Eleanor hails from Ohio, and there are still some close friends and family that live there. When Eleanor heard that her friend-from-childhood, Jeannie, had had a stroke last Memorial Day, Eleanor thought a visit was in order.
The problem of how, exactly, to get there was solved when Eleanor read in the local Burbank paper about a new airline that is based in Columbus (!)--and even better--flies direct out of our little local airport!
SkyBus, as it calls itself, is probably the wave of the future: The first openly no-frills airline! It's current claim to fame is their 10-Seats-for-only-$10 on every flight. (Those, of course, are sold out for a year in advance.) You pay extra for everything on this airline. Want to check a bag? $5. Want to get something to eat or drink inflight? "Here's our menu." Midflight, the flight attendants push a cart of chochkies up the aisle (they get a percentage of the proceeds!). They also clean the plane! There is also no 800- number for you to call!
I think our tickets were $120? And the flight was fine. Leather seats; no less room than usual... (The plane wasn't full --so we could stretch out, too.) Best part? No layovers or connecting flights! :-)
We arrived, snagged our rental car, and headed for our Ramada Inn. I think it's main claim to fame (other than that 70's porn movie music on their website!) is that they won the "Best Remodel of 2006" or something.
Makes ya wonder what it looked like before! (It really wasn't that bad.)
The only other occurence of interest on our first day was the little visitor that we had when we went for Chinese food. There were two ladies at the booth next to us, and the waitress gave him a nifty little soccer nudge to keep him out of sight. (Soon after, the waitress dragged a busboy out of the kitchen with a towel to corral the little critter! We don't know his ultimate fate...)
Day Two Thursday
Next morning, it was time to head towards Akron, where her friend Jeannie lives (Cuyahoga Falls, actually.) We had a little time, so we thought we would take the "scenic route". One of the rustic little two-laners (been awhile since we've seen one of those in Southern California!).
After dodging lots of construction, we managed to be on our way. (Summer and Fall are "Orange Barrel" season in Ohio. So-named for the large orange plastic barrels that they put up as protection around highway construction sites).
The little two-laner we were on went right through Amish country. Eleanor had just read a book about the Amish, and it was fun to see some "up close and personal."
Around lunchtime, we arrived at Jeannie's place. Eleanor was much relieved to see that Jeannie was doing quite well! Her speech seemed unaffected, and she seemed to be getting around very well! Yay, Jeannie!
We went to lunch, and the two of them spent a couple of hours going over old times, family trees, and granddaughter pictures...
After a retreat to our hotel (much nicer this time), we met up with "Sonny" (his nickname as a child) who was present at Donavan & Eleanor's wedding--back in August of 1950. He worked at the same photography studio as Donavan. (He went on to work for Goodyear as an x-ray inspection specialist.) His family (wife Joan and son Richard) were very nice, and had a wonderful sense of humor. (And seemed to enjoy mine!)
Hearing I was vegan, they wanted to show me one of the local health food stores--which was started by a once-roommate of their son. We dined at a local Thai restaurant.
What ended up being the most, uh, interesting (?) thing about them for me--was that they were very fundamentalist Christians. I didn't completely pick up on this, but Eleanor mentioned that during our after dinner conversation, that Sonny was enthusiastically recommending that we see the Creation Museum when we got to Cincinnati. It turns out that this museum "proves"--through many exhibits and "historical facts"--that dinosaurs and man co-existed, and therefore the bible can be taken as literal truth.
Yikes.
Afterwards, I had a lot of trouble reconciling the fact that these warm, friendly, funny people were so different from myself in their personal beliefs. Obviously, there's a part of me that thinks that fundamentalists (of any stripe?) have to be wild-eyed....somethings. ("How can someone so nice--and so intelligent (Sonny has an engineering degree!) have such, uh, unusual (to me) beliefs?!")
