Part Six
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Early the next morning, Cindy and I met our good friend, Dave Sandborg, at Ritters Diner in Pittsburgh. Ritters is the town diner, the place where everybody goes. Politicians, college students, businessmen, bohemians, everybody goes to Ritters. It's a comfy, comfy corner of Pittsburgh, and the only example of Meditteranean environmentalist design I have encountered. I'm a huge fan of environmentalist design provided it is the original design for that diner, but as a remodeling scheme I abhor it. Environmentalist design involves, well, environmental elements, so it walks a fine line between looking cozy and tacky. And whenever a diner gets remodeled, always using environmental elements, it always ends up looking tacky. Fortunately that isn't the case at Ritters, a 1976 Fodero original Meditteranean design. Ritters and Norwin's Diner in Irwin are the two finest examples of Meditteranean design I have seen. Ritters is highly stylized, with a pebble panel facade, large windows and angular arches. Inside the angular arch pattern is repeated along the back wall. The interior is very very brown and typically environmental - acoustical tile ceiling, scalloped counter. woodgrain formica booth dividers, dark paneled walls and a brown terrazzo floor with speckles. There are jukeboxes at the booths, where Dave, Cindy and I chose a seat. Because this was a Mediterranean design, I decided to order a greek omelette. In case you haven't noticed, I love an omelette. I wish I could report on a diner's pancakes or waffles more often, and I do get a craving for them every now and then, but generally I like my eggs in the morning. And because I am so picky about things not touching (especially anything involving syrup), I usually avoid ordering sunny side up eggs and having to deal with the whole yoke-touching-the-bacon scandal. Cindy makes fun of me for being such a tidy eater, but I have to admit I probably order omelettes because they're all wrapped up so nice and tidy. Now that I've sufficiently appalled you with my neuroses, let me tell you about my Greek omelette at Ritters. It was heavenly. The eggs were light and only slightly buttery, and there was just the right amount of feta cheese inside so as not to overpower the eggs. My toast was nicely browned, and the coffee was so good I got a cuppa joe to go. All in all I'd say Ritter's is a winner and I can't wait to go back. One final note - I couldn't help noticing how much this place felt like the smorgasbord buffet scene in the movie "Fargo." Cindy, Dave and I headed for Six Flags Ohio in Aurora, a two hour drive away. This would be my second visit to this park, and I came away even more impressed than after my first visit. This park seems to be very controversial among coaster enthusiasts, and it runs the entire gamut of opinions with regard to coasters, rides, ride operators, park operations, sanitation, food and atmosphere. My experiences have been nothing but positive! The park was exceptionally clean, the ride operators were reasonably efficient, and I thought the atmosphere was attractive and well themed. I thought the new childrens area is the nicest I've seen since Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure. I found plenty of food options available, and the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant was unusually reasonable in price, especially for a Six Flags park! As far as the coasters, I love the intensity of Batman Knight Flight, the addicting thrills of Superman: Ultimate Escape, the classic feeling of Big Dipper, and on this trip I was completely won over by the Villain.
I think the Villain is a very unusual design, initially inspired by GhostRider, but contaning very different elements, some of them so unusual that many people have a hard time appreciating them. I think the airtime is fantastic, albeit not as sustained as that found on many other woodies. The drops aren't as deep, and THE drop following the midcourse turnaround isn't terribly intense. But I like the straight drops and the abundant moments of airtime throughout the entire ride. I like the pacing and speed of the ride, and it finishes with a wonderful series of bunny hops and a double up. I think it is a fantastic front seat ride in the daytime and a killer ride in the backseat at night. I LOVE THE VILLAIN! We left Six Flags Ohio having had a wonderful day. I think this park is really going to be something special in the years to come.
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Email: MarkinArk@earthlink.net
