My Bio
The Lift Hill Leading to My First 'Big' Drop
How I Got Into the Hobby
Back in the 80’s I used to go to Wildwood, N.J. every summer with my grandparents. I was always intrigued by amusement park rides and their whole atmosphere. One year, while looking for a hotel, I spotted a pirate ship out on the pier called The Skua. I was fascinated by it so much that my grandparents pulled over at the hotel in right in front of that pier. My grandfather went inside and booked a room facing the boardwalk. Looking back now, I’m sure he paid extra to make sure I could see The Skua every day we were there.
Those visits to Wildwood are also where I rode some of my first roller coasters, namely the Golden Nugget and Flyer at Hunt’s Pier. Those, The Skua, Castle Dracula, the log flume, and countless other rides preoccupied most of my time when we visited the beach.
Hersheypark's Comet - My First 'Big' Coaster
That same decade I made my way to Hersheypark for the first time with my Aunt Cheryl. After being at the park for a few hours, she pointed at a line and said we should go ride that ride. I saw a large, white wooden roller coaster called Comet next to where she had pointed and told her I didn’t want to ride that. At that time, I was scared of the “big” coasters. That’s when she made the best choice she could and told a little white lie. She claimed the line was for some spinning ride, not the roller coaster. Being a young, dumb kid, I believed her.
Eventually we made our up the ramp and that’s when I found out that she lied to me. I insisted I was NOT going to ride and that’s when she gave me the ultimatum – I could either get on, or wait outside the exit while she rode. Being in a large park and so young, I was more afraid of getting lost than the ride. I shut up and got on.
We made our way to the gates and then onto the trains. I grabbed the lap bar, holding on for dear life. We crested the lift and down the first drop we plunged. At that very moment, I was in awe. I realized how cool roller coasters are, even the “big” ones like Comet.
Now, all these years later, I’m inching toward riding my 400th roller coaster. I hope to achieve that milestone soon and luckily for me, I have a number of friends who love going out to the park with me. Check out the Flight Crew to learn more about each one of them.
Loose Articles
My Days Working for a Newspaper
From 2002-05 I worked for a local newspaper. I was hired on as a photojournalist and to assist with doing page layouts. During the first few months, I did exactly that, but along the way I began to write some short articles. At first, it was usually to fill a small space in the paper. After doing a few of these, my editor told me I wrote quite well, which I never expected to hear. Throughout high school and college, I always focused on my photography, fine arts, and graphic arts and never paid much attention to writing.
Luckily for me, our paper had an arts and entertainment section and I was asked if I’d like to write some more in-depth articles for that section. I said sure and began going out and interviewing people for topics I was interested in – things such as professional wrestling, art, video games, and yes, even roller coasters.
A year and a half later, my general manger placed me arts and entertainment section as its editor. The section was growing and we had advertisers requesting to be placed into that section specifically. Our parent company even considered making it its own secondary paper, releasing on a different day of the week. Things were looking up.
Three years later, however, I saw the writing on the wall. I felt stuck in a rut and to be honest, the pay wasn’t amazing. What kept me going was meeting all kinds of people and having companies offer me previews, and behind the scenes access to all kinds of things. When I finally left in 2005, those were the things that I ultimately missed, and still do.
If you would like to read my early articles on roller coasters from The Avenue New’s Relaxer, please check out the following links which I have republished here on the site:
My Most Recent Blogs
Dollywood – Day 1: Rise of Old Favorites & Fall of One
My 3rd visit to Dollywood sees several coasters shoot up my rankings, but also sees one from my Top 5 take a major fall
Moonshine Mountain Coaster – Smokies Get Spooky
We finish up Day 1 in Tennessee with a stop at the Moonshine Mountain Coaster in Gatlinburg for their 3rd annual Halloween in the Holler event
Anakeesta – A Time Consuming, Yet Scenic Stop in the Smokies
Stops 1 & 3 of our Tennessee trip sees Sam, Jen, & I stop at Ripley’s Mountain Coaster for a day & night ride. Features On-Ride POV videos from both rides.
