Day 53 – July 26 – Huron, OH to Willowick, OH– 65 Miles

Overnight a front pushed into the area bringing the humidity back.  It made sleeping difficult so I wasn’t feeling particularly rested for the day ahead. Cleveland was only 36 miles away and our target destination was east of the city.  US Route 6 would take us into the city through the numerous small communities along the Lake Erie shore.  The road conditions were good through the towns of Vermilion, Lorain and Avon Lake.

In Lorain we met Jacob from Germany.  He was traveling west having started in Boston.  His destination was near our starting point in Oregon. In Avon Lake, we came across one of our favorites, a local fruit stand.  We purchased a bag of peaches and spent some time talking with the owner.  He was interested in our trip and has served many long distance cyclists over the years.  The peaches were great and we each had two before we continued east.

34 miles into the day brought us to Rocky River just west of Cleveland.  We decided to stop for lunch and found “Danny Boys” on route.  We decided to sit outside of the Italian themed café as it was relatively cool and the sky was overcast.  Our waitress was particularly interested in our trips, asking a lot of questions.  When she returned with our drink order, she brought us an appetizer of bread sticks with marinara, “on the house, because we probably needed the carbs.”  When we finished eating and asked for some ice to top off our water bottles, she brought us an entire bucket.  The extra treatment made us all feel special.  It was more very kind acts of graciousness.

We entered the City the City of Cleveland just east of Rocky River.  Our route took us along Lake Shore Drive and past some magnificent homes overlooking the skyline.  A bike path took us into the downtown area where we negotiated our way across Detroit Superior Bridge into the business district then north to Cleveland Stadium, the Science Center and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  East of downtown the route took us back along the lake shore, but into a more depressed part of town.  The streets were in a severely deteriorated condition.  In one area we passed by huge lake front estates, only to pass back into more depressed areas again.  The contrasts of these areas were stunning as their proximity was so close.

Our stopping point for the day was Willowick, OH a suburb to the east.  There was no camping, so we are at a hotel.  To Joe’s pleasure there was a bowling alley within a short walk. One of the surprise and enjoyable discoveries of this trip for me, has been Joe’s interest in bowling.  As part of physical education at Centennial last year he participated in bowling and took a liking to it.  Tonight was the third time while on this trip that we have taken the opportunity to enjoy a few games together.  He is often letting me know when we are passing an alley or is looking for one near our stopping point.  I never knew.