You know how when you are traveling some rain must fall? Well, our metaphorical rain fell after we left the hotel in Chicago. First of all, we called the numbers on the receipts we had from the very sketchy valet who took our car and neither of the numbers on the receipt worked. We resisted panicking and went up to the Marriot desk clerk to ask about the valet. She told us he should be right outside the door and much to our relief, he was. Whew! It did take about 15 minutes for him to show up with our car, but at least we were mobile again. We took off to get Eddie with more wrong turns, but we finally found Tucker’s Pups and got our girl. She had a few things to say about us leaving her.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? The people are nice here, but the clientele has gone to the dogs. Okay. You are forgiven as long as we leave here and you don’t have any more diabolical plans for me.
We noticed the driver’s side rear tire pressure was once again too low. We decided the prudent thing would be to find a Honda dealer in Chicago and have it fixed or replaced since it obviously had a slow leak. Big mistake. Just our luck, the Chicago Honda dealer was a hot mess that day, short-handed, slammed with customers and in general disarray. But they said they would try and squeeze us in. By the time we realized this wasn’t going to work, it was too late to get our car back so we settled in with the faint hope that they would at least take a look at it. After two and a half hours, we told them to just put air in the tire and we would have it taken care of it another time. It took another 45 minutes (and some increasingly not so gentle encouragement) for that to occur. The cherry on top is that the guy who finally brought us our car asked us to please give them a 5 star rating when we got the survey. I let you imagine our response to that. So, nearly four hours later we are finally on the highway driving towards Cleveland. It’s now the middle of the afternoon and much later than we anticipated but C’est la vie. At least we’re moving.
Karma is sometimes satisfying.
Eddie, be nice.
The roads out of Illinois and into Indiana are mostly toll roads, something we don’t really have in the west and that’s not a problem except because we don’t have the proper fast pass we have to stop and pay all along the way, further delaying our arrival in Cleveland. We finally made it to our Airbnb about 10 PM. Along the way, we called a Cleveland Honda dealer to try and get an appointment. No luck on the appointment but one service department opened at 6 AM and they told us if we came in before 7 AM, they would be able to help us without an appointment. So we quickly unpacked and got some shuteye in anticipation of a very early morning start.
I like this place. There is a church across from us. Let’s play!
Eddie, please go to sleep.
Wow – 5 AM EST is really early for those of us used to PST. However, we arrived at the Honda service area just before 6 AM and our experience could not have been more different. Fred and George (short for Georgina) were pleasant, friendly and very happy to help. Two hours later we are on the road with a patched tire (we picked up a nail somewhere between the Coachella Valley and Salt Lake). We went back to the Airbnb to let Eddie out, put her back in her crate (she was NOT happy with us) and headed off to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame.
I think I misunderstood the “Let’s go on vacation with Eddie. It will be great fun. She’ll have a great time”. Hmmmmm.
The Rock Hall (as locals call it) was incredible and heaven for these two old rockers. It so well represents the roots of Rock in the Blues, Gospel, Country and Folk music. The videos are incredibly interesting and well done with very high production values. We saw the 2022 inductees’ presentation. Pat Benatar was inducted in 2022 and she is one of our very favorite performers. The 2023 induction ceremony is in a couple weeks and the preparations are well under way at the Rock Hall.
We spent 3+ hours immersed in the music we love and respect. The 50th anniversary of Hip Hop is 2023 and the retrospective at the Rock Hall is very well done. But what we loved most of all was the history on the bottom floor. It is comprehensive and so well presented. Michelle’s personal favorite was seeing Robert Johnson right at the beginning of the history as he should be. Sandy especially loved the Hendrix display and we both spent a lot of time pouring over the Janis Joplin memorabilia. We listened and watched an incredibly well-done video on the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger is always a compelling performer.
Hunger finally drove us to hunt for a Cleveland restaurant as the café at the Rock Hall just did not appeal. To her great joy, we picked Eddie up and went on the hunt for a dog-friendly restaurant. The weather was perfect for eating outside as it was in the low eighties with relativity low humidity. We found The Great Lakes Brewing Co and had wonderful, juicy hamburgers. Then, back to the Airbnb for laundry, packing and a couple more episodes of Batwoman. We have another early morning tomorrow as we head to New Jersey.
I had a great time at the restaurant. Other people really appreciated and loved on me. Pay attention Moms.
