My buddy (who wanted to head to the City before he headed to Qatar) arrived around 10am, redeemed the $15 bring a friend coupon (Thanks SDC!!!) and made it into the park about 10:45. We stopped by Brown's to sample the Pecan brittle, and scouted out his purchases for later in the day. We rode Thunderation (front car) which was pretty good, and then headed over to Wildfire (back car). There was a group of several hundred "Champion 11" church youth groupers in the park, so the line was out of the queue and down the sidewalk towards the Saloon. So we headed to the swing instead. After this vomit inducing swing we decided to have some fun on the Silos. We rode Lost River, and honestly stayed pretty dry despite the ride, coupled with the sweltering heat and spray fans in the 40 min line. Next we headed to the Flooded Mine, and unfortunately our guns did not reset upon entrance into the mine/ ride.
After a little basic math, he won. Thankfully he will be defending our nation, not me-he is a MUCH better shot.
We stopped for lunch, and he wanted to find what he had two years ago...and then he chose something else. He had the Chicken Fried Chicken from the Potato skillet location, and I deviated from my usual bowls for lunch. I...being a BBQ fan, went for a BBQ sandwich. I was able to order a 1/2 Brisket, 1/2 pulled pork sandwich with a side of baked beans. Pulled Pork was by far MUCH better. For dessert we hit up the Taffy shop and my friend proceeded to by 1 lb and by the end of the day...only had 1/2 lb left! We, being mature , right minded adults, HAD to sample the strawberry wildfire. WOW was it hot! They also had a new flavor "Tiger Mix" which was a mix of cherry, peach, and maybe strawberry?. It was pretty good.
We hit FITH and got pretty wet in the splash at the end, then rode Powderkeg, then the log flume, and got soaked, and that was it for the rides. We walked through several shops, and stopped by the lisen to the knifesmith. This was a new face for me, and he was GREAT. Great story teller, biggest crowd I can remember at the shop, and he was funny and nice, unfortunately I did not catch his name, but if you see a new face, stop by! this guy is a great addition to SDC.
After the browsing of shops, and the purchase of fudge we left for the day. Overall saw 2 former students, and a co worker from here in StLouis!
Modern country music was playing during the day on several of the rides-Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Leann Rimes, etc
After a 4 hour drive, including a stop at the World's Largest Rocking Chair near St James, we were home. Much more tired than when we left in the morning, but very thankful to have had a day like today.