Here are some highlights from each of the cities we visited on our road trip.
Cleveland, OH
We left on a Tuesday around noon. Our first stop was Cleveland. I sometimes forget that it's only a few hours away from Detroit. We stayed in a great location, only half a mile from Progressive Field. The House of Blues was down the street from our hotel (Holiday Inn Express). For dinner we went to Great Lakes Brewing (brewery #1). The place has great ambience but the food was not very good. Brian wasn't impressed with his burger. They had a vegan patty but the bun wasn't vegan so I opted for an asparagus salad. It was tasty but not very filling.
Our server was NOT friendly. She seemed annoyed that I was asking questions about menu items. Or maybe she didn't like us because we were Tigers' fans in Cleveland.
Wednesday morning we got up early to get our run in before hitting the road. I had a speed workout that day - 5 x 1 mile tempo pace with easy warm-up and cool-down miles. The day before we'd found the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge near the field. It's just under a mile long. We ran to the stadium and looped around to warm up, I did my intervals back and forth on the bridge, then we ran back a different route to the hotel for a cool-down. The distance on the bridge was perfect I didn't have to worry about traffic. There was some wind and elevation but all in all, not bad.
Breakfast in Cleveland was Starbucks oatmeal. The last Starbucks we'd see for a while! Onward to Ithanca!
Ithaca, NY
Let me just say we LOVED Ithaca! Next time we go to Solid Sound we'll probably stop here again. We stayed in a beautiful B&B - The William Henry Miller Inn. The house was lovely, the innkeeper was sweet as could be, and the location was great for running and getting to the Finger Lakes.
Although Ithaca is home to Moosewood, we wanted to hit brewery #2 so we went to Ithaca Beer Company. The food was much better here than at Great Lakes! I was able to have a Vegan Brew Burger (house-made mushroom, tempeh, and grain) with a side salad. They also had a fry flight with vegan sauces. Yes please!
The next morning we went for our run. Just a block and a half from our inn we picked up the Cascadilla Gorge Trail (700+ feet of elevation!). It was beautiful!
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| Photo Credit: Brian Wolski |
When we emerged we were on Cornell's campus. We ran through there a bit and then picked up a wood-chipped trail that took us around Lake Beebe. From there we ran through campus again to Buffalo Street, which took us straight downhill back to our inn.
Then it was breakfast time. This was THE best breakfast we've had at a B&B. And we've stayed at a lot of B&Bs in the past 13 years! We had homemade pumpkin cranberry bread [vegan] and poached pears to start. Brian opted for the French Toast while I had oatmeal with a homemade English muffin, topped with strawberry jam. I thanked the innkeeper profusely for being so accommodating and her response was, "Honey, you're in Ithaca!" I only wish every stop on our trip was like Ithaca!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the evening desserts! Nestled among the cookies and brownies was a beautiful, rich, chocolate wacky cake. Mmmm.
If only we could have eaten more food here! But we were stuffed and it was time to move on.
North Adams, MA
Brian and I arrived in Massachusetts on Thursday night. For dinner we went to the restaurant that looked most promising for vegan options - PUBLIC Eat+Drink. There was a vegan chili on the menu so I ordered that and a salad. Both ended up being really small. By small I mean child-size. Good thing I'd eaten well in Ithaca!
After dinner we stopped outside of MASS MoCA to take a photo of the Wilco letters. As we were standing there we heard a familiar song and realized that Wilco was doing their sound check in the field below (the festival didn't open until the next day). We couldn't see them but we could hear them perfectly! Brian and I stood in the parking lot of an auto-repair shop for about 30 minutes and listened. It was awesome.
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| Photo Credit: Brian Wolski |
On Friday morning we got up early to run. We were actually staying in Williamstown, near Williams College, which was about a mile from our hotel. We ran the hilly route to campus and did a nice easy exploratory run, checking out the buildings. The college was established in 1793 so the buildings were pretty amazing to see!