And I'm glad that I didn't know this about them ahead of time--and didn't really pick up on it during our visit--because I think it would have (negatively) colored my impression of them. It probably would have filtered out all of the warm, squishy feelings that I felt during the visit.
Still a very interesting examination of my own biases!
Day Three Friday
Friday, Sept 7th, and we were off towards Cleveland to met up with my Father's half-sister (Jan) and her husband Bill. Jan was born some 24 years after my Dad--it was always interesting having an Aunt younger than myself!
Again--why not take a scenic route?--so Jan had faxed us some "insider" directions on the "back way" from Akron to Cleveland. More very loverly scenery--but the most memorable part of the drive for me was a particularly gnarly set of on-ramps and off-ramps we had to negotiate to get to our destination... I'm not sure if this is the interchange, but it was one of those deals where you have to get off, take road to another on-ramp, go the opposite direction, get off again, then get back on to a different highway.
You'd think a Southern California driver wouldn't have been so rattled! (With The Skipper navigating!) ;-)
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Jan and Bill actually live in Lakewood, OH, which I believe began it's life as an "exclusive" community on the lake, at what must have been at the time the outskirts of Cleveland. Their house was a lovely old thing that they've been fixing up for the many years that they've been living there! (I think these were vacation homes for the hoi-poloi of Cleveland back in the 19th Century?)
Jan had routed us through a lovely municipal park that surrounds the city--which was a nice break from the highway navigation we'd been struggling with.
After a tour of the house,
we stopped at another local health food store (everyone graciously tried to accomodate Mr. Vegan!), we drove down to the lake and had a windy repaste. (It was comfortably warm, though.) Jan had the dubious distinction of having a plate of our delicious home-grown, farmers market tomatoes blow directly into her face! (This shot was pre-splat!)
The more astute among you might have guessed that Jan and Bill were at a different end of the ideological scale from Sonny & Joan! (Yes, Bill's ponytail was a dead giveaway!)
After lunch, we headed to what may have been the highlight of the trip for me: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
We only allowed 3 or 4 hours (I'm not sure why we thought that's all it would take), but within 20 minutes of going inside, Jan & Bill found us (we kinda scattered once inside) and told us, "Hurry up! There's so MUCH to see!!"
(Interesting side note: Bill went to grade school with the curator of the place!)
Just a TON of fascinating exhibits and artifacts... I think I was most taken with some John Lennon stuff that they had (I still get chills thinking about this), A pair of those Nat'l Health issue round glasses, his leather jacket from his days in Hamburg (!), some report cards from school, and his frickin' Sgt. Pepper uniform!!
There was a whole section on Les Paul and some of his guitars...and a big Doors exhibit, with a lot of Jim Morrison stuff.... Just way too cool for school! Bill had to come and FIND me near closing--cuz I was just so taken with everything. (There was an exhibit in honor of the 40th (?) anniversary of the 1967 Monterey Pop festival, with a hand-typed list of the names of the guys on security detail. I didn't notice it (rats!), but Jan asked if I'd seen the name "Harrison Ford" on there!)
No pictures allowed inside (drat!), so we took some outside...
Jan & Bill dropped us off at our (nice!) hotel and I did the nap-thing for a short while before it was time to have dinner. They picked us up and showed us around Lakewood--which I kind of took to. It felt slightly bohemian and comfortable to me. We had dinner at a lovely Indian restaruant that seemed popular with the locals, then retired to their refurbished patio for more chatting...
A long day, but it was nice seeing Jan & Bill again--and I really enjoyed the R&R Museum!
Day Four Saturday
This was to be a day "off"--which was going to consist of a leisurely drive across the length of the state (!). Our goal was to be in Cincinnati (opposite corner of the state from Cleveland) by nightfall, and to see "whatever" along the way!
After getting gas and finding the local AAA office (maps!) we headed southwest. The first thing I noticed was a little reminder of home!
Who knew there was a Burbank, OH?
Just a teeny little place, with some quite rustic dwellings.
