The Road Traveler
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Around The United States
Great Lakes Road Trip: Part 6- 4th of July with Lucy, Bob, and Duane; or: Buffalo, NY to Cleveland, Ohio
Having survived the Niagara Falls crowds without flinging ourselves over the railing in a barrel, we were on a mission -
Penguins at the Aquarium of Niagara on the New York side. Not just any penguins,
but yes, the rare Peruvian penguin. Do these guys know how cute they are waddling around? Watching them during feeding time was a treat.
Word is this small aquarium is one of only a few to house these birds. The pink and white fellows were oddly likeable in an ugly ducking kind of way.
We wanted to jump in and protect them ourselves. Son and Daughter bought "Please Feed the Penguins" t-shirts at the gift shop.
Leaving the Buffalo, NY area meant we were now heading home, at the halfway point, having driven about 1200 miles. Of the Great Lakes, we'd seen
Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Ontario on this trip. Lake Erie was next. At each lake we collected a couple of rocks for Uncle's fishtank
back home. Maybe not as exotic as his rock from Loch Ness, but hey, five Great Lakes is nothing to sneeze at.
As a kid, "I Love Lucy" reruns were my favorite. My kids have been watching Lucy do her "splaining"on DVD.
So a stop in Jamestown, New York was worth the slight detour. This town knows how to honor its famous alumnus: besides two museums,
there are three full-wall murals of key Lucy scenes, such as the Vitameatavegamin episode, and a giant Lucy/Desi stamp pictured on the side of the local post office.
The Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz Center's recreated sets of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's New York apartment and Hollywood
hotel suite were very cool. The "Three Headed Monster" offered an interesting look at the first multi-camera editing device developed, at Desi Arnaz's insistence,
for I Love Lucy in the early days of television. We paid our respects at the large but simple headstone in the local cemetery which simply said "Ball" in that familiar script
inside a heart. In Jamestown we got a sense of the long journey Lucille Ball had made in her lifetime.
At each of these places we visited on this trip, we saw the accomplished come home to their roots in the end.
Pennsylvania consists of a small, 30 mile stretch along I-90 and since it was our first time in PA, we stopped for a stretch at
the Presque Island State Park in Erie. Remote miles of shoreline were ours as Son and Daughter greeted
Lake Erie by skipping stones across the beckoning sea. A red and white lighthouse there, built in 1873, was not open for visitors. Still, it made for a tranquil
scene before we ventured on to Ohio. As far as rest stops go, this one definitely beat Howard Johnson's.
Bustling into Ohio, we hit the brakes lakeside at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
There's something appealing about a white, modern, angled structure on a lakefront. (see also Milwaukee's inspiring Art Museum).
It was the 4th of July, and "Bob Dylan's American Journey, 1956-1966" was on exhibit. Highlights for me were the video clips of Dylan with The Band.
For Spouse it was Duane Allman's 1961 SG and two 1959 Les Pauls. The rest of the place would have been more fun without the kids.
They didn't care and were only in it for the food at the snack bar. Youth is wasted on the young, indeed.
I'm sure there are many fine places to party down in Cleveland, but after traveling through 3 states that day we made our own 4th of July party, watching the "Monk" marathon in our hotel room and eating delivered pizza on the beds. What a country.