Left Oshkosh on Sunday after enjoying Steve and Janet’s 50^th wedding anniversary party.  It was great.   Weather report showed good chance of sleet and snow in the UP of Michigan so we decided to take the southern route.  We thought on Sunday it would be an ok day to drive through Chicago.   Yeah right.   Maps said there were delays on 94 and recommended an alternate route, our old 294 route. That went well until we were ready to head Eastbound on I 80 and then Maps said get off…..     I 80 was stopped, we made some miles on side roads but had to get back on I 94/I 80 to head into Indiana.   I think it was after whatever was the large delay, but was still moving slowly.  Not too bad from there, headed up to Stevensville Michigan to relax for the night.  Found a nice pub with a hard working bartender during Sunday football.  Hotel was a new Hilton Tru which was a great place to stay.  From there the next morning drive was easy to Sterling Heights Michigan.    We stayed at a brand new Hilton Garden Hotel near MJ and John’s house.  We went out to our new favorite BBQ Brewhouse and had a fun dinner.   From there Chris and I headed to Cleveland.  It was a pretty short drive, even for us.  Of course there was construction on the way, as there had been in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan.  But the Interstate took us most of the way to our hotel in downtown Cleveland.  It was an 1890’s hotel atrium that was beautiful.   Such great architecture.   The Hyatt at Cleveland Arcade.  Had a good bar and a restaurant we used for breakfasts.  The first night we went to Masthead Brewing a few blocks away which had great beers and food!  The next day we had breakfast and were off to the Rock and Roll hall of fame.  We spent a few hours touring.  Very interesting, but honestly Chris and I both felt that the Country Music Hall of Fame was done better.  R&R was crowded into a small area with overlapping sounds and you felt hard pressed to stop and listen to any video presentations.  Lots of cool stuff to lookat but trying to get more of the stories was hard.  Most of the history is on one floor, and the other 5 floors are sparse.  I still love that we went, just disappointed.   Of course we were there on 40 degree rainy days which didn’t help a lot.   There were a number of areas we could have walked downtown and along Lake Erie if we had better weather. 

After 2 nights in Cleveland (the 2^nd had another nice brewpub – The Butcher and the Brewer) we had a nice breakfast then on the road south.  The weather was getting better which was welcome, and traveling I-77 with some sunshine and fall color went well.  About 6 hours later we had our scheduled stop in Wytheville, VA.  The Bolling Wilson Hotel had popped out to me as about the right distance for the day and something unique.  Edith Bolling Wilson was born in Wytheville and was Woodrow Wilson’s wife.   She is credited with running the White House after Woodrow had a stroke.   The hotel is boutique, each room being different.  The building was originally a hotel and at some point was turned into a bank, then left vacant until bought and refurbished in 2014.   A drawing point for me was a restaurant on site with good reviews.    Since a 6 hour drive is longer than we normally like the idea of staying on site for a good meal and cocktails was enticing.   And it did not disappoint. After a good nights rest and one of the best hotel breakfasts we have had, we hit the road.   My original hope was to go to Savanah from there, but arriving there on a Friday meant hotels close to booked and sporting a $450 price tag.   We decided to go back to Savanah another time.   So I just found a spot in the 5 hour driving range in South Carolina, Walterboro.    This was a pretty good ride through the mountains of Virginia/North Carolina/South Carolina on a nice day.    Did I mention we were never on an Interstate that was not under construction?   That was true again that Friday but we were able to keep moving.  We even got lucky in Charlotte, when the 4 lanes of traffic stopped just after we got on an express lane.  And the express lane kept us moving past miles of stopped traffic.  Worth a few bucks!!   Walterboro was just a convenient stopping point, with nothing special nearby so a Cracker Barrel served as our dining spot that night.  The next day with no special plans we headed south, and as we got into Florida the thought of getting home got stronger and we stayed on I-95 for 7 hours to get to Snug Harbor.   There was a long traffic backup in one spot.  Unfortunately when we go to the front it was a motorcycle laid down and you could see it skidded a long way on its side.   Other than that just usual construction  areas.  Oh and an added bonus when an old semi kicked up a rock into our windshield; but that spider was fixed today.     So the last few days have been the usual unpacking, remembering where to find things, cleaning.   Oh and about 9 hours on the phone with Xfinity trying to get the TV boxes, they had me pick up, to work.   Still no resolution on that.  But it’s warm and sunny.  We had a great summer but it is also good to be back here.  Some golf at the end of the week and things will start to feel normal!

Maybe OK

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Chris was in New York Feb 1964 when the Beatles arrived

Butcher and the Brewer tap room and brewhouse

Atrium attached to our Cleveland Hotel

Downtown Wytheville from roof top bar

West Virginia road

I-77 downhill