Eric’s Dream

still sick, but enjoying the drive

After a long night of sleep and talking with an uninterested reporter yesterday, I am ready to take on the new day.

I loaded up my tissue filled car, scraped the frost of the windows with my license (since I don’t own a scraper,) and proceeded.

scraping windows?

Today, I want to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and end the day somewhere near Buffalo.

I arrived outside of the Hall of Fame first.  I had been there was I young, but a lot of things change in 20 years, which made me strongly consider paying the entry fee for the day.  I have managed to avoid paying all of the entry fees, parking garages, and other miscellaneous tourist things up until now.  While weak with illness and filled with desire to spend the day here, I opted against it.  I took a few pictures, saved my money, and hit the road.

I backtracked about an hour up to Cleveland.  I wanted to see the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Browns stadium.

I had no idea that the Browns were playing in town today, which made my getting a good picture of the stadium tough, since 70,000 other people were wanting to get into the very place I was driving around.

I thought to myself, “OK,” I will check out the Rock-n-Roll Hall before heading to the game, this way I won’t arrive at kickoff, which will make the traffic a little more tolerable.  Unbeknown to me, the Hall of Fame is next door to the stadium!  Ugghhh.  I guess I’m going to have deal with the traffic either way.

I managed to arrive just after kickoff, which helped with congestion a little.  The stadium is neat in the fact that the corners are open, allowing me to view the thousands of the fans in their orange/brown gear watching the game.

After about three laps around the stadium in my car, I stopped to allow a few drunken tailgaters to cross in front of me on their way to the ticket gate.  One decided to stop and try to sell me a ticket.

free ticket to the Dawg Pound buddy?

I wasn’t in the mood for some drunken scalper to hassle me about buying a ticket.  “Hey buddy, how you doing?” were the first words out of his mouth.  “Wanna go to the game?”  “No thanks, I don’t have any cash”  I told him.  He followed up with “Come on man, it’s the Dawg Pound and I’ll sell the ticket to you for only $10. It’ll be fun, you can hang with us.” I rebutted: “I swear dude, I don’t have any cash on me.”  He then says:  “We’ll give you the ticket, I just don’t want it to go to waste.  Come in and hang in the Dawg Pound with us, it’s priceless.  You’ll have a good time!”  I started to consider the idea as I coughed up a bunch of mucus and chased it with a sneeze. ” I., I…, I.. “..I muttered.  He then yelled at his friends to come back with the ticket.  He proceeded to tell his friend to give me the extra ticket, but the more sober friend didn’t like the idea too much and started walking off to sell it.  My tailgating friend yelled at him that he’ll give him the money, “Just give it to this guy” he yelled.  In retrospect, I have NO idea why this guy took such a liking to me.  Maybe it’s the fact that I didn’t run him over while he was crossing the road?  I don’t know, but he was very kind and must have sensed that I would have found the experience unforgettable.

Whatever his reasoning for wanting me to join him and his buddies in one of the most infamous fan sections in all of pro football, I’m not sure.  It didn’t matter anyways because I didn’t have cash to park, although, I will say that when I mentioned to him that I needed to get cash to park, he said he’d give me the ticket so I could go get the cash and join them in a little while.  “I know where that seat is and I don’t want to see it empty, so you better actually use it if I give it to you” he added.

Pittsburgh, PA

Nevertheless, I was sick with no hat or gloves to keep the Lake Erie winds off of my sickened sensors and his buddy ended up finding someone to sell the ticket to in the process of our negotiations anyways.  That was an opportunity lost.  If I had felt better and had a hat or gloves, I would have seized that opportunity in a heartbeat!  Either way, I have my pictures, I have my experience, and it’s now time to hit the road again.

It’s truly amazing how close all of these cities are together. In the western states, I would drive for many hours between cities, but out here in the eastern part of the U.S., it takes only an hour or two between cities. I left Cleveland and hit Akron in less than an hour, Canton in 20 more minutes, and Pittsburgh in about two more hours.

I drove downtown Pittsburgh to check out the stadium, which is on the riverfront, allowing for a great view of the city.  Dusk was setting in and the stadium was lit up for some reason.  I’m glad it was because it gave me a great view.

I’m not sure if the walk-way along the river is safe at night or not, but I felt OK so I walked for awhile.  Straight in front of me, there was a beautiful picturesque view of the city reflecting off of the river. The lighted buildings filled the clear night skies.  On my right, as I walked, there was a elevated hillside with a drop-off overlooking the city. It wasn’t super high, but it was high enough to appreciate a better view.

I walked along the river for awhile, taking in the view and stopping occasionally to read the various statues and monuments placed strategically along the path.  There were memorials dedicated to fallen police workers, fire fighters, and soldiers.  It was enjoyable, but I needed to make my way north out of the city.

I hopped in the car and took the interstate straight out of Pittsburgh toward Erie, PA.  I got lost in the small town of Erie for a short period of time and then turned the course towards Buffalo.

I think I may have saw the best, most logical road sign on this trip yet!  Somewhere in between Erie, Pa and Buffalo, N.Y., there was a state prison. On the side of the road, there was a sign stating this very fact.

Two signs, one on just above the other read:

State Prison.

Do not pick up hitchhikers.

Ok?  If you insists!  I think you had me at State Prison, but if you insist I don’t pick up any tattooed hitchhikers dressed in an orange jumpsuits standing in front of the state correctional facility with a machete, I suppose I won’t.

As safe as hitchhikers are deemed to be, I think that standing in front of state prison and hitchhiking isn’t going to be very appealing to motorist.

I will say though; If not for the sign telling me to NOT  pick up hitchhikers in front of the prison, I would have seriously considered it.  Shoot, what could possibly go wrong in that situation?

I passed right through Buffalo and stopped on the U.S./Canadian border in the town of Niagara.  I wanted to see Niagara Falls at night.  Maybe, it would be lit up?

It was lit up, but not with colors.  It is FREEZING COLD!!!   The temperature is the coldest yet and the winds are strong off of the water.  NOT A GOOD COMBINATION!!

Niagara Falls

I was also beaten down physically and emotionally due to the apparent fever I am still battling.  There was a casino that stood out like a mountain on the plains.  I thought this may be a good time to pay a visit to the casino in order to fulfill my patented: couple of dollars in the slots gamble. A few times on this trip, I decided to stick a couple of dollars in a slot machine for some luck. I’m not one to gamble, so a couple of dollars is always enough for me.

This casino was huge and I can see why.  They didn’t even allow one dollar bills in the machine.  You had to put a $5 bill or greater in it.  WHAT!!  This is a deviation from my regular ritual.  I checked my pockets to see if I had a $5 bill, which I did.

I didn’t really want to bet $5, but it was a good way to stay indoors in a town that seems to have closed up at 10pm.  If not for the casino, I think I the town would be completely dark.

I stuck the $5 bill in the machine in hopes of playing for awhile.  I NEVER WON anything!  NOT even a quarter!  Loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss!  Was that 20 times?  That was the WORST slot machine experience ever!  I am going back to my normal ways of playing the slots! $1-$3, that’s it!

I will never again play a slot in Niagara, N.Y. either.  Come on casino, you couldn’t let me win a few times just for the entertainment value?  Huh!

I walked around the casino after losing pretending to be interested in playing some more, when in all actuality, I was only dreading the return to the arctic conditions outside.

Eventually, I returned to my car and tried to sleep.

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