This past weekend, my wife and I went to a wedding in Sandusky, Ohio. Sandusky is about an hour west of Cleveland. Now, I know, you are jealous of me for taking this trip. But, before you snicker, it was actually quite nice.
But, getting there and back was anything but nice. We left from Newark Liberty airport on a 4pm flight Friday evening. Or was suppose to. Thunderstorms came in and delayed our flight. As usual, we had left the gate and sat on the tarmac. And sat. And sat. And sat. Through this we were told we were going to leave soon, no, we aren't, yes, we are. Three hours later, we took off. Three hours on a plane. Waiting. And waiting. People were not happy. People expressed themselves as not being happy. I do not envy the cabin crew dealing with people in these type of situations.
We did finally arrive in Cleveland around 8p. Ok, not so bad. We'll pick up the car and get going. But, the car rentals are not at the airport. You have to take a bus to get your rental car. Now, I'm sure I was tired but it felt like I had to go to Michigan to get my car. After about 10 minutes, we did get to the car rental and headed out.
After stopping for dinner at some buffalo joint (not Buffalo, NY but they served buffalo), we headed to Huron, Ohio. Got there around 11p and turned in.
Here is where the surprising part (for me) was. Huron is a nice little town. It is situated on Lake Erie. Our hotel overlooked the Huron River which flows into Lake Erie. Now, the view of the river was nice but there was agri-businesses on the other side didn't look so nice. Still, there were parks around and looking out onto the lake was similar to looking out on to an ocean. (picture above).
If you are familar with the eastern part of the United States, the area reminded me of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. You drove around and there were farms. Lots of things are geared to enjoyment of the water. It felt like a shore community.
But, getting there and back was anything but nice. We left from Newark Liberty airport on a 4pm flight Friday evening. Or was suppose to. Thunderstorms came in and delayed our flight. As usual, we had left the gate and sat on the tarmac. And sat. And sat. And sat. Through this we were told we were going to leave soon, no, we aren't, yes, we are. Three hours later, we took off. Three hours on a plane. Waiting. And waiting. People were not happy. People expressed themselves as not being happy. I do not envy the cabin crew dealing with people in these type of situations.
We did finally arrive in Cleveland around 8p. Ok, not so bad. We'll pick up the car and get going. But, the car rentals are not at the airport. You have to take a bus to get your rental car. Now, I'm sure I was tired but it felt like I had to go to Michigan to get my car. After about 10 minutes, we did get to the car rental and headed out.
After stopping for dinner at some buffalo joint (not Buffalo, NY but they served buffalo), we headed to Huron, Ohio. Got there around 11p and turned in.
Here is where the surprising part (for me) was. Huron is a nice little town. It is situated on Lake Erie. Our hotel overlooked the Huron River which flows into Lake Erie. Now, the view of the river was nice but there was agri-businesses on the other side didn't look so nice. Still, there were parks around and looking out onto the lake was similar to looking out on to an ocean. (picture above).
If you are familar with the eastern part of the United States, the area reminded me of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. You drove around and there were farms. Lots of things are geared to enjoyment of the water. It felt like a shore community.
We were also surprised that (a) Ohio has wineries and (b) the wine is pretty good. We only had a chance to visit one but we did wind up buying a bottle and taking it home with us. We do have wineries in the Bucks County area where I live, but they tend to be hit or miss for me. I think Bucks County wineries tend to gear themselves to the sweet wines (Concord, Niagara grapes) and, personally, I like a drier wine and Ohio did have some good ones.
As mentioned the wedding was in Sandusky. We didn't get a chance to go into downtown Sandusky much but it had one of the things that I think is destroying the uniqueness of towns in America. Every town (and, I mean every town) has the same restaurants, Targets, Lowes, Home Depots, blah, blah, blah and on and on. Towns all look the same. And, I think that's a shame. Our towns (and not just Sandusky) are becoming bland with no identity of their own (ok, I'm off my soapbox now).
