Last night's stay in Marblehead was terrific. We arrived early afternoon and after cooling down, showering, writing the blog, and letting Richard take care of some business, we headed out to an early dinner. The traditional yellow perch dinner hit the spot, and was followed by Vernors Ginger Ale floats at Netty's.
This close-up might explain the smiles on Dee's and Richard's faces.
I was introduced to Vernors years ago by Dee's family in Nebraska. Their relatives in Michigan (Vernors is a Detroit product) would always bring some when they came to visit. In later years Vernors could be found outside the Michigan area, and we've always been fans. Add a lot of soft-serve ice cream and it's hard to beat this treat, especially after a day on the bike.
Appetites sated, we headed over to see the Marblehead Light House, where Dee snapped this shot of me. A friend, who saw this photo made a sideways comment about the name of the lighthouse and my head.
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From the area around the lighthouse there are great views of Lake Erie. The first photo is of the islands in the lake, the second is of Cedar Point Amusement Park, the second oldest operating amusement park in the country, the 16 roller coasters — the second largest collection in the country.
Wishing to avoid the 50-mile backtrack along the spit that runs out into Lake Erie to Marblehead, we drove across Sandusky Bay to ...Sandusky, where we began our morning ride. Much of the ride in the early part of the day was along U.S. 6, a road whose Midwestern portions I know well — it ran about 20 miles north of my hometown in Illinois, and right through Dee's home town of Hastings, Nebraska. In these parts route 6 has some special designations, as this sign indicates.
Wearing the Whatcom Community College jersey today reminded me of how much fall gives me a sense of new beginnings. In my pre-bookstore years I was a teacher and a special education consultant, and my year always began in the fall. The book business reinforced that for nearly four decades as fall is the major release season for big books, and is the run-up to the big holiday season. This year, in the midst of the ride I haven't thought about that much, but I'm guessing that when the ride is over it will seem like I'm still near the beginning of a new year.
Our first rendezvous with Dee today was in the town of Birmingham. Richard has a special affinity for BIrmingham, because that's where the main office of AdventureKEEN is located. But wait. That office is in Alabama. Nonetheless, Richard took a photo of a Birmingham sign to send to the folks in the main office. I also took some photos in the park where the Birmingham High School had been located. An attempt to save the building failed, but this arch was preserved when the property became a park in 1995.
We were fortunate today to be able to ride on trails on three occasions. One of the early ones was only a mile and a half long, but even that relief from riding on roads and being able to talk was welcome. Later we stumbled upon a trail that caused us to reroute Here's Richard at the beginning of that trail.
The final trail of the day was in Richard's old neighborhood, where he grew up. We were on that trail, which is part of the "Emerald Necklace" for about 4 miles.
On numerous rides I've seen the signs with an image of a truck on a downhill grade. Today is the first time I've spotted this sign.
Sadly, the hill did not live up to our expectations, but I do still love the sign.
Richard, once again, came through for us for lodging. Tonight we're in the house in which he grew up, now owned by his sister. He's shown us around the town a bit, taken us to the Shake Shoppe for burgers and malts, and introduced us to two of his three sisters. We had a nice surprise when we returned to the house after dinner — a yard full of deer. You might be able to see 5 deer in this photo, but we counted 10 in the yard.
Tomorrow we, unfortunately, bid Richard farewell as he returns home to Cincinnati. It's been a great five days together. I only wish it could be longer. We'll have a rest day in Cleveland tomorrow, then push on toward New York State.
Ride Day Eighteen by the numbers:
58.2 - miles ridden
1235 - feet in elevation gained
5881.59 - calories burned
0 - falls
0 - dogs (except for several barking from afar)
So great to follow this story. Hugs to Dee, see you soon. We're with you.
Posted by: Kris Ekstrand | 09/22/2017 at 08:02 PM
Nice sharing the same good taste. We call it Vernors Ginger-y and have loved it for over 40 years!
Takes no time at all (by car anyway) to ride/drive that little piece of northern PA into NY...YAY!
Posted by: Chris | 09/22/2017 at 10:52 PM