Thank you, Cleveland!
Days 9-11
Alas, I have not been able to keep up with this blog as well as I'd have liked. Here we are at week 3 in Maryland and I'm just getting to writing about days 9, 10, and 11. Oh well...
Day 9: Mackinaw City, Michigan
We had another gorgeous drive from Green Bay to Mackinaw City. We skirted Lake Michigan along its northwestern shore and headed over the northern peninsula into Mackinaw City. We saw plenty of dairy farms, signs for cheese curds, and miles and miles of coastline along the great lake. When planning this trip I tried to find places where the kids would get a variety of experiences as well as learn about US history. Mackinaw City provided an opportunity to learn about lighthouses and sunken ships AND gave us the tantalizing opportunity to visit the hotel from the 80s Christopher Reeves/Jane Seymour movie, "Somewhere in Time," - one of our dad's personal faves. When we arrived Mackinaw felt very much like other coastal resort towns with candy and gift shops, restaurants, and hotels lining the shore. It was also very windy.
It was a very pretty little town but unfortunately carried 2 disappointments: 1) Ruby was not tall enough to climb up the lighthouse we visited. 2) The hotel in the movie was on a nearby island available only by ferry and the ferry charge plus hotel admission was too much to pay for something the kids would have zero interest in at all. Mackinaw City does stand out in this trip for one reason alone: It had the scariest suspension bridge that my brother and I have ever driven! To get to and from our hotel we had to take a very long toll bridge with a long stretch of grate we had to drive over. Semi-trucks had to remain in the right lane and were allowed to go only 20mph instead of 45mph. The strong wind coupled with the wide grooves of the grate that made the car feel wobbly made the otherwise beautiful drive absolutely frightening. Never again. Never again.
Day 10: Niagra Falls... oops, nope. Cleveland, Ohio
A funny thing about Google Maps, it still tries to take you through Canada if you try to go to Niagra Falls if you're coming from upstate Michigan even if you don't want to. I forgot to tell my brother in time before the trip to make sure he had his passport in order because we planned to go to the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. When that didn't happen I figured no problem, we could just stay stateside. Well... I hit start on the Google and didn't notice until we were near the Canadian border that we were near the Canadian border. Once we figured out we had to travel south around Lake Erie to avoid Canada, we knew we'd not make it in time to Niagra to see it in the daylight. After an extended lunch break at a gas station just outside of Flint (yes, THAT Flint, Michigan) to figure out our next move, we re-routed to Cleveland for the night. We drove through Detroit and then headed straight for Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.
Once we snapped a few pics of the stadium from the car I turned to the Google again to explore what Cleveland had to offer. Boy were we excited to find out that the house from "A Christmas Story" was only minutes away from us! We turned the car around and drove through the city to find it at once. After traveling through the country for over 2,000 miles, it felt very strange to be in the heart of a city again. Even in Minneapolis we were kind of out in the burbs. Being downtown amidst traffic and tall buildings almost felt like a brand new experience.
We pulled up to the Christmas Story house and found that we were 5 minutes too late to catch it before it closed for the day. But at least we could still see it and the leg lamp from outside. Had I not explored the city on Google Maps, I would have never known it was there right in the middle of a city neighborhood. Could you imagine living next to the Christmas Story house?
We found our way to the hotel where I got some recommendations on where to go to dinner and where to take the kids from the very friendly and chatty hotel concierge. At this point on the trip, I was desperate for white rice and anything that resembled home cooking. He directed us to a local Vietnamese and Thai restaurant. Bless him! He also told us about a really nice park on the lake just a mile or so from the hotel. We took all his recommendations and had a wonderful night in Cleveland. It felt like we got pulled out of the touristy travel we'd been doing and just got to spend some time hanging with the locals doing what the locals did. The food was great even if the restaurant was a little divey (which is, TBH, kind of my favorite) and the park took me by surprise. It had a huge play area for the kids and an immense stone terraced seating area facing Lake Erie that was perfect for ending a day looking over the water and taking a breath. It was around 8pm when we arrived and the place was still bustling with life. And dragonflies. Lots and lots of dragonflies. I absolutely loved it. Cleveland won me over. At least this little part of Cleveland anyway.
Day 11: 9/11 in Niagra and Albany NY
After saying an early morning goodbye to Cleveland, we headed to Niagra Falls and Albany. I was so glad that we still got to see Niagra despite having to re-route through Cleveland. We didn't spend much time there but now I feel like I've gotten to participate in a little bit of "Americana" after having visited it. From there, we drove straight to Albany the capitol of New York. Again, we arrived just too late to see inside the capitol building but got to walk around it some. We also drove to Philip Schuyler's old home. He was Alexander Hamilton's father-in-law. I hoped to tour the mansion but again it was closed by the time we arrived. But I wasn't too sad after seeing it in person. Unfortunately, just like the areas surrounding the ornate government buildings of DC and many other capitol cities, the houses and neighborhoods around the Schuyler home and the capitol appeared run down and neglected. It was very sad to see. However, we ended the night on a high note having dinner at one of the places Leo and Rubes had been looking forward to going: Cracker Barrel! After a long day's drive, Cracker Barrel was exactly the comfort all of us needed.
Alas, I have not been able to keep up with this blog as well as I'd have liked. Here we are at week 3 in Maryland and I'm just getting to writing about days 9, 10, and 11. Oh well...
