This April we were invited to a wedding in St Louis. Since we are retired and feel the spirit of adventure, we decided to turn it into a road trip.

One place that has always been on my bucket list of places to see is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Tom and I agreed that this would make a great first stop. We could get on Route 80 and just about fall into Cleveland in 7-8 hours. When I mentioned on Facebook that I was taking a road trip to include the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame one of my high school classmates commented that she lived in that vicinity. Want to meet us for dinner? I got an enthusiastic Yes as a response! So the first night of our trip was having dinner with Melanie and Merle who drove about an hour to meet us in downtown Cleveland. What a great time we had talking as if no time had passed between us.  In fact, it had been 50 years. It was so great! So many people said to me wow, you made a dinner date after so many years? Here is where the beauty of Facebook comes in.  It did not feel like that long at all. Many of our classmates have been catching up for years. We have shared many life events.  Some very sad and we have all been there for each other. So it seemed perfectly natural to me to “catch up” with  Mel while passing through Cleveland. We enjoyed drinks at the bar and then dinner. Very enjoyable evening. I was so glad we planned it.

We stayed at the Doubletree By Hilton Cleveland Downtown Lakeside.  I chose this hotel because it was so well situated for where we wanted to go. The hotel was great with a terrific bar and dining room. There was a new beer for us on tap that Tom loved- Great Lakes Irish Ale. The best part of staying here was that they offered a free shuttle ride to anything in the immediate area. We could leave the car in the garage for our stay. That was a bonus. The day after we arrived we went to the R&R Hall of Fame and wound up spending the entire day there. Each level offered fabulous exhibits and films to view.  From a fashion standpoint the exhibits of all the attire from each of the decades was so great. There was a film on Elvis that was very good. Our favorite film was about Dick Clark and the American Bandstand and how he introduced and launched so many careers. It is amazing to think back to all of the different kinds of music he introduced. American Bandstand was not just “it’s got a good beat, I can dance to it”. It was so much more. It brought all different kinds of  music into homes all over America. We also got to see a U2 3D concert in their Foster Theater. Outrageous! All in all it was a great day and once again reinforces for me that music is the universal language and the cure for whatever ales you.

That night we went downtown for dinner at Lola’s on 4th street. This restaurant is owned by Michael Symon (Iron Chef on the Food Network and The Crew). It is one of the best restaurants I have EVER been in. The restaurant “serves rustic fare in a sleek, bustling setting.”  The atmosphere is beautiful and the food is insanely creative and delicious. I would recommend this as a must-do for anyone going to Cleveland. The downtown area is very lively. Lots of restaurants. Strings of lights cross the streets creating a festive atmosphere. There is also the world’s largest outdoor chandelier that hangs 44 feet above the street in the historic Playhouse Square Theater district. When this is illuminated at night it is quite a sight to see.

We would have been happy to stay longer in Cleveland but we had to get on our way. Would love to come back some day.

Day 3 of our road trip was driving to Chicago. This leg of the trip was about 7 hours in the car. We had bought several CDs at the Hall of Fame so we had lots to listen to and sing along with.  I have been to Chicago several times but I was always there for business and never had much spare time.  As we neared Chicago it was rush hour and there was much more traffic than we had seen for many miles. I had made a reservation at Crowne Plaza Chicago West Loop because it would be less driving through the city to get to the hotel. It was a good choice and got us out of the highway traffic quickly.  That night we went to Bar Siena.  It is a fun “gathering” place in the West Loop. It is a 2 story restaurant  serving regional Italian food.  The bar on the first floor was hopping!

Day 4 was a weather disaster. Thank goodness I did not have to limit the amount of clothes we brought. I had packed some of everything since I had heard that April weather in Chicago could be quite dicey. So we bundled up with rain gear to go on a River Cruise! The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise was what we had planned for this day.  There were only 2 other people crazy enough to take this tour today. They must have been on a tight schedule too. The winds were blustering and rain and sleet were coming down, but the tour was so worth it. The guide we had really knew his stuff and we got to hear all about the buildings and the architectural styles along the Chicago River and the history of each. All of this magnificence but there were sights to pull you back to reality. There were homeless “tent cities” along one section of  the riverbank. When our tour was over the weather was so nasty that they suspended tours for the rest of the day. So glad we had scheduled our tour early so that we did not miss it. From the dock we hustled over to Navy Pier where we could have lunch at Giordano’s for deep dish pizza. This was something Tom wanted to try- traditional deep dish pizza  which Chicago is known for. It was very tasty, but we decided we are thin crust aficionados.  By the time we got back to the hotel is was snowing and blowing and we decided to cozy up to the hotel bar for dinner that night instead of trying to hail cabs. Many people decided to do exactly that and we had some lively conversation with some men in town for a convention.

Day 5 back on the road heading now south and west to St Louis. The weather was totally improved this morning and exiting the city went smoothly. This stretch of the drive was wide open space. Lots of farm land and wind farms. Our drive was about 5 hours. Loved approaching St Louis and seeing the Gateway Arch from the highway. Here we stayed at the Marriott St Louis Grand Hotel which is downtown. The next few days in St Louis were jam packed with celebrations. The youngest daughter of a couple I have been friends with for 46 years was getting married. And it was celebration after celebration. The first night was a dinner at Gloria and Doug’s home with family who had arrived early for the wedding. The next day more friends arrived at the hotel and we all had invitations to the rehearsal dinner.  Saturday was the wedding and it was a beautiful, sunny and 80 degree day. The bride was stunning. The wedding ceremony was in a breathtaking Cathedral.  The reception was a small gathering for 285 guests. It was quite the party.  The next day some of our group had flights home. For those of us staying another night we went to the National Blues Museum which was right down the street from our hotel.  This was another fabulous musical journey. “The national Blues Museum is dedicated to preserving and honoring the history and legacy of Blues music and its impact on world culture”. This was a stop worth taking. One of my favorite quotes that I picked up here is  “the blues had a baby and they named it Rock and Roll” (Muddy Waters). And as Keith Richards said “If you don’t know the blues…there is no point in picking up a guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music”. That night we went back to Gloria and Doug’s for our last evening. What a great visit with forever friends.

Day 9 back on the road home. No fooling around on the trip home. Just one stop in the middle to relax for dinner and the night. We stopped at another Doubletree in Newark Ohio.

All in all it was a wonderful trip. It was filled with friends, new adventures and wonderful conversations on the open road with my husband (yes, we are still talking after all that driving). States we ventured through were New jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and on the return our toes hit West Virginia for a minute. On the way home we cut through Blue Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain and Tuscarora Mountain.

Now I can put all of these memories in my pocket and keep them in our hearts and start planning the next adventure.