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| Photo Credit: Brian Wolski |
For breakfast we went to Brewhaha in North Adams. I was able to get a hearty bowl of steel-cut oats with raisins, cinnamon, and brown sugar plus a darn fine cup of coffee. (It's worth noting that they have "Vegans Against the World" Spinach Wraps!)
Brian and I took it easy during the day, as the festival didn't start until the early evening. The first night we mostly wanted to see Speedy Ortiz and Wilco play. That gave us plenty of time to walk around a bit inside the museum and on the grounds. We checked out the merch tent and bought ponchos (the weather for the weekend was not looking good). For dinner both Friday and Saturday we got wraps from Vegetarian Oasis (a food truck from Manhattan). I had an avocado veggie wrap the first night; falafel the next. They were both really delicious, healthy, and filling.
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| Photo Credit: Brian Wolski |
Both of the bands were amazing! Speedy Ortiz was new to us before they joined the Solid Sound lineup and quickly became a new favorite. They were really fun live, too. We met the band after and talked to everyone about some of their shows in Detroit. Hopefully they'll be back soon so we can see them again.
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| Photo Credit: Brian Wolski |
Wilco played an all-acoustic set Friday night. We were back pretty far since we didn't feel like fighting all the people who had been there for hours with their camp chairs and family-sized blankets. (Don't EVEN get me started!) But it was all good. I couldn't see but I could hear and that's what matters. They still had another show the next night anyway. We stuck around after Wilco's set for a really cool video installation by Clifford Ross in one of the courtyards. The band Real Estate accompanied the artwork.
Saturday was a gorgeous morning, perfect for a long run. Brian and I drove to Adams, MA to run on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. The trail is paved, tree-lined, and quite peaceful. I recommend it if you're ever in the area.
Then it was another day at the festival. Although the morning was beautiful, things took a turn for the worse later on. Thankfully we had bought our ponchos the day before!
Because it was chilly (and rainy later on), we spent more time inside the museum on Saturday than the other days. We saw some really cool art exhibits, pop-up music performances, and a comedy show. Before the rain we saw Cibo Matto play and learned that they are crazy awesome! Due to an impending storm, the festival organizers moved some of the shows ahead one hour, which turned out to be a good thing. The light, steady rain that fell throughout Wilco's performance turned into a downpour as soon as they finished playing. Perfect timing!
Sunday is always a light day at Solid Sound. We were supposed to go on a Patagonia-sponsored hike but it was cancelled because of the storm. That actually worked out well because it gave us time to get to the festival early and get in line for the Wilco book signing that was just announced that morning. We'd met most of the band last time at Solid Sound but not Jeff Tweedy (the singer) so this was pretty exciting! It was another rainy day so we went to more inside performances until it was time for the last show - Tweedy & Friends. We got a great spot for this one, right up by the stage. It rained a bit but not bad. The show was amazing! It was a great way to end the weekend.
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| Photo Credit: Brian Wolski |
For our last night there we stayed at The Porches Inn at MASS MoCA, which is hands-down my favorite inn anywhere. We lucked out getting to stay there for one night because the Solid Sound bands book up the entire place for the festival. There happened to be a few rooms available for the last night so we moved from our other inn to this one because WHY WOULDN'T WE?!? (Seriously, just look at the website.)
I went for my run Monday morning and came back to find Brian sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee. As I stood there playing with my Garmin, a couple of people were coming down the porch steps. Finally I looked up and realized that one of them was Jeff Tweedy! He was looking at me. I just stood there and stared at him for a few seconds, unsure what to do. I had to do something! So I waved. I was 5 feet away from him and I waved. He waved back. I kept looking at him and I moved my mouth like I was going to say something. He waited, looking slightly perplexed. Finally I said, "Thanks Jeff." Jeff said, "Thank YOU." Then he turned and walked to away. (Wow, I'm a dork!) Brian was watching this whole thing unfold. Ask him to tell the story sometime.
