July 4th at Stricker's Grove

Originally my wife's parents were coming in for a week starting on Saturday. So, we had a lot of plans for that time. We had planned to go to the Toledo fireworks on Sunday night. Well, due to a minor medical emergency they couldn't come. So, we decided to make our first ever trip to Stricker's Grove.

Stricker's Grove is a small picnic park that is open to the public 2 (or 3) days a year, July 4th being one of those. It is just north of Cincinnatti near Ross, OH. The park hours for the 4th were 3-11 with fireworks at 10.

We set out at 2:30 and after stops for ice cream and gas we were headed down the highway. After a couple more stops we finally arrived at the park at 6PM. We payed the 3$ parking and found a spot about 50 ft from the park entrance. The smallish lot was mostly full when we arrived.

We immediately went to get our ride bracelets. The cost for the 4th was 12.50 a person for all day. Not too bad. They were advertising yesterday that on their next public day (Aug. 11) admission would be 8$ and all rides and drinks would be free. That is a great deal.

Anyway, we headed off down the midway- yes, there is only one. We went straight to the first of the two coasters- The Teddy Bear. This is a junior woody. We didn't expect much and it pretty much delivered what we expected. There was some decent speed on the first drop and a great headchopper. Not a bad ride for a jr. woodie. Not as good as Beastie but not bad. This ride is an ACE Coaster Classic as well.

Next we headed to Tornado. This coaster I believe was designed by Al Collins and built by Ralph Stricker. There are no station queus so we just sat in whatever seat was available on each of our 3 rides throughout the night. In general there was about a 3 train wait each time which equalled about 10 minutes.

Overall, Tornado is a pretty fun ride. It does not have a lot of speed or intense laterals. Several of the hills, especially the two speed hills, do not deliver the air that one would think. However, there are two hills that deliver some crazy ejector air which in the backseat threw me up into the air so that my legs hit the lapbar.

After our first Tornado ride we headed to grab some food. They have a shelter area as you walk in where they grill all sorts of stuff. We got two cheeseburger platters at 3.75 each which included a cheeseburger, potato salad, a bag of chips, and a roasted ear of corn. We thought this was a great deal. We also picked up a drink for 1$ and some cotton candy for a 1.50.

After the dinner we headed to check out some of the flats. The ones that we hit where the Scrambler, Tilt-A-Whirl, Carousel, Flying Scooters, the Crazy Daisy, and the Tip Top. Most of these rides delivered as expected. If you are not familiar with the Crazy Daisy it is basically two turntables next too each other with round tubs around the perimeter of each turnstile. The tubs spin freely and they switch from turntable to turntable so that they travel in a figure 8. This ride can really get spinning and as such can really make me quite sick.

The other new to me ride was the Tip Top. This is a ride where two people sit opposite each other in a little tub. There is a wheel in the middle that can be used to spin the tub. During the ride there is an arm below the platform that raises one edge up into the air so that you pop up into the air while spinning. It was pretty neat but again made me very sick.

About 9:00 PM I was terribly nautious and we knew we had a long drive back home so we left befor the fireworks and started our drive back. Along the way up 75 we must have passed about 10 or so fireworks shows including two finales I believe. It was a rather cool way to watch fireworks.

Overall, it was a great, relaxed day at a cool little park. The atmosphere at Stricker's grove is great. The rides are mostly in good shape and everyone there seemed to be having a lot of fun. Thanks for reading.

Well, I seen ya but I didn't meet ya, Me and the gang could usually be found trimming trees on the Flying Scooters.

Glad you enjoyed it and didn't expect more than it was. It can be fun and very affordable. Hope you feel better :)

Chuck

I saw a couple people that I figured might be enthusiast sorts- a guy with a Lake Winnie shirt, a guy with a Timberland Twister shirt, a guy with a Raven shirt and a woman I remember from Beastbuzz. Were you one of those Chuck?

I was in chucks little group and I don't think any of us had coaster shirts on. Chuck was in a USA type shirt,Rob wore a I love canada shirt. I was in a yellow sleeveless shirt Lurch was in a Reds jersey so no I don't think any of us were in a coaster shirt.

Oh, ok, I remember you guys now.