Missions Accomplished

As you know, this trip to Ohio was more than just a chance to see friends.  I had business to conduct.  I wrote earlier that I needed to renew my Ohio driver's license and to get a new debit card from my bank.  

I told you that there was a snafu in getting my debit card, and that it would have to be mailed to the bank branch.  That was supposed to take around ten business days, which was cutting it very close.  I was sweating bullets that it would arrive at the bank before my return to Mexico.  As it turned out, in less than a week, the banker emailed me to tell me that the card had arrived.  "I'm on my way to the bank right now," I replied.  So, that was successfully taken care of.

You may remember that on my very first full day in Ohio, I went to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to renew my license.  That went smoothly, but, since the licenses are now sent out through the mail, I had to give them the address of my friend Gayle in Berea, Ohio.  Everyone that I had talked to previously had said that they received their license renewal in 9 or 10 days.  So, I expected it to arrive by June 13th or 14th, plenty of time before my June 19th departure.  Those dates came and went.  The following week... June 16th, no license, June 17th, no license.  Yesterday was my last chance.  In the afternoon we drove over to the house of my friend Gayle.  I figured if it had not arrived, I would give her money, and have her send it to me in Mexico via FedEx.

As soon as Gayle saw us pull into her driveway, she came out of the house with an envelope in her hand.

It had arrived!!  Inside was my renewed license (and it was a "Real ID" license).  It is valid for four years.

My former student Kathryn told me that you are now able to renew your license online.  I don't know what they do about the vision test or the photo, but, if that is a possibility, I could do that a couple weeks before taking a trip to Ohio.  Since Gayle's address in on my license, it would be waiting for me by the time I arrived.

In any event, my two missions were accomplished before taking off for Mexico. 

  

Taking a Hike

 After our Korean lunch on Sunday, we had the afternoon free.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to take a hike in the Cleveland Metroparks (and burn a few calories after all the eating we have done on this trip).  We drove to Lake Isaac in Middleburgh Heights, the beginning of the "Lake to Lake Trail"... a 5 mile round trip hike.  We had done this trail quite a few years ago, but we decided to walk it again.

Lake Isaac is a glacier pothole lake that was created thousands of year ago.  It is now a waterfowl sanctuary.

From Lake Isaac, the paved trail heads northward.

A boardwalk crosses an area of wetlands.  There is an observation area looking out over the marshes.

There were swallows that had made their nests in the roof of the wooden pavilion.  The birds were flying back and forth to feed their babies.

Nearby a deer was standing like a statue as if it were posing for our photos.

There were quite of few of these flowering trees with very attractive blossoms.

The trail crosses a busy road and commercial area before entering another forested area.

A honeysuckle vine

The other end of the trail is Lake Abram which is now a marsh filled in with wetland plants.  (I can vaguely remember as a boy seeing the lake.)  It was the largest pothole lake in the county, formed by an enormous chunk of ice left behind by a glacier 12,000 years ago.  

After the glaciers receded, the lake attracted mastodons, mammoths, ancient horses, camels, bison, and saber-toothed cats.  When humans arrived on the scene, it was an excellent hunting ground.  Fossils of mastodons and giant beaver have been found in the peat bogs that once surrounded the lake.  In the 1800s, the black muck around Lake Abram was ideal for the cultivation of onions, and Middleburg Heights was known as "the onion capital of the world".  The onion farms are gone now, and the area has returned to its natural state. 

After hiking the entire length of the trail, we then returned to Lake Isaac where the car was parked.

A Taste of Korean

On Sunday we got together with Kathryn (aka Catalina), a former student of mine.  Kathryn lived and worked for a number of years in South Korea where she taught English.  She suggested that we have lunch at a little Korean restaurant in the Cleveland suburb of Parma.  We had forgotten that Sunday was Father's Day, and the place was packed when we arrived.  We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table.  The clientele was mainly people from Korea or of Korean descent, which was a good sign that the food is authentic.  (The Korean community in Greater Cleveland number more than 5,5The dishes were identified on the menu with Korean characters, than transposed to our alphabet, and described in English.  Kathryn was familiar with and had eaten most of the items when she lived there.

