Oh, Hi. Ohio – Part 1

My parents' 50th wedding was back in January.  To celebrate, Mom wanted all of us to spend a week together as a family.  So, last Christmastime, the plan was hatched for us all to all share a house in Ohio for a week in June.

"Us all" = Mom, Dad, Sis, B-in-L, Niece, Niece's Fiancé, Nephew #1, Nephew #1's GF, Bro, S-in-L, Nephew #2, Cora, The Daughter, and me.  14.  That's the plan, anyway.  (We'll discuss later.)

So, Saturday, we loaded up the car, and I mean LOADED (we had to remove a seat) and headed to Ohio.  From my place in Chicago to Huron, OH is about 300 miles, dead on.  We got a pretty decent start; a little after 11:00 and hit the road.

It's really an easy drive: The Kennedy to the Skyway to the Indiana Toll Road to the Ohio Turnpike to Ohio 4 to Ohio 2 to Rye Beach Road.  There were some cool sights and stops along the way.

 

Skyway bridge

Sun, rain and sky in Indina

 
The girls have spent a fall watching me watch Notre Dame football.  Since we were driving thru South Bend, we hopped off the toll road and did a quick tour of campus, including Notre Dame Stadium,

and of course, "Touchdown Jesus".  We also stopped by the campus book store because it was the day before Father's Day, and I needed to get my dad a present (this year's "The Shirt").  South Bend is literally YARDS from the Michigan state line, so we drove a block into Michigan, the girls each stuck a foot out the door and touched Michigan, and it was back on the road for the final cruise east.

We saw a New York City bus driving along.  That's getting your tokens worth.

And then there was the Bat-SUV.

Eventually, 300 miles later, the GPS unit said, "arriving at Buster Brown House of right." While I'm not exactly sure what it has to do with Buster Brown Shoes (based in St. Louis), but the house was big and had plenty of rooms for all of us.

And in the back yard had a great view of Lake Erie. On the left side, where the land juts out into the water at the horizon, just not visible in this picture, is Cedar Point amusement park.

 
On Sunday, Cora, the daughter and I went over to the Ghostly Manor.  The Daughter, a big fan on the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland really wanted to go to it.  The rest of the family opted to go to a winery and drink wine.  The Ghostly Manor is a fairly large, warehouse sized building situated along one of the main roads in Sandusky.  We drove back there and were greeted by a big dragon and an empty parking lot.

As we were getting our of the car, the dragon bellowed and steam hissed and spurted out of his nose, issue the first of many shocks to come.  Unfortunately, they don't allow cameras inside, but let me tell you, if you want to see a well done haunted house and are in the area, this is a good one.  But be forewarned, it's an intense "House of Horrors" type place.  I lead the way thru the twisty corridor filled with animatronics popping out at you, richly layered chilling sound, and hanging objects to navigate.  Ever had to find your way thru a haunted butcher shop wit hams hanging you your way?  I have.  Oh, and there was a clown room, too.  Cora was giggling and squealing and shouting and really enjoying it.  The Daughter?  Well, she liked it, but has not plans to go back thru it any time soon.  Guess we don't have to worry about her becoming a fan of horror movies.

We met up with my family at the Firelands Winery waited out a thunderstorm and then tried to hit my college friend Mike's store Home Brew Ohio (tell him Scope sent you), but it was closed on Sunday.  So, we hit Walmart to get some supplies for the house and hamburgers and hotdogs for the grill.  While in the store, we saw this cool pouch of Heinz Ketchup for $0.99 that was great for the week.

 
Family @ Firelands Winery.  (Those on the left had grape juice!)

 
Dad and I out grillin'

The girls out chillin'

And with that we are ready for Monday.  To be continued…