Ann Arbor, MICHIGAN to Cleveland OHIO

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Up early after bad night sleep after big storm and nosy air conditioner and road noise from the nearby interstate. It was much cooler today after the big storm last night. We had breakfast provided and were away pretty early today. Just before we left I took a photo of these beautiful blue spruce trees native to this part of the world. Not long and a squirrel was seen running up the tree (they are so cute). We have seen these trees everywhere on the drive so far.

Once we left about 45 minutes south on US Highway 223 and we crossed the border into the state of Ohio (USA State number 36). I played the song called Ohio by Damien Jurano which is an awesome tune. About 15 minutes further and we arrived in Toledo. Kerry had done some research and decided we should visit an area called The Old West End District. It was only 2 minutes off the highway and has the most extensive amount of Edwardian and Victorian homes east of the Mississippi River. This was the premier place to live in Toledo around 1875 to 1910 but later fell into disrepair, and only recently it has become popular to restore these grand homes. We drove down about 4-5 parallel roads all with beautiful homes and no two the same. A photographers dream and a renovators dream (or maybe nightmare !).

We then drove along the coast of Lake Erie towards a town called Sandusky. We stopped a diner called Better Half Family Diner. This was a great stop with an old fashioned real America experience where the locals popped in for their lunch. I had a French onion soup which was not the right choice as it was laced with enough cheese to feed an army, but the girls made better choices. Kerry had a taco salad which we would later share, and Elise had a BLT.

Near this area is Cedar Point a massive theme park with massive rollercoasters. On the drive we saw the world headquarters for Duck Tape, but did not go inside. We also went past a jail with an interesting sign warning us not to pick up hitch hikers (good advice!).

About an hour after leaving Sandusky we were in Cleveland where we had booked a trolley ride with Lolley The Trolley at 2pm. It was pretty easy to find where to start the tour, and then it was off we go. The tour went for 2.5 hours and only costs $23.00 each so what a bargain, and this trolley had padded seats as well which is not always the case! We toured around downtown learning about the city’s history, and then to the medical precinct where the massive Cleveland Clinic area is, saw the flats, and sporting precinct where LeBron’s Cavaliers play, the Indians of Baseball fame and the Browns gridiron team who are not so famous for their 0-16 season last year after a 1-15 the year before. and much more. It was such a good way to get an overview of the city and see what interested us to explore more deeper tomorrow as this is our first 2 night stop.

The weather was perfect, fine and sunny around 25 degrees all day. We checked in to our hotel which was the Holiday Inn Express in downtown on Euclid Avenue. What a great choice to stay, right in the middle of downtown, and short walk to East 4^th Street dining precinct where we went for dinner. This place was alive with atmosphere and we did not realise that the Cleveland Indians baseball team were playing that night against Detroit Tigers and the field is only a few hundred metres walk from downtown.

We had dinner at a place called Pickwick & Floric. We ordered an entrée of Smashed Redskins and Shannon our waitress apologised for the delay in bringing them out so she did not charge us for them as a gesture of goodwill. It didn’t really matter as were just relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere. I had ordered the Buffalo Chicken Pizza and Kerry & Elise shared a Margherita Pizza. My Pizza was smothered in too much Blue Cheese which I’m not a real fan of (again I need to read menu more closely). I washed it down with a local beer called Dogfish Head Namaste which was nice and fresh. Kerry had a couple of glasses of White Zinfandel.

Our hotel room is in an old bank building, high ceilings, lots of space with a lounge area separate to the bedroom, and small kitchen. We paid for valet parking here about $25.00 per day, and it is convenient as tomorrow we won’t be using the car at all. It will be a day of walking / exploring Cleveland.

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Photos

Looking up East 4th Street in downtown Cleveland
Only 100 metres from our Holiday Inn Express Hotel