The Rain, the Park, and Other Things......

6:43 am - Friday - May 4th - Ashtabula, OH - 65º F, 86% humidity, wind 11 mph out of the south.....heavy cloud cover......forecast high for today is 76º F with a chance of rain later today.  Rain on and off most of the night......

Our Jello plan for Thursday was to drive south to Canton, OH and the NFL Hall of Fame, just as we had driven into Cleveland to the the RRHF* the day before, however, my advance research had failed to unearth the fact that here in Ashtabula we are 103 miles from Canton!  Somehow I had mistakenly come to the conclusion, based on what I don't now know, that it was about the same distance as Cleveland.....how about twice as far in actuality......😞

Well, there was no way I was driving 206 miles round trip in the rain.....maybe 108, but certainly not 206.  So, our team called an audible and stayed put for the day.  It rained for the entire morning, and into the early afternoon before quitting around 1:30 pm......

 Still raining at 11:40 am

.....I observed this large coal ship cruising northeast along the shores of Lake Erie......there is a coal depot in Ashtabula where ships are loaded with coal, so I'm sure that's where she was headed.

When the rain suddenly ceased and the clouds parted we decided it was time to get out and stretch our legs by driving over Bridge Road where the Merchant District is replete with quite a few 100+ year old red brick buildings.  This whole area has been revived and is full of cool little restaurants, bistros and cafes.....

 One from the 1890's

.....we had hoped to catch the local 'lift bridge' in action, but were told that the only time it is raised this time of year (before the summer season and there are a lot more boats in the harbor) is when the Coast Guard ship needs to ingress, or egress.  So, the odds of us seeing it in action were remote......

 Lift bridge

.....we spent time walking up and down Bridge Road, and even went in the local Goodwill store where both TLE and I found some articles of clothing without which life could not proceed.  We paid $20 for our four purchases and headed down the street to see if we could not find a cool place to have a late lunch.  Of course, you know that we always find a cool place to eat, and on this late afternoon we found the perfect place to have a couple of brews, and sandwiches for a late lunch/early dinner.....

......Briquette Smokehouse is located just 1/2 block off Bridge Road right on the entrance to the Marina.....TripAdvisor gives them 4.5 stars on 244 reviews, while Yelp gives them the same rating on just 20 reviews.....they are both right on the money!

We went upstairs to their second floor, which has a great view of the marina, taking bar seats so we could enjoy the view.  I ordered a pint of their North High Filthy McNasty Imperial Stout and TLE a pint of their Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale for starters......

......for our entrees TLE chose their Smoked Ruben and I had their special.....Beef-N-Swiss Melt (smoked brisket).....OMG.  TLE says this is the best Ruben she has ever eaten, and that is saying a lot.  She has ordered and eaten dozens of Rubens all over the USA over the past 6 years of travel.  Previously her all time best was one she had in Cedar Key, FL back in January of 2013.....

 Left to right: Smoked Ruben, Beef-N-Swiss Cheese Melt

.....we sat there for over an hour cherishing every sip of beer, and bite of our sandwiches.  The Beef-N-Swiss Melt was out of this world......'off the hook' as Guy Fieri of Triple D would say......a real 'trip to flavorville'!

Well, all good, wonderful things must come, eventually, to and end.....we paid our bill and then set out to walk up the hill to Point Park and the Ashtabula Maritime and Surface Transportation Museum.  As luck would have it the museum is not open until Saturday.......

A lot of stairs to climb to the museum

......then our luck changed.....as I snapped a picture of the inactive lift bridge I noticed there was a cabin cruiser waiting for it to lift.....it was about 4:25 pm at this time, and the bridge is only lifted, when it is lifted, on the half hour.  We waited for 5 minutes and then the bridge began to rise.....I took this 3+ minute video of it in action......

I took this video of the lift bridge in action......fascinating!

Ashtabula lighthouse left of center, in the background

.....the perfect ending to a perfect afternoon!  You can't make this stuff up!

