Friday, 9 October 2009
Road Trip Day 51
When I woke up in Ann Arbor this morning, I opened my curtains to take a look at the Highway mere feet from my plugged ears and it was raining.
Motor City
After breakfast I packed my car and drove through the torrential downpour towards Detroit.
Detroit had been firmly on my "Avoid" list but as I was just 30 miles away and had read good things about the city in my guide book I took time out to take in another of America's major cities.
I drove to the Renaissance Centre, or the "Ren-Cen" as it's known locally. It's a huge office complex with public spaces including a food court and small shopping mall. There's also an observation platform but the visibility was pretty poor through the drizzle.
Though I didn't stay in Detroit city centre for long, I liked what I saw and it seems like a very clean, modern city at it's heart.
I Love You’re A'sent
On the way out of Detroit my Sat-Nav appeared unwilling to go to Cleveland so I had to pull over to let it make it's calculations. As I was in a McDonald's car park anyway, I popped in for a Café Latte and to use the bathroom.
I was quite a hit the McDonald's on Mack Avenue. I don't think they get many white chicks, from England, wearing a Prince Symbol necklace and a Minnesota Twins Baseball cap. My accent was enjoyed, the symbol admired and I gently apologised for the recent beating which the Twins dished out to the Detroit Tigers.
I had my Latte plain, but on reflection, I should have ordered the Vanilla.
Burn On
I drove through the continuing deluge, into Ohio and followed the shoreline of the third Great Lake that I've seen, lake Erie. About all I knew of Cleveland was what I had learned from the classic (in my opinion) baseball movie, "Major League". In it, the Cleveland Indians are on their last legs and the owner is trying to get them to play so badly that they can relocate the team to Miami.
The movie portrayal of Cleveland is of a heavy industrial town, somewhat shunned and down on it's luck.
I much preferred the reality that I saw of a great looking city with strong, powerful skyscrapers and pleasant open spaces.
That's not to say it's industrial base has gone. On the contrary, the journey from Detroit to Cleveland was punctuated by huge factories, frequently billowing clouds of steam, smoke and even flame into the sky. Huge piles of blue "stuff" stood next to one stinky chemical works and cooling towers, cranes and rail yards abounded. I'm not sure I'd want to live near this industrial heartland, but it was an impressive spectacle to visit. I was filled with memories of Teeside in Yorkshire and journeys there with my folks when I was little.
My Bad
My main, if not only reason for going to Cleveland was the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, a museum like institution dedicated to popular music. Each year new members are inducted into the Hall of Fame and to qualify, it must be 25 years from the release of their first material. For instance, and you know who I will mention here, Prince was inducted in 2004, the first year he became eligible.
This 25 year rule and the limited annual induction means the Hall is limited to well known, big selling, highly influential artists... and that is where I came unstuck.
You see, I tend to be passionate about and interested in relatively unknown artists, passing fads, new music and one offs. Sure, I've got a bunch of greatest hits albums, including one by Bruce Springsteen to whom the top two floors of the museum are currently, temporarily dedicated. However, save for The Beatles and a few other major names, I don't really give two hoots for the likes of REM, Tom Petty, The Ramones and so on.
And that is why I found it pretty dull really. It's nice to see a few famous stage costumes and instruments, but as it covers such a wide range in a relatively small space, you don't get to see much.
If you are maybe 10 to 20 years older than me, or if you are the kind of music fan who likes to dredge through the influences of your current favourites, then it's probably quite interesting. For me, not so much.
Oh, and on top of that, you can't take photos or video anywhere inside so here's one of the heavily soaked exterior. What a swizz!
Damn Yankees
The Twins lost again, so go back to Minneapolis with a 2 game deficit in the series of 5 against the New York Yankees to see who progresses towards the World Series. My jaw hurts.
Oh, and did I mention, it has been raining all day long and is still raining now!
Goodnight.
visited 32 states (64%)
Stats - Day Seventy-Seven
Distance travelled - 276 miles - Ann Arbor, MI to North Canton, OH via Detroit and Cleveland
States entered - Ohio
State count - 32 + DC + B.C.
Room numbers stayed in - 203, 1, 148, 212, 205, 210, 246, 118, 3, 145, 229, 111, 207, 206, 40, 605, "Cowboy", 35, 11, 18, 262, 216, 208, 430, 216, 59, 226, 115 / 110*, 309, 30, 8, 255, 428, 209, "Spare", 105, 207
*room switch
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