Monday and home

Arrived in Columbus on Sunday evening...our hotel. the Blackwell, is right on the Ohio State campus where a few hours earlier President Obama had given the commencement address...

We strolled to dinner at Eddie George's 27 (he's a local sports hero) and walked back to the hotel through the (very large) university campus.

Tuesday morning we headed out at about 6:30 on the final leg of our journey.

Breakfast at yet another Cracker Barrel, a couple of service/rest stops (where Elsie got some Funyons)...

Another interminable drive thru PA...the names of the 4 mountains that the PA Turnpike tunnels thru: Blue, Kittatinny, Tuscarora and Allegheny...

Finally reached NJ and a distant glimpse of the NYC skyline...

On to the (blessedly traffic-free) George Washington Bridge...

Back to Riverdale for me and a hopefully speedy drive to Brooklyn to end the trip...

Heading East...

We departed CoMo (with the little graduate) early Sunday morning about 5:30. Still pretty chilly and the first few hours of our drive were rainy off and on. We had breakfast near St. Louis and lunch in Plainfield, Indiana...both meals at Cracker Barrels (there are lots of them along the highway and the food is reliable).

After breakfast we swung thru downtown St. Louis to get a picture of the Arch:

Arrived in Columbus, OH at about 6:30...Jeff made reservations at "the Blackwell", a top-rated hotel on the Ohio State campus...

Will settle in and head out to dinner...

Graduation Day

Saturday morning...still overcast but not raining and some peeks of sun as the day went on...

We picked up Elsie pre-graduation...she looked beautiful!

Her decorated mortar board...

We dropped her off and headed to the theatre in downtown Columbia

Great ceremony...heres a link to a video of Elsie receiving her diploma (hope it works)...

Took some pictures after the ceremony...

Then we went to lunch at Les Bourgeois winery, about 15 miles west of Columbia, on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River...

Really good day. And tomorrow, its back in the car to head home...

Some pictures

Diner in PA...

Columbus skyline...

Indianapolis skyline...

Mississippi River...

Dinner at Sycamore

Friday evening

Note: Still having trouble uploading pictures. Will likely post a whole bunch after I get home.

Went over to Elsie's so Jeff could see her apartment and we could all see Bentley then drove into Columbia for dinner.

Went to a really great restaurant, Sycamore. Had Broadway Cosmos (except for Elsie who had a glass of Riesling): blood orange vodka, Cointreau, fresh grapefruit juice and lime.
We shared a cheese plate, I had short ribs, Elsie, ribeye steak, Jeff, trout and Regie, beet salad and brandade (salt cod fritters). We shared a blueberry corn cobbler.

After dinner, we walked around the Stephens campus a bit and are now back at the hotel lounge having tea (rather than going out for shots as originally planned...sort of).

Relaxing evening after spending a couple of days on the road. Tomorrow is the big day!!!

Friday...we have arrived!

We were on the road at about 7:30 after spending the night in Dayton. Beautiful morning, sunny and mild.

Reached the Indiana state line in about an hour (my first time is Indiana).

Flat landscape, lots of trucks on the road (one for Smitty's Painting, "Stay Pretty Call Smitty")

Another couple of hours to Illinois, weather still pretty mild but a bit cloudier.

Some billboards:
"Worlds Largest Windchime"
Blue Springs Bakery (where they have a foot-high pie!)

Had lunch at Cracker Barrel in Effingham, Illinois...good lunch, I've never been to a Cracker Barrel before! About 70 degrees here.

Back on the road and reached Missouri border at about 1:20 Central Time. Raining HARD and temperature dropping as we go (40 degrees when we arrived in Columbia at 3:30...brrrrrrrrr).

Settling in at Courtyard Marriott (same place Regie and I stayed in March).

Heading to Elsie's at 5. More later (still very slow to upload pictures, will try again later).

Thursday...on the road to Missouri

Regie and Jeff picked me up as planned at 5:30. Beautiful morning in Riverdale...



Seen along the way in NJ:

Admiral John D. Bulkeley Memorial Highway (WWII hero)

Bait shops selling Fat Heads and Shiners (relative merits for each)

A sign to take a right turn to Montana (NJ?)

 

 

By way of comparison we drove thru Pennsylvania for EIGHT HOURS...scenic but enough already...

