Columbus, OH was really a nice surprise. I am not sure why, but I was thinking it’ll be another depressing, Midwestern town, loud with darkness and sad people looking down, gray skies, and putrid humidity in July. And it was nothing of sorts. It was clean, and svelte, and cosmopolitan, a mix of historic and modern, loaded in stories of German ancestry as loud as the brick walls are red. It had a vibe - people were walking, and skateboarding, and running amok towards the baseball stadium, restaurants were open and so diverse in every way. All the staff was friendly, with a sunny (and not gray) disposition, chatty, even, and kind. We stayed at a historic hotel, during “modern times” bought by Marriott (who, we hoped cured it from all the ghosts), but with a history of its own - originally called when it opened in 1896, “The Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House" - I’ll let you dig that story up! It’s fascinating!
Street corner in Columbus, OH
The lobby at The Westin Great Southern Columbus hotel, formerly The Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House
The making of The Bourbon Twilight at Bar Cicchetti - The Westin Hotel
The breakfast at the hotel was a different story. Who puts butter on a smoked salmon bagel sandwich? Apparently Bar Cicchetti does. The cocktails the night before were spectacular, especially the Bourbon Twilight. Bourbon flambé, anyone?
The vibe was gone in Charleston, WV. I have not really experienced West Virginia more than just driving through it and cursing the broken highways. What I have seen of it is indeed “wild and wonderful”, as the state slogan advertises. But I also know of poverty and deep challenges, cracks in infrastructure and education so big that they seem that can never be mended. I have always wanted to visit at least Charleston, the state capital, even if for no other reason than because they have - from the speed of the highway, at least - the most beautiful Capitol dome that I can remember of any other US State I have been to. Gilded in 24K gold, it reminds one of the riches of castles of Europe or the church domes of Russia.
The Capitol in Charleston, WV
As I have already said, Charleston did not have a vibe. It felt like a town that is virtually, generally closed for business. We arrived on a Thursday evening and most restaurants were already closed at 7.30 (had already closed at 6PM). The handful that were open would have closed by 9 PM. Driving through the city felt like driving through a ghost town. Maybe it’s because it was the week of July 4th and the government (and maybe the city folk) were on vacation? But there were tons of businesses closed, some stripmalls that looked deserted truly, and some of the houses in what one would deem the “desirable” neighborhood of The Capitol block, right along the Kanawha river (waterfront, in fact) bore many signs that announced them to be “available”, “for sale” or “for lease.” Most had the sign of age and decay written clearly on their chipped brick walls and cloudy windows thick with cobwebs.
The Capitol building is indeed impressive. But, Charleston was sad, dark, and lonely ... I wished that the stereotype of West Virginia being one of the poorest states in The Union, lacking opportunities and draw would be busted ... But from the little time we spent there, we were left wanting for more ...
Indiana Dunes is the 13th National Park we have visited so far. You’re not really sure when you’re drifting from Ohio into Indiana and into Michigan onward. The park is unique because it’s a National Park surrounded by a State Park beach that opens up on Lake Michigan. The National Park piece is wild, criss-crossed by trails, and really diverse, a mix of sandy dunes, juniper trees and desert-like vegetation, right along marshes filled with birds, turtles and ducks. The State Park piece is full of people sunning on the beach, bringing all their people-ness along - noise, mess, busy-bodiness ... Quite mysteriously placed, only to remind us we’re still in the manufacturing Midwest, a very active steel plant neighbors the parks; its flames rush towards the skies frantically, adding more heat to the already melty summer air. I wish we had a wee bit more time to explore the trails ...
The beach at Indiana Dune State Park on Lake Michigan
An oasis in Indiana Dunes National Park
Kalamazoo, MI used to be somewhat of a sad, gray, Midwestern, blue-collar city, too, when I first started visiting, back in 2009. But with every visit since, it has come more into its own. Tons of new stripmalls are popping up, new construction, condos, new homes, some of them incredibly modern in architecture, new coffee shops, updated diners (instead of the greasy-spoon ones of the 50’s). It was particularly cheery in the summer - weather does cast a more somber shadow on it, when days on end fail to show the sun during winter and fall ... But the feeling of fresh, new blood and life was refreshing.
Holland and South Haven, Michigan have similar characteristics to one another. My husband said they are “typical coastal towns” which I guess makes sense: they are both sitting proud on Lake Michigan. Holland is a college town meets mid-century modern homes. South Haven leans more towards the colonial, or even Victorian architecture.
South Haven Lighthouse in South Haven, MI. You can tell the muckiness of the smoky and humid air above Lake Michigan
Outside of Holland, we went for some baked goods at Crane’s Orchards. My companions raved about the freshly baked pie. My pretzel was delicious, so hot out of the oven that it burned my lips. But the waitress had a terrible time figuring out how to charge for two slices of pie and a pretzel. You see, people come here for pies, mostly. That part, she figured out. The pretzel was an appetizer, and although I ordered it as it was on the menu, she was taken by surprise and could not figure out what to tell “the computer”. Crane’s is one of those places that has ‘regular” dining options (like sandwiches) just to attract the new folk, but they are known well for one thing only by “the regulars” (pies) and they draw probably 99% of their customers for pies. They are on autopilot for pies. The rest of the options on the menu seemed to be a mystery to them ... A nice stop, overall, but just be ready to allow for some ungainliness if you crave something other than ... a slice of cherry pie a la mode.
