Stopped off at the memorial to the OKC bombing and I am glad we did. Beautiful and very moving:







Next stop St. Louis where we ended up in a hipster kind of place for St. Louis style ribs. Probably our least successful dinner - the ribs were OK but only that.

The restaurant is near George Washington University where Ron's dad went to law school. Big beautiful campus and it's hard to believe there are only 15,000 students.





Stopped in Casey, IN to see the world's largest everything. It's a ways off of the interstate but it's just the sort of kitsch I like. Here's the world's largest rocking chair:



And the world's largest pitchfork:



Which was next to this converted barn restaurant where I had the best vegetable soup ever:



I reproduced it when I got home and it's a definite keeper.



Next stop - Cleveland! We stayed at my house two nights and took in some sights. Ron, the Tucson guy, thought he was going to freeze to death.

This building used to be a bank and now it's a Heinen's grocery store downtown. The second floor has wine tasting machines in it and the last time we visited they had some pretty fancy wines on offer - like $1500 stuff. I'd never pay for a bottle but a taste at $35 seemed like an opportunity not to be missed and it turned out to be the most amazing stuff I have ever tasted.

Unfortunately, they've taken out most of the machines and the tastings they offered were very ordinary. Beautiful old building though, and the story is that the guy who painted the murals was Mark Twain's best friend.



On to Syracuse where we hit real weather. Cold and snowing much of the way.

The local specialty is "Chicken Riggies" and they hold competitions to decide which restaurant serves the best version. It's really just rigatoni in vodka sauce with extra spice, but it's very good and will be worked in to dinner rotation here at home. They also have a dish called "tomato oil" which more like a tomato sauce. Also very good.

I cant find the picture but it looks about like you'd expect it to look.

The final destination was Wellesley, MA where Greg has rented a house. The car and the whiskey collection were delivered safely but the salt we picked up in Syracuse made a real mess of the car. They salt the roads here too, but nothing like they do in Syracuse:



Our last dinner was at Legal Seafood on Boston Harbor. Very tasty and we got to hang out with my grandson, Rory.

Great pics and stories.

I believe you will find that George Washington University is in Washington DC. The one in St. Louis is Washington University... no George.

The woman we hired to replace me at the New-Fangled Flying Machine Co lives in Las Cruces. She is not a big fan of Mexican food, and especially hates green chili. What a waste.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
Great pics and stories.

I believe you will find that George Washington University is in Washington DC. The one in St. Louis is Washington University... no George.

You're right!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
Great pics and stories.

I believe you will find that George Washington University is in Washington DC. The one in St. Louis is Washington University... no George.

You're right!

aka Washoo

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
Great pics and stories.

I believe you will find that George Washington University is in Washington DC. The one in St. Louis is Washington University... no George.

You're right!

aka Washoo

Not to be confused with Wazoo which is Washington State University.

Thanks for the travelogue!

Great photos! That’s quite a trip!!