Ohio - Day 2 - Akron & Cuyahoga Falls

Streetsboro KOA
Thursday, 2 May 2019

today's route

I really didn't want to leave the campground today because I wanted to rest, but I'd already made a vet appointment for the dogs so needed to get moving.

I passed through the small town of Hudson, established 1799 they say, and a sign saying something about a National Historic District.  I looked it up and learned that this part of Ohio was originally claimed by Connecticut back in colonial days.  Even when Conn. gave up claims to other western lands, it kept this area, called the Connecticut Western Reserve.  As a result, the town has a lot of its original New England flavor and is laid out like a New England town around a village green.

Vet appointment
Our first stop was at the Banfield in Cuyahoga Falls, but it wasn't that easy.  The exit was under construction and though I was allowed to get off the highway, I got funneled around to the right.  When I finally got turned around I found the entire road was blocked off and I had no choice but to get back on the highway.  I got off at the next exit and looked for a right turn that might go all the way through to the street I wanted, but I must have driven 2 miles before I found one.  Worse, even the roads that weren't under construction were really rough so I got bounced around - and so did everything in my RV.  It was a mess.

We finally got there and the Banfield folks were all really nice.  Last year I got Lyme vaccines for both dogs, and those vaccines require a 2nd booster before they're considered as being activated.  Well, Banfield has records of Dexter's 2nd shot but not of Gracie's.  That's not their fault because I remember going to a private vet for that one - I think I was in New Hampshire and there weren't any convenient Banfields around. 
 
Anyway, despite having looked at every single receipt I had from that time period and all my VISA bills, I can't find a single hint about where I had that 2nd shot for Gracie done.  I have to know for sure that she's protected, because with the life we're leading Lyme disease is a real risk, so this year we start all over.  So Gracie got shot #1 and Dexter got his annual Lyme booster.  What fun.

Oil change
I was way overdue for the standard JiffyLube service but there aren't many of them in Ohio that are anywhere other than the Cincinnati area.  I found what's apparently a chain called Take 5 Oil Change that's in south Akron, so that's where we headed.

I'd wanted very much to at least drive by Cuyahoga Falls - the falls - but all that road construction at the exit made it impossible without a lot of local knowledge that I don't have.  Apparently they're really pretty, so maybe I'll get a chance later on.

I'd called ahead to this Take 5 place to be sure their doors were big enough for my RV, but I was lucky that I was the only patron - the doors were tall enough, but it was a serious squeeze to get through them on either side.  All 3 workers were giving directions and folding in my side mirrors and we all got me shoehorned in.  I had the receipt from the last JiffyLube change so they could see what kind of oil they'd put in and so forth, which kept me from having to answer a bunch of questions.

Nice guys.  Reasonable price.  Fast service.

I left there and drove through part of Akron.  I passed the Hungarian American Club, established 1923 and still going strong.

I passed the Akron Art Museum that has a building I found bizarre - there was no place for me to stop and take a photo so I got this one online.

part of the Akron Art Museum

I use this photo because this is what I saw, driving down the street you see in the photo.  As far as I could tell, that glass and metal projection is resting on the roof of that old brick building.  You can see that there's a lot of glass on the left, and there are pictures of that online, but I didn't have an angle to see it myself.  I hope they've got solar panels on this thing because that projection seems so invasive somehow.  Weird.

I passed a business called Akronym Brewing.  (heh, heh)

I passed something called the I Promise School, part of the Akron Public School system.  And I'm really glad I looked it up.  The LeBron James Family Foundation partnered with the Akron Public Schools to start this public school for grades 1-8.  It just opened last fall.  And I bet it'll show what would happen with public schools if we weren't diverting a bunch of public money into private charter schools but were putting that money into public schools where it belongs.  (But you can see I don't have a strong opinion on this.)  In case you're interested, here's the link.   lebronjamesfamilyfoundation.org/ipromiseschool

Cleveland has a public radio station so I learned that Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! will be at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls in July.  Did you happen to be listening that time one of the call-in contestants was asked a question and actually said, "Wait, wait, don't tell me."?  It was pretty funny.

Liquor store
Ohio allows beer and wine sales in grocery stores but liquor is sold only in state-run liquor stores.  And there don't seem to be that many of them around.  Trying to find one, I was beginning to feel like I'd ended up in Utah.  I chose one called Silver Spirits mainly because it looked like it might be in an affluent area, so I thought it might have a better selection.  It didn't.

Apparently, the state of Ohio decides what brands are sold and what aren't, and my favorite Teacher's Scotch got unchosen some years ago, according to the store owner.  And they didn't even have much choice in white wines - mostly just California and Ohio, really.  I prefer Washington State for whites.  But these days, red wines are the hands-down favorite and that's what everybody carries.

And back to the campground where I decided to stay put for a few days.