How I spent my 25th birthday and why it was the best ever

The gorgeous view of Lake Erie from our window

My birthday was last week on May 10th. It was my 25th. Ever since I passed the age of 21 I've been cringing on the inside at the thought of my next birthday. But this year, the thought of turning 25 was the worst and most cringey yet. So, in order to make it more bearable, I persuaded my husband to take me to my favorite place, so far, on earth. Cedar Point.

     My love for roller coasters started when I was about 11, when my family would go to Holiday World at least once every summer and my dad took me on my very first coaster: The Legend. It is a wooden roller coaster, and it's fairly old, but it's fun. I was immediately addicted, although my heart would still pound while I waited in line to board the ride again and again, and my stomach would drop straight to the floor of the cart every time we cleared that first hill. It was the most amazing feeling. I soon branched out to the only other coaster they had at the time, The Raven, which is amazing as well, although a little more jerky than The Legend. Since then they have built two more: The Voyage, which is a breathtaking and LONG wooden coaster, and their very first steel coaster: Thunder Bird.

     Ever since I heard about Cedar Point, not long after my love for roller coasters began, I've wanted to go there with my entire heart. The coasters at Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, and King's Island just weren't cutting it for me and I knew there was more. My wish finally came true because of my amazing husband who always tries his hardest to make my dreams a reality. For our first anniversary we drove up to Sandusky, OH, stayed the night in a comfort suites, and balled out at the park from open to close the next day. It was everything I ever imagined it would be and more. Later my husband and I joked that we were ruined now and would never be able to ride another coaster the same way because the ones at Cedar Point are miles above anything else that we had experienced.

    So, for my 25th birthday, naturally I asked my husband if we could go again. It had been two years and I was longing to ride my favorite coaster: The Top Thrill Dragster. It stands at a breathtaking 420ft straight up and down, at a 90 degree angle. It launches you like a rag doll, going from 0 to 120mph in 3.8 seconds. Although it only lasts 17 seconds, it is the most thrilling 17 seconds of your life. My husband and I thought that it was not a real coaster when we first saw it. That's how insane it is. As soon as we realized that it was indeed a real ride, and people were being thrown up it as we spoke, we ran as fast as we could to get in line.

The Top Thrill Dragster, my favorite coaster and the third
fastest roller coaster in the world

     Much to my happy surprise, when we got there this year, I realized that there was a new roller

Me and Steel Vengeance

coaster that had just opened. It stood where Mean Streak had once been, and there was, in fact, part of that older wooden coaster still left and turned in to a wooden-steel hybrid coaster: Steel Vengeance. Even though we had early access to the park thanks to the hotel we stayed at (an hour earlier than when the rest of the public could enter) we still ended up waiting an hour and a half to board the new ride. It was worth the wait though. Amazingly smooth with all the charm of a wooden coaster, Steel Vengeance did not disappoint. After that, of course we had to hit all the other roller coasters as well, Raptor, Rougarou, Millennium Force, Valravn, Gatekeeper, Maverick
 and all the others. The steel coasters there are remarkably smooth and like gliding on silk. It was so enjoyable.
     The hotel we stayed at was the one basically inside the park: Hotel Breakers. It is a beautiful hotel and is situated to the left of the wicked twister and on a gorgeous lake Erie beach. They had two large hot tubs, one inside, one out. Three huge pools (agian, one inside, the other two beachfront) and a water park play area for kids. They have several bars and resturants and right outside the Starbucks in the lobby is a huge beachside patio with four beautiful firepits that were lit the entire time we were there. The beach there is gorgeous, although, because we were there in early May, the water was so cold it hurt. Needless to say, we did not do any swimming in the lake, but we did use the hot tub quite a bit.
     Our little birthday trip was a huge success and I highly recommend going to Cedar Point if you are a fan of roller coasters and staying at Hotel Breaker's when you go. The experience is one I will treasure for the rest of my life.