Ohio

Year of First Visit – 1987
Point of Entry – I-75 near Toledo

As my coworkers and I checked in to our hotel in suburban Cleveland that late November, the desk clerk gave us an exasperated, "Why are you here?!?!?"

"Business," we answered.

"Oh. That explains it. Nobody comes here this time of year without a reason."

The gloomy early winter gray drizzle even had the folks in the hospitality industry questioning our arrival in Ohio.

Not all of my Ohio memories are dismal and gray. They are made up of an odd combination of "Thru" and "To."

I-75 from Toledo to the Ohio River was my first experience in the Buckeye State. We were on our way to visit family who lived near the southern tip of Illinois so that was the most direct route.

Once living on the East Coast, the Ohio Turnpike (which, by the way, is the highway voted "easiest to drive" by members of my immediate family) became a regular through route from the Pennsylvania line to Toledo.

Separate from almost all these road trips, though, was a series of trips, mostly flights, to the Cleveland area.

In the early 2000s, my employer realigned our field and Cleveland became a central meeting point. This was especially handy for getting meeting space since we had historic sites and facilities in the area. For a few years I had an annual trek to gray and dismal Cleveland for week of gray and dismal meetings.

I've been back to that same site for meetings and retreats in the spring when the trees are in bloom and in the early fall when the leaves were at peak color. I've taken family and some work interns there in the summertime and experienced wonderful gardens in bloom.

And though I've been "thru" and "to" Ohio many times, I've got some places I've been near but not visited. That checklist includes places like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I'd also like to catch a baseball game in Cleveland and in Cincinnati.

So even if the folks checking me in to my next Ohio hotel don't know, I have good reasons to go back for a visit.