Semi-epic Road Trip Day 6

 

Day 6: Sick Day and Oberlin Visit

Memories:

Therese: Learning that Oberlin allows students to keep Picassos in their dorm room for a $5/semester rental.

Grace: Oberlin

Danny: I was sick

Gordon: No ice cream because everyone was sick

Day 6 was a slow news day. I'm also realizing that I have completely forgotten to take pictures at any of the college visits. 

Perhaps because Grace gets a shirt with the college logo when she likes it enough to be a possibility, I've equated that with a photograph.

We had a quick breakfast and headed to Oberlin. It turned out that there were about 5 other families there for the visit.

The initial presentation was really great. An alum who now works in the admissions office gave a rapid fire description of the campus, the liberal arts philosophy and some fun facts. 

Oberlin has one of the largest college art museums in the U.S. it was founded quite a while ago. They keep building their collection but not expanding the size of the library. As a result, they have a lot of extra art that's not continuously on display. Students can rent up to two pieces per person for $5/semester. This includes works by Picasso and Van Gogh. I guess kids camp out the night before to get a good spot in line for the rentals. The presenter said that his senior year he lived in campus housing with four other room mates so they ended up with 10 museum quality artworks on their walls.

Oberlin requires all students to live on campus, or in campus adjacent housing owned by the university for all four years.

The school is a leader in environmentally sound practices. Much of the progressive agenda of the school is led by students.

I thought it was a really great school and felt like it would be a really good match for Grace. She really liked it as well but didn't get a good vibe from the campus or town. She thinks this is because when school isn't in session, these small college towns and campuses are pretty quiet. We talked about maybe revisiting some of the schools she really likes during the school year to get a better feel for the campus vibe.

After the visit, we grabbed a bite to eat and stopped in the campus book store for a shirt. Grace also found some books she had been looking for so we left happy.

Before settling in for the night Grace and I went down to the beach and did some beach combing. The sand is imported, but there were many, many delicate white shells washed up on the beach. We collected many of the best ones. I always bring back rocks or sand from places we visit so I made a pouch with my shirt and collected some of the white sand made from crushed shells. We continued reaching down to pick up treasures as we headed for home. I looked down only to see that the entire shirt-pouch was empty and I lost all my sand!

Back in sick bay things were looking pretty dire. Danny was down for the count. We made dinner and Grace and I played a game she brought for the trip. Midway through she started making urgent trips to the bathroom. She still won the game but was not feeling great at all. We went to be wondering if we would taking COVID tests in the morning and calling the rest of our vacation off.

SPOILER ALERT: everyone was fine in the morning.

I had hoped to make one more trip down to the beach to catch the sunset and get my sand, but we were all tired - too tired even for ice cream so we all headed to bed hoping for a better tomorrow.

Semi-epic Road Trip Day 5

 

Day 5: Otherworld and Arrive at Lorain

Memories:

Therese: Wasp ice cream and not taking the picture of the inventor/chef who created the orange swirl

Grace: Otherworld and being the one to figure out there was an actual puzzle to be solved

Danny: Completing the puzzles

Gordon: Fake cereal at the grocery store that tasted exactly like their brand namesakes

During my road trip research phase I accidentally stumbled across a place in Columbus called "Otherworld".  Originally I planned to purchase tickets for Sunday evening after the State Fair. But then I realized that we were just two and a half hours from our next destination and Sunday was much more more expensive than Monday and therefore, probably more crowded. So we booked tickets for first thing Monday morning on our way out of town.

It was either going to be great or horrible. It was advertised as a hands-on exhibit which boded the possibility of a lot of dirty or broken things. 

It was great. It was clean, it was immersive and when we arrived there were only about 20 other people.

I'm not sure I can really describe the place. It's in a 32,000 square foot warehouse space with about 40 different rooms or exhibits. Some rooms were retro, some futuristic and some were just downright strange. There was an exhibit that was like a basement storage room, complete with an entire wall of paint cans arranged in a Dr. Seuss like configuration, a pot bellied stove and many spiderwebs and also an old timey arcade game. 

What wasn't evident at first was that many of the rooms (11 to be exact) had clues in the form of symbols. If all 5 or 6 symbols were collected they could be entered into one of two different portals to result in a rewarding light/sound experience.

For example, the basement room had a spider web near the arcade game. Upon closer inspection each spider had a number on it's back with a corresponding triangle angled in a certain direction. The triangles were equilateral, so you had to see which way the number was angled and then determine which way the top point of the triangle pointed. There were also two colors: red and blue. This information gave a person enough clues to press the colored buttons on the old arcade game in the proper color/number order which then revealed a clue.

There were no maps or descriptions so everything had to be discovered. We did ask for a few clues from the guides in order to find ourselves in the proper room with the clues but the rest was pretty much the kids figuring things out.

Pictures certainly provide more vivid descriptions so I'll leave a bunch here.

This room contained a coffin. When the lid was raised, the room colors turned black & white and the flowers wilted. (See above) When the lid was closed, color was restored and the flowers perked back up. This picture shows the beginning of that process.

I'm glad we went on a Monday because we ended up spending about three hours at the place.

