9/14/10 - Disappointed by Canton

Until yesterday, I was selecting motels and hotels with some semblance of brand recognition, like Comfort Inn, Super 8, Econolodge, etc. Last night, I was tired and it was late so I pulled into the first motel I saw called the Eldorado. In the dark, it looked fine from the outside and how bad could it be since the sign boasts that every room is equipped with such modern appliances as a telephone and a color TV? Certainly the price was right. Trust me when I say that the worst Super 8 looks like the Ritz Carlton when compared to the Eldorado. After checking in and calling home, it was after 1:00 a.m. and I brought my stuff in and set it on the decrepit pedestal table, whereupon the table top collapsed and all my stuff fell to the filthy carpet. I searched for outlets to charge-up all my gadgets and there were only two available, which required me to unplug the desk lamp. Despite the lack of Internet and light, I sat down in the dark and tapped-out my daily blog post with the door open to air out the stale smoke stench. At about 2:30 a.m., I closed the door, changed and flipped on the TV. At about 3:00 a.m., there was a loud knock on the door and a scary man was standing there. He looked me in the eye and said “You’re not Reggie”. Fortunately, he was right and he promptly moved on to bang on other doors looking for Reggie. The racket from 18-wheelers showing-off how much noise their compression brakes can make and frequent nearby train noises prompted me to bust-out the ear plugs and I finally went to sleep sometime after 4:00. When I woke-up, I just wanted to shower and get out of Dodge. I pulled on the single shower lever and it came off in my hand. I took a cold shower and managed to turn-off the water. I loaded-up my shit and split quickly. The lesson for everyone is when you check into a motel through bulletproof glass, it’s probably not going to end well. Fortunately, the stained beddings, filthy conditions and decrepit furnishings have not resulted in any rashes or itching so far. It’s name brand motels for me from here on out.

I was running late so I skipped taking a ride around Cleveland’s Emerald Necklace, which is a series of beautiful parks than circle the city. John told me it was built with money from a John D. Rockefeller endowment and that I should check it out. Apparently Rockefeller started his robber-baron activities in Cleveland, but he was run out of town as a result of a sex scandal. New York was the primary beneficiary of his exile, as he mostly spent his fortune there rather than in Cleveland [e.g., Rockefeller Center].

I headed south towards Canton and stopped at Firestone Country Club in Akron as instructed by John. I was greeted by a golf cart attendant and he showed me around the club. Jim Nance won’t tell you that there are actually three private courses at Firestone and not just the South Course, which hosts the Bridgestone Classic. The other courses are newer Robert Trent Jones designs and all are gorgeous. I asked how much it costs to join and he said it’s pretty expensive; a full membership costs around $6,000 and there are 1,000 members. Ouch! However, there is a men’s bunk-house on site with 30 rooms to accommodate men who travel-in to play. OK, $6,000 doesn’t sound so bad now, but where’s my family going to stay? How about the Eldorado? Just kidding dear. Anyway, it was a nice stop.

I took lunch and saddled-up for the short ride south to Canton, which is the Professional Football Mecca. I arrived at the Pro Football Hall of Fame at around 2:00 and I toured around it and the adjacent Canton Stadium for 3 hours until closing. Compared to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Harley Museum, the exhibits in Canton look like amateurish high school science fair displays. Yes, there are lots of jerseys, cleats and displays for each team stating facts about when they were admitted into the NFL and other boring details, but there’s nothing punchy or insightful here. Yes, the bronze busts are nice, as is the case filled with every Super Bowl pimp-ring ever made, but I want to see the stuff I don’t already know. I want to see the teammate’s Porsche that Fred Dean pissed in. I want to see the Commissioner’s letter to Al Davis informing him that he’s a senile asshole. How about the story-behind-the-story about how the Colts sneaked-out of Baltimore in the middle of the night? Nothing controversial like that is here. The most interesting items I saw were: 1. The letter from the AFL commissioner to Pete Roselle telling him that the AFL champion should play the NFL champion in a World Series event; and 2. The Super Bowl is named after the super ball. Now that’s cool stuff. Even the building itself is underwhelming. It was made in 1973 and I’m sure that back then it was a marvel of groovy Sixties architecture, but it’s just not cool anymore. The stadium “tour” was an old man with a thick lisp who sat us down in the bleachers and explained that there are 10,000 shredded old tires under the stadium turf and that ESPN demanded they add more lights for the Hall of Fame Game. A tour of Spartan Stadium would be more interesting. I've provided lots of pictures so you can judge for yourself. My take; Football Mecca needs a do-over.

There was still a lot of daylight left, so I checked my maps and decided to go to Erie, Pennsylvania to spend the night before heading out to visit relatives in upstate New York tomorrow. Along the way I saw the smokestacks of Springfield, OH and decided to go in and take a look. Springfield is a nice midsized town that’s got all the boarded-up old smokestack factories you’d expect, but it’s also a vibrant college town with a nice downtown and an American flag next to every grave in its cemetery.

Shortly after departing Springfield, I was in Pennsylvania and the landscape changed dramatically. The flat plains of Ohio that are covered with alternating corn fields, small towns and trees was replaced with hills covered in dense forests so thick they blocked my XM radio signal. Even the highway median separating oncoming traffic was wide and filled dense forest and bright yellow wildflowers like I saw in Michigan. As the sun set, it became cold in the hills and I pulled into a rest stop to close the vents in my jacket and put on my winter gloves. After that it was smooth sailing into Erie, PA. I arrived at about 9:00 and it was much warmer on the shore of Lake Erie. The first motel had no Wifi, but I could get a smoking room for $29.95, plus taxes and junk fees. It was tempting, but I opted for a clean room with Wifi and no bulletproof glass for $49.95. It's not bad.