After a late start (lunchtime; we’d hoped to leave earlier), we headed first to Catawba, where we drove around to get the lay of the land. We stopped briefly at the Mon Ami Winery, and perused the gift shop, taking home a couple bottles of wine. The winery also has a lovely indoor/outdoor restaurant, but it’s a little more geared toward adults.

Next, we stopped at the ever-popular Cheesehaven and African Safari Wildlife Park, which I’ve covered previously. But I’m happy to report that the giraffes are back from their hiatus at the park. Although I’ll admit to being a little terrified by how long the adult giraffe’s tongue was, as it stuck its head in our sunroof. My wife opted to leave her window closed for much of the ride!

Out next stop was checking out the city of Marblehead, which is really quaint and laid back. We drove past the gated entrance to Lakeside—the Methodist-owned “Chautauqua on Lake Erie”—and eventually made our way to the picturesque setting of the Marblehead Lighthouse. You can pay a couple bucks for a tour to the top (children under 6 are free), but we just missed one tour, and didn’t have the time to wait 40 minutes until the next one.

We intended to hit Train-O-Rama, which has one of the state’s largest model railroad displays, but were disappointed to learn that it closes at 5 p.m., even in the summertime (note that they have a dollar-off coupon on their website). So, instead, we let the boys choose a backup adventure. It wasn’t even a contest, they wanted to go to Prehistoric Forest & Mystery Hill, just outside Marblehead on Ohio Route 163. As a kid, I’d always wanted to visit Mystery Hill, which is advertised on numerous billboards throughout the area. As an adult, I knew it would be totally cheesy, but I was still intrigued to see how bad it would be.

Everything about Prehistoric Forest/Mystery Hill looks like it’s straight out of 1950′s America from along old Route 66. But that’s what I found appealing. We found a coupon in one of the tourist circulars and the four of us cost about $18 to get in. (We passed on the extra charges for the pitiful looking mini golf and some sort of water balloon thing.)

Mystery Hill mostly consists of a little shack that’s built at a 10 or 20 degree angle on a hillside. You walk through it and everything seems distorted. The tour guide tells visitors that it has something to do with strange magnetic forces on the hill, but it’s clearly just tilted. Still, the kids loved it.

Next, the Prehistoric forest consists of a walk through the woods with occasional fiberglass creatures. This was probably a lot more impressive a generation ago, but with the lifelike dinosaur exhibits like the Cleveland Zoo’s current Dinosaurs! attraction, these are a bit pedestrian nowadays. With one exception, these creatures don’t move, they’re simply large forest sculptures. The mythology here is that the Prehistoric Forest was not just home to dinosaurs, but also everyday creatures from today that are unusually large—a 20-ft praying mantis, for example.

Neither my wife nor I was impressed by the place, but our kids really were, and that’s the point. They talked about it for days afterward even as we rolled our eyes a little. They’ve talked about “the next time we go…” but alas, even if we could be talked into a return adventure to Prehistoric Forest/Mystery Hill, our time is running out. The owners of the attraction have decided that this will be the last season. So if you’re in the mood for some old-fashioned cheesy adventure, time is running short.

We ended the day with a great dinner on the outside upper patio at Crabby Joe’s Dockside, (loved hearing the live music downstairs!) sitting on the rocky shore of the beautiful East Harbor State Park, and an ice cream cone at the Pied Piper in Huron, as we traveled back east home. There’s so much to do in this area, I know we’ll be returning—a lot!

But the thought of being at the park for 12-13 hours doesn’t hold the allure for me that it once did, so a five-hour run on the coasters with Josh seems like a pretty reasonable compromise. We went to Cedar Point a couple of Thursday evenings ago and we had a good time, save for the rain that fell from about 8:30-9:30.

Josh is finally tall enough for the Top Thrill Dragster, and has talked about riding it for years. He’s quite the little daredevil and isn’t scared of any of the coasters. This year, he surprised me a bit when, after our first couple of rides, he said, “Maybe I’ll ride the Top Thrill Dragster when I’m 10 (next year).” We’d come all this way and he was going to back out? I told him that we’d do whatever he wanted, but he didn’t have to decide right away, he could always change his mind.

