It's a Hell of a Town!

By now you're thinking, "Hey, these kids, they sure know all the great places to go!"  Of course, you're only seeing the best of the best. Like all vacationers, we have the "curse" of the digital camera, where we take too many pictures and don't know what to do with them all. In order to make the trip bloggable, I had to leave out a few things (example: Did I mention we stopped in Cleveland? It was hot, and then we left.) just to keep it interesting.  Some of these photos will end up in a catchall post at the end (example: Did I mention the giant rubber stamp in Cleveland?)

But surely, you ask, did you ever stop in a town that made you doubt your ability to pick decent roadside attractions? Didn't you encounter a place that made you rethink the whole idea of an Ohio-Indiana road trip?  Wasn't there even one city that made you feel like parking the car, getting a cab to the airport, and flying down to Disney to see if you could salvage the rest of your vacation?

Well,there was Springfield, now that you bring it up.


I think this photo sums the town up pretty nicely:

I'm not worried about catching the spirit, I'm worried about catching the town's official pathogen, Ourtownus crappus.

Yes, we actually had to drive around the block to get that picture because it certainly summed up our feelings for the town.  Nevertheless, we did stop to photograph a statue dedicated to the most notable resident of Springfield. Some men, it is said, are born great, and some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. This man falls into none of those categories. 

They also say that inventors and scientists and innovators can see so far because they stand on the shoulders of giants. This man is neither an inventor, nor a scientist, nor an innovator, and certainly not a giant. No, he played a minor, supporting role in an event that was of landmark importance in American and indeed world history.  Many know that Ohio is the birthplace of aviation, and almost all are familiar with the work of the Wright Brothers. This is a monument, not to the Wright Brothers, but to the man who made sure that they had the exclusive right to market their unique discoveries for a period of 17 years.  Yes, this man was the Wright Brothers' patent lawyer.

Immortality, of sorts.

Unintentionally, although fittingly, I neglected to note this man's name; we shall dub him Unknown Bureaucrat #2, until such time as he is identified, or I bother to look up his name, which will probably be a long time.

Incidentally - and I recognize fully that this is out of order - on our way to Springfield, we stopped to get a picture of this impressively outre sculpture outside of a dentist's office:

Dragonbrush!

  Note that the toothbrush is chained to the dragon. No explanation is forthcoming. I included this picture in the Springfield post because the town was so depressing that it needed a little color and interest -- even if it had to be imported.


Anyhow... after taking some shots of the lawyer's statue, we walked around looking for a restaurant for lunch. On the way, we met a charming young lady, sort of our ambassador to the town, whose two most notable characteristics were "toothless" and "pregnant".  So we turned around, got the hell out of town and put the Bananaphone song on the iPod to lighten our mood.

Feeling that we had to do better, we headed off toward Dayton, Ohio.  Dayton seemed like a nice town and we parked and got a decent lunch. Just as we were about to set off to find the giant twig maze - a decidedly al fresco attraction - the heavens opened up and we got rained upon something fierce.  (I didn't tell Sarah at the time, but I wondered to myself whether I had brought this sad fate upon us by getting seconds at Earnest Angley's cathedral buffet without getting a new plate.)

Suddenly, I heard a phrase that had passed by lips well before the trip began. "Screw it," I said, "let's go to Indiana."

(Bet you thought you were getting the Bananaphone song. Don't think I wasn't tempted.)