with no real plan for the fourth of july lisa and I decided to make good use of the three day weekend and drive up to she her family in pittsburgh
there was no real itinerary
there was the goal of getting to kennywood
but only after a hellish post work drive from dc to pittsburgh in the rain
there was the expected holiday build up to the standard rush hour traffic
coupled with the rain it was exhausting
not sure if kennywood would be obscenely crowded on the fourth we took our chances
the ever present threat of rain may have changed things
it was not even moderately crowded
not vacant
but definitely beyond reasonable
lunch was eaten in the early morning before our drive along the rivers and across the rivers to kennywood
spare sandwiches, drinks, cookies, and bottled water were all packed and carried along
good to have fuel on hand for the longer lines and the needed snack
also a good way to avoid lines and price mark ups
that said we all had cotton candy, potato patch fried, slushies from the slushie factory, pizza for dinner, and what ever else caught our eyes in between
I did not purchase the kennwood sweatshirt to flex my pittsburgh pride through marriage
but the boys did each bring home a handful of stuffed animals from a number of games
we did not intend upon staying late enough for the fireworks
but the effort to ride the rides we had missed and the just one more trip THE RACER and the just one last turn on THE JACK RABBIT had us in the park when the fireworks started
it seemed right ending the day with the same ride we started the day with
the fireworks started along with a meltdown
we watched for a few minutes from a park bench with the spinning carosel and paratroopers in site
park lights on except for the roller coasters which were dormant during the fireworks
seemed like a good time to evacuate
everyone was tired
some of us were showing it more than others
back in the car we could see the grand finale over the river along side of kennywood
then down the river and over the hills there were all sorts of displays hosted by various townships
grant was asleep before the first tunnel
not every trip to kennywood has to be nine hours long
this one just happened to play out that way
kennywood dot com
kennywood on the wiki page