Tuesday, 30 June 2015

Day 1 in the Windy City

We awake at 8:30am excited to be heading to Chicago. The good news was that because we were crossing timezones we were gaining an hour, so in reality it was like 7:30am.

It didn’t take too long to pack up and check out before we were on the road. The drive was pretty easy with three lanes most of the way, however we had the dreaded toll roads to compete with. We had to stop three times and pay about $15. Talk about annoying!

Arriving into Chicago, we find our hotel and have a choice for parking. Either pay $53 per night for valet parking, or $28 per night for parking it ourselves. We decide the latter, then park and head to our room.

The hotel was positioned in an amazing location, pretty much dead centre of downtown and amongst all the major attractions. Our room was pretty nice too, but a little on the small side. But compared to our tent, it was big!

Next we head out and grab some lunch, and yes you guessed it… Jimmy Johns again! We walk around and get our bearings and check out Millennium Park, and then decide to book a 48hr pass to those double decker sightseeing buses.

They gave us a guided tour around the city plus allow you to jump on and off wherever you want, which would come in handy for our plans tomorrow. The tour was ok, but the guide seemed pretty obsessed with architecture and we started to get a little bored towards the end.

After going through the entire loop, we jump off and go for a little walk up the shopping district and even check out a massive bookstore where we browsed around for a while. We also stocked up on some tooth paste and some M&Ms.

We decide to head back to our hotel to get changed as the Windy City (as it is famously known) was certainly living up to its reputation. It was the first time on our entire trip we had needed to wear pants and a jumper!

Feeling pretty hungry, we decide to head down to Navy Pier which was a 20 minute walk along the Chicago rivers. Navy Pier is a much bigger version of Docklands back in Melbourne. They had a huge ferris wheel and other little carnival rides.

There was a pretty cool little restaurant by the river that we stopped by to have tea. We had the Santa Fe salad as we watched the USA vs Germany World Cup soccer match, which to the delight of the Americans we were watching with, they won 2-0.

As part of our sightseeing tour bus, they also have included a night time version of it, so after waiting around for 45 minutes (it was meant to be 15 minutes…) we jump on. But it was so bloody cold that we jumped off early and went back to the hotel.

Our hotel is pretty cool as it has a little lounge area with a chess board and free coffee and snacks. After a game of chess and some work on the laptop, we decide to head back to the room to watch some telly before we hit the sack.

Navy Pier near where we had tea
Welcome to Chicago
The famous Trump Tower
The Windy City living up to it's reputation

A soggy South Haven

After a good nights rest we're up and at em' early and head down to the lobby for breakfast... Turns out the breakfast buffet looked pretty basic so we opted for our own granola bar and apple while driving to our next stop, South Haven, Michigan.

First up though we thought we would stop by the Notre Dame university for a look around. It turns out you can do tours, so we decided to do their sports one that takes you through their impressive sports complex.

This place is seriously big, it was like a city within a city. They had their own basketball stadium, which is better than pretty much every basketball stadium in Australia, and it is only for college players!

Then we got to go to their football ground and through the clubrooms, while hearing stories about their past champions like Knute Rockney and a few others. It was pretty interesting, but started to drag on a bit near the end as neither of us like football and knew none of their players.

By the end of the tour it was belting down rain. By raining, we mean absolutely belting down rain and we were drenched. We stopped in by a Starbucks for a coffee and then it was finally time to hit the road for Michigan.

Even though it was only a 90 minute drive, it was pelting rain most of the way and yep you guessed it, we had planned to camp tonight too, luckily the campground we were staying at have cabins which would be easily enough to upgrade to.

And upgrade we did, only costing us an extra $40 it was cheaper than a hotel and a lot more fun. We drive to where the cabin is and with the rain pouring down so hard we can't even get out to set up our room.

Instead we drive the 15 minutes into town and look for a nice place to get some lunch and walking up and down the main street (which was smaller than the Bridge Mall) and hoping that in this time the rain would clear.

Nope, it rained while we looked for a cafe, rained while we shopped and rained the whole way back to the campgrounds. So we made a kamikaze run to the cabin and set up our bed and watched TV while we waited and waited for the storm to pass.