Next, we headed off to Lorain, OH for our Lake Erie B&B. It was an easy drive and we arrived around 4:00. Danny's eye was still giving him trouble. We made a quick stop at a grocery store that looked great in the pictures but turned out to be (sorry for the stereotype) a typical small town, heavy mayonnaise, heavy white bread, jello laden store. I guess the meat counter was impressive and that's what they are known for. But the promised extensive deli did not provide us with even one possibility. We did get a kick out of the generic cereal that tried to imitate name brands like Lucky Charms and Cap'n Crunch. According to Danny they have the same fake flavor as the originals.

Off we went to our AirB&B. It turns out that while the place was actually about a block and a half to the lake, getting to actual beach front was more like a 1/2 mile walk. We unpacked with a little crisis when the jar of alfredo sauce fell on the floor and broke. But otherwise unpacking went smoothly. Except that upon inspection, the kitchen had extremely minimal provisions. Usually AirB&Bs have a standard supply of cooking equipment including measuring cups, mixing bowls, pots and pans, etc. This place had four: cups, mugs, plates, bowls. One: pot, sauce pan, sauce pan. That's it. There wasn't even a dish drying towel or wash cloth. This is where our trusty Coast Guard hand towel came in. Thanks to their bold rescue, we could dry our hands in the kitchen!

There was a heavy air freshener scent, but the place was clean and the beds were super comfortable.

Our host had recommended an ice cream place just across from the beach. So we got ready to go. My phone's weather included a storm advisory that went UNTIL 7:00 pm. But Gordon's weather source stated that the storm would begin AT 7:00 pm. It quickly became apparent that the storm was going to hit around 7:00. We hopped in the car and drove to the ice cream place. It did not disappoint. The speciality was a soft serve orange swirl. It was fabulous. We were totally enchanted by the little candy faces on our ice cream. We raved so much that the woman at the window brought out the guy who makes the ice cream so we could rave in his presence. We discovered that wasps have also taken quite a liking to the ice cream. One look at the sky and we decided to get away from both the wasps and the weather. We hightailed it home with seconds to spare before a torrential downpour hit.

We heated up microwave dinners and headed to our comfortable beds...at least Gordon and I did. The kids declined to bunk with us and choose the floor.

Semi-Epic Road Trip: Days 4

Day 4: Columbus Ohio State Fair

Memories:

Therese: Amazing Coffee at Fox in the Snow 

Grace: Mom didn't bring back pastries for anyone yet raved about them

Danny: The eye infection began - and coincidentally Danny saw a furry brown cow that no one else saw. 

Gordon: Fine Arts Building was sweltering

By the morning of the fair, it was becoming apparent that our big Columbus memories would probably have very little to do with the Fair. It was nice that it was so close, we didn't have to get up early in the hopes of finding a good parking spot. I even had time to drive to an amazing coffee place, The Fox in the Snow. The pastries were out of this world, but I refrained from picking anything up since we were going to eat our hearts out at the fair. My latte was excellent and I also picked up coffee for our pet sitters.

Off we went to the fair a little before noon. I made banana chocolate chip muffins which were not quite as good as the pastries I saw earlier but no doubt healthier.

It was a pretty hot day and after a long sweaty walk to the fair grounds we grabbed our first, and probably only memorable, food. Biscuit breakfast sandwiches for Gordon and Danny and peach and apple turnovers for Grace and me.

First fair food with a root beer float chaser

It quickly became apparent that while there was a lot of crazy food on sticks here, the vast majority of it was carnival food truck fare and not at all original. One exception to this was the deep fried olives: excellent!

Olives good. Heat bad.

Near the entrance of the fair was an air conditioned vendor building. Little did we know it was the only air conditioned building at the fair. We wandered around looking at vendors trying to cool off. We grabbed a bunch of free stuff including a hand towel from the Coast Guard which will factor in shortly. Grace bought some nail polish that comes in sheets that adhere to the nail. The sales person did the application and they turned out really well. They are holding up even after several days.

I had it in my mind that I wanted to see the famous butter cow. It took some meandering but we finally arrived at the dairy building. The cow was actually a butter tableau made of something like 1,600 pounds of butter: all expired so no waste here. It was cool, but didn't grab me like I thought it would. Next we headed to the fine arts building which had some really nice artwork but alas, no photos allowed. It was not air conditioned.

Yes - it's all butter

All butter all the time.

As we started to head out, it began to rain. Then it began to pour. Everyone and their brother headed for shelter. We ended up back in the air conditioned vendor building. We grabbed a very disappointing bite to eat to pass the time. Then off we trudged, back to our B&B. 

Everyone was tired, no one wanted to make any decisions. We knew we wanted to go to the fabulous book store again and also to an intriguing ice cream place. By the time we figured out where we would eat and when we would have ice cream, we were running out of time.

Meanwhile, Danny's eye was really starting to itch and was overall, thoroughly gross.

We ate at a German Restaurant in the German Village. I wanted something light which is pretty impossible at such a place. I had a spaetzle chicken salad. This seemed to be 1/4 cup of spaetzle, much cubed chicken and a bag of ice berg lettuce. Ugh.

