Me and Nana.

Following my move at the end of June, I left “umpteen” (it’s a real number in my mind) boxes to unpack later and immediately flew off to Atlanta to spend the 4th of July holidays with the whole family.

Note: Lindy wasn’t flying in to Atlanta for another day or two, so she got some quality solo “box” time. Aren’t I sweet?

When I arrived in the “Peachtown, USA” my youngest niece Savannah exclaimed how she’d love for her and I to go to Six Flags Over Georgia.

Now i’m a huge fan of theme parks and rides, so it wasn’t a tough sell.

So on an overcast Tuesday, Nana and I trekked to the park (before it even opened) for what turned out to be a raging rollercoaster-rama!

We went on no fewer than a dozen thrill rides (some multiple times), including:

• Goliath- Drops you 20 stories
• Dare Devil Dive- Has a “beyond vertical” freefall
• Mindbender- The “original” triple looping coaster in the US
• Georgia Cyclone- A wooden rollercoaster/torture device
• Ninja- A stupid amount of loops and corkscrews
• Batman: The Ride- You dangle below the track on this one
• Superman: Ultimate Flight- You hang below the track “face first” (Damn)
• Georgia Scorcher- A standing rollercoaster
• Acrophobia- A guy scared of heights riding something named after a fear of heights

The Map of Mayhem

What goes up, must come straight friggin’ down.

Would you like to ride with Batman?

I wonder if this thing loops?

Scared of height? Ride this.

I can see my lunch from here.

Up, up and away!

For over 8 hours we bopped from one coaster to the next, wherever Nana wanted to go.

Loop here, corkscrew there, screaming drops throughout.

And as the day wore on I came to a harsh realization.

All Rollercoaster’d out.

The 46-year-old version of me doesn’t “handle” rollercoasters quite as well as the 15-year-old version of me did. It was like I had been placed in an “ass-kicking” machine with a side order of potential motion sickness.

But I got to spend a fantastic uninterrupted day with one of my nieces. And at the end of the day she smiled, gave me a big hug and said “Thank you Uncle Scott.”

It was wonderful.

For that moment I’d gladly ride Goliath upside down a dozen times without a break.

Loop da loop… and Run on!