Day 9: Mackinaw City, Michigan
We had another gorgeous drive from Green Bay to Mackinaw City. We skirted Lake Michigan along its northwestern shore and headed over the northern peninsula into Mackinaw City. We saw plenty of dairy farms, signs for cheese curds, and miles and miles of coastline along the great lake. When planning this trip I tried to find places where the kids would get a variety of experiences as well as learn about US history. Mackinaw City provided an opportunity to learn about lighthouses and sunken ships AND gave us the tantalizing opportunity to visit the hotel from the 80s Christopher Reeves/Jane Seymour movie, "Somewhere in Time," - one of our dad's personal faves. When we arrived Mackinaw felt very much like other coastal resort towns with candy and gift shops, restaurants, and hotels lining the shore. It was also very windy.
It was a very pretty little town but unfortunately carried 2 disappointments: 1) Ruby was not tall enough to climb up the lighthouse we visited. 2) The hotel in the movie was on a nearby island available only by ferry and the ferry charge plus hotel admission was too much to pay for something the kids would have zero interest in at all. Mackinaw City does stand out in this trip for one reason alone: It had the scariest suspension bridge that my brother and I have ever driven! To get to and from our hotel we had to take a very long toll bridge with a long stretch of grate we had to drive over. Semi-trucks had to remain in the right lane and were allowed to go only 20mph instead of 45mph. The strong wind coupled with the wide grooves of the grate that made the car feel wobbly made the otherwise beautiful drive absolutely frightening. Never again. Never again.
Day 10: Niagra Falls... oops, nope. Cleveland, Ohio
A funny thing about Google Maps, it still tries to take you through Canada if you try to go to Niagra Falls if you're coming from upstate Michigan even if you don't want to. I forgot to tell my brother in time before the trip to make sure he had his passport in order because we planned to go to the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. When that didn't happen I figured no problem, we could just stay stateside. Well... I hit start on the Google and didn't notice until we were near the Canadian border that we were near the Canadian border. Once we figured out we had to travel south around Lake Erie to avoid Canada, we knew we'd not make it in time to Niagra to see it in the daylight. After an extended lunch break at a gas station just outside of Flint (yes, THAT Flint, Michigan) to figure out our next move, we re-routed to Cleveland for the night. We drove through Detroit and then headed straight for Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.
Once we snapped a few pics of the stadium from the car I turned to the Google again to explore what Cleveland had to offer. Boy were we excited to find out that the house from "A Christmas Story" was only minutes away from us! We turned the car around and drove through the city to find it at once. After traveling through the country for over 2,000 miles, it felt very strange to be in the heart of a city again. Even in Minneapolis we were kind of out in the burbs. Being downtown amidst traffic and tall buildings almost felt like a brand new experience.
We pulled up to the Christmas Story house and found that we were 5 minutes too late to catch it before it closed for the day. But at least we could still see it and the leg lamp from outside. Had I not explored the city on Google Maps, I would have never known it was there right in the middle of a city neighborhood. Could you imagine living next to the Christmas Story house?
We found our way to the hotel where I got some recommendations on where to go to dinner and where to take the kids from the very friendly and chatty hotel concierge. At this point on the trip, I was desperate for white rice and anything that resembled home cooking. He directed us to a local Vietnamese and Thai restaurant. Bless him! He also told us about a really nice park on the lake just a mile or so from the hotel. We took all his recommendations and had a wonderful night in Cleveland. It felt like we got pulled out of the touristy travel we'd been doing and just got to spend some time hanging with the locals doing what the locals did. The food was great even if the restaurant was a little divey (which is, TBH, kind of my favorite) and the park took me by surprise. It had a huge play area for the kids and an immense stone terraced seating area facing Lake Erie that was perfect for ending a day looking over the water and taking a breath. It was around 8pm when we arrived and the place was still bustling with life. And dragonflies. Lots and lots of dragonflies. I absolutely loved it. Cleveland won me over. At least this little part of Cleveland anyway.
Day 11: 9/11 in Niagra and Albany NY
After saying an early morning goodbye to Cleveland, we headed to Niagra Falls and Albany. I was so glad that we still got to see Niagra despite having to re-route through Cleveland. We didn't spend much time there but now I feel like I've gotten to participate in a little bit of "Americana" after having visited it. From there, we drove straight to Albany the capitol of New York. Again, we arrived just too late to see inside the capitol building but got to walk around it some. We also drove to Philip Schuyler's old home. He was Alexander Hamilton's father-in-law. I hoped to tour the mansion but again it was closed by the time we arrived. But I wasn't too sad after seeing it in person. Unfortunately, just like the areas surrounding the ornate government buildings of DC and many other capitol cities, the houses and neighborhoods around the Schuyler home and the capitol appeared run down and neglected. It was very sad to see. However, we ended the night on a high note having dinner at one of the places Leo and Rubes had been looking forward to going: Cracker Barrel! After a long day's drive, Cracker Barrel was exactly the comfort all of us needed.
Mackinaw City, Michigan
The face of one unable to ascend the lighthouse.
The face of one able to ascend the lighthouse.
Cleveland, Ohio
Albany and Niagra Falls, NY
Oh, if I had known you were going through Cleveland, I could have told my sister to give you a tour! She lives right on Lake Erie. Sounds like you had a great time anyway. Also, my college hometown in Williamstown, Ma is only 30 minutes from Albany, Ny. If you end up in Williamstown for some reason, I highly recommend the museum there. It’s small but has some rare pieces and one of my favorite paintings of all time. Also check out Mass Moca. Miss you all! - Melanie
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