She ordered a very large bowl of soup (whose name I can't remember).  It was a meal in itself.

We were puzzled by the pair of scissors that were placed on the table.  She explained that the noodles in the soup are very long, and you cut them with the scissors.

We ordered two different types of Korean barbeque.

It was great to see Kathryn again and to try some new kinds of food!

Splurge at a Historic Restaurant

 Last Friday we did not have any dinner plans with friends so I suggested we splurge and go to what is perhaps the most elegant restaurant in Strongsville... the Pomeroy House.

The restaurant is housed in a historic house that was built in 1847.  The original owners were Alanson Pomeroy and his wife Kezia.  Pomeroy was a prominent citizen of Strongsville.  He was the Justice of the Peace, a leader of the Congregational Church, founded the Bank of Berea, and built the town's general store.

Portraits of Alanson and Kezia hang in the dining room.

The two of them were active in the abolitionist movement, and the house served as a stop along the Underground Railroad.  Runaway slaves would be brought to the house from Oberlin by night, concealed in a load of hay.  They would be hidden in the cellar until they could be transported to Lake Erie where a boat would take them to Canada.

By the 1960's the house was abandoned and had fallen into disrepair, but the people of Strongsville strongly resisted any attempt to demolish the house.  In 1975 the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Shortly afterward the it was purchased by a local restauranteur.  The building was meticulously restored, and in 1980 the restaurant was opened.

It had been a long time since I had eaten there.  Although the restaurant is rather pricey, the food is excellent.  It was a real treat to eat at this historic restaurant.

A Step Above the Ordinary

Last week when we got together with our friends Nancy and Fred, we met at a Mexican restaurant in the Cleveland suburb of Independence called "Gran Fiesta Mexicana.  Most Mexican restaurants up here, even if they claim to "authentic", are more "Tex-Mex" than true Mexican cuisine.  That is what most "gringo" diners expect.

"Gran Fiesta" is an attractive place that is decorated with Mexican-themed pictures an murals.

A "jimador" is a man who harvests the agave plants to make tequila.

Although the restaurant menu includes some "Tex-Mex" dishes that are not authentically Mexican, my attention was immediately drawn to a dish that I have never seen on a menu up here... chicken in "pipián" sauce.

"Pipián" is a type of "mole" that is made from pumpkin seeds.  That's what I ordered, and I was very happy with my choice.  It was very good, and it tasted authentic.  The side of vegetables was also a nice touch that is rarely seen in Mexican restaurants up here.

I would definitely rank "Gran Fiesta" above most of the Mexican restaurants in the area. 

A Social Whirl

I came to Ohio to take care of some business (renewing my Ohio driver's license and getting a new debit card from my bank), but, of course, my trip included visits with as many of my friends as possible.  I actually had to make a calendar to keep track of whom I was visiting on what day.

Here are some of the friends that we have seen so far.  We will be in Ohio for several more days and each day is booked with more people to see.

Katie was one of my colleagues in the foreign language department.

She is still teaching French, although in a different high school now.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see her husband, son or daughter because they were all in France at the time.

 We spent three days with our friends Cliff and Jeramie.

One evening, we went out for dinner at "Das Schnitzel Haus", our favorite German restaurant in the Cleveland area.  You may recognize them from when they visited me in Mexico City several years ago.

Joining us at "Das Schnitzel Haus" was our friend Frank.  Frank used to housesit for me when I would travel to Mexico.

Irma has made numerous appearances here on the blog.  I have known her for many, many years.

She was born in Mexico, and was the wife of one of many college Spanish professors.

Another person who has appeared here many times is my cousin Gail.

She invited us for lunch at her home one day.

