After lunch, it was finally time to visit the cave. Those of you who follow our adventures are probably aware that I love caves (also mines, and everything else underground or underwater), while my kids honestly have had quite enough of them... So this time, we compromised: we were going to the cave, but were not going to an anthracite mine later. Which is too bad - because it would have been very interesting, and right along our way, in Scranton...
The cave, called Penn's Cave, is located in a town called Centre Hall near Rte 80, and I highly recommend it. It is "America's only all-water cavern", it is on The National Register of Historic Places, and you tour it by boat! Flat-bottom motorboats take about 20 people and spend about an hour total, first going through the cave's passageway (while the guide points out various formations along the way), then getting out into Lake Nitanee on the other side for a short spin, and finally coming back, more quickly, through the cave to the starting point of the tour. The cave has entrances on both sides, and therefore technically is probably a tunnel... But there are stalactites, stalagmites, "straws" and "cave bacon", and even bats, so I still consider it a cave.
The temperature inside is around 52 degrees, so you'll need a sweatshirt or jacket even on a summer day. I was perfectly fine in sandals, though, and somehow this cave didn't feel as chilly as most of the other ones.
So here is the cave's first entrance, the starting point of the tour.
You can see more photos here.
The previous night, Temma double-checked with me: "So, what is the plan for tomorrow? We are going to a cave, and then spending the night at a train station, right?" Bleak as the prospect might sound, she was absolutely right: we did spend the night in Scranton, at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, formerly the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Station. This is what the Grand Lobby looks like.
Notice the original railroad clock on the wall to the right. And below that, in the far right corner, is the former ticketing office - now the hotel's reception desk.
Our room was on the second floor, somewhere around the place where you see the light on the opposite wall. It had sleep-by-number beds, which I didn't like, and otherwise was quite comfortable and plush. However, there were a few issues that seemed incongruous in a hotel of that class. Say, I was really surprised to find an empty bourbon bottle under the desk, although the room seemed to be adequately cleaned otherwise. And we got a wake-up call at 6:30 in the morning, which we emphatically didn't request... This really got me angry, because it threw our whole morning off, and I complained to the receptionist at check-out. He apologized profusely and seemed really embarrassed, but didn't provide any explanation. Back at home, though, I've found one. I discovered that the hotel is quite famous for being haunted, especially in baseball lore. Apparently, the ghosts are mostly active in the basement and on the sixth floor, but it looks like they might have extended their activities to the second floor on this occasion... A ghost must have spent the night under our desk, then gotten the wake-up call and left his empty bottle behind.
This vacation wasn't a vacation, as such. We dropped off David at The Ohio State University and had to get back somehow.
On the way there, Alex and David drove the loaded family car in one day from Boston to Cleveland, along Rte 90, spent the night in Cleveland, and on the following morning drove the rest of the way to Columbus. Meanwhile, Temma and I flew into Columbus, as there was no space left for us in the car. We all converged on the university campus, where David moved into the dorm along with 50 thousand or so of his closest friends.
We stayed the night at the Blackwell, which is a very nice hotel right on campus. It seems to be mostly run by the hospitality industry majors from Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State. They are doing a pretty good job with the hotel itself, though unfortunately the same isn't true for the adjacent restaurant. Maybe we were there just on an off day, but breakfast in an almost empty restaurant shouldn't take an hour!
In our case, Blackwell's location right on campus was especially important, because it let us maximize our time with David (who already had various meetings and activities planned) before we kissed him goodbye and started driving the now-empty car back towards Boston...
This is the view from our hotel room towards the footbal stadium on campus.
People below are the tail end of a very long procession, which was walking past our window for more than an hour that morning, to get loaded into 175 buses and go to the Crew Stadium (not to be confused with Ohio Stadium in the previous photo) to the President's Convocation. And this is a photo of President Gee, taken by Alex on the move-in day.
Since most of my time in Columbus has been spent on campus and/or crying, I have no clear impression of the city yet. Hopefully, it will develop during my subsequent visits, in the next 4 years.
But for now, I'll start our trip report with the following day, when we were driving across Pennsylvania along Rte 80. We've decided that Rte 90 has been explored enough during our multiple trips to Niagara Falls, and wanted to see new places. The first of which was our lunch stop, Denny's Beer Barrel and Pub, the Home of the World's Largest Burger. Here it is.
Denny's is home not just to the humongous burger, but also to burger-eating competitons, or "challenges". Contestants (or even 6-8 person teams) each get a 2-lbs, 3-lbs, or even a 15-lbs burger, which they have to finish within a certain time. If they do, their names are posted on a Winners' list (on a wall, as well as on the pub's website), along with their personal time. If they don't - their names are also posted, but on the "Couldn't quite do it" list.
In case you are wondering, why would we go to such an unlikely place? - here is the answer. Apart from burger monstrosities, their menu contains all kinds of regular-sized burgers - as well as wraps, salads, soups, etc. - and beer... Having to eat lunch somewhere along that stretch of Rte 80 anyway, we figured that a restaurant specializing in burgers should be able to do them well. So I ordered an ostrich burger, and Alex an elk one (1/3 lbs each), while Temma decided to go with a "pizza burger" (drenched in pizza sauce) - and we were all quite happy with our selections.