Our next stop of note was the Olentangy Indian Caves. Natural limestone caves that were dug out and cleaned up for the tourist trade (in the early 1900's, I think). It felt a little like "Injun Joe's Cave" on Tom Sawyers Island (!), but there was some interesting recorded narration--and it's cool being that far underground (constant 63-degrees down there, or something like that!)...
Eleanor enjoyed "panning" for treasure when we got back up to the top. You buy a bag of dirt, then run it through the water and enjoy your find(s)! (There was a $1 coin in there, too!)
As we continued our journey towards Cincinnati, we encountered this:
First it darkened outside, then it started to rain. Then it started to pour! Then it got even worse!! It was Rain of Biblical Proportions! I could only see about 10 feet in front of me (thank God for white lane dividers) at some points. There were cars pulled over to the side of the highway--not wanting to try and navigate in that stuff!! It stopped eventually, but certainly gave us an unwanted thrill!
We finally arrived safely in Cincinnati, and found our Holiday Inn. We were a little disappointed, though, because we both realized we "missed" the place where we had stayed for two weeks, three years earlier, when we helped get Eleanor's cousin Anabel situated in her assisted living facility. So (with the cooperation of a very nice manager at the Holiday Inn), we got set up at our Cincinatti "home".
Day 5 - Sunday
We woke up Sunday morning, and decided some clean laundry would be advantageous. So we asked at the front desk and got some directions to a local coin laundry. Not one of Cincinatti's proudest establishments, would be my guess.
There was something rather imposing watching over us from across the street...
On the way to the Lovely Laundramat, we passed the scene of our last Great Adventure in Cincinatti: Anabel's house! (This is the place that took us two full weeks--and two full dumpsters!--to clean out. I think we both had a little shudder as we revisited this place!
Next stop was to see Anabel. She looked much better than I expected her to, and her room wasn't as bad as we had been warned! (She is quite the packrat, though!) ;-)
(Anabel is the cousin that took care of Eleanor, when Eleanor was barely 3 months old?! Eleanor's mother came down with a very bad case of diptheria, and the adult women in the house had to look after Ruth (and her sister--who ended up dying from it). Anabel was given a schedule to follow by the doctor ("bath at 10am", etc), and she followed it like a little trooper. (It's a miracle Ruth survived--she was in a coma for a full month.))
Anabel seemed very lucid--and seemed to enjoy seeing us again. When the visit was over, we grabbed some lunch--and then headed for an exhibit that we saw an ad for (while we were doing the laundry earlier).
This turned out to be another major highlight of the trip!
The setting was the old Union Terminal train station in Cincinnati. One of those old, gorgeous Depression Era buildings that has been very nicely preserved/restored. I could have spent an entire day just exploring the building!
The view from the top of the steps:
No wonder ladies all go to the bathroom at the same time! Gorgeous!
We had, like, 15 minutes to explore this place before it was time to see the "Real Pirates" exhibit. Boy, what an amazing experience! This told the story of a slave ship that became a pirate ship--the wreck of which was discovered off the New England coast a few years back. Chock FULL of actual artifacts (including MILLIONS of dollars in gold coins, etc.) The historical look into what life was like on a pirate ship was fascinating--and it was fascinating to learn about finding and salvaging the wreck!
If you have the time, you should really read a little about the exhibit.
Here's a website of the guy who found the wreck.
The exhibit itself we both though owed a lot to the Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland! You went from room to room (on foot), and many of them were decorated like the galley, etc, with full-sized figures and dialogue being spoken ("Yar!")
Completely fascinating. It will be travelling to other museums--watch for it near you!
Day Six - Monday
The next day was going to be chock-a-block with meetings. We met with Anabel's social worker, the head of the facility that Anabel took a swing at (we brought her See's candy!), as well as Anabel herself. The facility had resigned themselves to the idea that Anne was "eccentric"--and not worth pushing her into things she didn't want to do (like shower). We learned that Anabel had a small group of friends that she hangs out with (near the elevator), and, all-things-considered, was doing fairly well...