The pie place: Crane's Orchard in Fennville, MI
Speaking of ungainliness, at Anna’ House (a modern diner with a very exhaustive and diverse menu in Kalamazoo), they will spill two pints of ice water and half of a hot cup of coffee on you without much of an apology. After drenching my mother-in-law in said liquids, we all got free coffees ... No apology, really (other than “Sorry, this happens sometimes”), no manager came to visit, no one offered a dry cleaner’s coupon for the snow white shirt that was not splotchy brown from coffee stains ... But the food is delicious!
We passed through Springfield, Ohio, where we stopped for a couple of hours to visit The Westcott House, a Frank Lloyd Wright construction which was finished in 1903. This is only the second F.L. Wright building we have seen (the first one was Taliesin West which is a home and a school - a bit of a different purpose), and the first one that we have seen that was built for a family. If you are at all interested not only in architecture, but human innovation, history, and the daring ideas of a visionary spirit, I strongly encourage you to get into the mind of Frank Lloyd Wright. The possibilities of learning about looking at the world through different-colored glasses are endless with this guy! When you think of the period he grew up in and of the years during which he created (between 1860s and 1950s) and the type of architecture he created (some elements of which did not become mainstream till 1980s and 1990s), your mind will be blown away!
America was still designing homes with 2x4 ft closets all the way into the 1970s! Wright designed walk-in closets (arguably some of the first ones ever), with built-in drawers, shelves, areas separated by function and purpose ... When people hardly had indoor plumbing, he added bathrooms to every bedroom or, for smaller bedrooms (meant for children), he connected them by Jack-n-Jill bathrooms. The craftsmanship, the wood paneling, the unique pigmented stucco walls, the stained glass doors and light fixtures, the long, tunnel-like, canopy gardens are signature items we have seen in both of the places we visited. They bring everything together into a cohesive style, stamp it with his unique signature ... Oh, how I wish I would have met him and seen his thinking process. As the granddaughter of a construction engineer, I am fascinated by how people create something from nothing. Or something from a dream, or a feeling of where things should go ... I wish I could see a house from a plotting design, but I can’t ... And it’s perhaps because I can’t see this that I appreciate and respect it so much.
Full disclosure: The Westcott House you see today is almost a 100% restoration. The home was inhabited by the Westcott family who commissioned it from the famous artist between 1903 and 1926. After that, it went through many identities, being anything from a single-family home, a boarding house, and later an apartment complex. The house was later left in disrepair which made the ubiquitous wood fixtures rot and the foundation collapse. The floors, the built-ins, the roof beams collapsed and made it unsafe to live in. The Wright Foundation eventually bought it from the last owner and restored every inch of it. They used the original plans, and pictures from different stages of the house’s life to restore it. I think the job was done well and the place shows like the masterpiece that was intended to be. You’ll learn about the Springfield and Ohio history and industry while you're here - the docent is a retired newspaper employee and she is full of facts. After telling us the many details about the many industries of Springfield and Ohio, in general, she concluded with pride “We are pretty cool!”.
Frank Lloyd Wright's The Westcott House in Springfield, OH
We traveled for the entire week through the smoke of the wildfires in Canada. Couple that with the normal wet heat of the East Coast, you’d know that the weather was a hot stew: wet and burning any way you breathed it ...
I love summer travel when kids are out of school and they are instead serving customers at the fast foods on their summer jobs. Their innocence and sometimes charming absent-mindedness is somewhat endearing to me (maybe now that I have nephews old enough to work in a restaurant for the summer is what causes this nostalgia).
In Columbus, we had to allow our car to be parked by the valet. We had a 6 pack of beer in the trunk and someone got a little happy with the steering wheel on the way to or from the parking lot. The following morning, they brought it back with broken beer bottles in the trunk. We drove from Columbus to Kalamazoo the next day in beer fumes, trying nervously not to get pulled over and charged with drunken driving, considering the obvious stench ...
West Virginia had the most, shall we say, unique ... billboards. Some websites advertised in big, bold letters things like helltruth.com and hicksoutdoor.com. I am afraid to ask!
We passed innumerable mobile homes on this journey, some of them so decrepit and run down, we wondered how many breaths they had left before their time was over. Leaning walls, leaking roofs, boarded windows, but with perfectly-looking cars parked up front and small, half-naked, mired in mud, little kids upfront. I would only wonder what they had for breakfast or dinner the previous night ... It could not have been much. The penury was palpable. And yet, on so many of them, there was a sign on their front door that spelled in bold, bright letters very clearly: “BLESSED”. I have zero room to complain!
One of the most beautiful drives is along the river Kanawha through West Virginia. The river flows right along the side of the highway like a good, loyal companion. It, with the road and the train tracks, snake along together telling the same coal-dark story ...
America is a country of contrasts. Of rich and poor. Of sad and happy. Of light and shadows.
Confederate flags hanging on farmlands like bleeding wounds, Trump political signs reading like the sure threat they are. All this while the cd was spinning in our dashboard and Jeb Puryear of Donna the Buffalo was bellowing out: “Let’s build a fortress of love by the river with all the happiness that we can find.”
Let’s!
Quintessential America: Charleston, WV around the Capitol block, and on the side of the road somewhere in the Midwest.
