OH.... Ah!

We started this cool-autumn-weather trek to OH with mixed hearts: a few days prior to departure, Dave's elderly Aunt Charlotte had a heart attack and was immediately hospitalized. Thence came a period of watching and waiting, as we were told she was stabilized, but we didn't want to leave the state without being certain she was okay. Finally, with no worsening in her symptoms, and after a couple of phone conversations with her, we decided to go ahead.

This trip to Ohio has as its ultimate purpose a trip to the Airstream Factory in the town of Jackson Center. The Buglet has a few booboos we're hoping to have repaired, and well... we've needed some time away, have never seen this state, and are just ready for some new adventures. And seeing the Factory is hugely exciting for us! We've been fantasizing with the thought of viewing all their models in a grand "showroom," but have since been told they don't have showrooms; apparently, it's just a factory... Still!

We left on a sunny Saturday morning, the roads through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont lined with trees in variegated autumn turnings - foliage not as bright as in some years, but pretty nonetheless. Our first night was spent in a small Springfield, Vermont campground: cozy, clean, and comfy, and with wonderful owners. The next morning before resuming our trek, we were invited to a coffee-and-donuts gathering in the campground's "meeting cabin," and loved talking with a man who's lived in Springfield all his life. He shared with us an overview of the town's history (the town was on Hitler's bombing list, because of the wartime activity of the tool factory in which this man had spent his working years). The story of Springfield is very much like the boom-and-bust stories of many New England (and American) towns in the past 20 years.

The owners of the campground are a couple pf brothers whose family includes a long line of artists. This wonderful welded sculpture that now can be seen there once graced the grounds of the Connecticut State House.

Onward Sunday to and through upper-state New York to a state park in Seneca Falls (which is home of the first Women's Rights convention in the 1920's). Not much to say about the park - its lake was pretty, but with poor weather and visibility and a pair of tired driving puppies, it was mostly an overnight parking spot. We loved the New York travels, though, delighted to find ourselves unexpectedly at one point in Amish Country, as we shared the road with their horses and buggies. Their farms are so beautifully bucolic, always does the heart good to remember there are quiet ways of living in the world.

Monday we crossed into Ohio - which looks very much like upper-state New York. We made our way to Punderson State Park, which is very quiet right now (not even park rangers here!), and VERY lovely. Our site overlooking a lake was truly pretty, although again, poor weather kept us from being able to sit outside to enjoy the view.

Tuesday we decided to explore Cleveland, about an hour away from the state park, and a pleasant drive into the city brought us to the Cleveland Art Museum. This is a quiet little gem!  Unfortunately, some of the exhibits weren't available due to reconstruction, but what we could see was impressive, including an incongruous-but- cool exhibit of medieval armor (why in Cleveland?).

One of our favorites exhibits was Brian Ulrich's "Retail - Thrift - Dark Stores" show. Over ten years, Chicago native Ulrich has photographed people shopping in "big-box" stores ("Retail"); then he shifted his focus to thrift stores and their vast swampings of big-box discards ("Thrift"); and finally, a series of photos of empty strip malls and once-thriving business places such as Circuit City stores ("Dark Stores"). Powerful and a telling overview of, well... the boom-and-bust story we'd just heard from our Vermont friend, and see everywhere on our travels.

Next-door to the Art Museum is the Cleveland Botanical Gardens site, which because of heavy rainfall, we couldn't tour in the way we'd have liked to. Still, we toured the indoor exhibits, which were charming - many gasps at the weird big old baobab tree (the kind that's in story of The Little Prince), bizarre plants and flowers of Madagascar, butterflies, birds, weird little critters. We just loved this, and our next visit to Cleveland will include a longer visit to the outdoor gardens.

We decided to get dinner in the city, and were blessed with one of the most delicious meals we've had in years! Moxie Restaurant, in nearby Beachwood, is tucked into an unimpressive space - one of those ex-strip-mall places Ulrich might have photographed - hardly welcoming. However, the staff was warm and genuine, and the food.... the food!!! Our appetizers were a sweet little oyster-mushroom tart and a "hot-pear" salad, and our entrees, a couple of rich, redolent autumn-ish braised meat dishes. NO ROOM for dessert, of course. Why cover such savory sumptuousness with anything more than a cup of dark coffee?