I was torn on where to go in April. Once DC got moved to March, it meant that I had a full week of vacation to play with, and not too many of the
1000 Places to See Before You Die left within driving range. I also had a new baby cousin in Cincinnati who I was dying to meet. Eventually it turned into a road trip to Ohio. My best friend and travel partner decided she also needed a vacation, so she drove out to Chicago with me and then flew home while I finished the drive. It ended up being a lovely trip, though I definitely need to break up the long days in the car a little more when planning these things. Some thoughts from the road:
- Upstate New York smells like manure this time of year. Lots of farming. Not fun to drive through.
- Seeing trees start to bud after this long winter is like the sun coming out after a storm. There is life again.
- Messing
with border agents is fun. "How long were you in Canada?" 4 hours.
"What was the purpose of your visit?" Anytime you have the chance to
have dinner in another country you should do that. "Did you buy
anything?" Poutine.
- Niagara Falls somehow seems smaller than when I was younger.
- Cleveland has the potential to be a very cool city. We loved West Side Market and wandering around the Warehouse District.
- The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame needs an audio tour more than any other
museum I've visited. It also needs a dance floor. I still spent four
hours there.
- When it's really windy, my car's MPG drops by 10. Not fun.
- Stopped
for gas at the Ohio/Indiana border and then drove straight through
without spending anything in Indiana. No love for that state.
- Gary,
Indiana is probably the most depressing place I've ever been, and I've
traveled to some of the poorest areas on the planet. I think it's the
combination of the industrial wasteland and the large billboards for
Adult Superstores.
- Chicago traffic sucks.
- Blue
Chicago, a blues club, did not disappoint and provided a great night
out. Even dancing with the drunk guy was amusing. My friend having a
fight with her husband via text message the whole time was not.
- The
fact that Frank Lloyd Wright and Hemingway lived in the same
neighborhood makes me want to move there just on hope that it's
something in the water.
- Indiana gets some credit for the many windmills. Yay, Green Energy!
- Country
music is appropriate in the midwest. I even started to recognize a
Lady Antebellum song (Bartender) the third time I heard it. Andy
Grammer's "Honey I'm Good" is oddly catching and apparently on pop
stations in the midwest. Never heard it before this trip. I fear it's coming.
- My cousin's baby is very cute and looks JUST like him. It's adorable.
- Ohio
is deceptively large. And apparently you go through West Virginia when
you drive from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. That was a bit of a surprise.
- Primanti Brothers might be a Pittsburgh institution but it's not all that good. Glad to see my cousin and her family though, and any excuse for chicken fingers is a good one.
- Driving
into Pittsburgh at night there is no traffic. It's a beautiful city,
especially when the stadiums are all lit up. I should explore there
sometime because I've always stayed with family outside the city and
just gone in for a day (That damn incline. It's like it's the only
thing locals know to do with visitors).
- Pennsylvania goes on forever and as much as it's beautiful, it's the same thing over and over again.
- Listened
to Serial on the Pittsburgh to New York stretch. SO ADDICTING. I'm
glad I got to binge-listen because I think listening to it weekly would
have driven me nuts.
- Dinner with Amy, awesome as always. She needs to be closer. Nyack is such a cute little downtown.
- I
love that point in a trip when you can turn off the GPS and just know
the way home. That's the Tappan Zee Bridge for me (the main one over
the Hudson between NY and CT), about 3.5 hours away.
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| Niagara Falls- four hours of fun in Canada |
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| Ohio is flat |
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| Frank Lloyd Write House Chicago |
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| Hotel view in Pittsburgh |