FINALLY, it cleared up enough to be able to venture out without having to huddle under our little umbrella so we jump back in the car and head back into town for the afternoon to take in some sights and sounds.

The huge lake which looked more like a beach had a pretty little red lighthouse at the end of a long pier, before heading down we grab some Italian food for dinner and then make our way to the lighthouse and wait for the sunset.

With everything still glistening from all the rain it was a beautiful place to sit and watch the sun going down across the water, we sit here until the sun had disappeared and then take a walk up through the main street until it got too dark and the mozzies come lurking.

We head back to the cabin and wriggle into our sleeping bags, it had gotten a lot colder than what we were used to at night so it was a very snug feeling being all wrapped up. After watching a few TV shows on our devices it's lights out, very excited to finally get to Chicago tomorrow.

Beautiful little area of town in South Haven
Checking out the sunset near their famous lighthouse
The sunset out over Lake Michigan
Welcome to South Haven
The locker room for the Notre Dame football team

Inside our quaint little cabin

Monday, 29 June 2015

Shawshank and a change of plans.... Again

Just after Cleveland was starting to feel familiar it was time to move on, this time we were headed to Fort Wayne in Indiana. Before we get there we make a stop to a little know place called Ohio State Reformatory, better known as the prison from The Shawshank Redemption.

After just missing out on the very first 'Hollywood' tour of the day we have to wait another hour and a half for the next one, so we take the self guided tour around the prison.

This place was huge and truly creepy, being a working prison from the 1890s up until 1990 it had been abandoned since then and it really showed. The building was actually scheduled to be demolished until the town historical group bought it and took it on.

From peeling paint on every surface to very old cramped cells, we tour ourselves around each room, wing and hall until it was time for our main tour that showed all the filming locations from the movie, we were very excited!

Our first stop on the tour was the office of the evil warden, they had all the original props still in the room including the exact same wall safe. Then it was just a couple of rooms over and we find the room where Brooks and Red lived after they got out of prison, they just put up a fake wall, threw a bed in and boom, you've got an apartment.

It turns out that with the hundreds of cells that they could have used for filming, they ended up constructing their own wing with cells that faced each other, all of the cells at this prison faced windows, apparently it was better for the chemistry of the characters.. A very expensive thought.

Next up we got to see the hole that Andy dug into the wall and the 'tunnel' that he crawled out of, all they used was a section of pipe and filled it with chocolate sauce and sawdust to make it look like sewerage and the hole was just a meter of cement with a hole through it and a shelf to rest the camera on while filming, magic!

Lastly we saw the solitary cell that Andy was kept in, we got to go inside and it was very dark and depressing, it would drive you nuts.

The prison is also well known as being a very haunted location with plenty of ghost sightings and eerie experiences. One such spot was an empty room with a chair in it which moves when you exit the room. Whether it's true or not, it certainly felt creepy inside and gave us the chills.

Back on the road now we drive about an hour to Fort Wayne in Indiana. We had planned to camp the night here, but when we drove in and saw the local baseball pitch underwater and broken tree branches all over the nature strip, we thought we better check the weather report.

Lucky we did as thunderstorms we expected. So we decided to get the hell out of there and make yet another detour. We find a city named South Bend about an hour and a half north, famous for the Notre Dame university, so decided to book some accommodation there and then hit the road again.

That was not before having some more Jimmy Johns and heading on over to a Wallmart across the road to stock up on some supplies. Linnie certainly stocked up, buying 9 packets of chewies, while we also got some carrots and apples and stuff.

It turns out the rain was a blessing, as our hotel here was awesome. They had free cookies, our room had a lounge, kitchen and a balcony. We made good use of the pool and the hot tub and just over the road we had a great little restaurant called Evil Czech Beer, great name and great food.

Sad not to be camping the night we had made the most of our change in plans and get a great nights rest. Having driven 90 minutes north of where we should have been (in Fort Wayne), it mean't we only had an hour to drive in the morning. This was very handy!

