Road Trip Day I: NYC to Cleveland
During the COVID19 pandemic visitation with my three sons, who reside in Washington State for the regular school year, has been impossible with safety concerns and the high risk level of flying. Since our summer visit is 8 weeks long and after a lot of research, we decided it would be best to drive to the halfway point between NYC and Seattle to get the boys. We have been on the road since Monday. From the skyline of NYC to the prairie lands of Fargo,ND and back again, this is my travel guide on driving half way across the United States.
Road Trip Day I: NYC to Cleveland
The first day we drove out of Manhattan around 7:00 a.m. on a clear and sunny morning at the end of June and onto I-80 West.
WHERE WE STOPPED ALONG THE WAY
DuBois, PA
Aside from filling up for gasoline, our only stop was about 4 1/2 hours from our starting point in DuBois, Pennsylvania. Having done a little research in advance, we settled on grabbing coffee from Aegis Coffee. It was apparent we were no longer in New York, as we drove a little deeper into this small Pennsylvania town. People were gathered outdoors and indoors not wearing masks (wear your masks! it protects you and the workers serving you). Fortunately, Aegis had all employees in masks with a divider between customers and employees. The service was very friendly. In a former bank with the bank vault serving as shop for Aegis Coffee shirts, mugs, and coffee the setting was charming. We took our order of cold brews and pressed sandwiches to go and picnicked in our car. The coffee was decent but not very smooth. Fortunately we had packed our favorite Lucky Jack Nitro Cold Brew and we poured a little in with our Aegis brew and it was much improved. The food was so-so, fine to give you a quick bite but not great.
Cleveland, Ohio
As we entered Cleveland, the city had a sort of familiarity to me. The design felt a lot like the midwestern version of Seattle. As an avid football fan, we drove past FirstEnergy Stadium where the Cleveland Browns play. Similar to CenturyLink Stadium in Seattle it was situated along the water line of Lake Erie. We decided to take the opportunity of being in Cleveland to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. To limit the number and flow of visitors you have to purchase your tickets online in advance. We were lucky there were still a couple of tickets left for the last visitors time frame. It was very cool to look through concert tickets and posters, iconic musical instruments, clothing, and costumes, and the original song lyrics of the background music of my life scratched on random pieces of paper by hand. It was a great experience and I recommend it for anyone visiting Cleveland.
After the Hall of Fame we headed to Edge Water State Park to take in some great views of Lake Erie and Cleveland’s skyline. Again, this reminded us a little of Seattle’s Alki beach. At Edge Water State Park you’ll also find the popular Cleveland sign that makes a good photo op.
Finally, the food. Unfortunately we did not have a good gastronomic experience in Cleveland. We wanted to try Michael Symon’s Lola but it is closed on Mondays. We then wanted to try Superior Pho but also closed on Mondays. We settled on take out from Pho Thang Cafe and it was a terrible disappointment. We literally threw dinner out. Heading back to Cleveland today, hopefully I’ll have something better to report on the food front.
Stay tuned for Road Trip Day II: Cleveland to Chicago.