 

 

We had breakfast at the Kumm Esse Diner (in the heart of PA Dutch country). Roughly translated from the German "kumm esse" is what a host might say when inviting guests to be seated at the table.

 

Good breakfast, had one of those game machines where you try to grab a toy, but no luck...

 



Have pictures which will have to wait because upload is unbearably slow!

Seen in PA:

Several tunnels through the mountains

Billboards:

"You can rent most anything from Leisers"

Cigars International (logo is a big smiley face smoking a cigar)

Thunderdog Fireworks

Pappy Ts Pub at the Microtel

Gumby's Cigarette and Beer World (what would Pokey think??)

We had a late lunch at Applebee's (somewhere in PA) and hit Wild and Wonderful West Virginia at about 3:30. Only spent about an hour there before reaching Ohio.

A haiku inspired by Interstate 70:

Highway Seventy

You take us many places

but we're not there yet

 

 

Drove most of the way through Ohio and stopped for the night at a Courtyard Marriott near Dayton.

Will be back on the road by about 7AM tomorrow...Good Night!

Back to CoMo...

On the road to Missouri tomorrow. Regie and Jeff will be picking me up bright and early at 5:30...

On the road at about 5:30 this morning and uneventful drive to St. Louis. Waiting to board flight soon...

We were supposed to fly out this evening but our flight is cancelled (luckily we found out this morning before driving to St. Louis).

So we're back at Elsie's hanging around and watching TV.

She went out to do some errands with Vanessa...Bentley sat at the window waiting for her to return...

Our options included a flight tonight with a connection in Chicago or a direct flight in the morning so we'll stay one more night and head to St. Louis early tomorrow (leave Columbia about 5AM).

Sunday afternoon...

Plenty of snow overnight. Regie and I had coffee and breakfast in our lobby lounge...very comfy...lots of soft seating...

We headed out late morning...cleaned off the car...lucky we have 4-wheel drive (the main roads are pretty clear)...

We picked up Elsie and went grocery shopping. Now spending the afternoon at Elsie's watching TV, Skyped with Jeff, cooking (macaroni and cheese, green salad with chicken, baked a BD cake for Vanessa...caramel cake with chocolate frosting...shhhhh it's a surprise).

Saturday in Missouri...

We headed over to Elsie's apartment this morning. Really nice complex and Bentley greeted us in the parking lot. Some pictures of the apartment...

We went out for breakfast in downtown Columbia, walked around a bit (I bought a Betsey Johnson bracelet at Elly's Couture, Regie got earrings) then went to watch Elsie ride Star...

We had manicures at Princess Nails, drove past where Elsie works with Digital Talent Agents...

We dropped Elsie off at home and went shopping for stuff for Regie to make Easter baskets for Elsie and Vanessa.

Had dinner this evening with Elsie and Vanessa at the Flat Branch Brewery then went to a comedy show at a local club, Deja Vu (it was actually very funny).

Its rainy tonight, in the 30s, snow is on the way...

Friday night at about 11PM in Columbia, MO...

Had a pleasant flight to St. Louis...here's a picture a little way out of Newark...

We picked up our rental car at the airport and headed to Columbia...about 90 miles but a straight shot on IS70-W...

Seen along the way...
A billboard for cage fighting
AmeriStar Casino
"Warehouse of Dinettes"
Lots of pawn shops
"Ethyl's" BBQ
Tic-Toc Shop (guess what they sold)
Super 8s (and Super 7s)
Billboard for "Dentures in 1 Day $99"
"Larry's Boots 10,000 Pairs" (really?)
Signs for the Churchill Museum (what was Winston Churchill's relationship to Missouri?)

Got to the Marriott Courtyard in Columbia at about 8:30 CT...comfy room...dropped off our bags and Elsie picked us up (her apartment is close by). So good to see Little E! We had dinner (and drinks) at Houlihans and Elsie took the scenic route back to the hotel.

Good night!

We leave for our trip to visit Little E. on Friday afternoon. Can't wait to see her (and Bentley). And Vanessa too...I think we're going to have a belated birthday celebration for her.

We get to St. Louis at about 5PM and will pick up our rental car to drive to Columbia (about an hour and  a half).

I think the weather there is about what we're having here.

More to come...