Adam and Andy doing a selfie
The spot where Brooks hung himself in the movie
This room is supposedly very haunted
Adam doing some solitary confinement
Adam sitting at the wardens desk
The wall Andy dug out from his cell in the movie
Where we ate tea
Pretty nice bedroom
Lounge area

Saturday, 27 June 2015

Rock N Roll and some Deja Vu

We awake to the sound of pouring rain. In fact it was absolutely belting down outside, so much so it was actually pretty hard to see into the distance with all the rain and fog.

Not the greatest start to the day. We’d plan to go on a bike ride around the city, but there was no way that was happening. So we decide to be lazy and lay around for the morning, watching Me Myself and Irene on telly, before heading down to breakfast.

Then we head downstairs again and grab a coffee, getting into a conversation with the Starbucks guy who loved our accent and was asking us questions about Australia and Matthew Dellavadova.

By now the rain had stopped, so we decided to go for a walk, but stopping by the car first to grab an umbrella incase the heavens opened again.

The Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Fame was about a 10 minute walk around the corner, so we thought we’d go check that out for an hour or so for something to do.

Almost four hours later we were still there. It was six levels of Rock N’ Roll memorabilia, interactive juke boxes, a massive cd/vinyl shop, plus a café and movie cinema screens showing the history of rock music through the ages.

It was fair to say Adam was in heaven. We couldn’t recommend this place highly enough, you could spend even longer than four hours in there, but we thought we better take off and check out some more of the city.

Unsure of where to go, we decide to head downtown and check out some of the shopping centres and restaurants.

This is where we had some déjà vu. We found that we knew our way around from our day of exploring a couple of weeks earlier. So we decided to grab tea again at Zocalo, the Mexican restaurant we had tea at before the NBA match the other week.

It was busy (as it usually is), but as luck would have it we were put in the exact same seats we were last time. We also ordered the exact same thing as last time, that being a burritoh and tomale, as it was probably the nicest thing we have eaten so far. We could not turn it down!

We explore Cleveland some more, heading back past Quicken Home Loans Arena where the Cavs play, as well as exploring some of the areas we went through last time which were pretty nice.

Seeing the city like this, pretty much as a ghost town now compared to the hive of activity it was a fortnight earlier before the match, was pretty weird. By coincidence, it also turned out we had parked our car last time only one block from where our hotel was.

With another day almost down, we head back to the hotel to plan the next couple of days. We are camping again before heading to Chicago on Tuesday.

I remember these things. CD's right..?
Adam making some noise pollution
The Beatles were well represented
First Energy Stadium where the Cleveland NFL team play
One of our favourite Mexican restaurants of ALL time

A return to Cleveland

After several days camping in pretty small towns out in the wilderness and a big day at Niagara Falls, it was time to head back to civilization in a big city.

Today we were returning to Cleveland, the city we made a detour to only a fortnight earlier for the NBA Finals, so it felt like an old friend.

It was a 3.5hr drive to get there, so we decided to break it up with a stop half way at Erie, a small little town on the coastline of Lake Erie. We had actually planned to go to a water park, but it was too damn cold for that!

In the end we stopped at TGI Fridays again (both ordering the same meal from the night before too!). We went for a little drive around the city and found a big observation tower overlook the lake. After parking and walking up there we find it was shut. Doh!

Now it was time to head into Cleveland. We were staying at a Double Tree by Hilton so that meant we got cookies. We even had a Starbucks within our hotel, so after downing a couple of cookies each and a coffee, we go back for a little rest.

The small rest turned into about an hour and without too much to do and not feeling like doing much, we decide to go for a walk into town and go check out a movie. Ted 2 was on, so we were pretty keen to see that.

Luckily, we make the show with about a minute to spare. The movie was a barrel of laughs and was well worth checking out. Afterwards we head to the Tilted Kilt for tea and watch the end of the FIFA Womens World Cup soccer match which the USA won.

It didn’t feel like the safest of towns so we head back along a populated street, stopping by a pretty cool little monument area. The USA had today legalized gay marriage for all 50 states which was big news, they had even lit up one of their big buildings with rainbow colours so it was good to see.

We jump in bed feeling pretty tired and glad to be in a real bed again after camping for a long period. Flicking through the stations, we find a Bill Maher talk show where he shuts down religion a fair bit.

