Travel Notes - Ohio Indiana Michigan

Travel Notes - Ohio Indiana Michigan: I flew to Cleveland on Frontier for $80. No issues either way. No lines. TSA were dicks here. Only one section open. Flagged for rivets in the same jeans I wear every time. So, of course they wanted to x-ray my SHOES! After they went down on me. I swear most of them look like they couldn't make it through the check point themselves. I rented a car from Hertz for $332. I drove 90E to Mentor and stayed at the smoke stank Super 8 (Expedia 7.2) for $79. The route of this trip was influenced by which sports teams had homestands in the area. I didn't check before I booked my ticket.

The next day I drove 2W to Willoughby and had an odd turkey and swiss club with fries for $18 at Chagrin River Diner. I drove to East Lake and bought a ticket at Classic Auto Group Park for the Lake County Captains v Great Lakes Loons match up for $10 and $10 for parking. I stayed a few innings and drove 90W until it became a toll road (around Midway) and 2W to Toledo. It is just as as much of a highway. I took 75S to 475W to 24S to Fort Wayne. Road work makes it confusing around there. And people in Indiana (and Michigan) drive like they are in a race. I stayed at Magnuson's North Coliseum (Expedia 7.4) for $88. Drove downtown. I bought a ticket to the Tincaps v Beloit Sky Carp game at Parkview Field for $9 and $6 parking. Ate at the game for $16.

The next day I drove by the Coliseum. Had two coney dogs and a soda for $6 at Mister Coney. 30W to 31N to South Bend. I stayed at the great Four Winds Casino (Expedia 9.6) for $99. I grabbed a gyro combo at T. Allen's for $10. Drove to Four Winds Field downtown and bought a ticket for $15 and parking for $10 for the Cubs v Lansing Lugnuts game. Back to the hotel. Back to the game. I left after two innings because it looked like rain. Got out just in time. Bought a bottle of wine at Star Liquor and a sandwich at Subway and watched the sunset. If you load up on provolone, olives, cucumbers, etc, you have yourselves a charcuterie board. Plus their daily special makes a meal almost tolerable at $10.

The next day I went back to T. Allen's for the rib tip combo for $11. Dry. Don't listen to women in the booth across from you. 31N to 94N to 196N to Grand Rapids. Drove through. It looked cleaner this time. Stayed at the disappointing Comfort Inn (Booking 7.4) in Comstock Park for $138. Bought a ticket to the West Michigan Whitecaps v Dayton Dragons for $18. Back to the hotel. Walked to the game. Had to do Subway again because of minimal options. Did you know these "grand" cities are called so because of the Grand River?

The next day I drove 96W to Muskegon. Drove the coast of Lake Michigan. Through Grand Haven. Had a disappointing Golden Hour Bowl (quinoa, brown rice, avocado, feta, etc) at Noto's for $24. It was on the beach/lake. Only the pasta looked ok. South through Holland (Tulip Festival detours) and Saugatuck. Falafel pita and chips and beer for $43 at Saugatuck Brewing Co. South a bit to the Michigan Wine Co in Fennville. $17 for a flight of mostly bad wine. Stepped in a not so deep drainage hole sizing up a photo and somehow crushed my right ankle. Thankfully, I think I did not pop my Achilles as I originally feared. But, that put an end to that day and hobbled me from then on. Drove through South Haven to Benton Harbor. Stayed at the BW (Expedia 7.8) for $106. All the exits were closed for repairs around here. It is the cheapest/worst part of this region. BK.

The next day I took 94E through Ann Arbor to 23S to 475S to Toledo. Bought a ticket to the Mud Hens v Redbirds for $13. $4 for parking because the idiots wouldn't take credit for the flat $10 event charge and let you then pay by the hour. Drove 75S. Stopped in Bowling Green. BK. At Findlay, took 68E to 15E to 23E to 30E to Galion. Stayed at the quiet Sleep Inn (Expedia 8.8) for $97. KFC. 

The next day I drove to Mansfield to see the prison from Shawshank Redemption. It is a tour now. I believe it was $30. I was too hobbled. To downtown and had so-so eggs and sausage and potatoes and toast and a coney dog at Coney Island Diner for $22. There are more movie locations here and in the surrounding areas. Tango & Cash and Air Force One were also shot in the prison. Took 94E to Strongville. Stayed at the BW Plus (Expedia 7.6) for $73. It was close to the airport, but, better than the options north, east and west. Stay south of the airport. Chipotle. Oddly, Shawshank was on tv that night.

The next day I had Subway again and flew home. I used a free week coupon on parking, so, I only spent $4 on that plus $30 on the trip. $680 on hotels. $157 on gas. $65 on baseball tickets. $276 on food and beverage. Total $1624. 

This was just a filler trip. Still ok. Wished I had done more wineries in Michigan. I had been meaning to see that area again. Shawshank was a suggestion by the mascot in East Lake. Cold in the beginning. Then dry and warm. All the food stops were non-scripted. Nothing noteworthy. I may go back to Ohio in the summer for a tennis tournament. International airfare is double last year. Pissing me off. I just used miles on the next booking. I think it is time to stop being lazy and use up all my miles while jet fuel is a problem. Should have forced myself to go to Toledo U. Cleveland was too expensive and most of the restaurants on tv have closed or I have been to. Greek Village Grille and Slyman's Deli are still in business. The house from a Christmas Story is also near Cleveland. And that's all I have to say about that. I have been meaning to make that my sign off. It cracks me up. And that's all I have to say about that too.