A Mixed Day....

I haven’t thought to mention this so far, but I really object to paying for connecting to the internet in hotels. This seems to happen all over the world, but I am pleased to say that it happens far less in the USA than other countries. So far on my tour, in most of the smaller hotels, motels and B&B’s, wi-fi is completely free. But in most of the larger hotel chains, you have to pay. Now, I don’t mind paying for things if the price is fair, but the cost of wi-fi in large hotels is ridiculous. $12 - 15 per day seems to be the going rate and this is simply a money making rip-off. I now have a policy of asking them to remove this cost from my bill when checking out, by saying that I do not pay for the internet. Result so far? About even, with some removing the charge and others not. Give it a try next time!

Guess what? I saw another lighthouse today! This was the first of two to be closed, but I didn’t mind this one being closed as I did get there quite early. I will tell you about the second one being closed (snarl) later in this post! Here is the light in Fairport Harbor, OH....




























Just as I left Fairport, I went passed a sand yard, where they handle loose sand. I liked this huge pile of sand and the shape it made....






















I rode through Cleveland today and was quite impressed. Many of the larger cities I have been to have seemed as if they are on the decline. Cleveland didn’t feel that way. I saw lots of operational heavy industry around the Cleveland docks area, which was good to see. It struck me that in this area of hard work, sweat and muscle was just the place to locate an American Football team, which is of course exactly where the Cleveland Browns are located. Good choice of location!

The view as I entered Cleveland....














The Leading Ladies outside the Browns stadium....




























I couldn’t work out what this statue was when I first saw it....




























Looking back across Lake Erie, as I left Cleveland....




























I rode through Lakewood, just west of Cleveland and I was impressed. Being so close to the centre of Cleveland, the area is very good, with the lake nearby and some fabulous houses, set amongst clean streets lined with trees. Set amongst many other great houses, this one caught my eye....






















I like meeting people. Today I stopped for lunch at Rocky River, Ohio at the Cravings Cafe. A very nice place....






















There I met another customer, Ralph, a silver haired man with the look of lots of experience in his eyes. He told me he has visited 70 different countries, including the UK. He worked in Russia in the 60’s during the cold war period when “people asked you in the street if they could buy your shoes or your jeans”. Ralph rides a Vespa with nearly 100,000 miles on the clock.....






















Ralph doesn’t wear a helmet when he rides his bike. He told me that when people ask him if he feels safe not wearing a helmet, he says “I have been shot at in Vietnam and I had to avoid landmines. I have been deported. Do I feel safe not wearing a helmet? Yes I do!” He is considering riding a Vespa down through South America – what a great idea, but there would be many challenges on such a trip. I am sure he would cope though!

Very soon, I spotted something very strange in the front garden (US = front yard) of someone’s house....




























Quite what a gondola from a ski lift in Aspen was doing there, is anyone’s guess. I wanted to knock at the house and ask, but it looked as if there was nobody there.

On my journey west, I have now travelled most of the length of Lake Ontario and then Lake Erie, but riding along these Great Lakes has become less interesting today. Most of the lake edge is owned by private houses and there is a strip of houses along most of the lake with a road running parallel to and one block away from the lake itself. This means that in order to even see the lake, you have to turn down one of the roads that lead to and stop at the lake edge. Sometimes you can gain access to the lake, sometimes not. This means that rather than simply enjoying the view of the lake as you ride along, you have to make the effort of turning onto a different road to even catch a glimpse. I got tired of doing this so I gave up. It is a shame that the lake is right there, but most of the time you cannot see it. Great for the house owners though!

I stopped at the Quaker Steak and Lube in Vermillion, OH. This is a cool place, with bikes and cars used as part of the decor....




























This is the view from their balcony bar....






















I went passed Cedar Point – which looked good if you like roller coasters....






















As I approached Marblehead I saw these houses. Nice, normal up-scale row of houses....






















BUT look what they had in their back yards!!!!.... How cool would this be!....






















Finally for todays post, everyone on my tour so far has been kind, helpful and really nice. Until today. I wanted to see the lighthouse at Marblehead. It was out of my way, but I thought it would be worth the extra miles. I arrived and parked in the car park and walked towards the lighthouse taking a couple of pictures as walked....























































As I walked along, I had a good view of the lighthouse and the attendants by the door, must had had a good view of me. As I got within 15 seconds of the attendants, they rose from their chairs, one walked away and the other entered the lighthouse. As I arrived at the door, the female attendant come out and said “we are closed, please come back tomorrow at one o’clock”. I was flabbergasted, I had arrived at 4.45 pm and they closed at 4.45. If I had been 15 seconds earlier, I would have been allowed in. I explained that I had come a long way (!) and that I couldn’t come back tomorrow as I was on a road trip. It didn’t matter to her – she said the last group had already entered the lighthouse and no I couldn’t join them. This group was there for another 15 minutes and it would have been very easy for her to say “OK, just pop in, but be quick”.

I was really annoyed by this woman’s attitude.

When I got to my motel for the night I enlarged the pictures I took and here is the one I took just 15 seconds before arriving at the door of the lighthouse. As you can see, the attendants have just got up from their chairs to close the place....






















I hope that she is happy with the way she treated me today. There was an e-mail address in the window of the lighthouse of the people that run the facility. I am going to write to them to complain. If you, dear readers, want to also write to them, the address is.....

east.harbor.parks@dnr.state.oh.us