My Big Fat Midwest Roadtrip Adventure

Hey Boys and Girls! Have I ever had a fantastic adventure the past two weeks. Here is entry #1 of my road trip through the midwest states.

Day 1:Thursday, June 28, 2007--We arrived at the Bellingham International Airport this morning to catch a flight to Columbus, Ohio. Why Columbus, Ohio? Well, that's where Skybus, the newest airline to fly in and out of Bellingham, goes, that's why. Columbus, Ohio sounds like an odd destination until you look at a map and realize how close it is to several big cities--Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, even Chicago.

We have a silly dream of being able to say that we have visited all 50 states and we are getting close. Because the midwest is probably not high on most people's list for a destination, we thought this would be a great time to go see those states and do it cheaply. You see, a Skybus ticket from Bellingham to Columbus, Ohio is as low as $10, $50, maybe $100 one way depending on how early you book your tickets. We got the $50 tickets, so for only $200 we got round trip tickets to Columbus, Ohio. You gettin' it? That's REALLY CHEAP!

So at 9:25 am our beautiful new Airbus A 319 took off into the wild blue yonder and headed us for our roadtrip through the midwest.

We arrived in Columbus on time, picked up our rental car and headed out on the highway. First stop, Cincinnati, Ohio.

One of our goals on this roadtrip was to sample the cuisine of the road. We did a lot of research ahead of time and found several internet sites that specialize in road food. What is road food? Well, think diners and drive-ins. These are two types of eateries that were not only popular but were basically your only choice for eating out while driving along the highways and roads of America in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. These places sprouted up along the byways out of a need for travelers to stop and get something to eat, then hop back in the car and drive on. Unlike today's massive number of options for fastfood along our highways--McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. , in those days none of these chain fastfood restaurants existed. Instead, little mom and pop restaurants sprang up. Many were of the type called drive-ins where you pulled up, turned on yours lights and a teenager, maybe on rolllerskates, would come out to your car and you would tell her/him your order which, in a few minutes, would arrive at your car on a tray which would be attached to the driver's side window. The family would eat, turn the lights back on, the teenager would reappear to collect the tray and the money for the food and you'd be back on the road heading towards your destination. Here is an example of a drive-in that still exists and makes great burgers and shakes right here in Bellingham called Boomers.

Diners were places along the highways where you would get out of your car and go inside to eat. The food tended more towards homecooking, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, etc. It had to be fast and good or word would get out and folks wouldn't stop anymore. It was simple, inexpensive and tasty. Here is a photo of a diner still serving great food today.

Interestingly, some of these drive-ins and diners still exist in some cities and small towns around America. You have to know what you're looking for but they are out there. It was our goal to try and track some of these places down and eat at the ones that we had heard were really good.

We arrived kind of late, due to the time change (3 hours later in Columbus than Bellingham) after having stopped in New Lebanon, Ohio to see an old inn called the Golden Lamb which has been around since the early 1800's. Presidents John Quincy Adams, Ulysses S. Grant and William Henry Harrison have stayed there. Even Charles Dickens stayed. It was a marvelous old place that is still a hotel and restaurant. As a result we arrived in Cincinnati so late we were most interested in finding our hotel. But before we found it, we found one of our diners for dinner.

The Camp Washington Chili Parlour is one of the oldest chili parlours (although they are in a new building now) in Cincinnati and part of an old Cincinnati tradition. Here is the inside at the left. Looks a lot like a 1950's style diner, huh? In Cincinnati the foods to try are Coneys and the 5-way Chili. The Coney is a hot dog (small, only 3 bits so you buy them two at a time) covered with chili and cheddar cheese and onions (you can order them with or without the onions). But the 5-way chili is quite an amazing thing. It starts with a layer of spaghetti noodles, then a layer of chili, then onions, cheese and topped off with oyster crackers (that's five layers). You can see a bowl of oyster crackers in the photo on the right. You can delete a layer and then they call it a 4-way. Anyway, it is a real belly buster.

We discovered that on our way to our hotel was another of the road food places we were planning to go to called Putz's. They are famous for their softserve ice cream. We drove in and found a place to park. This was a walk up type place. No inside seating. People were lined up to order their ice cream and then stood around eating it outside. The ice cream was so good, sweet and creamy, so we went back the next day and got more. Yummy!

Stuffed up to our eyeballs we drove off to find the Mariemont Inn which turned out to be so cute we tried to stay another night but there were no rooms available. We checked in and since there was a movie theater across the street showing a film we had wanted to see, we decided to go. It was called Waitress and it was funny. Here is what our hotel looked like outside and the inside of our room.