Day 2: Niagara Falls, NY to Cleveland, OH

Let me preface by saying Day 2 was a million times better than Day 1. If the trip continues like this, I can claim it as a success. The day started with an initial check to make sure my car was still outside my room with all my possessions. I quickly showered packed up my car and made my way to Niagara Falls National Park. Oh what a relief it was to get out of Niagara, NY. It is such a crappy town that smells like burnt rubber. I originally thought the smell was my fan belt and freaked out a little bit. But really, if I assumed every strange smell in NY was coming from car, I would have a goat in my backseat and a dump on my windshield. Needless to say, my car was fine.

The first stop was Niagara Falls National Park. I got there early enough to catch the first ride of the day on the Maid of the Mist. They should really call it "Take a Shower in Niagara Falls Boat", though. They give you this trash bag poncho to wear that has a head hole big enough for Naoufal. So over my tiny head the water drips down and I came out looking like I just ran the Ironman, without the sweaty locker room smell though. I tried tacking a picture of the waterfalls with my ninja, Reginauld Von Hidgewit (this is what happens when you drive across the country my yourself). However the size difference made the picture impossible to take and I had to bail on my traveling gnome rip off. Visiting sites by yourself apparently makes a desiginated picture taker. I think about 5 or 6 groups had me take pictures of them. I wanted to reciprocate, but asking someone to take a picture of only me seemed a little odd.

Leaving Niagara Falls was awesome since it meant I was this close (imagine to fingers real close together) to leaving NY. You know those shirts that say I
Next stop was in Austenburg, OH. Giant rocking chair. See the picture. Yeah that's what I saw. Next story.

3 hours later I made it Cleveland. A quick drive is exactly what I needed. I met Bryan at his house in Chesterland which seemes exactly like NE. Winging roads. Hills. Cornhole games?!? (ummm maybe in northern NH). Bryan's house is awesome. Like a little relaxing paradise in the back yard and big comfortable living room. I'm glad I'm staying the entire weekend. After visiting for a short bit we left to go into Cleveland to see the Inginuity Festival, aka Knowledgefest. It was defintely nice sitting in the passenger seat, mainly because I had a chance to even out my truckers tan (my left arm is pretty much 4 shades darker than my right). We met his sister, Amy, a town over and headed into C-town. We walked around a little bit and saw tower city (pretty cool), key tower (pretty tall), and the free stamp (pretty effin outrageously cool). I like to think of the free stamp as a staple of Cleveland. (That's two giant objects in one day, how many have you seen?)

We got to Knowledgefest and had our minds blown. Not really but it was pretty cool. There was a FIRST league that was setting up. A talking robot called Quasi (No idea how it worked but it was wicked amazing). The highlight, though, was a guy on stilts who had a the deepest bag of dance moves. He only used one move but I think he was just saving the others for the rest of the weekend.

Moving on from Knowledgefest it was time for the Indians game. I was blown away by the stadium. It was nice to see how a baseball stadium looks that was built to hold fans. Very nice. Very clean. Lots of walking room. Still doesnt beat Fenway but it was still amazing. Great game, too. Indians jumped to 5-0 lead, but the Twins came back in the end for a 5-4 close finish. It was a nail biter, but the Indians prevailed to take them out of last place in the division. After the game there was a fireworks show which was pretty sweet, as well.


All in all, I had a great day. Short drive and a baseball game. Thanks to Bryan and Amy for showing me a great time. One more day in Ohio, probably filled with relaxation (I'm writing this blog on the next day and it is filled with that but I want it to seem like it was yesterday so just go with it). Now I know why Liz Lemon wanted to escape to C-town.


P.S. Reginauld escaped from my pocket. I think he loved C-town a little too much. Good travels to you sir, I enjoyed the time we shared.