I headed into Fathers Day weekend 2008 with plenty of plans to continue my Summer of adventure. Jackie and I braved Friday the 13th of June by heading out into the stormy, cloudy weather to visit Dad at the Hudson Central Regional meet that was taking place at the Holiday Inn in Fairborn. I had hoped to meet up with an old friend for another patented reunion, but she was scared of the weather and decided to stay in for the night. Dad had been at a cruise-in at the Quaker Steak and Lube and was back indoors at the Holiday Inn when we got there. The rain stopped for just long enough for us to browse the few dozen Hudsons that had been driven in from all over the midwest region. Jackie and I then headed out to Red Robin, one of our favorite burger joints.
Me and Dad next to his ‘54 Hornet, amidst a bevy of Hudsons
Red Robin paradise - complete with a bottomless basket of fries
On Saturday, Jackie, Grace, and I headed out to Columbus where we met Mom and Bob at Denise’s place. But before arriving at our destination we a made a pit stop so I could complete another chapter in the “website-driven re-visits of places I’ve already been but have to see again because I was too stupid to take photos of myself by the landmarks when I was there the first time” tour. I had twice toured the Ohio Statehouse, once in 1998 and once in 2004, but naturally failed to get any good photos of the landmark, particularly the obligatory photo of me with the Capitol in the background for my new-fangled State Capitol visits series.
Anyway…I planned for us to arrive for the final Saturday tour at 3:00pm. We got there in a timely fashion, parked in the garage, and had plenty of time to walk the entire outside perimeter of the building to soak in the landmarks and memorials, all seen below (except for the Christopher Columbus Memorial seen at the top).
My third visit to a State Capitol building this year (the Ohio Statehouse would have been the first one I ever visited in 1998)
With Grace in front of the giant William McKinley Memorial directly in front of the Capitol
A great statue titled These Are My Jewels paying tribute to seven native Ohio heroes: William T. Sherman, Ulysses S Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Salmon P. Chase, Phillip Sheridan, and Edwin Stanton
Ohio Historical marker indicating Lincoln’s three visits to the Statehouse
We had a pretty good tour guide who I only stumped a couple of times. She really should know that Ohio had two Governors who later became President: Hayes and McKinley. The tour was about 45 minutes and she provided a good background of the building as we visited the House and Senate chambers and other areas of the Statehouse. Ohio is a bit stricter than the states I had visited so far who let you actually get on the floor of the chambers - and in some cases behind the Speaker’s rostrum. I couldn’t get any memorable or worthwhile pictures in these areas.
Stand in the place where you live…
Just before the tour began, Jackie and Grace show their enthusiasm
Outside Governor Ted Strickland’s office, and the former office of Presidents Hayes and McKinley
The east terrace where Lincoln gave his speech on September 16, 1859 during his first visit to the Statehouse. Once outdoors, this area is now an atrium between the orginal building and the new east wing
I did catch a few interesting Presidential locations, mostly regarding Abraham Lincoln’s three visits to the Statehouse: the visited noted above, his second visit during which he was actually informed that he was officially the President while in the Governor’s office on February 13, 1861, and finally a ‘visit’ after he had been assassinated. He lied in state under the rotunda for six and a half hours on April 29, 1865 on his way back to Illinois for burial.
In the center of the Capitol rotunda where Lincoln lied in state. In the background is a painting of Perry’s victory on Lake Erie during the War of 1812 and a new touching tribute the the fallen soldiers of the Lima Company, who had a very high casualty rate of native Ohians during the Iraq war
After we finished our tour, we popped into the Hyatt on Capitol Square. For old time’s sake, I wanted to check out the location of our 2004 Sons of the Desert convention. We also perused the City Center Mall, which was now almost completely desolate. The only shop left to browse was Waldenbooks, where Jackie picked up a play make-up kit for Grace.
We then headed over to Denise’s house for a visit with my sis and nephew Adam, who is growing by leaps and bounds - and now repeating an odd assortment of words: pool, meow, Elmo (referring to himself), hot tub, please, all done, and many others. We all went out to eat to enjoy the Mexican cuisine of Fiesta Jalisco.
Stuffed at Fiesta Jalisco - but I didn’t actually eat my plate
Adam gets funky in the Mexican tradition
“Take my hand and off we stride” - Grace and Adam have left the building
It was of course fun to hang out with Mom, Bob, Denise, Aaron, and Adam - but I miss the days before Adam took over the television and we could watch the Game Show Network rather than the Disney Channel and Noggin. Aaron was rather wrapped up with the U.S. Open so didn’t mind much. Denise did get my undivided attention for a few minutes anyway when she announced to me that she was expecting another baby in January of ‘09.
The next morning Dad drove up to meet us for Fathers Day and Denise cooked us a fabulous breakfast of bagels, fresh fruit, French Toast casserole, and an egg and broccoli casserole. Without getting on my soapbox about the inherent evil of broccoli, I’ll just say that Denise humored me and made third of the casserole devoid of the vile weed. I gave Dad a book with old ads for vintage televions and an Ozzie and Harriet DVD set for Fathers Day. We took off that afternoon around 2pm and headed for home.
Breakfast with the fam at Denise’s house
Although I missed out on two opportunities for reunions that I had hoped for, it was still a rewarding, entertaining, and fun-filled weekend. I only wish Ashleigh could have joined us but she was working. She got me a gift certificate to Red Lobster for Fathers Day.
And as a postscript to the Fathers Day weekend events, the following Tuesday, June 17 saw our annual Kroger Bag-Off held at the Beach waterpark, hosted by Reds announcers Marty and Thom Brennaman. I was a scale judge for the proceedings and after it was over my Mom and Jackie both came to enjoy the rest of the day at the waterpark. They went on the Lazy River and I later joined them in the heated Pearl pool. I also got rather sun-burnt, particularly on my knees. That’s the price you pay to possess beauty such as mine.
Jo Ann, Garry, Debbie, and I take to the stage for the 22nd annual Kroger Bag Off
Linda, Jo Ann, Bryan, and I cheer on the contestants, some more than others apparently
2008 will continue…
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