And change it he did. It only took the act of walking past the hulking, 400-ft+ tall coaster for Josh to say that he really did want to ride it. The ride, which reaches 120 mph, is over in about 25 seconds, but it’s a pretty intense 25 seconds. Someone at school told Josh that there’s a similar roller coaster in New Jersey that reaches 128 mph, but he finally agreed with me after riding Top Thrill Dragster that when you’re at 120 mph, there isn’t a bone in our body that’s saying, “If only we were going just a little bit faster.”

Top Thrill Dragster was the longest line we waited in that night, but even then, we’re only talking 30-35 minutes. The fact that Cedar Point has so many roller coasters—17, to be exact—means that there’s always something (or multiple things!) with a short line. To ride Gemini, for example, (still a great coaster) rarely takes longer than 10 or 15 minutes in line. And Magnum XL200 can easily be ridden on many days with a 15 or 20 minute wait, tops. I can recall waiting hours to ride Magnum as a teenager. How times have changed for the better.

The other thing that’s improved since my childhood is the fact that there’s a Famous Dave’s at the park. Actually, the restaurant is just outside the park at the marina on the Sandusky-facing (southwestern) side of the peninsula. It’s about a 90-second walk from the gate, where you just get your hand stamped for re-entry. It’s just such a nice change to eat in a sit-down restaurant with air conditioning and get away from the park craziness for 30 or 45 minutes.

Hopefully we’ll get back at least one more time this season. I’ve always wanted to check out the whole HalloWeekends promotion they run each Fall. I wonder what 120 mph feels like when it’s 59 degrees outside?

We picked a great Saturday in late May to take the 1-hr. ride (from Cleveland’s western suburbs) to the park. It’s a gorgeous ride on a sunny day across the Edison bridge that spans Sandusky Bay. Really, we have to get out to the islands area more often this summer. I forget how scenic and quaint it all is.

My concern was that I’d be depressed once inside the park, worried that the animals would look unhealthy or that the park in general would be of a low quality level. I was pleasantly surprised by the adventure, particularly driving through the park. The animals looked healthy and well-treated. There seemed to be a conservation/educational aspect to things. And the animals were a blast to see and feed.

For admission of about $18/person (there are multiple rates based on age, time of year and what coupons you have—there are plenty out there), you can drive through the park as many times as you wish. The first time through, you get a small plastic cup of food for the animals. Any additional cups you want, or any carrots, you have to buy. Once through was enough for us (well, me).

After a drive through, you can park your car outside the animal gates near the visitor center. To get in to the rest of the attractions, you have to pass through the main building, which was like a gift shop on steroids. Candy, goofy toys, stuffed animals galore, ice cream, etc. There’s also a small restaurant on premises, but we didn’t check that out.

The other attractions feel like a throwback to the 1950′s. They are very quaint and a bit dated, but I guess that’s part of their charm. There are pig races (the names are hysterical), an assortment of wild animals in enclosures, and free pony and camel rides. (Technically, the first ride is free, subsequent rides cost a few bucks.)

Random notes … if you’re a member of the Cleveland Zoo (and it’s hard not to be with little kids!), you’re entitled to a 1/2 price discount on the entrance fees, a pretty good deal. No outside animal food is allowed, but I’m not sure if that means you can’t bring your own carrots. Probably not. And, surprisingly, no giraffes were there on our visit. I don’t know if they’re gone permanently or were just elsewhere that day. But photos of giraffes are all over the park’s website and advertisements, so I’d think this has to be a temporary thing.

Cheesehaven, a great throwback kind of store, is located just a few minutes from the park, at 2920 East Harbor Road. I took the boys there, even though they didn’t sound too thrilled with the prospect. But once inside, they ooh-ed and aah-ed over the extensive supply of candy (bulk and otherwise), including some old-time treats that you’re more likely to find in Amish country. The selection of cheeses—reportedly the largest in Ohio—is impressive, and you’ll find samples being given out, a nice bonus for the parents.