Then we had breakfast and waved good-bye to The Porches.
Cooperstown, NY
When Brian booked our stay at the Landmark Inn, the woman he spoke with on the phone told Brian they would be sure to have something vegan at breakfast. Clearly some wires were crossed, however, because upon our arrival, the innkeeper seemed shocked to hear I was vegan! I assured her I would be fine - I always have a backup oatmeal in my bag - but she thought perhaps the chef could do something for my "vegan situation." It was so hard to keep a straight face! Situation!
The chef was wonderful and seemed thrilled to make pancakes for me. They were delicious! Then the innkeeper came over and saw them. She couldn't believe mine looked just like "regular pancakes" and said she just doesn't get many "vegan...vegan...vegan eaters?" at the inn. Oh wow. Toto, we aren't in Ithaca anymore!
If you find yourself in Cooperstown for dinner, I'd recommend going to Mel's at 22 for the house-made Veggie Burger. (There's also vegan ravioli on the menu.) I called ahead to make sure the burger was vegan. When we arrived our server checked in the kitchen to see which of their breads/buns were vegan and it turned out one of the cooks was vegan. She prepared my burger and bun off the grill so it didn't touch anything else. It was one of the best burgers I've had; similar in taste and texture to the Stever McFever from Woodbridge Pub. This, my friends, was a damn fine burger.
Our main reason for going to Cooperstown was to visit Brewery Ommegang (brewery #3) - beer tasting and tour of the campus. It's an amazing place! Built on an old hops farm, it reminds me of a winery without the grapes. I'm not much of a beer drinker but I found a few that I would have again.
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| Photo Credit: Brian Wolski |
The other reason for an overnight in Cooperstown was to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was a cool place to check out. I'm glad we went - we learned a lot of cool things about baseball - but I think I'm good now for this lifetime!
While there I had a speed workout on the schedule. Cooperstown is hilly, there aren't sidewalks everywhere, and the roads that are there are busy. I was having a hard time finding a good place to do a 10-mile interval run (warm up-3 mile-2 mile-1 mile- cool down). I finally settled on a busy 1.5-mile stretch of rolling hills and just ran back and forth. It was hardly ideal but it was about the best I could do. I lost count of the number of times I ran past the same guy on his tractor at the Farmers' Museum! *Note to future self: Do not do intervals in Cooperstown.*
Rochester, NY
Our last stop before heading home was Rochester. It was different from Ithaca but I think I loved it just as much! We stayed in the Strathallan, which was very modern and updated. It was less than a mile to a vegan restaurant, about 1.5 miles to a great running trail. Close to museums and restaurants. We walked or ran everywhere.
For dinner went to the Red Fern, which Brian found online before we arrived. Everything there is vegan so I'd been looking forward to it all week! Brian and I each ordered a sandwich and shared so we could each try them both. We also got some snacks - Kale Chips and Pickled Things. Both of them were tasty. The sandwiches were delicious - not greasy or overly saucy. Just right. I think think I have to say the Buffalo Bleu had a slight edge over the ABLT. It was probably the cabbage. So good!
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| Buffalo Bleu, Balsamic Field Greens |
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| ABLT (Avocado, Bacon [tempeh], Lettuce, Tomato), Mac Salad |
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| Confetti Cookie, Garden Cake |
While in Rochester we visited George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. Eastman founded the Eastman Kodak Company. We learned some things about cameras but my favorite part was touring his house. The man was a real life Jay Gatsby! It was a gorgeous home. I'd highly recommend taking the time to visit if you're in Rochester.
After that it was time to head back to reality. We had an 7-hour drive ahead of us to return to Michigan. Thankfully we were able to find Starbucks on the way home to keep me awake!
One of the best parts of this road trip was being able to run in new places. I loved exploring different cities and towns, taking in scenery, and making my routes as I ran them.
Are you running in any new cities this summer? Tell me about it!
So glad you had a great vacay
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jessica! Thanks for reading! :)
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