Nancy and Fred have also been guest stars on the blog.  Nancy was a math teacher where I taught.  I have played "tour guide" for them in Mérida, Yucatán, and in Mexico City.

There were other engagements with friends whom I forget to photograph, and, as I said, there are more friends to visit in the upcoming days.  It has definitely been a social whirl. 

 

What a Dump!

 Last year when we traveled to Ohio we stayed at the Best Western Hotel in Strongsville.  The hotel was fine.  Our only problem with it was that they had no room safe, so we had to carry our passports and other valuables with us whenever we left the room.

When I looked at Hotels.com to book a room for this trip, the hotel description of the Best Western said that there was a safe at the front desk.  So, I thought, "OK", and I went ahead and made reservations for our trip.  We stayed at the hotel for the first two nights, and then we spent three nights at the home of friends.  We then returned to the Best Western for the rest of our time in Ohio.

The room for our first two nights was not very clean.  There were crumbs on the floor and stains on the sheet and pillowcase.  You could not open the faucet of the bathroom sink without banging against the lighted, glass frame of the mirror. (See photo below.)  Someday, someone is going to end up cracking that glass frame.  I asked the young woman at the front desk about putting our valuables in the safe.  She was clueless, so, once again we ended up carrying our pouches with passports, extra cash and cards around our necks everywhere we went. The next day when we returned from running errands and having lunch with a friend, housekeeping had not made up the room.

Three days later, when we returned to the hotel, we had a different room on a different floor.  This room looked clean.  And the bathroom mirror had been properly hung, several inches higher. so that the faucet handle did not knock against the frame.  I thought that this room was going to be all right.

 

The next night, when we returned to our room around 10 PM, the room had not been made up.  I looked at the card with hotel information and read that the rooms are cleaned every five days.  Certainly, we don't need clean towels and fresh bed linens every day.  That's a waste of water.  However, I would expect housekeeping to make the bed, empty the wastebaskets and check to see if we need toiletries.  We did in fact need toilet paper, so I went down to the front desk.  The young fellow did not know where the toilet paper was stored, but he said he would bring a roll up to our room (which he did several minutes later).  I told him that I would like housekeeping to come the next day.

The next morning, by the elevator, someone had spilled pop, and the floor was sticky.  Two days later, the floor still had not been mopped.  I went to the front desk and asked about housekeeping.  The night employee had not put us down.  I explained that all we needed was to have the bed made, the wastebaskets emptied and fresh toiletries put in the bathroom.  She said she would just put us down for a full cleaning.  I thought, fine.  I was not going to pursue it.  When we returned to our room in the evening, housekeeping had been there.  The wastebaskets were empty, and fresh towels (which we really didn't need) were in the bathroom.  However, she left the towel I had used hanging on the bathroom door.  She had not given us any more toiletries, and she had not made the bed.

That night, I wanted to do some laundry.  I had a supply of quarters, and I went to reception to buy some detergent.  The same young man said that they were all out.  "When will you have some?" I asked.  "I couldn't tell you," he said.  So, I had to buy some laundry soap at the supermarket.  When I got around to washing clothes, it looked as if the laundry room floor had not been swept for a month.

Next day, around noon, before we went out for the day, the internet went out.  When we returned around 10:30 PM, it still was not working.  I went to the front desk again.  A different young man said he would have housekeeping reset the Wi-Fi.  OK, since when is housekeeping in charge of the internet?  Next morning the internet was still not working.  As we left for breakfast, I told the gentleman at the desk about it.  This fellow, an older employee that I remember from last year, seems to be the only one who knows what he is doing.  He immediately called maintenance (not housekeeping!).  When we returned to the room after breakfast, the Wi-Fi was working.  And so I was able to work on the blog once again.

We still have several days left here, and who knows what further problems we will encounter.

It is amazing how quickly this hotel has gone downhill.  Needless to say, the next time we travel to Ohio, we will NOT be staying here.