Cuba, Canton and Classic Cars

June 5, 2016

It rained a little overnight but the Saturday morning dawn broke clear and warm in Cuba, New York. We headed west for a few miles and stopped for a quick Dollar General snack restocking in Dalton where we saw this old barn.

We then caught local Route 62 southward tracing a meandering route through small villages along the east bank of the Allegheny River.

We are one month into the trip; the trip odometer rolled over 6000 miles. We have turned the corner on this adventure and are heading back to the West.

Traffic moved well along 62 and we stopped for lunch in Tidioute, PA, a typical old riverfront industrial town.

Tidioute is pretty run-down now. The only remaining gas station is attached to an ageing general store and diner. Our grilled ham and cheese sandwich was just that; white bread, ham and cheese… just like mom’s make every day. The cheese was good, though. It’s dairy and cheese country and the sandwich came with a good sharp cheddar.

We sat at the snack bar and listened two locals discussing the raccoon problem. One had shot eight in the last three weeks but still lost all but three chickens. They lamented there is little market anymore for ‘coon hides. Geezer, having once been a trapper himself, could empathize.

The gas pumps were old but at least they were electric; we didn’t have to crank out the gas. But no fancy card readers or electronic readouts, just the old mechanically rolling numbers. Inside the market they were taking up a collection to buy new pumps.

We enjoyed the day along the river until we hit Youngstown, Ohio and its aging infrastructure, rutted streets and traffic lights. Youngstown, once a thriving steel town, was devastated when the mills closed down in the eighties due to foreign competition. Route 62 seemed destined to show off the very worst of the poor city. We hopped on I-76 until we were clear of the mess then picked up 62 again into Canton, Ohio.

Canton also suffered from the loss of the steel industry… it impacted a wide area of Ohio. But Canton seems to be bouncing back. And the relatively new NFL Hall of Fame is gradually bringing tourists back to the city center.

We stayed downtown in the McKinley Grand Hotel, a classic old hotel well maintained and upgraded to modern standards. There was safe free (weekend) parking on the side street… it’s directly across the street from the main police station.

We ate at the bar, as usual. We were complimenting the ribeye steak they served so they brought out the young chef to meet us. It seems he had just been promoted as his mentor had moved on. GG was effusive as usual, so there were many smiles.

A vignette of the vast changes since I was last here almost 60 years ago, a time of segregation and intolerance. At and in the bar along with us and the bartender were four construction guys playing pool, a white girl with a Black man and one transgender couple.  No one blinked. That wouldn’t have happened here sixty years ago.

We enjoyed our steak and wine and a ball game, went to bed and got up to another nice clear post-rainy morning. As I was checking out I noticed there is a classic car dealership in the basement of the hotel. I went down to take a look. They were closed Sundays and only one car was visible through the glass doors.

A Nash Metropolitan. I was severely taken aback. This is a rarely seen car. And it’s identical to the one car I drove when I was at Antioch College. One more very strange coincidence on this trip.

Off to Yellow Springs and Antioch College next.

-Geezer