Roll With It
recently took my kids on our annual roller coaster odyssey—a road trip of roughly three to 10 days visiting theme parks within driving distance—and this year’s edition included a return to Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pa. Kennywood was my conception of heaven as a kid, and it occurred to me that this summer marked exactly 50 years since I first rode its then-headlining attraction, the Thunderbolt, which in 1971 had been named the world’s best. My father, a lifelong Pittsburgher, initiated a lifelong appreciation of coaster rides (along with jazz and the Steelers), as well as quelling all fears of them. My own kids are now tall enough to ride the Thunderbolt for the first time, so this trip was the closing of a particular circle.