Sunday was raining but I was determined to run anyway. From the hotel, there is a 1/2 mile walkway jutting out onto Lake Erie. It is right next to where the Huron River flows into the lake. With the storm surging, the wind was pretty fierce out there so, with hat in hand (no, literally, it would blow off otherwise), I went out and back for my first mile. I only did three, so tried to follow the lake as much as I could. I would love to run a 5k here for a PR as the roads were flat and fast. I felt great after the run but a little wet.
After checking out, we went to Cleveland to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I didn't see much of Cleveland to have an impression other than it was pretty empty (at least by Philadelphia standards). But, having said that, it was raining hard the entire day. We enjoyed the RRHoF spending the afternoon there. You can easily spend an entire day. (Highlight for me was to see the costume John Lennon wore on the Sgt. Pepper's cover).
After our RRHoF visit, it was back to the airport. Thank goodness for GPS devices as we rented one with our car and would have gotten hopelessly lost if we didn't have it. Because the car rental place is tucked in where no visitor would venture to go. After we dropped off, found out the flight was delayed for an hour. Sigh. I guess it's better than sitting on a plane. No wait. We did that too as we got on the plane and waited for another hour. And, the captain, told us that we were going to wait another hour! The weird part that about 5 minutes later, the captain got on the PA system and announced we are ready for takeoff. We wound up not getting home until 12:30a. (By the way, in case you were wondering, surgham doesn't travel well on an airplane. Don't ask questions. Take my word.)
The adventures continue with me as I head down to Florida this weekend. For those taking a Southwest flight on either Thursday this week or Tuesday next to and from Orlando, beware. If I'm sitting next to you, chances are your flight will be delayed.
Note: I did six miles on Wednesday and three on Sunday. This week the mileage will be about the same as long runs are just not possible at the moment. Chances are slim I'll be doing a marathon in October but will gear up for the Philadelphia marathon in November.
As mentioned the wedding was in Sandusky. We didn't get a chance to go into downtown Sandusky much but it had one of the things that I think is destroying the uniqueness of towns in America. Every town (and, I mean every town) has the same restaurants, Targets, Lowes, Home Depots, blah, blah, blah and on and on. Towns all look the same. And, I think that's a shame. Our towns (and not just Sandusky) are becoming bland with no identity of their own (ok, I'm off my soapbox now).
Sunday was raining but I was determined to run anyway. From the hotel, there is a 1/2 mile walkway jutting out onto Lake Erie. It is right next to where the Huron River flows into the lake. With the storm surging, the wind was pretty fierce out there so, with hat in hand (no, literally, it would blow off otherwise), I went out and back for my first mile. I only did three, so tried to follow the lake as much as I could. I would love to run a 5k here for a PR as the roads were flat and fast. I felt great after the run but a little wet.
After checking out, we went to Cleveland to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I didn't see much of Cleveland to have an impression other than it was pretty empty (at least by Philadelphia standards). But, having said that, it was raining hard the entire day. We enjoyed the RRHoF spending the afternoon there. You can easily spend an entire day. (Highlight for me was to see the costume John Lennon wore on the Sgt. Pepper's cover).
After our RRHoF visit, it was back to the airport. Thank goodness for GPS devices as we rented one with our car and would have gotten hopelessly lost if we didn't have it. Because the car rental place is tucked in where no visitor would venture to go. After we dropped off, found out the flight was delayed for an hour. Sigh. I guess it's better than sitting on a plane. No wait. We did that too as we got on the plane and waited for another hour. And, the captain, told us that we were going to wait another hour! The weird part that about 5 minutes later, the captain got on the PA system and announced we are ready for takeoff. We wound up not getting home until 12:30a. (By the way, in case you were wondering, surgham doesn't travel well on an airplane. Don't ask questions. Take my word.)
The adventures continue with me as I head down to Florida this weekend. For those taking a Southwest flight on either Thursday this week or Tuesday next to and from Orlando, beware. If I'm sitting next to you, chances are your flight will be delayed.
Note: I did six miles on Wednesday and three on Sunday. This week the mileage will be about the same as long runs are just not possible at the moment. Chances are slim I'll be doing a marathon in October but will gear up for the Philadelphia marathon in November.
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