This was my last day of actual travel events. The next day would simply be traveling home. I had a lot to do today, including seeing the birth place of Ulysses Grant, visiting a relative, and seeing a friend who I have corresponded with for years online. All of this was going to be very hectic. Then I had a six hour drive to get up to Erie, Pennsylvania for a stopover.
The first stop would be the birthplace of Ulysses Grant, the 18th president. This would totally close the gap in presidential sites. After visiting this site, I would have seen a site related to every president for whom a site was available, up to Dwight Eisenhower. I would consider Eisenhower a modern president. (Presidents before Eisenhower who do not have any public site available include Zachary Taylor (#12), and Grover Cleveland (#22 and #24).) Even among modern presidents, this trip allowed me to see a site related to Kennedy and one related to Reagan. So, the number of leftover presidents whose sites I have not seen is very limited at this point.
Grant's birthplace was located on US 232 in Moscow, Ohio. It is in a small area called Point Pleasant. The GPS did not have US 232 in Moscow listed. I decided to head out to Moscow, OH and see if I could find signs. As I was driving, I remembered I had written down the phone number for the birthplace and they provided directions to me.
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Grant's birth home was very small. The bedroom and kitchen were in one room. The family stayed in this house until Grant was 11 months old. There were items of clothing from the Grant family. The oldest item was a boot made by Grant's father that is now over 200 years old. Photographs with flash were allowed.
After the very brief tour, I spent some time chatting with the staff of the house. We swapped historical stories about the presidents of the era, settlers in New York, and about the weather. This was not exactly a very popular spot for visitors, and I think the tour guides were enjoying getting a chance to talk to someone from outside the area. But, I was crunched for time and I had an hour to get to my next stop.
My next item on the agenda was visiting my cousin's wife and her son, my first cousin once removed. I had last seen them three years ago in Maryland. They since moved to the Cincinnati area in the city of Mason. I typically see at least one relative on these trips (the 2009 trip is the only exclusion), so it was good to be able to keep that tradition.
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My cousin and his wife's home was only about two years old. The whole neighborhood was around the same age. Surprisingly enough, the GPS got me there without a problem. I spent about an hour with my cousin's wife and her son, watching him put together train tracks for his model trains. We tried to get pictures of him, but he was not interested. He would put his head down and laughed about it. I was not fast enough. I stayed for about an hour, but then I had to get to a late lunch with a friend I've known for years.
Getting into downtown Cincinnati was an adventure. I had to go to Elm Street, of all places. In some commercials for the GPS device, they always talk about going to Elm Street. Cincinnati has two streets by this name. One is in a residential area and the other is in the downtown business district. I wanted the latter but picked the former from the menu. Getting to the residential area, I then added an extra twenty minutes to my travels, delaying my friend who was at work.
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I finally got to the business district and thankfully, there was a parking space right on the edge of the road. We found a restaurant nearby to allow maximum time to talk. We had crepes with artichokes and various cheeses.
After the visit with my friend was over, I was officially on the way back. All travel events were done. I simply needed to get to Erie, Pennsylvania, for the night.
However, along the way, I did stop in the Amish area of Ohio (near Mansfield) for dinner. There was a great Amish restaurant just off I-71. I didn't have a lot of time so I got the buffet. This was not as good, but the dessert was absolutely delicious. I had German Chocolate pie. That was well worth the calories and extra cost. I purchased some items to bring home.
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I got into the hotel in Erie, PA around 10:30pm. This is a hotel that still charges for Internet access, so I didn't use that. I got some rest and was ready for the long journey home.
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