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.