We were home about 5:15 settling in for the evening.....as we went to bed we could hear the rain on our aluminum roof again.....sweet!

Thanks for stopping by!

* RRHF - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

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Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame.....

8:26 am - Thursday - May 4rd - Ashtabula, OH - 64º F, 87% humidity (surprised it's not 100%.....been raining all night), wind 6 mph out of the southwest......heavy cloud cover with more rain forecast for today, and a high of 75º F.

The main reason we stopped at the Elk's Lodge in Ashtabula was so we could drive back into Cleveland, OH to visit the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame.  It has been on my 'bucket list' for a couple of decades at least.  We left Ashtabula in the VW about 9:30 am figuring it would take a good hour to arrive at our destination, and we arrived exactly at 10:30 am.....we had purchased our tickets online the night before to save $3/person.  The Hall of Fame is right  off SR-2 at the 9th street exit.....literally.  We snagged the last street parking spot right across the street, and quickly inserted 9 quarters for 3 hours with the possibility of throwing in 3 more quarters for a fourth hour if we needed it.

TLE and I spent almost 3 hours walking through the various exhibits, and took over 100 pictures during that time.  As you walk from exhibit to exhibit there is non-stop music playing.  At each exhibit you can put on head phones and listen to the artist associated with that particular exhibit.  We were mesmerized......I think 90 minutes had passed by and we were still in the Rolling Stones section......there is so much to see it could take 3, or 4 posts to verbally cover it all, so I will let the pictures tell the story.......

If you are so inclined you can visit the food court inside and spend all your time in the 'Hall of Fame'

Howlin' Wolf was a big influence on the 'Stones', and they covered several of his songs in their early years

 

 Robert Johnson's music is considered by many to be the source of modern rock and roll

 Of course Les Paul must be in the Hall of Fame.....he invented the solid body electric guitar....some of his early guitars are worth a fortune today

 

There is an entire exhibit dedicated to Rhythm and Blues, and the influence of those early artists on the birth of modern rock and roll.....totally fascinating.....you could literally spend hours there reading about each 'R&B' artist

Young Rolling Stones

 Del Shannon hand written lyrics to 'Hats off to Larry'

 Joe Walsh's hand written lyrics to 'Life's been good to me'

 'ZZ Top' electric guitars....pretty cool looking

If you go the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame you must go into the Connor Theater to see this 15 minute movie.....very, very powerful

 The first inductees into the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame.....I cannot disagree with any of them

The Beatles inducted in 1988.....

....and the Stones in 1989

Deep Purple.....finally!

Moody Blues....about time!

The Hall of Fame is built right on the shores of Lake Erie......just off the freeway

 Parting shot

......frankly we could have spent a fourth hour, but after a while your mind is on sensory overload and it is time for a break.  TLE found a little food court over on 4th and Prospect where we paid $18 for valet parking so we could walk down the street (no cars) and find a place that peaked our interest.........

....we settled on 'The Corner Alley'.....a sports bar/bowling alley.....very cool....

 The Corner Alley

.....the bar was mostly empty at 2 pm, so we had the place to ourselves......just a couple of blocks away is Progressive Stadium where the Cleveland Indians play baseball, and there was an afternoon game in progress explaining the mostly empty bar.....no doubt it would fill up shortly after the end of the game.  We each ordered a draft brew and then a couple of appetizers to split.......sweet potato fries and bacon bleu sliders......perfect amount of food!

We were on the road back to Ashtabula about 2:30 pm, and home by 3:30 pm.....we did buy a couple of souvenir t-shirts at the Hall of Fame.......here is TLE's......

......it was a wonderful day which took me back to my youth, and I am still basking in the glow of the experience.  Were the 60's really that long ago?  If you are a fan of Rock 'N Roll plan on visiting the Hall of Fame.....it will be worth your while.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defer the costs of producing this blog each day.