After watching that, we made a note to look for more of his shows to watch, because he was brilliant.

Our hotel room in Cleveland
Cleveland at night time

Nigara Falls USA style

Very bright and early after a cold night in our little tent we awaken and within about 10 minutes flat we have our tent, mattress and sleeping bags packed and in the car. Very eager beavers to head to Niagara Falls, or to get out of the smelly camp site... Either way we were good to go!

A long five hour drive we do a split of 1 and a 1/2 hours each and then an hour each on the end with a petrol/snack break in between, easy pie!

We arrive at the Niagara Falls KOA campground and don't have to travel far to our site. It was just off the road right near the entrance. A shower was in order before leaving as the last few had been a bit below par and we were starting to feel a little dirty.

Clean and refreshed we jump back in the car and head to the falls! It was only 3 years ago that we went to Niagara Falls but that time it was on the Canadian side, so we were very excited to see what the USA side had to offer up.

The car parked, we walk up to the entrance of the park but could not resist the lure of a New York hot dog stand, so we deviate over and order up two hotdogs.

They were cooked fresh on a bbq which was a bit different and while they were sizzling away the chef gave us some great tips on visiting the falls and even gave us a little map, what a nice guy!

It only took seconds to down the very moreish hot dog and we then unleash ourselves into the park. Straight away you could hear the falls hushing and even see the mist of the water coming up from below, so we hurry across the bridge and make our way to the viewing platforms.

The falls were amazing, from this vantage point you were equal with the water flow from the top to where it finally cascades down below, it was an amazing view.

From up here you could see the 'Cave of the Winds' steps that we wanted to go and see. There were a series of steps and platforms that lined the bottom of the falls and you could literally stand at the base and get absolutely drenched, this looked like a LOT of fun.

We race back to where you buy the tickets and hurry on through, after a mandatory awkward photo we go into the Cave of the Winds center and get a free pair of foamy sandals to wear while out of the platforms. They may not be the prettiest footwear ever but they were suprisingly comfy.

Excitement building we pile into an elevator and go down a long way to the bottom of the cliff face where we receive our life saving ponchos to keep us dry.. And then it was a quick walk to the platforms where without even stepping near the falls we were already getting bombarded with mist and spray.

Stepping onto the platform we make our way to the best spot, underneath the actual water fall and it was AMAZING!

The power of the water was so hard that it hurt the backs of our legs while we backed up to stand right under the thunderous sprays of water, we could only stay under for seconds at a time as it felt like you would get swept away. It felt like we were in a hailstorm.

We we walked down away from the main waterfall we followed the flow of the water and got our legs drenched over and over again from the overflow, it wasn't until we got to the lowest part that we could turn around and appreciate what we just stood under, it was huge.

Before we leave we go back up and take another punishing round of drenchings under the falls and then head back to the elevator accessing how wet we were after taking off our ponchos, while Linnie got away unscathed apart from a wet side Adam may as well of not worn a poncho, he was saturated!

Hungry from our adventures we make our way up the city center for a bite to eat, unlike the Canadian side of Niagara Falls the USA side left a lot to be desired.

Canada had arcades, shops galore and a lot of restaurants while USA just had one little strip of shops and a few restaurants speckled here and there, it was a bit of a lot down.

We were keen to find a sports bar as today was NBA Draft night which were had been excited about for the last month with the Minnesota Timberwolves claiming the top pick. But sports bars were pretty hard to find.

On our travels we find a TGI Fridays for dinner which looked to have sports screens, and it was a wise choice.  We ordered some tea and sat at the bar and got our waiter to turn the volume up so we could hear. Minnesota drafted Karl-Anthony Towns, so this was a great result.

Feeling pretty full after a big tea, we decide to walk it off and duck back over the bridge to see the falls at dusk, as if it couldn't get any more picturesque. It was absolutely amazing.

It was now pretty late so we head back to the campsite and muck around in the tent on our phones before we fell asleep. It was the end of one of our favourite days so far.

Enjoying the festivities at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls at sunset
You get an idea how big it is here