We then met with a couple of friends of Anabel's, and had a nice lunch near the facility. The afternoon consisted of a little walk around one of the local parks, and then serious nappies for Donnie (I "hit the wall" at some point that day. Just ran out of energy....)
Dinner was with Anabel's former neighbor--the one that looked after her (to a degree that was really quite impressive).
Day Seven - Tuesday
Tuesday was our Return to Columbus day. We had all day to get there, so we took our time. The first interesting stop we made was in a little town called Lebanon. Linda (the neighbor) had told us that there were a lot of interesting antiques stores in that town, so we decided to check it out...
Probably the most interesting thing for me in Lebanon was the Golden Lamb--Ohio's oldest hotel--founded in 1803 (!). Something like 12 different US Presidents have stayed there over the years.
President Pinhea, er, Bush stayed in this room (!)
But I think it's much more impressive that Charles Dickens (wow!) stayed in THIS one:
A very quaint little place...
The town was very pretty (few things in L.A. are this old!).
We got into town around lunch time, and after dropping off our stuff at the Porn Music Hotel, we headed for the Franklin Park Conservatory. They have a rather extensive display of plants from several different biomes (Himalayan, desert, tropical, etc.).
Before we check out the plants, we ate some. I had probably the best meal of the trip here! A simple Mushroom Veggie wrap thingie with fresh salsa that was delish!
Lot's of pretty flowers (this first one is NOT a real orchid!)
Some dancing bears (for my friend Marika)
From the desert biome:
Here's where things started to get interesting. This painting was by an artist named Dale Chihuly--someone my friend Marika is just nuts about. He works with hand-blown glass in the most remarkable way! I didn't realize he worked in oils, too...
Was there only going to be art on canvas from him? Nooooo.... We were in luck!
A Koi pond with Chihuly balls!
I'm not sure what it is--but it sure is a Chihuly!
It's all hand-blown glass--and probably 20 feet high!
NOT a Chihuly
Suspended from the ceiling in another part of the building:
At one point, as you pass through a hallway, there's an illuminated space in the ceiling!
In the giftshop: Only $5,100!
I thought the outside of the building pretty impressive, too...
Hosted on Fotki
Sculpture
Following our visit to the Conservatory, we fought our way downtown to the Main Library (to use one of their computers to check in for our flight the next day! Remember I said how they don't have an 800- number?!) The library had been beautifully restored and expanded. It almost looked like a shopping mall inside!
Day Eight - Wednesday
This was Coming Home Day. Our flight wasn't until the afternoon, so we decided to take a walk through a very nice looking neighborhood that we'd spotted on the way back from the Conservatory the day before. It's called Bexley, and apparently it's an incorporated section of Columbus (and a very exclusive looking one, at that!).
Beautiful, big ol' mansions on lovely tree-lined streets...
Hey, you go where you find the opportunity!
This one overlooked the park:
For lunch, we went back to the Franklin--for another one of those Mushroom Veggie Wraps! (Seriously!)
We headed back to the airport for our flight, and turned in the rental car. Here's the weeks mileage
The flight back was a little more challenging--mostly because of the family of--12?--complete with carry-on luggage, small children (one of whom kicked the back of my seat for 2,000 miles), and body odor.
But at least there was something pretty to look at when we got over Arizona:
(Skipper didn't have someone kicking the back of her seat)
"There's no place like home" (Marika's office down there amongst those foreground highrises--and Malibu there in the distance!)
Smog, the Hollywood Freeway, and downtown L.A.
And my sister was waiting for us at the airport! Yaaaaaay!
Well, that's the trip. Didn't feel like a vacation--too many places to get, and too many people to see...but did some interesting things, met some interesting people, and saw some interesting sights!
(For you gluttons, all the pictures I took can be found here.)
