Cleveland, OH to Fort Wayne, Indiana – 11,750 KMS
Oct 23, 2013
One of the University Buildings we discovered last night. Much smaller of course but it reminded us both of elements of the Guggenheim Museum we saw in Spain trip.
The morning started brutally cold and dry, but no frost or snow and we headed south west for Fort Wayne with grip heaters on 5, 2 layers of merino leggings under draggen jeans and waterproof pants and 2 layers of long sleeve tops under my leather vest and double lined bike jacket then waterproof jacket on top and started what was a brutally cold ride throughout the day. We discovered as we left that we had apparently entered Cleveland by the back door and as we progressed through it found a much better maintained and affluent city and started approaching the skyscrapers but turned off before we go to them and headed out of town. This is a shot of the skyline from the internet.
We had few stops today due to lack of services on the roads we were on and because we wanted to get the trip over and done with. A bonus was all the magnificent autumn / fall colours we saw on the way as well as the huge amount of farmland we passed through. Our first break was to warm the fingertips on the exhaust outlet then the second at Bellevue for a hot chocolate and fuel, the third at the Beaverdam truck stop and intersection of a number of highways and man did we see some trucks coming and going. We sat in the sun in the window of McDonalds for our lunch and the fourth stop about 40 minutes on from there for another fuel stop then into Fort Wayne. I had even managed to cut the grip heaters back to 4 and momentarily to 3 by the time we got in.
Once we booked into the hotel we decided to go for a quick stroll around town and discovered that the ferocious wind we had experienced on the bikes over the last two days hadn’t let up and froze as we walked so didn’t stay out for long. This is an impressive streetscape across the road from the shop where we got a welcome hot coffee.
An impressive Fort Wayne Courthouse building. We also found another one on the other side of our hotel which was interesting.
And this is the Immaculate Conception Cathedral near our hotel where we finally got to light the candle we wanted to.
A bit disturbing sitting here doing the blog to hear the TV weather talking scattered snow showers here overnight and then scattered rain showers between here and Chicago tomorrow with snow coming into Chicago later in the day. Mmmm, and I thought today was cold. We had planned to drop the bikes off on Thursday but plan to drop them off tomorrow instead to get the travel done and hopefully beat any serious snow. We will see!
Bits and Bobs:
This is the sort of salt damage cars experience here with the salting of roads in winter and this is pretty mild compared to some we have seen on the road.
I can’t imagine there is anyone who hasn’t seen the Griswold Holiday movies and this sign both cracked me up and freaked me out.
Last night’s Accommodation:
The Glidden House
1901 Ford Drive
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
After riding a good distance through some very marginal areas it was with relief that we arrived at our accommodation which is just beautiful. The building is Heritage Listed and has been beautifully maintained and provides a lovely space to be in. The room is spacious and well-appointed with a roomy bathroom and parking on site (we can even see the bikes from our window so would certainly hear if an alarm went off). Also nice and handy to many good sites including the Museum of Natural History and lots of other options if we were going to be here for longer. The staff has been welcoming and helpful and the included breakfast lovely. We enjoyed being within the building. Felt spoilt.
Last night’s Dinner:
La Albatross – An award winning restaurant behind the hotel and along the lane so a short walk and what a find it was. From the moment we walked in past the kitchen to the reception we could see kitchen staff working flat out and the serving staff (heaps) all but running back and forth. We had to wait at the bar before we could be seated as did many others. The menu was huge and every meal that went past us looked and smelt delicious as did what we ordered ourselves. We asked if it was a busy night and were told it was reasonably slow for a Monday. When we asked how busy they got we were told they seat 500 on a Saturday night. Great to see all the part-time employment for many Uni Students who are in the area. Our Hotel also use it for their room service so another good recommendation.
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