and Ashley were laughing, I decided to man up and enjoy the roller coaster.   I kept on going every time that Jorden and Ashley wanted to – and most of the time I wanted to.  Ashley got sick of the roller coaster by the time it was lunch.   It rained after we got back from lunch – but luckily we had our bathing suits, so it was almost as if we were already in the water park.  Unfortunately, the water park was closed.  Jorden was broken-hearted when he found out that the paddle boat rides were closed.  We went on the bumber cars for about half an hour.  While we were in the bumper cars, instead of trying to hit cars we were trying to avoid them and do doughnuts.   Jorden said that we shot a plane down while we were on the roller coaster and hijacked it.  I do not quite remember that because my eyes were closed so that I would get that butterflies in my stomach more.   We went on a whole bunch of kiddie rides and the went on the oldest roller coaster in the world.

“Leap the Dips” – The oldest roller coaster in the world.

Then we went on the big roller coaster and we played Marco Polo/Hide’n Seek with the ladies who worked on the roller coaster.  We screamed like girls while going up the hills, instead of while going down the hills.  Then at the end of the day they played a Backstreet Boys song and I danced to it all night long.  But now me and Jorden are convinced that we are going to make a music video with the same exact settings.  We had a very fun day, but if you want to hear more read my blog tomorrow.

Jorden, Ashley and me at the peak of Little Round Top at Gettysburg.

Today we went to Gettysburg.  We had a tour guide.  Cliff our tour guide showed us the battlefield.  We walked around and told us about the battle between the north and south, Union and Confederate.   We saw the Michigan monument.   We saw Cemetery Ridge where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.  We saw Little Round Top where General Sickle was supposed to take over the first day.  On the way leaving we saw a turtle in the middle of the road.  Our tour guide showed us where to get gas and showed us some houses that had battle damage.  Then we went to General Pickette’s buffet.  Legend says that General Pickett was friends with Colonel Sanders.  They had really good home-made bread and good spaghetti.  Aunt Dawn’s favorite was the chicken parmesan.  They had terrible lemonade though – don’t go there for the lemonade.   I had mash potatos and macaroni.  Ashley almost died eating spaghetti.  Me and Jorden had to use the restroom, but Aunt Dawn felt like being a little cruel, so she let Ashley decide when we could.  We were in Shanksville and we went to go see Flight 93.  It was temporary memorial and lucky for us there was porta-potties there.  There were four planes that went down – 44 people died, 4 of which deserved it.  Hopefully we are not related to any terrorists that would be offended by that.

The temporary memorial at the crash site of flight 93 in Shanksville, PA.

Then we went to gravity hill, where water flows downhill – even though Aunt Dawn says it rolls uphill.  The car rolls backwards down hill.  Then we went and saw a borro/donkey.  Me and Jorden have a video of us going to pet the burro/donkey and we almost got mauled by a ravenous beast/dog/monster.  In the middle of us running we dropped all the pop cans out of the car and left my shoe as we all piled on top of each other getting into the car.  Even though we rolled downhill it was worth it because we saw a dog/monster beast.

We went to Holiday Inn.  Me and Jorden went into the hot tub for about an hour.  Then we worked out in the weight room for about two hours.  Then we went to bed and woke up the next day.   To be continued…

Jorden, me and Ashley at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Today we went to Philidelphia and we saw the liberty bell.  We saw Independence Hall building.   We sang the Will Smith song on the way to Philly.

Ashley, Jorden and me holding Philly Cheesesteaks in front of Genos – by far the best place to buy a Philly Cheesesteak in town.

We went to Geno’s and Pat’s and we all taste tested to see which one was better.  By far Geno’s was better.   Pat’s cheese was barely melted and Geno’s was tender and juicy.   I found half a skateboard.  Then we went to the Diner Car and had Scraple.   We went to Hershey’s chocolate factory and we played and went on a chocolate tour.  We took pictures and drove home as it rained.

Ground Zero site where the World Trade Center buildings used to stand.  The memorial will be dedicated here on Sept 11, 2011 – the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack.

Today we went to New York City.  It’s astonishing to see how big the buildings are compared to people – it’s like an oak tree compared to an ant.  We went to Ground Zero and seen the memorial that they are going to build.  We through security so that we could go on the statue of liberty, and as we went through the man said that we have knives in our  backpack and he searched the bag and confiscated the butter knives.  Then I went to the statue of liberty and we had to wait in line for an hour and a half and when I went to securtiy the line was short and I went through the metal detector.  The man told me to get out of line and then he patted me down and took my wallet from me.   After security we went and got to go on top of the pedastal.  Uncle Justin took a whole bunch of pictures.  Then we went on the ferry again to Ellis Island to take more pictures and to see where our relatives first came to.

Ashley, Me and Jorden at Ellis Island with New York City as a backdrop across the Hudson River.

Then we got back to New York.  Then I got to become the navigator/the map.  I told everybody where to go on the subway, and I navigated us in Central Park, and through Manhattan.  We went to Central Park and had an delightful picnic and we spread the peanut butter with Jorden’s hunting knife, since we had lost our butter knives.  Then we went and seen where John Lennon was murdered, and it was a sad moment for Uncle Justin as he finally saw the place where one the worst things in Beatle history ever happened.  Then we were late by fifteen minutes, so I had to navigated from the upper West side to the lower East side – all using nothing but a subway map.  It was very exciting as we made it to the play just in time.  It was a very interesting play.  Very unique.  I navigated us back home to the Staten Island Ferry and I fell asleep on the way home at 12:30.  ~ Matt~

Me pointing out the beautiful moon as we ride back to Staten Island on the ferry after a busy day in New York City.  Just above the orange railing you can see the lights of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn.  This is the longest suspension bridge in the world.

Me with my 2 lb burger.

I was baffled to see how big the burger  was .Denny’s beer barrel pud ,serves the biggest burgers in the world.I was almost a champion  with only one bun left. I will admet I was deffetied today. An I feel that Denny was nice and was able to sustain a constent  flow of people with out going  to a school for cooking , but he menchend his father was a cook also.but its no suprize that people come back ,with food as good as his.complements to the chef.   9 out 10.   ~MATT~

Joe, the owner of Joe’s Gizzard City, with Ashley, me and Jorden.

Today was one of the best days of my life”so far”. We had fried BIG JOE NUTS.I got to interview joe .joe  was very cool  and calm as we ask questions .he tought us good life lessons and skills. such as money cant buy happiness .servis was exilent ,it made you feel at  home. thank you for your hospitality.over an out .Matt a.k.a ttammatt