We broke up our 13.5 hour drive from Glen Cove NY (Long Island) to Chicago with a perfectly serviceable overnight just west of downtown Cleveland near Lake Erie.
As we were driving past large lakefront homes along Lake Road (route 6) in/around Avon Lake, Ohio (searching for an indie bakery that turned out to be too indie, located in private home in a residential neighborhood), we wondered if we were in Taylor and Travis’s new neighborhood but turns out Bratenahl is east of downtown.
The courtyard by Marriott Cleveland Westlake is conveniently located off Interstate 90, quiet, clean, bland, inexpensive ($128) — no breakfast included so we ended up at Paris Baguette, a chain with, again, serviceable fare and a view of a Menard’s across a pancake-flat road. (The long baguette was excellent; pastries, yes, serviceable.)
Dinner was at Banana Blossom Thai, again serviceable fare, in a slightly gritty Cleveland neighborhood (with character including a disheveled person who panhandled tables vs. the bland suburban/exurban strip with our hotel and bakery cafe).
Our drive from NYC on a Sunday midday was easy, with only a little congestion around the George Washington bridge over the beautiful Hudson River. Some day I may drive through the Pennsylvania mountains along Interstate 80 without rain and fog but that day has not come.
The leaves were changing, entertaining us with fiery reds, oranges and yellows. We stopped for apples (honey crisps) outside of Bloomsburg, Pa. at a do-it-yourself veg and fruit stand (after finding the nearby OHF orchards a pick-your-own option only. (No time for picking. Just passing through.)
