It was nice to walk through all the rooms describing the early life of the American craftsmen learning about antique tools and clothing. The most attracting part to my wife was the doll room. It was hard to pool her from this charming room.
Our next station was the museum of art of Toledo. It has a very impressive collection of art and we enjoyed very much to watch all the collections.
I planned a relaxation day before continuing our trip, and I choose to make it in Port Clinton, being on the Lake Erie shore, and in the honor of the name "Clinton", which for me as an Israeli means a lot!
So, we stayed two nights at Best Western Port Clinton. Again, we had a very warm welcome from the lady manager, telling us that we, the Israelis, traveling at this time in the USA, prove to her how to continue with regular life, beside all the troubles!
In the morning we took a ferry to the Put-in-Bay Island, and we had a very charming morning. The rest of the time was dedicated to resting.
Our first station, on the next day, was the Health Museum of Cleveland. How often have you the luck to wander alone in a museum? I didn't ever visit such an interesting museum! The most impressive experience was traveling inside a huge tooth, learning from the inside about its structure.
The next station was, of course, the Cleveland Zoo. We passed nearby a group of Amish people, dressed in their typical closes, who visited the zoo, and we pretend to take photos of ourselves, but focused on them. Forgive us again!
We crossed the "border" to Pennsylvania and slept at Super8 Motel Erie.
New-York state.
We were excited to get near the area where the "Indian Summer" prevails. As my wife once said:" traveling that area is jumping from one picture into another"!
Crossing the border to New-York state we reached a charming little town with a bold sign: Public Library. One of the tourists' privileges in the USA is using the internet in the public libraries conveniently and free of charge. For the local citizens it is so obvious, that they cannot appreciate it. We wrote home calming messages to our family.
When I am in the USA, I mainly watch two TV channels: the weather channel and Fox News. On an evening bulletin they told the public that because lack of tourists in New-York City, there are excellent deals for those who want to get an hotel there.
So we also checked the deals on the Internet and there was nothing attractive. Our reservation was still cheaper than all the "deals".
The old rule prevails: never believe what they want to "sell" you on the news media!
We drove along the shore of Chautauqua Lake towards Corning.
My language is too poor to describe the delight feeling to be in the NW of the USA during the "Indian Summer". Better writers than me did it a lot. I can only wish everybody to experience it.
Corning - a charming little town – was our next stop. There we visited the Corning glass center. Walking through magnificent pieces of glass art, one cannot avoid wondering how people developed the glass industry and the secret of producing such wonderful and delicate pieces of art. There is so much creativity in each model!
One cannot avoid adoring the skills like patience, punctiliousness, delicate and strong muscles that the manufacturer needs!
That night we stayed at Super8 Motel Corning.
The next day was dedicated to travel through the Finger Lakes. We started with a delightful walking along the scenic glen in the Watkins Glen State Park. At noon we visited the Rose Hill Mansion, admiring its Greek revival style and charming furnished rooms. At the afternoon we walked again in a glen and admired the Taughannock falls near Ithaca. At night we stayed at Super8 motel Binghamton.
Next morning driving on route 88 we reached Howes Cave. The uniqueness of this stalactites and stalagmites cave is that it is very deep. You go down by elevator, and then you tour it by a rowboat. Our "sailor" must have been the most bored man on earth, as it was reflected on the look on his face, and his explanations. I wanted so much to ask him what keeps him in his "job", but, I didn't dare…
Our next goal was the Catskill Mountains. We drove the recommended roads by the AAA's map all the way to Kingston, where we stayed at Super8 Motel Kingston.
The next morning we started by crossing the Hudson River. If someone was watching us, he could, I believe, watch two strange people with open widely mouths, for a good period of time. For us, the Israelis, coming from a relatively dry area, such a huge amount of water is a miracle!