Despite the heavy food, German Village was a delight to walk through. Even the Queen seems to be happy there. 

Queen waves hello to celebrate her jubilee

Gordon and Danny dropped Grace and me off at the bookstore while they ran to CVS to find various eye drops for Danny.

Beautiful courtyard of the bookstore

After that we went to the rolled ice cream place. It was pretty fabulous. It was in the Short North area of Columbus which is a super busy hip/happening night spot with lots of cool looking restaurants and clubs.

Finally happy and totally full, we headed home to sleep off our food coma.

Day 5: Otherworld and Arrive at Lorain

Memories:

Therese: Wasp ice cream and not taking the picture of the inventor/chef who created the orange swirl

Grace: Otherworld and being the one to figure out there was an actual puzzle to be solved

Danny: Completing the puzzles

Gordon: Fake cereal at the grocery store that tasted exactly like their brand namesakes

Day 6: Sick Day and Oberlin Visit

Memories:

Therese: Learning that Oberlin allows students to keep Picassos in their dorm room for a $5/semester rental.

Grace: Oberlin

Danny: I was sick

Gordon: No ice cream because everyone was sick

Semi-epic Road Trip: Days 2 & 3

 

Miles: Got to be close to 1,000 total

States: 2 (Not counting Indiana)

Memories:

Therese: Regretting not bringing a single camping lantern when we were hit by a power outage in the AirB&B

Danny: No towels at the pool - heading back to the room dripping wet. "Cluck Norris" restaurant where we didn't eat

Grace: Flying Pig Candy/Ice Cream store yesterday and octopus tentacle today

Gordon: Walking to Target in the middle of a power outage

Because Paul was under the weather, we skipped our backwards detour to Milwaukee and headed towards Columbus. Upon the recommendation of AAA we stayed in Danville, IL which was much cheaper than it would have been to stay in Indianapolis. Plus: not Indiana.

Before leaving we headed to the Flying Pig, a candy/ice cream store recommended by the admissions counselor at Beloit. Beloit gained a few points for being in very close proximity to such a local treasure.

Because ice cream wasn't enough, the kids each loaded up on bulk candy.. Mostly gummies. Because ice cream and candy wasn't enough Grace also got a boba tea.

Flying Pig: Too Many Choices

All that and Ice Cream, Too!

After an easy drive we stopped at the Holiday Inn for a pleasant rest in a very clean room. We tried to get as much of our money's worth at the free breakfast. They supplied bags for guests to take to-go items so we loaded up a few things. Breakfast highlight was an automatic pancake maker that pumped out batter onto a conveyer belt that eventually met up with a top belt that served as an upper griddle. It was slow but delicious and fascinating to watch. Somehow Danny figured out that they cost $700 and suggested we get one.

The drive to Columbus was pretty easy. Since we arrived before check-in, we made a stop at the Budd Dairy Food Building. It was a big open warehouse of different food vendors.. After looking at many tasty options including "Cluck Norris" we all ended up at the Poke place. It was just OK. The big selling point for Grace was that they had a "build your own bowl" which meant she could add roe and octopus.

 A building full of delicious food...except no ice cream.

It was important (to me) to get photographed with this cow.

Is this the face of a picky eater?

Just as we hauled in the last piles of stuff from our car into the B&B, and by hauled I mean carried up an outside set of stairs...the power went out. It's pretty warm here and the State Fair is in full swing so the grid was probably overloaded. Gordon walked half a mile to Target to get flashlights and I lamented leaving the camping gear at home.

We had planned on  checking out Italian Village and getting some really cool looking ice cream. However because we had no idea if we would have power tonight and the kids needed something to occupy their eyes since their phone batteries were running low, we changed up our plans and headed to German Town and the The Book Loft. It was in our plans for tomorrow and we will definitely be returning to finish browsing. 

Entering The Book Loft through the patio.

Exiting through the patio $67 poorer but richer for it.

German Town was pretty stunning. It looks like something out of Georgetown in DC. This part of town has been around since before the Civil War and the buildings and small front yards are completely charming. Plus, judging from the lawn signs, it's a pretty progressive area. I was completely blown away. After scoping out the book store and coming out with plenty of books and a long wish list, we headed into German Town to an ice cream place recommended by our B&B host: jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. Yes. It was splendid. And we got in a nice walk after a day in the car.

A few photos of German Town:

I embarrassed everyone by taking a picture of the RBG sign in the window.

Finally: Ice Cream!

Home again and laundry is underway. It's one of those washer/dryer combos. They take forever, but it is set it and forget it because immediately after washing it starts the drying cycle.

I'm showered and worn out. This B&B is the perfect place to end a tiring day. It's super cute with a blue theme that is very relaxing. The boys are in a room with twin beds. I have the queen sized bedroom and Grace has a roll-away bed with a memory foam mattress which is set up in the living room right next to her writing desk.

Some pictures of our place for the next 36 hours:

Peaceful kitchen

Living Room with Grace's cot.

More Kitchen

My sanctuary

I'm going to finish this and settle in with a cup of tea and my new book!

Tomorrow: State Fair, more ice cream and another visit to the book store.

Aaaaaannnndd.....done!