Boston to Columbus: The Drive

Driving. Lots of driving. That said, our days weren't so bad. We did a little jaunt out to Springfield on Saturday night, then 6 hours yesterday and another 6 today. Lots of breaks. Lots of scooby snacks. Lots of silliness. 

We stayed in Buffalo, New York, on Sunday night. Although we weren't downtown as we'd expected, our little off-the-highway Holiday Inn Express did have this in the near vicinity:

We could smell the doughnuts driving by, which of course meant that we couldn't drive by. I got a glazed sourcream doughnut. It was so deepfried and drenched in glaze that it actually crunched when I bit into it. Perfect.

Unfortunately, this was all that was left by the time I thought to snap a picture. 

I have no idea if Dickie's is an institution or a random find, but if ever you pass through Buffalo, I highly recommend it: Exit 1 off I-190. You can't miss it. (P.S. Then I'd also recommend continuing on to downtown Buffalo for the rest of your stay, because there wasn't much more going on for this little corner of town...)

Back on the road again this morning. Most of the time our view looked like this:

Not too shabby, though any view is bound to get monotonous after a while. Until you stumble upon something like this:

I think we need a closer look:

Let's discuss this for a moment, shall we? 

We've got Jelly Belly's, a favorite delicious candy, being advertised next to fireworks. Not quite sure how those two go together. And then there's a sign for Steak 'n Shake next to one for something called "Quaker Steak and Lube," which troubles me on many levels. And then in the bottom right corner, we are notified that this is really all just an "Attraction." Indeed. Indeed.

The Steak n' Shake, at least, received a thumbs up.

I do love Steak n' Shake and I'm happy to be back in the land where they are plentiful. I especially love that it hasn't changed one iota since it was my high school hangout. Normally that would be a negative, I know, but not in this case. Here's a hint: for those of you who've tasted my Crack Burgers, the ones at Steak n' Shake are near rivals. Right down to the "secret" dressing.

And right around noon today, we saw this:

Columbus or bust!

Cliffhanger for tomorrow: It's all fun and games until you get gated out of your own gated community...