Sunday – August 17, 2014 Cloudy and 64 degrees
We spent the night at an overpriced Baymont Inn & Suites on the fringe of Erie, PA. The building appeared to be new and was located across the road from the Presque Isle Downs & Casino. Our two-room suite was huge but nothing justified the price. We left early and got on Interstate 90 toward Cleveland.
In about half an hour we crossed the border into Ohio. For several miles there were wineries on both sides of the highway. Signs identified the many different vineyards. We never heard of mid-western wine and the flat land was nothing like the steep hills of Italy or France.
The speed limit was 70 mph but the road was flat and had very few curves.
After a while, the clouds dumped their moisture on us. It was Sunday morning and fortunately there wasn’t too much traffic.
We stopped for lunch at Tony Packo’s just outside Toledo. Jamie Farr made the cafe famous by mentioning it during his role as Corporal Klinger in the television comedy MASH. The Hungarian restaurant is known for its perogies, hotdogs, and chili. Jeff noted that the sour pickles were delicious.
Among the tasteful decorations at Tony Packo’s was a plaque of autographed hotdog rolls bearing the signatures of Robert Goulet, Barry Manilow, Paul Anka, Andy Williams, and Perry Como. Does it get any better than that?
After lunch we found Route 20 and continued to drive westward. The land was flat and there were vast tracts of cornfields on both sides of the road.
In Fayette, Ohio we saw a sign for Route 66. Jeff stopped the car and we both got out to take pictures. We both breathed a collective “Baby Boomer” sigh. Oh well, that will have to be another road trip!
There was a small park at the intersection with a statue of a cat sitting on a stone. The plaque read it was a monument to “The Town Cat.”
After a while, the road unceremoniously crossed into Indiana. There were more farms with more acres of corn and soy beans. Large farm buildings were seen in the distance. Route 20 continued through a town named Angola. A few miles later we took Route 69 south to Auburn. We had driven for seven and a half hours and we were ready to take a break. We found a clean comfortable Hampton Inn for $84. and settled in for the night.
PS: Auburn was 82 degrees – humid and overcast.