jcgoble3 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 This was my first trip to Stricker's Grove. I left Xenia around 10:45 and arrived right at noon, thinking I would be able to get lunch in the hour before the rides opened. As it turned out, they weren't going to sell any food until around 1:00, so I walked around, took a look in the arcade (which was open), and basically stood around until they started selling food at 12:50. I bought a 6 oz. ribeye steak sandwich; it was a little on the tough side, but good, and for $5.00, I'm not complaining (I wonder what KI would charge for it?). When the rides opened, I headed for Teddy Bear for the credit. I like how old-fashioned it was in the restraint department: no seat belts, seat dividers, or ratcheting lap bars, just a buzz bar. After that, I headed for Tornado. Taking the advice of a certain poster here on KIC, I sat in the back seat. It was a very good ride, and "The Cliff" caught me totally by surprise. Out of the 10 woodies I've ridden, Tornado ranks as #4 (see my profile for complete rankings). I ended up grabbing about half a dozen rides on Tornado. Other rides I rode included the Flying Scooters, Tip Top, Tilt-A-Whirl, Electric Rainbow, and the Ferris Wheel; in all of those cases except Electric Rainbow, those were my first ride ever on that type of ride. All were nice rides. I also rode their Scrambler, which ranks as the slowest Scrambler I've ever ridden, though that's somewhat offset by the fact that it was also the longest cycle out of those I've ridden with over 3 minutes at top speed. When I got bored with the rides, I went into the arcade and blew $10 worth of tokens on the shooting gallery. I hardly ever shoot guns and had never tried a shooting gallery before, but I turned out to be an instant pro at the thing, hitting a perfect 15-for-15 on my first play and shooting 4 out of 10 perfect rounds with 90% overall accuracy. After five plays, I traded my first batch of tickets for some Tootsie Rolls, and after the next five, I took my receipt (worth 74 tickets) from the ticket-counting machine up to the redemption counter and gave it to the mother of a little kid that was trying to figure out what to do with only five tickets. For dinner I started with a brat ($2), then got one of their chicken wraps. Now, the bowling alley I bowl my league at sells chicken wraps for $3.99 + tax. The one I got at Stricker's cost only $3.00, tax included, and was about triple the size of the one I get all the time at the bowling alley. I mean, this thing was HUMONGOUS. Here's a photo: Stricker's Grove Chicken Wrap by jcgoble3, on Flickr Note the dollar bill that I put next to it; that should give you a sense of scale. What the photo doesn't show is that it was easily a inch thick. Despite normally having an unusually large appetite for a man of my small size, the thing was so big that I couldn't finish it. Next time, I'll order it first and then decide whether I have room for a brat. Overall, $10 total for the steak, brat, and wrap was a very good price. I noticed that Stricker's allows people to bring their own food in, so obviously that helps keeps their food prices low since they have to compete with packed lunches. They were also giving out free soft drinks (which I took advantage of all day, resulting in frequent bathroom breaks), and I ate one serving of the free cotton candy. Overall, it was a very nice park despite its small size, and one I'll definitely go to again. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standbyme Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Nice trip report...and I think that your gift of your tickets was a very kind act. It's random things like that that stay with kids..."Remember that one time when that man gave me all those tickets!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 Thanks! Whenever I collect redemption tickets in an arcade, more often than not I end up giving them to somebody else. Redemption arcades don't often have prizes that appeal to adults, plus once when I was a kid at a local arcade somebody handed me a bag full of several hundred tickets, and I'm a big believer in "pay it forward", so I often end up giving my tickets away. I play the games purely for the fun anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanna Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 At Disneyland, some man gave me a book of ride tickets, he and his family were on their way out, and it was really nice of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGatorHead 8904 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Glad to see you enjoyed yourself. It's a nice little park, and ever since I first visited last year I try to make it at least once a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Great report jcgoble3! I have been wanting to visit this park since I have heard of it here on KIC, but just has not worked out to go. Maybe 2012? I am proud that I was able to pay it forward to you on opening night of Haunt! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted October 14, 2011 Author Share Posted October 14, 2011 Great report jcgoble3! I have been wanting to visit this park since I have heard of it here on KIC, but just has not worked out to go. Maybe 2012? I am proud that I was able to pay it forward to you on opening night of Haunt! And once again, thanks for that. Definitely try to make it out to Stricker's sometime; it's a small park, but it has a great atmosphere, two good coasters, and great food that doesn't gouge your wallet (or the money compartment of your fanny pack). And you get all of that for (on the Aug., Sept., and Oct. days) just $12 admission. Definitely worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 The best is when the realtor for our house has a community picnic out there. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING(except for arcade) is absolutely free. Best summer nights ever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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