December 14, 2003
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December 2003 Interstate-74
If you are driving anywhere on I-74 in Illinois or Indiana, please be very careful. It’s VERY slippery and snowy and there are cars all along the sides of the road because they still think they can go 65 mph, and brake well enough when someone comes down an on-ramp in front of them.
Bridges are also slick with ice.
Illinois is kind of misguided. They decided to melt the snow/ice with salt. The problem is, the salt just gets diluted with the falling snow, and then the melted snow/ice just refreezes and makes it even slicker than before. So drive carefully in Illinois.
Indianapolis Airport
I always find the Indianapolis Airport to be very easy to navigate. There are multiple long-term parking lots ranging from $7.00 to $4.50/night. The cheaper they are, the farther from the airport. The good thing is there are shuttles to all the parking lots, so as long as you arrive at the airport in good time, it should be no trouble to park in the cheaper lot. (I was rushed, so I parked in the Tiger Lot which is $7.00/day. Durn.)
If you park in the long-term parking lots, definitely take the shuttle over walking to the terminal, because there are some funky roads between the parking lots and the terminal where you will be playing Frogger. That isn’t so bad, except if you have luggage with you it’s kind of difficult.
Indiana is a funky state. If you’re driving in from another state, make sure you know whether or not other places are on Daylight Savings Time, because Indianapolis wants to be different and doesn’t do Daylight Savings Time. Currently, the time in Indianapolis matches Eastern time. (i.e. currently one hour ahead of Chicago/Central time)
Some people don’t like Indy’s airport. I don’t know why. I’ve always had good experiences there. I’ve missed flights and the clerks at the front counters always do their best to reschedule me on the earliest possible next flight.
I’ve accidentally locked myself out of my car, too. And the nice lady at the information desk called Indiana’s Finest Lockout. Although IFL was hella expensive, they were quick (which is more than I can say for the guys I had to call in my hometown, once). And when you’re waiting in the snow with luggage (or sweltering in the summer humidity), quickness is a good thing.
The food at the Indy airport isn’t great. And it is expensive. I bought a chicken Italian sausage sandwich (+ fries + drink) for a whopping $7.48. (It isn’t as expensive as Cleveland Hopkins Int’l though.)
Chicago Midway Airport
I’d never been to Chicago Midway before, and it was pretty nice. It wasn’t nearly as frantic as O’Hare. Unlike O’Hare, Midway has moving sidewalks which are a boon when you are trying to get from one end of the terminal to the other.
The clerks at Midway were also very nice. The people flying out of Chicago, on the otherhand, are obnoxious. I had to listen to some god-damned yuppie-types complaining the whole time we were standing in line to get on the plane. It was as if I were in an episode of “Seinfeld.” I finally got out of line because they were so annoying. (Their tactic worked.) I hope their next plane crashed.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
I missed a flight here too, and the lady at the Southwest counter was so great! She set me up with a shuttle to the Hilton Garden Inn, and Ozzie came and picked me up. Ozzie gave me a great tour of the area around Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airport, which is basically a Ford Motors area.
If you get stuck at Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airport, I highly recommend the Hilton Garden Inn. If you’re flying via Southwest, mention that, and they give you a discounted rate ($39.99), which totally rocked because this hotel is really nice. I mean really nice. Fireplace in the lobby. Really personable staff. And DOWN PILLOWS. Squishy down pillows! I love them. . . .
And one of Ohio’s MetroParks is in the backyard of the hotel, with the nearby Rocky River that runs through it. I didn’t get a chance to go hiking though.
The other nice thing about the hotel is the free shuttle service (via Ozzie) to the big nearby mall where I was able to find a nice business suit in my size (petite) at the Dillard’s. And that is rare.
I made sure to give Ozzie a tip, because he has a soft spot for the homeless guys who hang out around the airport.
Rental cars at Cleveland Hopkins are fairly easy. They are all located in one place, which you reach by shuttle. The signs for Car Rental Return were a little difficult to find. I came back via I-71 North and got out at the first airport exit. It took a while to find the car rental return signs. I probably would have done better taking the second exit.
If you are planning a rush trip, it takes the shuttle about 10 minutes to get from the main terminal to the car rental place.
Food choices at the Hopkins Airport suck. I got a teeny tiny roast beef sandwich with a Coke for a whopping $9.00. Bleh.
Ohio Turnpike
The Ohio Turnpike is nice. The toll wasn’t bad either. From Youngstown to the I-71 exit, it only cost me $2.20, if I remember rightly.
Akron, Ohio
Akron is basically a GOODYEAR town.
I had a flat tire in Akron on Market Street. A nice guy named Reggie who was on probation helped me put the donut on. And another nice guy named Carver lent me his good jack. He also told me where I could get my tire fixed. The nice guys at ACTION TIRE showed me the flat-head screw I somehow ran over, and they stuck a plug in for $7.47, and they did it in less than 10 minutes!
The Radisson Hotel in downtown Akron was okay. There was a jacuzzi in my room, but I didn’t feel up to trying it out. Oh, and the bathtub drain wouldn’t stay open, which kind of sucked. So I had to pull out the mechanism in order to take shower. And it seems someone with very long red hair stayed in that hotel room once. The heater didn’t work in my room either. That sucked.
Piatta’s is a fabulous Italian restaurant in downtown Akron. The proleterioles are really good!
Youngstown, OH
Youngstown is basically a General Motors town.
Boardman, OH
The Microtel in Boardman, Ohio smells kinda like plastic. It’s a lot cleaner than the Radisson in downtown Akron, OH though.
The rooms are “micro.” I wish they’d just accept that, and not have that funky tinted mirror over the bed to try to make it look bigger. ‘Makes me feel like I’m being watched. . . .
The Springfield Grille in Boardman is excellent! There was a waiter there who was so incredibly great. I wish I’d gotten his name. If you go there and he is your server, you’ll know what I mean. He’s also cute too. The angel hair marinara there rocks, and the tiramisu is good. They put a thick layer of chocolate powder on top, so don’t inhale as you take a bite or you’ll choke, as my tablemate did.
