Rockin' Northern Ohio
Come along with us on our vacation!
This is Rocky, our tour guide. He reminded us that it was acceptable to follow off-route squirrels on our trip.
We didn't find any official squirrels along our first leg of the journey, but there was this cute little doughnut shop next to Speedway where we stopped for snacks.
Our room at Maumee Bay State Park Lodge (near Toledo) had a lovely lakefront view. These photos were taken from a quaint little bench beneath a weeping willow tree just in front of our balcony.
The Lodge was beautiful - You can see an exterior shot of the lodge here. We were greeted in our room by this cute, snuggly frog.
We got some coupons when we checked in. Including this one:
Jim's fridge will now be adorned with a set of shiny magnetic rocks. Who could pass up that sweet deal?
The beach was pretty at the Bay but we decided to stay off the sand. It was kind of gravelly (Ohio beaches just aren't the same as Florida ones). Also, a news anchor on TV had been running around taking temperatures of things because of the record breaking heat we were experiencing. The sand temp was 150 degrees! We opted instead for a nice, sweaty walk along the nature trail. This is the trail:
It struck me because it reminds me alot of this...
...which is the picture I used in an earlier post to express my gratitude for what I have found at the 'end of the broken road'...
There I was walking along the 'healed' road...I love it when Papa gives me little 'gracelets' like that!
Anyway, we had the nature trail all to ourselves. No one else was as brave as us! Probably because no one was smart enough to invest in the proper attire - like a jungle hat...
Yes, he wrestles crocodiles and tames lions.
Unfortunately, no exotic animals were out along the trail. They were all hiding from the heat. Except for a quail...And two squirrels....Still, we were determined to make it to the tower that overlooked the nature preserve. So we walked and sweated and sweated some more until we found the tower. It was really more of a raised deck a few feet about the long grasses. We aren't picky, though. We got to see a beautiful view of the bay
We could also see some of the surrounding sites. Here's a list of a few of them.
#5 was my personal favorite!
Following our exertions of the day, we ventured out to The Docks of Toledo to a brand new Mexican restaurant we had heard about on the news.
BEST.
MEXICAN.
FOOD.
EVER.
They need to open one here in Cincinnati.
Here is Jim looking out onto the water where a row club was working out.
A view of the City.
Maumee Bay and Toledo were a great start to our vacation...We bid farewell to the Lodge on Friday Morning.
Nice scenery, eh?
Our first official squirrel detour happened in Vermilion, Ohio. It's the definition of old small town. We couldn't help but stop there on our way to Cleveland.
We ate here:
When was the last time you went to a 'soda fountain'? They listed "Phosphates" on their window menu...How could we not stop??
Jim got an old fashioned root beer float...
Check out the atmo!!
I felt a little bit like Marty McFly in Back to The Future, only we didn't have to endure Biff.
Photo Squirrel! Could I sell this to a postcard company?
Cleveland met us with big city fun. We were able to park outside our Doubletree hotel at the meters which were free for the weekend after 5pm. Saved us a nice chunk of change. And also it allowed us to utilize the shuttle service to go out on the town for dinner. We went to 4th Street where most of the fun seemed to be.
We ate Cajun food at a place called Fat Fish that had loud, funky jazz music. Good stuff! We then found an Irish Bar called Flannery's for nightcaps...I was so drunk I left my sweater there. Ok, I wasn't drunk at all and still left my sweater there. Which is worse???
Saturday we found our way to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Sorry, no pictures allowed.
Except I snuck this one of a first draft of someone's song...I can't remember now who it was or what song it is. But look! Real life handwriting of a star! We got to see a U2 concert in 3D which was pretty freakin' cool. Only $3! Of course, admission to the museum is $22...Still, $25 is less than what we would pay for a ticket to a live U2 show...And we had better seats...And groovy glasses.
Dinner Saturday night was at a place called The Chocolate Bar. Decent meal, but the desserts...Ohhhh maaannn. I had some sort of mocha/vodka milkshake concoction. Jim had a big old hunk of chocolate cake that had alternating layers of chocolate mousse. That was all our bellies could handle. We waddled out to the curb to meet the shuttle.
On Sunday we drove to Oberlin, Ohio to hang out with Jim's mom, June. She lives in a really nice retirement community called Kendal at Oberlin. Her cottage is totally cute. We got the grand tour and Jim played a concert in the gathering space outside the dining room. Here he is at the piano.
Sadly, I do not have many pictures from this leg of the trip. My camera memory was all filled up. Hopefully June will send us some of her shots from her fancy new Canon digital!
Monday we ate breakfast at Quick and Delicious - where the food is good and the hugs are free...Really! The owner of the restaurant gave us all a hug before we left. You just don't find that kind of thing in these parts.
Our last stop was for some homegrown and homemade goods. We found that at Grandpa's Cheesebarn.
Two purchases later (Apple Butter, Peanut Butter Cookie, Fudge, Cookbook and Soup mix) we were out the door and headed for home.
By far one of the best vacations ever...For the first time, I wasn't looking forward to getting home at all. Maybe I'm turning into a fan of the open road!
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